Mediterranean Dreaming

In the past decade, several Mediterranean cities have experienced tourism massification and increased migration. An expanding short-term rentals platform economy, led by companies like Airbnb, has increased opportunities for additional income. Still, it has also increased inequalities and the potential for gentrification in various neighborhoods, especially migrant neighborhoods such as Raval in Barcelona and Noailles in Marseille. Meanwhile, increased migration is welcomed by residents and derided by official authorities. Widespread graffiti with the slogans “Tourists go Home, Refugees Welcome” speaks to the varying attitudes towards tourism massification and migration in these cities. Through ethnographic research in Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France), and Vlora (Albania), this research project aims to gain a better understanding of how different actors—residents, activists, and urban planners—are responding to the broader urban transformations from tourism massification and migration.

I began my research while holding the Germaine Tillon Chair at the IMéRA Institute of Advanced Studies. With Marie-Pierre Ulloa, we organized the atelier “Mediterranean Cities of Tomorrow: Between Tourism Massification and Migration Flows”

In the past two years, I was also granted the OURC/Baker Award from Ohio University to continue ethnographic research in Barcelona and Marseille.