Fed up with mass tourism, Barcelona locals say, 'Tourists go home!'

The words ‘Tourists Go Home’ are spray-painted on a wall in the artists’ quarter Vila de Gràcia in Barcelona. — EMILIO RAPPOLD/dpa

“They should all be sent packing, and best close the borders!” a woman in her 80s grumbles, her face contorted with rage, as she schlepps home with her shopping bags past the famous Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain.

“The Brits and Germans are the worst, they make our lives hell here,” the pensioner yells, after a group of young tourists fails to move out of the way on the narrow pavement. Her insults are met with cheers from a group of elderly gentleman sitting in a nearby café.