Having lived in BCN for the last 8 years I can sadly confirm that around 95% of the Spanish dislike around 90% of the English (a figure which drops for Scots and Irish, perceived as friendlier overall). And no distinction is made between tourists and expats because many expats are seen as longterm tourists. I make no distiction between cities and resorts either because the same gripes surface all the time on Spanish twitter and media.
It isn’t just cliched, lagered/coked up balconing Brits abroad behaviour though. A lot of middle class Brits are disliked too for lording it over locals, creating ghettos, not learning Sp or Cat, and pricing people out. Of course this isn’t unique to Brits, it’s a global influx that is destabilising jobs and housing access, but the Brits are more visible than the rest because they tend to move around in packs. And are a lot louder than say the Asians, Africans, or other Europeans (in total around 20-25% of local population now)
The irony is that British culture, music, bands, tv, humour, cinema, eccentricity and classic brands are loved in Spain but then people are confronted by the reality… and then people like me get in the neck every fcking day of my life…
Maybe 5 or 10 people on the forum will read this post and some of them will nod and then it will be forgotten and business will go on as usual as it has done for the last 50+ years. Cos most of you deep down don’t give a shit about this stuff.
All I can say to anyone who does care is be nice, learn a few words, eat something decent and maybe you’ll break through the barriers but it will take many years to shift the stereotypes
