Hot May near Park Güell: residents of Turó de la Rovira say enough about overcrowding.

BarcelonaThe peak tourist season is approaching, and some of the city's most entrenched neighborhood conflicts are resurfacing. One of them is the one that has long affected the neighborhoods surrounding Park Güell. If a year ago the news was the measures After the city council's measures to try to alleviate the pressure on tourism in the La Salut neighborhood, now it's the residents on the other side of the park, in Turó de la Rovira, who are up in arms. Behind this unrest, once again, lie the negative externalities of tourism. In conversation with ARA, David Mar, a member of the Turó de la Rovira Neighborhood Council, explains some of them. collapsed of tourists for over a decade in the avalanche of taxis, VTCs, and buses that for the past year have made the Carmel road "impassable" at many times of the day near Parc Güell. "One day there will be a major accident," he predicts.

Residents explain that since the City Council moved the taxi rank that was on Rambla Mercedes—at the other end of the park—to the Carmel road, the situation has been alarming. To avoid the congestion that used to occur in the La Salut neighborhood, the council decided to move the rank next to the Can Baró neighborhood, where the bus parking is already located. Now, residents report, the accumulation of vehicles generates traffic jams and conflicts, as they often park at the bus stop, forcing vehicles on lines 24 and V19 to unblock outside the stop and invade the other lane to continue their journey.

Tired of feeling "ignored," the residents decided at the assembly held this Tuesday evening to raise the tone of their protests. Make noise. "It's the only way to get attention," they denounced. Their idea is to close the Carmel road for an hour and a half every Saturday at noon and block access to buses, taxis, and VTCs that transport tourists to the park gate. A direct action that, they hope, will help them gain visibility and put their agenda at the top of the City Council's priority list.

Reduce visitor numbers by 50%

In addition to taking measures to prevent buses, taxis, and VTCs from accumulating at this park entrance—local residents question why tourists have to access the park by vehicle right up to the park entrance—another demand was raised at the meeting: a 50% capacity limit for Parc Güell. "The only way to combat overcrowding is to reduce the number of visitors," they argued. According to the latest data released by the City Council, 4.4 million people visited the park in 2023. Although this figure is far from the 9 million visitors it received in 2019, local residents believe that the measures that the Ada Colau government took are then insufficient and we must go further. They claim the booster which has been carried out on weekends and holidays on the V19 line. They also defend the decision to move the taxi rank from Rambla Mercedes to Carretera del Carmel because it's a location "further from the homes."