The city: tourism and housing
Barcelona launches a plan to manage its most crowded areas
Many municipal government press conferences are held at City Hall. It was a mesmerizing experience to see how such an historic building could be modernized and adapted for journalists.
In this press conference, the municipal government stated that the most crowded and touristic areas would be protected by restricting traffic and with the presence of civic agents. I also had the opportunity to help in the live broadcast from the City Hall to inform about this new policy for the newscast.
Locals call for a united front against tourist apartment licences
Even though businesses and institutions have more resources to communicate their messages, it is important to listen to locals as well. They are the ones who live their days in the city and usually face the most challenges.
As the situation with housing and tourist apartments became more polarised, some neighbors organized themselves through the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia to make an improvised press conference in front of one of the targeted apartment blocks.
Student housing becomes a lucrative property business in Barcelona
Barcelona is an attractive spot for tourists and business, but also for college students. The increase in international students coming to the city to study abroad opened the door to invest in coliving: apartments with many rooms, capable of hosting around ten students.
Our team had the opportunity to visit an apartment that was being renovated into a co-living space next to the University of Barcelona, as well as visiting a few empty lots destine for new student residences.