I visit Barcelona quite often for work, but do try and visit the local area while I'm there and do 'touristy' things. I've had, on three separate occasions, groups of men harass and shout profanities at me, telling me to f- off back home, or calling me a filthy tourist; once going as far to follow me around jeering while I was taking photos, trying to intimidate me and forcing me back into the more populated areas.

I'm not surprised you don't see how anybody is harassing tourists; you're a local so you don't get harassed. That's doesn't mean it's not an issue.

I'm used to be with tourists here and most of my friends here are from other countries and we are all the time speaking in English and doing these "touristy things". It never happened to me or my friends. Can I ask where did that happen?

What should I learn about gentrification to understand "TOURISTS FUCK OFF"?

That those airbnb many people get are kicking out the families off their neighborhoods, that tourists are being the priority instead of the citizens, that that type of economy is just erasing local businesses -created for daily life and not for a weekend holidays-, that it's degrading the quality of life of those who live there... Las Ramblas were once a place for the people of the city. Most of young people now can't name a single spot there that is useful there for someone who lives in Barcelona. I could continue but if you try to look at the future seeing what happened in the last 10-15 years, you can see Barcelona turning into a theme park instead of a city. Being controlled by external economy does no good to anybody anywhere, and that's why you can read "tourists fuck off" in some walls. If you travel you should be aware of the type of tourism you're going to practice and the consequences for the area you're visiting.

Locals should be attacking the landowners sucking money out of the economy, not the visitors pumping money into it.

They do too. Is not as simple as having money or not, the social fabric is the base of healthy neighborhoods and tourism is really invasive against that matter. I said a bunch of reasons there. The visitors should be aware of that. Why would we want to have more money if we don't have a place to live that we can call home? Or if those who are "pumping money" are making our life's more expensive while our salaries remain the same? I don't think you are addressing the problem from the vision of someone suffering the gentrification.

I've experienced the same experiences as those mentioned above in Barcelona. You clearly agree with those terrorizing tourists out of some misguided blame.

The reality is that the rich Spanish sold the rest of you out for a quick buck. That's why there aren't any good jobs and any reason to stay. Those that stay whine and complain. Yet every Spaniard I've talked to in northern Europe talks openly about the whining and the lack of desire to get to the root of the problem or take responsibility.

I have a good job and most of my friends do now, the weather is nice, my family is here... There are many reasons to stay in my situation. In my opinion going to northern Europe sounds way more like avoiding the problem rather than taking any responsibility.

just as a semi related matter of curiosity, what is the local's perception of skateboarders there? is it a source of annoyance to live in a skate-mecca or are people basically ok with it?

I personally love skate and I haven't seen many people protesting against it. Skateboarders use to be pretty nice, they move around in some areas that are used to them -or even prepared for them-, and also there are some other problems related to transport as the new scooters, the public spaces for bicycles, taxi vs uber, etc... that I feel more people are concerned about right now. It probably used to be a bigger thing, when the big crews of skaters started to come 10 years ago, but I never saw a neighborhood trying to kick them off! (which doesn't means that it never happened) What I saw it happened was the opposite, like in Nou Barris where the neighborhood maintained a DIY skatepark -that now is amazing, finally paid by the city hall- for 20 years and made it a symbol of social protest/resistance.

"very rude locals that refuse to speak in english" ... say that again, but slowly.

They are Spanish. They live in Spain. They speak either Spanish or Catalan and have no obligation to speak English to you. It's "very rude" of you to not try learn some basic Spanish.

I'm native English and live in Poland. My interactions with Poles (who mostly speak English and are happy to do try) are vastly different if they can see I am trying also: starting the conversation in Polish before transitioning to English is a much warmer experience than just starting with English from the beginning.

It's the same in Spain as well. Start with "hola" or "buenos dias" and then something like "podemos hablar Ingles?" or "perdon, no hablo Espanol" and suddenly 99% of these "very rude locals" will be incredibly friendly to you.

You don't need to, and most don't expect, that you can fluently speak to them in the local language. But they do expect that you respect them enough to try.

This is a funny comment. It comes across like a satirical "typical privileged American" silicon valley-esque comment. Is Uber now somehow the mark of a progressive society? Most cities, particularly tourist destination, have old shops selling trinkets, antiques, and other items that can be a lot of fun. Many airbnbs are technically illegal and detrimental to the local community, so again, not sure how this demonstrates Barcelona being "extremely regressive" by fining them. Then the icing on top of the cake, you are upset that the locals refuse to speak in English... in their own country... where English isn't the native language. You sound exactly like the kind of tourist these people want to keep away

I’m not quite sure that random tourists and Airbnb guests bring more value to a city than the actual people that have been living there for generations.