Tourism in Madrid, London, Paris and Stockholm

Back in the days of the longed-for normality, not so long ago, when travelling to Copenhagen you would discover a fascinating city... but too quiet. Particularly at night, when young people sought the refuge of bars and pubs and could barely find two or three places they could get wild playing up to their age and desire to have fun. Then, when you asked around here and there where to have a few after-dinner drinks and maybe a bit of dancing, everyone would head you to the neighbouring city of Malmö, very close to the Danish capital, although a proud and charming city located in another country, Sweden. If the time off allowed it, they would even go to Stockholm for a few days, where the nightlife was even more lively. Cars loaded with 20-year-olds would drive off in droves over the Oresund Bridge at the stroke of midnight to seek in Swedish lands what the Little Mermaid could not offer them, however much they loved and cherished her as their own. Did the residents of Malmö ever hear the government of their country lash out at their city for hosting a shameful and ethyllic "drunken tourism"? Did the Swedish government ever insult young Danes for their quest for fun on its soil? Did they see themselves ridiculed on TV, depicted in augmented reality dancing around like lazy bums in search of alcohol and easy laughs? Well, this is exactly what is happening in Spain these days with the arrival of young French and Germans, who are taking the opportunity to travel to Spanish cities thanks to the open and uncontrolled borders, as decided by the same government that has opened the ban on attacks on them and on one of these tourist cities: Madrid.

The umpteenth disqualifying label coined by the Spanish left is that of "binge tourism". And as usual, it clearly identifies the target of the attack: neither the hard-hit tourist area of Magaluf nor the overcrowded Benidorm have suffered these invectives, nor even Barcelona, where this weekend we have seen more street binges and illegal parties, and gatherings without safety distances on the Barceloneta beach. Instead, the focus is on Madrid. Tourism of cobblestones and container fire against the police that we saw not long ago in Barcelona is not to be criticised, despite the fact that among those arrested three weeks ago there were Italians and French people. Criticism should lie in the fact that thousands of foreigners come to Madrid to sit on the terraces and drink in the open bars. 

This time they are going too far because attacking the capital region of a country and its prestige in this way, with a legion of media spreading the message, is never cost-free. Macron would never attack Paris with such arguments, nor Boris Johnson London, despite being governed by political rivals. They would not do so because they know that the reputation of their capitals is far above political warfare, and stigmatising them with such labels as binge tourism would not only be unfair, but also clumsy and unjust. Paris and London are affairs of state. Anne Hidalgo and Sadiq Khan are the socialist and Labour mayors respectively of their cities, and the governments of both countries are liberal and conservative. To accuse those who visit as drunks because there is a local election coming up and thus erode the adversary is a low thing to do and dashes the hopes of a serious and organised country. 

It is the government that can prevent the "French drunks" from coming, which shows disrespect for them by trying to harm the president of Madrid. They could adopt a decree today to close the borders or implement checkpoints at the Adolfo Suárez airport, but they won't do it. Labelling and disqualifying is easier.