Before all that was fields
Our parents' generation has explained to us that they discovered places where no one went back then, that they slept in the middle of nowhere or in very simple and very cheap hostels, that they rented the first houses for vacationers at ridiculous prices, and that they always went in search of that tranquility that paradise offered before it was given to them before paradise. This generation is going brand new It changed the economy of many areas that saw the goose that laid the golden eggs and stopped what they were doing to dedicate themselves to tourism. Of course. Let's see if some should get rich and others should not escape poverty. We can still remember some of those places that filled our childhood, and if you traveled even a little there (always by car), cities and museums where today you must make an appointment were practically empty. In those years, the seed of a change that has been unstoppable began to be planted. Was it avoidable?
Zaanse Schans, a picture-postcard village of 100 inhabitants located north of Amsterdam, has announced that starting next spring, it will charge 17.50 euros to all visitors. So far, almost 3 million have been there each year. Payment as a measure deterrent The control system is already in place in many parking lots near coves or rivers in summer, and in parking lots at the entrances to highly visited towns. In Zaanse Schans, you'll still have to pay for parking, in addition to the entrance fee, which includes a visit to the museum and the windmills, which has already put shopkeepers on edge. They calculate that if a family has to spend 100 euros to visit a town, they won't buy or consume anything they come to. In other words, the usual balance when a place where people live becomes a theme park. Instagram is to blame. And also partly because of the administrations that are dedicated to selling their countries as a basic necessity. And the people who have been there and who talk to you. It gives you the feeling that if you haven't been to Paris yet, you can throw your life away. Or the pyramids of Egypt. Or the skyscrapers of New York. And let it be known that, whoever is free of guilt, should throw a coin (it won't be the first) into the Trevi Fountain, where, by the way, access is also regulated.
People who work in public administrations, wherever they are from, seem to only be able to think of one way to curb/organize tourism or minimize incivility. The only measure applied is money. It seems that if we impose a fee or fine, the problem is already solved. It doesn't matter that this idea isn't equitable. It seems that citizens don't understand any other language. If the system continues to make the poor poorer and the rich richer, we'll return to that time when only the rich traveled. But all this will never be the same again. And there must be a solution. Because, certainly, we have a problem called excess. What used to be done only by a few, now more and more people are doing it because there are also more of us. And one decision or another you must make once you've died of success. If this can even be called success.
A crowded image is much more of a deterrent for me than a tax. Probably because I can still afford it. And as they say back home, if you want to see the world, there are tons of documentaries. But it's very striking to see how the world has become filled with eyes, and it's increasingly difficult to look at a landscape without encountering many other gazes. And it's very intriguing to think about what a new generation will discover.