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Tag Archives: tourism

welcome to guirilandia

28 Monday Nov 2022

Posted by azahar in culture, sevilla, spain

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Tags

sevilla, spain, tourism

guirilandia (1)

Not surprising to learn that 6 out of 10 dwellings in the Barrio Sant Cruz (my old ‘hood) are now tourist apartments. But it was a bit shocking to find out that it is the most tourist saturated neighbourhood IN SPAIN. And these stats are from 2019 so things are actually much worse now. I’ve  been living in Museo for the past five years and even here new tourist apartment buildings – ENTIRE BUILDINGS – are popping up all over the place. Likewise new hotels. Everywhere.

You don’t need much of a brain to figure out that without neighbours there is no neighbourhood. That without neighbours the entire local infrastructure becomes geared to serving tourists, which is quite hideous. No more corner stores, fruit and veg shops, book shops, no more newsagents… small family run bars replaced by sleek and shiny corporate replicants. And instead crass commercialism abounds with tacky souvenir shops vying for space alongside mediocre tapas bars, the streets flooded with dazed tourists thinking they are experiencing the REAL DEAL. The irony of course being that the very thing they have come to see no longer exists and they don’t even know it. I still love Sevilla so much, but I also miss her.

guirilandia (2)

about last night…

28 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by azahar in sevilla, tapas, tourism, travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

sevilla, tourism, world tourism day

last night (5)

So remember how I couldn’t go to the posh do last night because I was being responsible and taking care of business? Well, turned out my tapas tour finished in time for me to pop over and catch the tail end of the event – also helped that it was about five minutes away from our last tapas bar. So I popped over! Met up with a few friends and acquaintances, had a couple of glasses of cava and then shared a taxi home with my neighbour Mónica. Also – bonus! Got a swag bag on the way out. So kind of a win-win. And I think I may have set the wheels in motion for my next biz idea (fingers crossed, more later) so if that works out it’ll be a win-win-win.

last night (1)

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muy famosa muy desconocida

09 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by azahar in sevilla, tourism

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

sevilla, spain, tourism

famosa desconocida

Sevilla is being promoted by the tourist board as the most famous unknown city in the world. 🤷🏻‍♀️

sustainable tourism – an oxymoron?

20 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by azahar in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, spain, tourism, travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

sevilla, spain, tourism

sustainable

If there’s one thing the latest holiday long weekend (October 8-12) has shown it’s that nobody gives a fuck about so-called sustainable tourism. What l saw in the bars and in the streets was total greed in action and it was not pretty. Visitors desperate for an “experience” and a tourism/hospitality industry that only cares about massive profit. All backed by the government that miraculously discovered the Covid data it needed to justify the elimination of all restrictions just in time for the biggest national holiday between summer and Christmas. Coincidence?

Most people appeared to have thrown caution to the wind in terms of Covid (no masks or social distancing AT ALL) while hotels were crowing about having a 90% occupation rate, and many bars were allowing way too many people inside… back to normal! What short memories we have. And how stupid we are to blindly believe that we are safe at “Level 0” when just a few days previously we were not. I get it, sort of. People are tired of being locked down, shut in, etc. Except most people haven’t been. They just haven’t been able to go on holiday abroad without testing or pack themselves into tapas bars. Boo fucking hoo.

I truly see this sudden return to “normal” in Sevilla with cheap flights, hordes of mindless (and maskless) tourists milling about everywhere, streets clogged, bars and restaurants overflowing, as not only a special kind of hell, but also a reaffirmation that people, at heart, are basically selfish assholes.

I mean, have we not learned anything during these past almost 20 months?? Have we not learned to re-evaluate what is truly valuable to us? Have we not given one thought to the idea that our past NORMAL was in part what caused this most recent global catastrophe? Apparently not. And even though there has been a lot of press about the concept of sustainable tourism, it looks like that is just so much lip service. No such thing exists at the moment.

unsafe travel stickers

25 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by azahar in coronavirus, sevilla, spain, tourism, travel, welcome

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Tags

coronavirus, covid, spain, tourism, travel

unsafe
These two so-called “safe travel” stickers (apparently there are others) are being promoted by ICTE and WTTC but do little more then create a false sense of security. Anyone can get one of these online just by PROMISING to obey the protocols. No inspections, no control, no nuthin. Worse than useless, they are actually dangerous.

Since our borders were flung open again this past Monday, the very first day after our three-month lockdown, coronavirus infections have been on the rise throughout Spain.

What has really made me feel sick this past week is seeing people on Twitter discussing their summer holiday plans, saying shit like “let’s go to Spain or Italy, they have way fewer cases than we do!” as if… what?? Think about that for a minute. How is it okay for you to go somewhere without even considering the people who live where you are going? The people you are likely to end up infecting. And who the actual FUCK decides to go abroad on FUCKING HOLIDAY during a FUCKING GLOBAL PANDEMIC? The mind reels.

Just to be clear… I am far from anti-tourism. My entire business relies on tourists, and especially from the UK and US. But we have all seen the whole tourism thing spiralling out of control over the past few years so maybe this had to happen. Problem is that people keep refusing to believe things can’t just go back to the way they used to be. Well, they can’t and they won’t. Because they never should have been that way. So deal.

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azahar on twitter

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sevilla tapas on twitter

  • RT @VictordelaSerna: Quite a discovery, 2021 Llamoricas by Bodega Aliste in Zamora's little-known Sierra de la Culebra. A biodynamic tempra… 2 hours ago
  • Ensaladilla with tuna belly and pickle mayo. @MaquilaBar #sevilla #tapas #sevillatapas #azahartapas https://t.co/nXcFaSMdOX 2 hours ago

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