Spanish city Barcelona to make Three Chimneys power plant new tourist hub - copying London's Battersea Power Station

Three Chimneys in Barcelona was a thermal power station built in the 1970s, although was met with a lot of opposition at the time. It then closed in 2011, with plans to tear it down.

However, now it is set to be converted into a destination for both tourists and locals, to reduce overtourism in the city centre of Barcelona. New homes, extended promenades, more green areas and new bike lanes and public transport are all part of the major plans. The redevelopment hopes to be completed by 2029.

The aim is to try and encourage tourists to explore parts outside of the city centre, which welcomes million of tourists a year. The mayor of Barcelona Jaume Collboni said the transformation as a "a vestige of the industrial past that becomes a window of opportunity".

Barcelona city hall's innovation directer added Eva Soria added that they want to "make the outskirts more visible". Tourists can't currently visit Three Chimneys apart from during certain days of the year. For example, it has opened to the public for the Manifesta 15 art event, running until November 24.

Three Chimneys becoming a tourist hub is very similar to that of Battersea Power Station in London which reopened in 2022 following a massive £9billion renovation. It was even named one of the must visit spots by National Geographic earlier this year. The tourist spot in the UK is free to visit, with 80 shops and restaurants inside and Art'otel, with a rooftop pool.

The plans to create a new tourist hub on the outskirts of Barcelona comes after tensions in the city have grown this year with many locals taking to the streets tired of seemingly ever-increasing housing costs and mass tourism. Protestors swarmed the city with angry residents waving signs reading "tourists go home", and even squirted water pistols and threw rubbish at holidaymakers sitting in cafes and restaurants. 

The gigantic industrial site in Sant Adrià de Besos - which is four miles from the city centre - could work as attracting more tourists out of the city centre. According to data from the Barcelona Council, some 156,000 coaches drive around the Catalonian capital every year, which amounts to an average of more than 40 per day. This has become a big problem as it blocks traffic in some areas of the city, particularly around the iconic Sagrada Familia and, more recently, the Ronda Universitat.