Guests, Not Clients
We're almost at the middle of August, vacation month par excellence. It's obvious every time we go into town, or over to another town to do shopping, or to the beach, or wherever we step, almost. Thanks to the terrorist threat in Tunisia, random terrorist attacks in other European countries, and the complete uncertainty of Turkey, people are either staying in Spain, or coming here for sun and fun.
The beaches, normally already crowded this month, have become impossible. They look like the bank of Boston's Charles River during the Fourth of July Pops concert. To find one square meter of unoccupied sand is mission impossible on some shores. Even here, in Galicia, which has never been massified in the summer, we're noticing the upturn in tourism.
This upturn translates into vanished parking spaces, longer lines at the supermarket, crowded sidewalks, crowded beaches, and sometimes uncivil or criminal behavior. In Pamplona four men have recently been arraigned for raping a girl during the San Fermín festival. Entire towns along the Mediterranean are known as drinking paradises, with drunks proclaiming their status every night, and making the locals shut themselves up at night, just in case. And in Santiago, five idiots were caught climbing the scaffolding on the south tower of the cathedral. They weren't alone. Thirty others were egging them on from the ground, and there wasn't a cop in sight. One of the managers of a nearby bar had to walk to police headquarters nearby to get a patrol to come and take in hand the assault on the cathedral. Shades of Almanzor, though I don't think the bells were in danger this time. Once the cops showed up, the eggers-on scurried off into every side street they could find, unlike the Moors over a thousand years ago. The climbers weren't as lucky, caught six meters up the scaffold. The local bar owners have complained that there are barely any patrols at night, and many tourists prefer to buy their own and drink in the streets. Quite a few locals are worried Santiago might turn into another Magaluf.
One of the problems of so many people seeking out the unique, is that the unique stops being that. There is a town in the province of Granada pronounced by the National Geographic as having one of the most beautiful and unique views in the world. It's called Montefrío and was founded by the Moors, though it is much more ancient than that because there are Neolithic remains in the surrounding hills. But from being a small town with periodic tourists in the summer, it has become a tourist mecca year-round. The beauty is now punctuated by crowds jostling and shouting, and all trying to get the best selfies from the areas with the best views. It has stopped being a paradise. It's now become a touristy stop with gewgaws sold at every corner and the actual beauty has been defiled with "Cheap souvenirs," "We spoak English," (the misspelling is deliberate) "This way to the best restaurant," "Guided tours," "Best hotel in town."
In the desire to escape from the mundane, too many people have taken the mundane with them. Whatever happened to what many of us were taught as children? When you're visiting, be on your best behavior and leave behind a good impression. That not only applies to visiting a friend's house, it also applies to visiting a town, city, or country that is not ours and where we are guests. But too many of us take to heart the phrase "The client is always right." The client is not always right, and whoever first coined that should have been subjected to some of its results in some of the more touristy areas. The problem is that we see ourselves as "clients" when we go somewhere, instead of "guests." The world needs a lesson in civility.
The beaches, normally already crowded this month, have become impossible. They look like the bank of Boston's Charles River during the Fourth of July Pops concert. To find one square meter of unoccupied sand is mission impossible on some shores. Even here, in Galicia, which has never been massified in the summer, we're noticing the upturn in tourism.
This upturn translates into vanished parking spaces, longer lines at the supermarket, crowded sidewalks, crowded beaches, and sometimes uncivil or criminal behavior. In Pamplona four men have recently been arraigned for raping a girl during the San Fermín festival. Entire towns along the Mediterranean are known as drinking paradises, with drunks proclaiming their status every night, and making the locals shut themselves up at night, just in case. And in Santiago, five idiots were caught climbing the scaffolding on the south tower of the cathedral. They weren't alone. Thirty others were egging them on from the ground, and there wasn't a cop in sight. One of the managers of a nearby bar had to walk to police headquarters nearby to get a patrol to come and take in hand the assault on the cathedral. Shades of Almanzor, though I don't think the bells were in danger this time. Once the cops showed up, the eggers-on scurried off into every side street they could find, unlike the Moors over a thousand years ago. The climbers weren't as lucky, caught six meters up the scaffold. The local bar owners have complained that there are barely any patrols at night, and many tourists prefer to buy their own and drink in the streets. Quite a few locals are worried Santiago might turn into another Magaluf.
One of the problems of so many people seeking out the unique, is that the unique stops being that. There is a town in the province of Granada pronounced by the National Geographic as having one of the most beautiful and unique views in the world. It's called Montefrío and was founded by the Moors, though it is much more ancient than that because there are Neolithic remains in the surrounding hills. But from being a small town with periodic tourists in the summer, it has become a tourist mecca year-round. The beauty is now punctuated by crowds jostling and shouting, and all trying to get the best selfies from the areas with the best views. It has stopped being a paradise. It's now become a touristy stop with gewgaws sold at every corner and the actual beauty has been defiled with "Cheap souvenirs," "We spoak English," (the misspelling is deliberate) "This way to the best restaurant," "Guided tours," "Best hotel in town."
In the desire to escape from the mundane, too many people have taken the mundane with them. Whatever happened to what many of us were taught as children? When you're visiting, be on your best behavior and leave behind a good impression. That not only applies to visiting a friend's house, it also applies to visiting a town, city, or country that is not ours and where we are guests. But too many of us take to heart the phrase "The client is always right." The client is not always right, and whoever first coined that should have been subjected to some of its results in some of the more touristy areas. The problem is that we see ourselves as "clients" when we go somewhere, instead of "guests." The world needs a lesson in civility.
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