Your Barcelona Trip Is About to Get Very Expensive
Plus, the end of Southwest, a shocker for third-best food city in the world, sexy new high-speed trains, and Tube war on e-bikes.
Good morning from Paris! I’m here to check out the unveiling of the new La Première cabin from Air France. I’m pretty excited, in large part because Air France is one of the few Western airlines that gets a lot of attention for their luxury service. The airline has also become more and more relevant for Europe-obsessed American consumers utilizing credit cards like BILT and Capital One that partner with Air France/KLM. Last fall, its rewards program was named the best in the world, driving even more consideration.
After that I’m off to Kenya for my third African safari. I’m working with Stanley Safaris which designs bespoke luxury safari itineraries. I was put in touch with Stanley by folks I trust (this same firm also arranged my epic puma safari in Patagonia which is still one of the most incredible things I’ve done) so I’m curious to see what they pull off. My main condition was that it be a little different than the typical safari routine. More to come in a couple of weeks on that…
DEPARTMENT OF GRIEVANCES
Your trip to Barcelona is about to get significantly more expensive. This week, Spain’s top court ruled that Barcelona’s plan to ban all short-term rentals by 2028 does not violate property rights. It’s a massive blow to Airbnb, Vrbo, and other start-ups in the sector. With 94 million visitors last year, Spain is the world’s second-most-visited country, after France. Within Spain, Barcelona comes in just after Madrid in terms of tourists.
After years of anger about cost of housing, in 2023 the region of Catalonia passed a decree allowing municipalities to ban short-term rentals. Last summer, Barcelona's mayor Jaume Collboni, announced that the licenses of thousands of rentals would be tossed come 2028.
Now, this is still three years away and we’ll see if the politicians there still have the stomach for such a drastic move come 2028. But my gut says yes. Tech companies have done little to make themselves beloved of late and that comes after years of heavy-handed tactics. Five to ten years ago, one’s general feeling regarding Airbnb and Vrbo was often, “Thank goodness for Airbnb,” but of late it’s been “Oh gosh, I wish I had an alternative.” The fees, the cheap global decor, etc. It’s why I’m bullish on companies like One Fine Stay.
And the particulars of housing problems in Barcelona (low Spanish salaries, height limits, being attractive for a continent of half a billion people) are unlikely to abate by 2028.
When you couple this removal of thousands of beds a night with the existing ban on new hotels in the center of Barcelona, it’s a simple math problem. Hotels will be able to charge an exorbitant amount, and the cost of a trip to Barcelona is going to skyrocket. Where that line will be in terms of how much they can charge until people just stop going, I’m not sure.
There are real risks to Barcelona. Tourism is a huge economic driver and hundreds of businesses are built around the current tourism numbers.
But the risk I’d worry about most if I’m Barcelona that I haven’t read about elsewhere is that of day-trippers. Spain has an excellent train system, and in 2020 it deregulated it to allow for private operators making it even more affordable. It’s just 2.5 hours from Madrid to Barcelona or dozens of minutes from nearby cities and towns. As Barcelonans well know from the cruise industry, day trippers are the worst tourists for a destination.
The decision by Southwest to end its decades-long policy of free checked bags has been so universally condemned and mocked that it’s tickling my contrarian impulses, but I still cannot understand it.
Unless the plan is to milk that airline for all it’s worth until it’s so hollowed out it eventually folds, this makes no sense to me. For those readers who think I’m being hyperbolic, consider that just a few months ago Southwest’s own CEO said scrapping free checked bags would cost the airline money and market share. That perk is one that the airline has run advertising campaigns around for years.
For a little backstory, Southwest has been rapidly changing policies over the last year to fend off and satisfy the hedge fund Elliott Capital Management. Six months ago, that meant introducing red-eyes for the first time, extra legroom seats, and assigned seats. It also inked a deal with Icelandair to allow seamless connections at BWI for Southwest passengers to Europe.
All that was left to differentiate Southwest from other airlines was the two free checked bags. But now you have to be at an elite tier of their loyalty program to get those two and if you have the card you get one. The goal, the CEO said in announcing the changes, is to "drive new enrollments in our co-brand credit card program." It also added expiration dates to flight credits and is introducing a new basic economy fare.
That Icelandair deal, which I’ve written about before with immense skepticism (you’re going to fly from Kansas City to Baltimore to Reykjavik to Paris?) is emblematic of why the abrupt and hasty decision to completely scrap the bags is so disastrous.
There’s nothing else! Southwest has no major long-haul routes, certainly not to booming destinations like Europe and Japan. And it has no global airline partners with whom passengers can redeem points or lean on to expand. There is no business class. It has no lounges and its terminals are dated. Many of its planes don’t even have charging ports. Other airlines have mostly removed change and cancellation fees, so that’s no longer a differentiator.
What’s left? The same things other airlines a couple of decades ago not named Southwest offered—price and schedule. As somebody who flies with some frequency and books their own travel, I don't often find Southwest now to be significantly less than the mainline airlines. And soon that competitive fare will be basic economy anyway. So all that’s left is schedule, with a customer base that no longer buys the message that Southwest is different from all the other companies.
Don’t get me wrong. Southwest did need to change and modernize. But the changes announced in the last six months have almost all been ones that milk more money out of the existing product rather than introducing innovative new ideas or investments that make people excited to spend more. And the speed, callousness (did you see the Instagram post?!), and lack of even pretending to care by introducing these things gradually just reeks of all the negative things critics ever level at private equity.
Plus, I shudder to think about how nuts the carry-on bags competition will be at Southwest flights going forward.
One of the saddest properties for a long time in Madrid in terms of wasted potential was The Westin Palace. A spectacular turn-of-the-century behemoth with a stained glass dome, it sits across from the Prado. It always felt forlorn, like it hadn’t been updated in decades. (I once tried years ago to convince a friend in the industry who has deep-pocketed backers to snatch it up.) Well, Marriott ended up doing so and put it through a two-year restoration. The hotel reopened this month as part of its Luxury Collection. So I’m very curious to go and stay to see if Marriott pulled it off.
Every time I’ve read one of these travel trend reports—the latest is from American Express—I learn nothing new. People want meaning! Multi-generation is up! Travelers like rewards cards! Tell me something I don’t know, please!!
And I know I’m falling into the engagement trap by commenting on it, but things must have changed RADICALLY in Medellin, Colombia in the half-dozen years since I’ve been there if it’s now being ranked the third-best city in the world for food. I loved Medellin each time I’ve been. It’s gorgeously sited, cool urban experiences, fantastic nightlife, and more. And while I ate well enough, it isn’t beating out Mexico City, Lima, Mumbai, and others lower on the list.
This headline regarding the future plans of Spirit is maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. On what planet is Spirit going to compete for wealthy travelers? Its image issues aren’t just related to being low-cost, but rather that they’re often a nightmare to experience and deal with. And again, what are you offering?! I also feel like there’s this steady drift in the travel sphere where everybody wants a piece of the high-spending crowd. But like I said last week—are there really that many rich people?
Plus, signs that there’s a major softening happening in the travel economy are everywhere. Fortune published a story noting that in February the number of people planning a trip in the next six months was the lowest in 15 years! All of the major airlines are cutting profit expectations because of a lack of domestic travel demand. In the U.S. this is particularly acute given the effects of the DCA crash and heightened focus on every aviation incident, not to mention moves like the U.S. announcing it will require Canadians visiting for more than 30 days to register with the government. If you’re looking for broader signs of trouble, Dollar General has said its customer base is struggling.
Many years ago I edited a story by historian Candida Moss about how vulnerable so many of the world’s libraries were to very lucrative theft. But it’s not just libraries that have treasures ripe for the light-fingered. Smaller museums, especially in cash-strapped European towns have also long been exposed. It’s a state I’m reminded of by the story this week about a painting by Antonio Solario that was stolen from a small museum and whose new owner is refusing to give it back.
The interiors for France’s new high-speed trains have been released and the train world online has been loving them. Is it just me or do they look very The Standard Hotel-coded?
…and designs for the new earthquake-resistant Japanese high-speed trains have also been unveiled above!
Loved this story on the island in the U.S. where residents still speak Elizabethan English.
And read this accounting of everything that went wrong with California High Speed Rail by Benjamin Schneider (I highly recommend his Substack) and weep.
TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS
New York City tech workers are apparently obsessed with this coffee shop
The EU’s new entry fee system has been delayed again
Transport unions in London are threatening to strike unless e-bikes are banned on the Tube
Lisa Vanderpump announces ‘The Vanderpump Hotel’ opening in 2026
Longwood Gardens finally has a transit option (will depart from NYC and Philadelphia
Helicopters are permanently restricted from the route that caused DCA crash
This 41-story tower could be San Francisco’s next skyscraper and would have a hotel
Amtrak announces major changes to its app including status updates and seat selection
I think the pros outweigh the cons of banning AirBnBs etc in Barcelona. When I first went there it was before AirBnB existed, and I had a great budget friendly break staying in a backpackers hostel. There are some quite plush hostels around these days! I think we will look back on the days when people thought it was acceptable to turn an apartment in a residential building into a mini-hotel as deeply strange.