A HUNDRED THOUSAND WELCOMES? NO CHANCE!
Just recently, I have had a couple of unpleasant experiences in the tourism industry, in Ireland as a tour manager and – to a much lesser degree - in Barcelona, as a tourist. While the two destinations are around 1500 km apart, the experiences have a strong commonality in that both indicate a less than welcoming attitude toward tourists. Here, I reflect on what happened.
The flow of energy around the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland is probably the most powerful I have ever experienced in the natural world. There is a drop of over 200 metres from the cliff tops into the ocean below. Gazing at it invites contemplation on the fragility of life and the inevitability of death before quickly stepping well back from the edge as the wind buffets, sunshine blinds, waves break while the cries of seabirds are sequestered and disappear out to sea. Even the ground collaborates in the overall experience by sucking each foot into the mud and resisting attempts to heave it free.
A distant cry of “STOP” catches my attention and on the off chance that it is directed at me, I look around. A far-off figure was gesturing wildly in my direction while running toward me. Apparently, sections of the cliff in this area had collapsed recently and to proceed would have been highly dangerous.
That was it. I turned around and began to make my way through the mud in the direction of Doolin, the village and the rendezvous point where this “suicide mission” started. While I was sipping my cup of tea I began to reflect on my experience and the risks it posed, not just for me, as I have a fear of heights, but also for the group, comprised of mostly older women. Starting with the route itself, this was never going to create happy memories for us because it wasn’t safe for people of our age profile to proceed in those conditions. It was a lack of judgement on the part of our guide to expect us to complete the 4.5 hour long route. Only hikers in good shape should take up the challenge, in my view.
I’d visited the Cliffs of Moher over twenty years ago, on a calm summer’s day, following a different, shorter and well-trodden path from the car park to the cliffs. That was then, very different to today.
So, on that late September morning, all of us gave up on our battle to complete the “Doolin walk” along the cliff tops. Nobody lasted more than an hour before they too surrendered and retreated to the safety of the village. That was where I questioned the wisdom of leading us along the cliff walk. Why had our guide not taken us on the shorter and less dangerous route? Even though we abandoned the cliff walk in less than an hour, the guide wanted full payment for the 4.5 hours we had booked him because that is what he insisted on, full payment, and for that he was prepared to lead us on an unsafe route. He should have done the gracious thing and cancelled or rerouted the planned hike once he saw the age profile of the group. He might have given us the shorter and safer option, and charged us correspondingly, not 350 euros for an hour’s work plus a sky high price for the taxi ride back to Doolin, a service I had been told was included in the overall cost. The price left me aghast. Sadly, it wasn’t to be my last encounter with shamelessness in tourism in my own country.
In Bunratty the guesthouse owner fleeced the group when she (over) charged us for lifts we believed had been offered out of the kindness of her heart- They were only a short distance – 5 minutes in the car – to a restaurant located at the end of a country lane where traffic sped along, making it dangerous for pedestrians. We were also fully charged for using her small lounge for an hour and a half for a talk. Breakfast was generous, too generous. The spread of cakes and pies was so rich that I became suspicious, wondering whether it originated in the “yellow sticker” shelves of M and S, or some other supermarket’s expired section. I was relieved when we left Bunratty.
In a tiny village, not too far from Bunratty, we were to be subjected to another form of egregiousness: sexual predation. Unbeknown to me at the time, our speaker on this activity had apparently taken the opportunity of proximity to some of the ladies in the group to grope them, and they were understandably upset. Later that day, this same individual joined the ladies in the sweat lodge wearing no clothes at all, and I mean at all. Our departure from this man’s land was just about as ugly as it could get, with him very vocally expressing his displeasure with the payment he was given…even though it was above and beyond the amount originally agreed.
His shamelessness caused so much distress that the ladies made a formal complaint about him in Galway police station. Since then, I have learned that this man was on record as a sex offender. It was reported in the Irish press that less than two years ago, the pilot of an international flight bound for Boston took the decision to turn the aircraft around and land when it was reported to him/her that “our speaker” had molested the minor sitting in the adjacent seat. In Shannon airport he was handed over to police authorities in Ireland and compelled to pay costs: dumping fuel to enable landing, plus whatever fine was handed out to him for predating on the young woman unfortunately allocated a seat next to him.
In Westport, we faced a different challenge: egregiousness in a new form, or at least new to me. None of the accommodation I’d selected in Westport had receptions or, indeed reception staff. I was informed that this, this remote reception, was common in tourism in Ireland. What had happened to Ireland the land of “a hundred thousand welcomes?”. My group took one look at their rooms, mutinied and marched en masse into the lobby of a hotel a few doors away to ask for rooms. None were free, which didn’t surprise me. Many of the hotels on our route had been fully booked for months. The group then complained that their rooms were dirty and infested by “bugs”, Again, the most I could do was communicate with management remotely to ask for help. I never received a reply…
In Barcelona, the experience was very different because I was a tourist with no responsibilities for anyone except myself. However, I soon became aware that tourism, or rather mass tourism, was the cause of much controversy among many of the locals.
This was not my first trip to Barcelona. Many years ago, I'd lived in the city and loved (almost) every moment of it. There was so much happening culturally and with the Olympic games coming, the city felt alive and vibrant then, as it does now. There has been, however, one significant change since then: the numbers of tourists have multiplied, as is apparent by crowd density in Barcelona city centre and major tourist attractions such as the Sagrada Familia.
The degree of hostility toward tourism has become more perceptible in Barcelona since the end of lockdown. Evidence of this is not just the somewhat less-than-friendly service or a lack of courtesy in some shops, restaurants and cafés. It is also unmistakeable in the direct actions taken mostly by young people to reinforce the message. Water pistols are used to spray tourists and some establishments now warn that they do not cater for stag parties. Large scale graffiti on walls demands that TOURISTS GO HOME. Such actions are certainly not widespread, but they have been widely reported in the UK press, so much so that the controversy may have impacted plans to holiday in Catalonia.
To put these kinds of actions and attitudes in context, it is important to point out that during the pandemic, the residents of Barcelona (and other cities in the Mediterranean) were able to move freely through the streets of their normally overcrowded and congested city. This was an awakening for many who had known nothing other than mass tourism. With the end of lockdown and the renewed surge in tourism, there has been some reluctance among Barceloneses to tolerate the return to overcrowding and congestion. Drunken and unruly hen and stag parties are not wanted and neither are shirtless – sometimes drunken - men wandering around the city centre, and this display of shamelessness is seen as enormously disrespectful.
It's a dilemma and not one that is easily solved. Income from the tourist industry is a vital part of the economy throughout Spain. Without it the standard of living would suffer, possibly even decline drastically. For now though, Catalonia/Spain must adhere to its Faustian pact and struggle to deal with the consequences of mass tourism as best it can.
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