convert commercial premises of the center into payment bathrooms

The Tourist Mold the cities. That is not new. Nor anything they have not experienced in their meats streets the residents of the cities with the highest flow of visitors, such as Barcelona, Madrid either Palmto name just a handful of examples. Vacation rent increases, which pull up From housing prices, it contributes to the gentrification of The most central neighborhoods and redraws trade and hospitality, as already He has recognized Malaga.

In Madrid that process threatens, however, with something else: to make the city look like a music festival. For now you already have a few Settings for travelers and commercial premises converted into toilets.

A private bath … and something else. Trends (and Tourist of a city is) cook to ‘slow fire’, with the passage of time and by accumulation. But that does not mean that from time to time we find specific cases that stand out for their symbolic value. Represent. Personalize. Madrid has just left A clear example. There, in one of their most central and tourist areas, they just reconvert an old bank branch in some toilets.

The case I commented Recently in X Antonio GiraldoUrbanist and Socialist Edil in Madrid, and has not taken to attract the attention of the networks and means. Near the Plaza Mayor, one of the most tourist points in the capital, has just opened a peculiar business: private bathrooms at street levels that can be accessed prior to payment of a euro. The business occupies a bass in the Plaza de San Miguel.

Why is it important? For what it is. And also for what it represents. In Street view It can be seen that a few years ago that same bass was occupied by the offices of a bank. Today is a private toilet at street level, with a huge ‘WC’ poster in La Gensrera, an access lathe, a reader for card payment, a poster with the price and everything else that would be expected in a toilet : cubicles, toilets, bins, toilet paper dispensers, sink … eldiario.es precise That the place has 273 m2, although in reality there are two stores and one is still closed.

The business does not make distinctions and toilets can pass both neighbors and tourists prior payment of a euro, but in this case where it matters almost as much as what. The business has opened at a very tourist point, at the exit of the San Miguel market, near the Plaza Mayor. In fact, just a few minutes from there there are Several public toiletspart of The 129 network Bathrooms Free access whose maintenance –The City Council clarifies– It is paid thanks to advertising.

Two approaches, two audiences. So much before, when it was a BBVA office, as now, converted into a WC that can be accessed by paying, the place was basically the same: offer services. Very different, true; But services after all. The big question is … Who uses a bank branch and who a private bathroom? That key is what Leave driving Giraldo himself in X.

“Yes, a bank office serves the residents, especially the older people. I do not critic … “, The councilor warns. Talk about Madrid, but it is not something exceptional. Neither Madrid is the only city that experiences that phenomenon.

“Quality decreases”. In An official document in which he acknowledges that the city is reaching “unprecedented saturation levels”, the Malaga City Council speaks of that same reality. And in a very critical tone.

“Mass tourism can lead to the proliferation of low quality gastronomic establishments, deteriorating the experience for both tourists and local,” he says The report Before warning of the risk of “the expulsion of native business and added value, replaced by souvenir stores and other tourist -oriented shops.” It is nothing that they have lived great destinations Like Amsterdam.

Private toilets and something else. The case of the toilets has also raised interest in part also for Who has driven The business, but is not the only example of spaces that tourism has been making its own in the streets of Madrid.

In the center of the city you can find a good number of Souvenir stores and slogan businesses Clearly focused on travelers. In fact there are already chains focused on that service that expand through the most visited capitals in the country, such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia and Malaga. Also shops that facilitate the Check-in In Airbnb flats.

An unequal impact. The hospitality is not alien to that trend either. In 2024 Fedea published A report that analyzes the impact that the conversion of historical buildings in hotels has in its surroundings. And your reading is bittersweet. The study found that the new accommodations have “a positive effect” on the trade and employment of the neighborhood and even speaks of a “significant economic revitalization.” Of course, not all business profiles are favored.

“The positive impact is not homogeneous. Activities related to tourism and the services sector, such as restaurants, fashion stores and souvenirs, are benefited, while traditional industries have been displaced from the center of cities,” summarize.

The study also confirms that the opening of hotels in the cities favored mainly business with societies behind the freelancers. In fact, he talks about a “displacement of local bars and restaurants” in favor of chains, businesses with a “greater size”.

Housing, great protagonist. If there is a front in which the Tourist He feels especially clear is that of housing. At the end of 2024 the INE counted in Madrid almost 17,300 tourist homes, of which around 7,300They brought together in the central almond, the ‘District 1’. And in 2013 Fravm provided data Airbnb that suggested that at least on that platform the local offer could be quite larger. Whether or not, the truth is that the City Council He has taken measures To control the offer.

It is not the only one. Similar measures, in one sense or another, more or less resounding, but always aimed at stopping the uncontrolled expansion of tourist floors, have also adopted in Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga either Santiago. Moncloa herself provides a Special attention to the subject. After all, the holiday lease not only drain residential offer. There are studies that corroborate that the traditional offer increases, making Up more than 30%.

Images | Manuel MV (Flickr) and Help Stay (UNSPLASH)

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