READ MORE: France on course to lose crown as world’s most-visited country – with UK's favourite set to take top spot despite furious overtourism protestsSee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ALESIA FIDDLER - TRAVEL REPORTER Published: 13:34 BST, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 13:39 BST, 24 August 2026
A new romantic comedy-drama from writers behind the hit series Emily in Paris has sparked backlash in Barcelona.La Vida Barcelona, which translates as Life in Barcelona, is set to be released next year and follows Dutch designer Julia as she starts a new life in the Spanish city.But the series has drawn criticism from locals who fear it could further fuel gentrification in a city already grappling with overtourism, rising rents and the high cost of living.Barcelona welcomed 26.1 million visitors in 2025, with concerns over the impact of tourism on residents continuing to grow.An Instagram campaign has now been launched against the show by @lavidabarcelona, with the account calling for viewers to boycott the series and warning about its potential impact on local life. La Vida Barcelona follows Julia, played by Holly Mae Brood (pictured) as she starts a new life in Barcelona However, an online campaign has been launched against the new show'This anger stems from seeing how neighbourhoods are being emptied of real life to be filled with tourist apartments, traditional businesses closing down, and residents forced to leave,' the creator behind the Instagram account, Tommy Blanco, told El Diario.'This series isn't the cause of all that; it's the final straw that confirms a pattern we've been suffering for years.'Spanish journalist Ana Polo added: 'We have the feeling that we're being forced out of our neighbourhoods, and now, on top of that, we're going to see it romanticized in a TV series. That's the part that makes me even angrier.' The show's director Ayla Spaans explained, 'they wanted to show a different Barcelona and remind people that the places with more personality must continue to exist,' according to The Olive Press. The new series stars Priscilla Delgado, Holly Mae Brood and Greta Fernández. It is being filmed in Barcelona and Amsterdam. The Daily Mail approached Millstreet Films for comment.Over recent years there have been multiple anti-tourist protests across Spain – including Barcelona, Malaga, the Canary Islands and the Balearics. In April last year, locals fired water pistols at a tour bus outside Barcelona's Sagrada Familia. Barcelona struggles with over tourism with 26.1 million visitors heading there in 2025 and high living costs for residentsThe city is popular with immigrants looking for a new life, and foreign national residents make up 26.4 per cent of its total population as of January 2025, according to Catalan News. In the same year, Barcelona's population reached a record-breaking 1.73 million, with the increase put down to migration. By 2040, Spain is expected to take the lead with 110 million inbound visitors, pushing France to second place with a projected 105 million, according to new research by Deloitte and Google.It would mark a huge leap for Spain as the country welcomed 97 million last year, which was an all-time high according to the National Institute of Statistics. The news of Spain's projected influx of visitors may not be surprising for some, as the country has long been a popular spot with Brits. A whopping 19.1 million visitors from the UK went to the country in 2025, Travel Gossip reports, spending nearly €24 billion.
