Karolina Wachowicz swapped her life in Poland for Barcelona in Spain, having split from her husband. She quickly realised she wasn’t as welcome as she had hoped
A woman ditched her marriage and job in Poland for a new life in Spain and has been hounded out by locals angry at “foreigners taking over”, she claims.
Karolina Wachowicz says she has found herself at the center of the overtourism debate after she split from her husband and moved west. The 35-year-old had decided to make the move because she felt “lost and overwhelmed by work.”
“Why there? Because it was the cheapest,” she said of her decision to go to Barcelona. “I didn’t plan on moving, it’s not that I fell in love with Barcelona either. It’s a beautiful city, true, but that’s not why I decided to live there.
“Over time, I began to feel that it was easier for me to be myself in Spain, and I was simply happier there. But settling into her new life wasn’t easy. It was difficult at first, I had to start all over again. I had no job, no friends, and I didn’t speak the language.
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“I received an employment contract, and I was finally able to rent an apartment in Barcelona. And just when everything was starting to fall into place, the COVID pandemic hit. It was a turning point that forced me to reconsider my plans.
“Instead of returning to Poland, I decided to stay and focus on my work.”
After a few years, Karolina decided to buy a flat – despite her pals’ warning her not to. She said: “After a few years, I decided to take a step that my friends called reckless – I bought an apartment with a mortgage.
“‘You don’t even speak Spanish, how are you going to handle everything at the bank?’ they asked. Despite my doubts, I knew it was the right decision. I felt it was a step towards stability and truly feeling at home here.”
But things soon turned sour when Karolina began feeling the backlash from locals taking part in “Tourists Go Home” protests, which began cropping up with increased regularity from 2022 onwards.
Fed up with congestion and soaring rents, campaigners plastered Barcelona with posters and graffiti. On one occasion, they doused holidaymakers with water pistols.
Despite being a long term resident of the city, Karolina didn’t always feel welcome. “I got the impression that friends who visited me were not always welcome. And they were repeatedly called ‘guiri’, a not very friendly term aimed at tourists and even foreign residents,” she said.
“When someone stands out because of their appearance, they immediately draw attention and unfriendly looks from locals. In my building, the owners were only Catalan; I was the only foreigner.
“They wouldn’t add me to the community WhatsApp group and did not always inform or consult with me about building and community matters. La Barceloneta, the neighbourhood where I lived, is right on the beach.
“It’s very popular, especially with tourists. Every day, year-round, you can see visitors from all corners of the world. And it’s here that you’ll find the most posters, placards, and stickers.
“Yes, Barcelona is overflowing with tourists, who undoubtedly contribute to rising housing prices, but they also generate significant revenue for the city and the country.”
After six years in Spain, Karolina finally quit Barcelona and moved to Taiwan earlier this year.
She said the “anti-tourism movement in Barcelona is a bit unfair”, adding: “It’s thanks to visitors that the city gained its fame and funding for development. Furthermore, restaurants, pubs, museums, and many other attractions rely primarily on tourism. Many Catalans are repeating the ‘trendy’ phrase that tourists are evil.”