Although owners are proud of the store’s fame, the number of visitors posing for photos without ... [+]
A historic store in Barcelona has become so frustrated with tourists snapping selfies rather than spending money that it has imposed an entry fee.
Queviures Múrria is a delicatessen established in 1898 and located in the Eixample neighborhood.
The traditional store sells upmarket food items like caviar, fine wine, smoked meats and small-batch cheeses.
Visitors come to marvel at its Modernista design - an art movement also known as Catalan art nouveau - but they rarely open their wallets.
Instead, tourists admire and photograph the wooden facade with antique writing, retro fire-tinted glass publicity, and mahogany-shelved interior crammed with products.
Spanish store charges visitors who don’t spend money
Although the owners are proud of their store’s aesthetic fame, the number of visitors posing for photos without making a purchase has become unmanageable.
A sign has now appeared outside the shop to dissuade visitors who treat the deli as a tourist attraction.
“Visit just looking (inside) €5 x person, thank you,” reads the new notice.
No one has yet been charged, but the number of tourists entering with no intention of spending has dropped significantly, manager Toni Merino says.
Barcelona cracks down on overtourism
The deli's decision to limit tourists is indicative of a problem plaguing the Spanish city more widely.
Barcelona has struggled in recent years with the influx of visitors. In 2022, over 5.8 million international tourists stayed at hotels in the city, making it the most visited in Spain.
The Catalan capital has introduced various measures to mitigate the problems of overtourism.
On top of the region-wide tourist tax, Barcelona adds a city-wide surcharge for visitors.
The total fee tourists pay depends on the type of visitor accommodation, including hotels, rentals and campsites, and only applies to official tourist lodging.
At the start of the year, the city announced a ‘scaled increase’ to the municipal tourist tax.
On 1 April this year, the surcharge rose from €1.75 to €2.75; on 1 April 2024 it will jump to €3.25.
For those staying in rental accommodation, the nightly fee is now €5 - with €2.25 going to the region and €2.75 to the city.
Guests of five-star hotels pay €6.25, with €3.50 for regional tax and €2.75 for the city.
Next year that goes up again. Those staying in five-star hotels will have to pay €6.75 per night, for example.
Revenue from the hiked-up tourist tax will go towards improving the city's infrastructure and public transport.
