As this is my first time out of the States, I have thoroughly enjoyed acclimating to this new culture, schedule, and quite honestly way of life entirely.
In all honesty, I came into this trip with little knowledge of Spain, America’s relations with Spain, and global Business in general. Sitting in class with many of my classmates being so educated on foreign trade affairs, policies, and engaging questions regarding health care policies in Mexico and Canada, the chip enterprise in China, and oil in Venezuela, I realized my flaw as a naive American is my lack of curiosity. Being in a new country lacking any knowledge of their native language, I feel I am constantly asking questions and yearning to research political motivations in foreign countries to see how they then affect our relationship. I use this blog post as my accountability partner to become curious, instead of just taking in the minimum information just for a good grade to receive a good degree. I want to become as educated as a local here in Barcelona, and that will be thanks to learning how to ask thought provoking questions and taking the time to then find answers.
On a less serious topic, a place I have spent the most time at while being here, and no that is not the clubs, has been the metro. Texas born and raised and only having traveled to New York once in my life, public transportation has been a learning curve. There are many fears that accompany my visits to the metro, as I am worried about being arrested for accidentally not scanning my card right and the obvious fear of pickpocketing here; additionally, a new stress has become the significant amount of time it takes to commute. The trains are not waiting for us in our driveway, and we unfortunately do not have a say as to who travels with us. Yesterday we experienced an hour train ride with very rowdy teenage boys who brought lawn chairs to sit in the aisles and be an annoyance to everyone within earshot of them. Watching locals take down a pick pocketer who was attempting to steal from a woman was also a highlight of my metro trips. While these rides are obviously a small portion of my time here, it is fun to see both locals and tourists take care of their families, talk to one another, close themselves off as they appear to be headed to work, etc.. I do find these rides to be one of the best places to learn a little bit about the personalities of Europeans, as a crowded train ride brings out the best and worst of people.
Lastly, I have been thinking about the anti tourist protest ever since we first encountered it day one here. While (as a tourist) I feel we heavily support this city by providing much of its income, I can see how the presence of Airbnb is hurting locals. While locals say that the cost of living has increased by 68% over the past decade (this being blamed on Airbnb rentals), it is also argued that these same tourists raising the cost of rent are providing extra income to restaurants. In 2023, 26 million tourists made 13.8 billion euros worth of revenue for Barcelona residents. The tourist sector also accounts for 12.6% of Spanish jobs, and is continuing to grow. All of this just reminds me of all the conversations during IBUS classes, of how globalization is not stopping anytime soon, and there are pros and cons to every aspect of globalization. Instead of Spaniards attempting to protest for its removal they may want to use their efforts to mitigate the cons of tourism, and find a way to make it benefit their citizens more; up charging in the more tourist areas, a tax on hotel and house rentals, etc..
