Crowds of tourists around the Carmel bunkers in Barcelona during the third day of closure

“Are you sure they close? I don’t believe itI have seen photos and videos of people here at night & rdquor ;, they respond Damian, Wiktor and Dominikthree tourists Poles who this Thursday afternoon have gone up to the bunkers of Carmel in Barcelona with the intention of “staying to see the lights of the city & rdquor ;. But it’s not going to be possible. It is 7:15 p.m. and, in five minutes, the agents of the Urban Guard They will have been kicked out, because by half past no one can be left on the lookout.

Like these three friends, the vast majority of people who have gone to Turó de la Rovira this Thursday they ignored the new restrictions, in force since last Tuesday. The looker closes from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. to avoid parties and neighborhood nuisances, but the ignorance by foreigners means that, for now, they continue to arrive in droves at the time of sunset. Some, few, have known it when they were already on the way: “We were already on the bus and the driver has informed us& rdquor ;, say a group of Swiss girls who have arrived shortly before closing time.

Eviction, disappointment and alternative

At 7:20 p.m.the first policeman rings the whistle and raise your voice:Gentlemen, you have to go now. going to close& rdquor ;, proclaims the agent, while his colleagues go from group to group spreading the message. In spite of the disappointment, those present pay attention and leave in an orderly manner. Some stay a few more minutes, rushing the last pictures with the ‘skyline’ in the background. Meanwhile, there is a youth parade -and some families-, many of them equipped with food and drink, because they wanted to stay a long time. After three minutes there is almost no one left; at ten, the place is desert. But this is not over yet.

When you close the gazebo, It takes just over an hour for the sun to set in Barcelona; key moment in which the peak of visitors occurs. This causes that, after the closure, a constant parade of tourists arrivingthey meet some policemen who tell them “It’s closed& rdquor ;, without much more explanation, and that they annoy the plan. faces are a poem.

It was unlikely that these people would turn around to go back the way they had come. And it is that this is not a place that comes from anywhere. They have come expressly and they are not going to leave without their views and their beers. So it’s time to find the alternative. Loaded with their snacks, bottles of wine and/or cans of beer, visitors set out on a new path surrounding the fenceuntil finding a moderately comfortable place to sit and contemplate the views.

The arrival of visitors who were unaware of the new restrictions is constant during the sunset hour. After the disappointment, turn around and look for the alternative. pic.twitter.com/QAJMdFhaAu

— Gisela Macedo (@macedogisela8) May 4, 2023

Later, the outside of the gate was crowded with people. Of course, on this occasion, none of them has ventured to jump the fence, as it has happened during the previous three days. Perhaps it was due to the publication of videos that show how some tourists jump, that this Thursday the Urban Police stayed much longer watching the main entrance.

New deterrent measures

In the eyes of the neighbors, these scenes “confirm & rdquor; his theory that the fence is “insufficient”. He Veïnal Council of Turó de la Rovira has charged against the councilor of the Horta-Guinardó district, Rosa Alarcon, and this Saturday he has called a protest claiming “effective & rdquor; with which to prevent access to the Carmel bunkers.

On this matter, Alarcón has assured the media that he is “very aware that the problem is not solved& rdquor ;, but also asked that it be recognized that the situation is “much better than a month ago& rdquor ;, when a special device of the Urban Police was launched to put an end to the illegal parties and big drinks that were usually organized in the place.

The councilor has also stated that, despite the picaresque, the fence is “deterring” tourists to visit this viewpoint after a certain time, and that those who jump “risk taking a penalty fee”. The first day of closing (May 2) two sanctions were imposed. However, the question remains as to whether these sanctions will really reach their recipients, in the event that they reside in other countries.

Similarly, municipal sources recall that the complaint for entering to the Carmel bunkers after the closure has a penalty of 300 eurosand that, in the case of consuming alcohol on public roads, the fine can go from 100 to 600 euros.

Barcelona City Council hopes that, as the days go by, this problem will fade, as visitors will learn about the new schedules. For this, the consistory assures that it has asked Hotels and tourist apartments that inform their guests when they should not visit this place. Likewise, Alarcón has ensured that the municipal entity Tourism Barcelona “is working so that this information reaches tourists as soon as possible so that they do not use this space at night.”

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Also, starting this week, all Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday eves will unfold civic agents around the bunkers from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., which will have the task of explaining to the people who arrive at the place that the enclosure is closed. These will be accompanied by agents of the Urban Guard.

However, the district councilor has insisted that “the change will not be from one day to the next” and that it is necessary to “continue working” to resolve a conflict that began to take shape ten years agowhen the government of Trias tried to decentralize tourism in Barcelona; an action that, for her, was done “no governance& rdquor ;, and that has caused this lack of control in the Turó de la Rovira, a viewpoint that dies of success.