Summer in Barcelona is the most beautiful time. In the spring everything is blossoming and summer is a real blast. Every neighborhood has a local fiesta. The most unreal one is in the Gracia neighborhood, called La Festa Major de Gracia. For a week, the streets are transformed into an exhibition of handicrafts: the people of the neighborhood design their own storylines and decorations. You can go out even at night and you won't feel lonely. There will be tons of people around and they are all enjoying the city. I love that feeling of togetherness.
Your favorite cafe
I'm meant to name some nice bar downtown. But what I love most is my bar on the corner of my house. Everyone in Barcelona has a place like that. A bar with no name, where you go almost every day. You order a fresh juice or a beer with patatas bravas. You meet people you know there and feel at home.
Your place of power in Barcelona
We are in one of them - it's the Ciutadella Park. It's adorable. I also love the little park near my house in my neighborhood of Nou Barris. There are a lot of childhood memories associated with it.
Where to go to feel the real Barcelona?
It depends on what you're looking for here. Most people here live pretty poor. At the same time there are those who live in houses worth millions of euros. Barcelona has many faces. If you want to see real life, go to the outskirts. That's where the working class lives. The ones who basically hold everything together. I'd also recommend exploring the Gracia district. It's a very romantic place. It's basically a city within a city with narrow streets and a unique atmosphere.
Barcelona for you is ...
... it's my hometown. Barcelona is a very beautiful place with stunning architecture, wonderful parks and nature. But the beauty here has a downside. It is noisy, there are too many people and the city is very polluted. It seems to me that Barcelona is gradually falling into disrepair. At night you can see very unpleasant things on the street. I get upset when I meet drunken tourists who allow themselves more than Barcelona and its people deserve. I love Barcelona and I hate it sometimes.
What Barcelona has been lost with the development of mass tourism
БBarcelona has lost its own people, security, tranquility and the quiet that was there. Tourists bring a lot of money into the city. Which invariably leads to thieves. Unfortunately, the negative consequences of mass tourism are drugs, alcohol and prostitution. And that's sad enough. I think we're losing part of our identity. We are losing the respect of other countries. For many Europeans, Barcelona is like a woman of easy behavior. A place where people come on weekends to drink beer and buy drugs.
These changes to the city happened incrementally. I didn't think about it when I was a teenager. I think the city has changed the most in the last decade. My parents say that Barcelona was very different in the 90s. I love the Passeig Maritim along the sea in the Barceloneta neighborhood. It's very beautiful. But lately it's become a very criminal place. Especially at night. I'm from Barcelona, but I don't feel safe here. I often feel that tourism takes away some of what belongs to me as a city dweller.
Your advice to tourists
Respect the city and its culture. Don't yell in the street at night. Try to learn basic words and phrases in Spanish. Do not take for granted that many people here speak English.
