Panic in famous European city about £1bn plan to attract 'super-rich' tourists

Rents in the Barceloneta area of Barcelona have already risen (Image: Getty) Locals in the Spanish city of Barcelona fear plans to attract €1bn of revenue by pandering to super-rich tourists will turn their home into a playground for the wealthy - like Monte Carlo or Monaco. Barcelona currently attracts around 12 million visitors a year - and its residents have long complained about the impacts of over-tourism. However, the city's latest attempt to attract " quality rather than quantity" tourism has got some Barcelonians panicked.

They fear hosting the America’s Cup yacht race in the city this year will price out all but the wealthiest visitors. And locals fear it will have an even worse impact on them than mass tourism has done. function loadOvpScript(){let el=document.

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