Should bustling Barcelona put a cap on tourists?

We've been going to Barcelona regularly for several years, starting with a family trip when we stayed in the vibrant El Born district. It was undeniably busy in late May, but we didn't find the volume of tourists stifling. At that time we didn't know how to buy tickets for attractions like Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia (and they probably weren't yet available online), but the line was long but not discouraging.

Fast forward a few years and annual tourist visits are nearing 8 million, well more than double the figure in 2000. And with a huge and expanding cruise business, and easy, low-priced connections to all of Europe, it's only likely to get more crowded. Incoming leftist mayor Ada Colau thinks it soon will be too many, with tourists and the infrastructure needed to cater to them overwhelming the people who live and make a living in Barcelona. So, she is suggesting the time is not far away to put caps on things like hotels and rental apartments in the most popular zones. Read more about here plan here.

The Plaza at Santa Maria del Mar church in El Born can get very crowded (more than this) in high seasons.

The mayor is responding in part to complaints from residents who live in heavy tourist zones. Unlike the visitors who carouse until the wee hours or party in their rooms (a no-no in all the apartments we offer), they have to get up in the morning and go to work. We noticed banners like the one at left in September for the first time. There also have been sensational stories of drunken tourists, usually stag parties, cavorting on the streets, including three naked Italians in Barceloneta.

To me, the type of tourist is more of a problem than the number. Stag and hen parties bring people who under the influence turn boorish, loud and disrespectful. Cruise ships bring a different kind of plague, herds shuffling from place to place dutifully following their leader's upraised umbrella, stopping for a few minutes, then moving on. Completely alien to the relaxed style of residents and visitors who are in Barcelona to soak up the culture and lifestyle, not just tick off items on their must-see lists.

But Barcelona is not always overrun with obnoxious tourists. Here's a photo taken on the street outside our most popular building, just a few blocks from Santa Maria del Mar and a prime route to the bars and shops in the area behind the church.

A few tourists strolled this El Born street in September, 2014.

Barcelona is a lot more than a tourist destination; it's filled with entrepreneurial businesses, advanced technology, great local restaurants and shops and all the people whose lives are intertwined with its history and culture. I think it's important not to let tourism overwhelm that spirit. In our business, we get to know some of these people, and have come to admire their ambition as well as their efforts to maintain a work-life balance that a lot of money-obsessed Americans don't understand.

So, I'd agree to some restrictions that would help preserve Barcelona as the authentic, vibrant and well-rounded city it is. If that meant discouraging superficial, partying visitors, OK. So, in addition to directing new hotel development to less-touristic zones, I'd like to see the number of cruise ships allowed to dock at one time reduced and - yes - crackdowns on illegal rental apartments that not only attract visitors whose horizons reach only to the nearest bar but remove living spaces that should be available at reasonable prices to local people of modest means.

If you are planning a leisure, business or academic visit to Barcelona, we'd like to show you apartments that fit your style and budget, whether in the center of the action or in a calmer location. See a sample selection at www.likelivingthere.com or send an email to info@likelivingthere.com and we'll offer the best suggestions.