What keeps Barcelona going?
Water: The drought that reached the city
On 2 February 2024 the Ter–Llobregat system entered emergency, and on 8 March 2024 its five reservoirs held 90 hm³, about 15% of capacity. Desalination supplied 69.7 hm³ that year. The reservoirs are back to 80%, but tourism water use is still not metered.
- Agència Catalana de l’Aigua, reservoir storage
- ATL annual report 2024
- Generalitat de Catalunya, drought response 2024
Community: Where visitors sleep, residents feel it
74% of residents say services are reaching their limit and 31% call tourism harmful. Registered tourist-flat places reached 58,528 in 2025; the city plans to end every licence by 2028. Protesters marched in July 2024.
- Ajuntament / OTB resident survey 2024
- Idescat tourist-use dwellings
- Catalan News, licences to end by 2028
Mobility: An airport, a port and a station
El Prat handled 57.5 million passenger movements in 2025 and the port 4.0 million cruise movements, all through Moll Adossat since the North Terminal closed in 2023. During the April 2025 blackout TMB carried 1.25 million bus passengers while the Metro was down.
- AENA traffic statistics
- Port de Barcelona traffic statistics
- Port de Barcelona, North Terminal closure
- TMB, blackout bus service
Governance: A large visitor economy, no reserve on record
Visitors spent about €10.4 billion in the city in 2025, and municipal debt stood at €1,287 million. The tourist tax and city surcharge are rising, but no receipts history or downturn reserve is in the evidence.
- Observatori del Turisme a Barcelona, 2025
- Ministry of Finance, municipal debt
- Ajuntament de Barcelona, tourist-tax surcharge
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