ribeirasacra

News in English, which is more about the drunks then anything else:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ists-barcelona
News in Spanish which state the locals are also protesting about the illegal lets in the area. Second night of protests:
http://www.lavanguardia.com/local/ba...orrachera.html

IMDonehere

How about Germans in Speedos?

dwdvagamundo

Were the Italians worried about pickpockets?

ribeirasacra

No the locals are worried about the illegal rentals which help to increase the drunks on the street. Maybe something will be done about both.
I wonder why drunks and illegal rentals are in this area only???

Egbert

It's a sketchy area, especially at night.

RM67

"No the locals are worried about the illegal rentals which help to increase the drunks on the street".

An absolutely ridiculous statement.

ribeirasacra

Routemaster67 Please read the articles as this statement is not mine; it is the newspapers.

dwdvagamundo

ribeirasacra--understood the purpose of the protests from the article (leo Espanhol) My comment was tongue in cheek.

RM67--The protest was about services like airbnb that rent apartments to tourists on a short-term basis in residential areas of Barcelona (or better said, assist the tenants of the apartments to rent a room or so out) and which tourists proceed to get drunk and otherwise misbehave.

I'm with the residents on this one--not just in Barcelona but everywhere.

Christina

Illegal rentals do increase drunks on the street where I live, because a lot of the people who stay in those places aren't very upstanding citizens and cause various problems (drunk, crime, etc.). But illegal rentals where I live are more like 20 people crammed into an apt without the landlord knowing it, undocumented foreigners, transients, and one place even drug/prostitution trade.

That's different from Airbnb, of course.

I can see how Airbnb could increase drunks on the street if people were subletting to a lot of young hoolligans, many to an apt -- every seen some British young people in various European capital cities taking over cafes, all being drunk? Well, I have, in Prague. A lot of young British drink a lot and in public. I complained to the cafe and the waiter said they come there for the weekend all the time and create problems for various restaurants and cafes. So if someone were illegally renting to 6 young men who drank, it would bother me, also. In fact, I was in a rental apt in Barcelona that had at least 4 very loud drunk, young German guys in it last year.

ribeirasacra

dwdvagamundo I have to award you for the funniest reply on this thread maybe on this forum for a quite a while. Well done.

ribeirasacra

This has now stepped up a gear and unofficial rental apartments have been closed.
http://eldigital.bcn.cat/?p=79169&lang=en&lang=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRgtEY5Vtkg

Bedar

Too bad for 'legitimate' renters, but these illegal apts. need to get registered with the authorities and to pay taxes on their earnings. I can't understand how these drunken goons could wander around for THREE hours and not be picked up by the police and thrown in the slammer. Where is the Guardia Civil when it's needed?

ribeirasacra

Drunks are dealt with by the Mossos d'Esquadra.
Registering vacation rentals has nothing to do with taxes. There is no data base link. It is all to do with ensuring a basic standard and that the owners act responsible. This in turn will act as a limitation of such rentals.