Tourism has returned to Spain in a massive wave of visitors to Barcelona. In response to complaints about overtourism, municipal authorities in Barcelona have taken new measures seeking to crack down on tour companies and behavior viewed as undesirable and disruptive. As a part of the new restrictive measures, tour operators have been ordered to cease the use of megaphones on tours through the city, and to re-work their routes to minimize the inconvenience to residents and to adhere to routes limited to 24 streets in city center. Tour leaders are required to choose stops along the way where space allows for plenty of pedestrian traffic.
Tour group numbers are being limited to no more than 30 people and as few as 15 in some historic neighborhoods. Some points of interest are reducing numbers to groups as small as eight persons. In other areas, neighborhoods are introducing dress codes at bars and restaurants.
Barcelona had earlier in the year launched “Operation Summer,” a program intended to reduce tourist crime by increasing the number of police officers in the city’s tourist areas.
