Eat Play Live Barcelona !: Tourist Invasion

Wow, this place is busy now. Tourists are everywhere. It is full of visitors, on the metro or buses - looking for all sorts of places. I even have tourists coming up to me to ask where this or that is. I must have a local look!! Definitely not. I am 100% visitor in this place!! The other day I was listening to my ipod, and as I was coming out of a metro station a guy walked up to me and tried to get my attention by jumping into my headspace. I was zoned into my music and got a fright, and instinctively I just said "No hablo espanol" (I do not speak Spanish). Only afterwards did I realise he was speaking to me in English!! Asking me where the Magic Fountain was. I guess he must have assumed I was an English speaker (maybe he saw English slogans on my clothing) and thought I would be a good person to ask directions. I was taken unawares, too tuned into my music. So, the tourist season is in full swing. The crowds are here - on the beaches, the streets and on the public transport. The Hop-on Hop-off tour buses are making a killing! From what I can make out, there are lots of Americans visitors. I hear American accents all over the place. It is comforting - in a way - to hear the Americans, as one knows if they are visiting a place, it has to be ok. I went to Barceloneta Beach late on Sunday - at about 9pm - after my visit to the Picasso Museum. It was light and there were still people on the beach. The beach was full of littler though. Worse than I imagined. I guess it is hard work maintaining these Spanish beaches. Everybody wants to visit them! And leave their litter behind afterwards!! I saw a group of Americans sitting on the beach with some bottles of booze in their hands. Then I saw some another group of Americans sitting outside a Spar supermarket and having a picnic dinner on the pavement. Americanos, they always bring a place to life!!