One-way system for tour groups in 24 points of Ciutat Vella

BarcelonaTourists who visit Barcelona and want a guide won't be allowed to be in groups of more than 30 people and, should they want to visit Ciutat Vella, no more than 15. The measure is part of a good practices guide promoted by Barcelona City Council, which seeks to "make tourist activity compatible with the neighbourhood", according to Ciutat Vella councillor, Jordi Rabassa. The restriction will not be mandatory, but even so Rabassa has already asked for the district's legal services "to analyse regulations" with the aim of sanctioning those who do not comply with all these recommendations. For the moment, however, the measure has the support of the Association of Generalitat de Catalunya Qualified Guides for Responsible and Quality Tourism (AGUICAT) and the Professional Association of Tourist Guides of Catalonia (APIT). The two organisations represent a total of 500 guides, out of the 800 official guides operating in Barcelona. The unofficial guides are left out, as are free tour guides, which have not signed the document.

In addition to limiting the maximum number of tourists allowed in each group, the document also sets a limit on the number of groups allowed in some areas or monuments at one time. In Plaça Sant Jaume, for example, there can be no more than 8 groups, while in Plaça de Sant Felip Neri the limit will be two groups. This restriction will affect 13 areas of the city. In addition, in the 24 areas where the tourist pressure is considered more intense, a one-way system is set up to try to avoid groups of tourists from obstructing public space.

No megaphones

The restrictions in Ciutat Vella are stricter, but the guide has up to 18 recommendations that affect the whole city. The guides will have to use radio guides and in no case megaphones, so as to avoid making noise and allow visitors to hear the explanations without the need to be crowded together. There are also fixed points at which to get on and off the buses near places of interest and a commitment not to pick up tourists on public roads. Tourist groups will also have to guarantee that they do not take up more than 50% of the street they are visiting.

The president of Apit, Inés Calzado, one of the signatories, points out that many tour guides are already complying with many of these rules: "We walk in rows of two, like at school, and if the street is narrower, in single file," she explains. And she assures they avoid spaces that are too crowded: "We don't go to Sant Felip Neri anymore," she says. According to Tourism and Creative Industries councillor Xavier Marcé, the problem in the public space comes mainly because of "the set of entities, associations or individuals who use the collaborative economy to do work that they say is free but everyone knows is not". Marcé is referring to so-called free tours, which have proliferated for years in cities around the world and ask for tips after offering a guided tour. "They walk around Ciutat Vella giving explanations of dubious quality," Rabassa denounces. Marcé does not hide the "clear will to separate those who use quality guides from those who do not ". His goal is to "isolate [free tours] and turn them into a more or less marginal space", so that tourists only hire services official tour guides.

To strengthen the deal, the City Council will also ask travel agencies, hotels and cruise companies to join the deal. The measure is also in line with the City Council's desire to attract tourists with more money and to do without those who do not have as much purchasing power

While the City Council presented the pact, this Monday afternoon, a guide entered the Plaça de Sant Felip Neri with 30 students from the Compañía de María school in Zaragoza to show them "the remains of shrapnel that can still be seen on the façade of the convent and the school". She was explaining as children from the school tried to play football and tag around them.