Eerily

A popular Spanish city that was once bustling with tourists is now “dead” as Brits have allegedly ditched the destination to holiday elsewhere, and it’s not the first time Spain is said to have been quiet this year

A once bustling Spanish city is now “dead” as Brits have reportedly abandoned the destination for other holiday spots, marking another quiet period for Spain this year. Footage has surfaced online showing the area’s completely deserted streets.

Laura, who goes by lauratravelvlogs on TikTok, has been chronicling the stark changes in Barcelona this year, having resided there herself for over two years. She noted a significant drop in visitor numbers and, for months, she’s been posting videos of Spain‘s vacant streets, silent roads and empty beaches – all to illustrate the drastic shift in the country’s tourism landscape.

In a recent video featuring eerily quiet roads, Laura questioned: “Sorry, no one can argue that these roads leading up to the beach were not packed in 2023?” It appears others also concur with her observations about Spain’s dwindling crowds in recent years.

Laura mentioned that there are still some tourists “for now” at popular spots, but claimed spending is at an “all time low”. She has noticed a substantial change over the past two years, and is astounded by how tranquil the city has become.

In an earlier video, Laura highlighted how deserted the city centre was during the summer because “tourists don’t feel welcome”. She suspects the protests that have occurred in Spain have deterred people from visiting altogether.

Hundreds of people have responded to the footage since it emerged online, with many eager to voice their opinions. Their reactions were quite split.

One viewer commented: “One by one businesses from all sectors will start to close – that’s the sad thing.” Another chimed in with: “There’s already a lot of smaller towns that have fallen into despair.

“So many people have lost their jobs due to the drop in tourism. It’s madness – they’ll be begging people to go back in a few years.”

A third responded: “Tourism is Spain is 40% down. The south coast of Spain was eerily quiet last week.”

Meanwhile, a fourth also remarked: “Spain is old news – there are far nicer countries to spend your money in.”

Some viewers questioned what time of day the footage was captured though, with others suggesting it’s not entirely doom and gloom. One individual said they visited in March and there were “hundreds more” people about, even though some Brits believe the resort is “finished” when it comes to tourism.

Overall, it’s been documented that Spain has been deserted by numerous holidaymakers, with eateries and coastlines appearing virtually deserted. Areas of the nation have been witnessing a drop in visitor figures for the first time since the pandemic, alongside years of anti-tourist demonstrations by residents.

In August, images from Benidorm showed a multitude of vacant seats outside various establishments and rather deserted beaches. This is particularly unusual for major holiday hotspots during the summer period.

Miguel Pérez-Marsá, the head of the nightlife association, previously told Majorca Daily Bulletin: “The tourists we’re interested in are being driven away; they don’t feel welcome and are going to other destinations.” The impact is also being felt by tour guides.

Pedro Oliver, president of the College of Tour Guides, disclosed that excursion sales have plummeted by 20% this summer. “If you generate negative news, which has repercussions in other countries, tourists opt for other destinations when choosing their holidays,” he stated.

“We are sending the message that we don’t want tourists and that everything is too crowded.”

WASHINGTON — It happened once before: a chaotic, contested, anger-plagued election that haunts American politics to this day.

The vote was a virtual tie. Recounts were demanded–then rejected. Increasingly distrustful camps warred over absentee ballots and the vagaries of voter intent. A Republican secretary of state came under fire. Controversy spilled over into the courts.

And in the end, when the Democratic-controlled U.S. House refused to seat the certified Republican winner from southwest Indiana, political relations took a long plunge into partisan bitterness–the sort of animus that threatens whoever ends up in the White House next year.

“When it was over, the buildings were still standing but the foundations were cracked,” recalled John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist and Capitol Hill aide during the controversy of 1984-85. “It really changed the level of mutual animosity and the atmosphere of the House–to this day.”

“Indiana 8” (the disputed election was in the state’s 8th Congressional District) became a gut-wrenching GOP battle cry, an early milestone in the nation’s journey toward divisive, bitter politics that is now reflected in everything from the climate in the capital to razor-thin margins in elections across the country.

A Troubling Lesson on Tainted Elections

Indeed, in the eerie parallels between today’s presidential election and its Indiana predecessor, some see a warning for Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore: A result tainted with even the appearance of bias–however accurate the result may be–can trigger reactions that are destructive, long-lasting and unpredictable.

“People have to realize that these disputes have consequences. And what was true about one congressional district would be greatly magnified in a presidential race,” warned former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat who heads the Smithsonian Institution’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Although little known, the tortured tale of Indiana’s “Bloody 8” remains seared in the memory of many politicians.

At first, in the early hours after the Nov. 6, 1984, election, it appeared that incumbent Rep. Frank McCloskey, a Democrat, had eked out a victory by 72 votes. But it was quickly discovered that two precincts had counted ballots twice, skewing the result in favor of the former Bloomington mayor.

Five weeks later, to the shock of Democrats, Indiana’s Republican secretary of state certified Republican Richard McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes. McIntyre’s margin grew to 418 in a January recount, when officials tossed out 4,800 ballots for a range of technical reasons that were judged by differing standards in the district’s 15 counties.

On Capitol Hill, however, the Democratic-controlled House questioned the findings and created a three member panel–two Democrats and one Republican–to recommend which man should be seated in Congress.

Seeking a process that would withstand scrutiny, task force members hired auditors from the government’s General Accounting Office. But Republicans complained that Democrats were stealing the election and employing a sham process to do it.

“If he is denied his seat, then any certified candidate . . . is open to political attack,” Rep. Bill Thomas of California, the Republican on the task force, complained at the time.

Quickly, the task force ran into pivotal disputes over which absentee ballots should be accepted and which should be rejected. In succeeding weeks, Republicans tried to seat McIntyre on several occasions, once launching a surprise vote when many Democrats were out of town. But the majority party always managed to prevail.

Increasingly frustrated Republicans unveiled aggressive guerrilla tactics, forcing roll-call votes on minor matters, blistering the podium with motions to adjourn and on at least one occasion keeping the House in session all night.

On May 1, six months after the election, the task force ruled that Democrat McCloskey had won the race by four votes. The House quickly endorsed the panel’s finding.

The party-line vote became a watershed in a new era of partisan feuding, even prompting the strange spectacle of Republican lawmakers singing “We Shall Overcome” as they stormed out of the House.

In an interview this week, Rep. Leon E. Panetta, the Carmel Valley Democrat who was chairman of the task force, cited the difficulty of bringing a disputed election to a satisfying conclusion: “The lessons are that, no matter what process is agreed upon, when it comes down to a very close vote, it leaves some very deep feelings that are not easily overcome.”

But, he said, the House vote to seat McCloskey would have been more broadly accepted if the task force had included an equal number of Democrats and Republicans and if there had been consensus in the finding: “If the committee leans partisan, either Republican or Democratic, then it will always be viewed as a partisan result.”

Before the Indiana battle, the Republican Party was largely split between a pragmatic old-guard, personified by House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois, and a growing band of Young Turks, headed by Newt Gingrich of Georgia. The Gingrich troops had been seeking a much more confrontational approach, with the aim of capturing control of the House.

“Indiana 8” gave the mavericks the ammunition they needed to push the old guard aside. “Following the McIntyre incident, 95% of the Republicans came to the conclusion that the only way we were going to get the kind of attention we deserved was to win the majority,” said former Rep. Robert S. Walker, a Pennsylvania Republican who was a ringleader of the younger group.

‘A Transformational Episode’ for GOP

In the era that followed, Democrats and Republicans no longer belonged to different branches of the same insiders’ club. Instead, they belonged to warring clans.

“It was a transformational episode for Republicans,” said Dan Meyer, a longtime aide to Gingrich. “There was a sense across the board that seat was stolen. It gave legitimacy to the efforts of the [Gingrich] crowd. The Democratic leadership, in the eyes of even the older Republican members, lost some legitimacy.”

Recalling Indiana, some experts warned that today’s presidential election conflict could sow lasting seeds of partisan mistrust because both sides have cast doubt effectively on the legitimacy of their opponent’s claim to victory. But today’s stakes are much higher.

“When you have one-third or more of the country looking at the other candidate as illegitimate, that does not bode well for the president uniting the country,” said Eric M. Uslaner, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, alluding to polls that point to such divisions.

But in an interview, the winner of the ill-starred Indiana election expressed surprising optimism that today’s furor will blow over without dramatic consequences. “I don’t think we’re into a perpetual, acrimonious quagmire,” said McCloskey, now an attorney in Bloomington.

Still, it was with vehemence that he expressed the words that raise the blood pressure of many Republicans even 15 years later: “I won it fairly.”

An eerie video shared on social media shows the state of disrepair some of abandoned accommodation at a Center Parcs in the Netherlands with moss growing over furniture

Eerie footage shows fully furnished Center Parcs lodges in the Netherlands have been abandoned and left to rot.

One TikTok user, VSnelson_author, shared footage of the accommodation at Center Parcs De Kempervennen, near the city of Eindhoven, revealing the state of disrepair.

The filthy lodges, which still have furniture inside them, appear to have moss and mould growing over the walls and windows.

Responding to a commenter who was curious of the location, the poster explained: “It’s a part of the park that’s not used. The houses aren’t even on the map.”

Social media users were left baffled by the footage, with one person writing: “Where’s this? Didn’t know there was a partially built centre parcs!”

READ MORE: Butlins holiday park left abandoned with eerie pools still full 30 years on

Another person said: “Where on site was this was there a few months ago would love to take a look,” while a third penned: “Hope your lodge didn’t look like this.”

It stands in stark contrast to the first-ever glimpse of what could soon become the UK’s newest Center Parcs.

The holiday brand, which came to Britain back in 1987, submitted a formal planning application to open a huge resort near the tiny rural town of Hawick, Scotland.

Center Parcs has its heart set on building around 700 lodges and tourist facilities – such as its iconic Subtropical Swimming Paradise, and Aqua Sana Spa – conveniently located just off the A7. This area, which is south of Selkirk, boasts diverse wildlife including ospreys, golden eagles, red squirrels, and deer – and is near a slew of historic houses, castles, and abbeys.

The mega project, predicted to cost between £350million and £400million, will create around 1,200 jobs and become the seventh UK Center Parcs location. This week, the travel giant held a two-day community consultation (from May 20-21) in Hawick to discuss details with locals.

According to the BBC, concern has been raised over the loss of usable farmland. Some residents are also worried tourists will visit the Center Parcs complex and then leave the area – which won’t support local businesses.

However, the company, which is accepting comments on the proposed site until Friday, June 6, says most of its guests who stay for the weekend end up ‘exploring’ the local area too. It also released a fly-through video and 3D model to show locals exactly what the holiday village would look like.

The computer-generated images reveal the epic site will feature the classic Center Parcs central hub which homes its Subtropical Swimming Paradise, a huge lake where guests can hire boats, as well as restaurants and a spa – all set amongst lush woodlands. “The flythrough video and 3D model really help bring the plans to life and add to the real sense of anticipation that has been evident at recent consultation events,” the company’s chief executive, Colin McKinlay, said.

The Center Parcs boss added that the company is working hard to ensure its proposals reflect feedback it has received from the community. “It’s one thing to describe what we’re hoping to build, but seeing it laid out visually captures the ambition of what we’re planning,” he explained.

Scotland’s first-ever Center Parcs aims to open its doors by 2029.

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