Coinciding with World Tourism Day (September 27) and its motto “Tourism and sustainable transformation” , Aethnic publishes the diagnostic report “Tourism and children’s rights: towards a model free of violence” , prepared jointly with fapmi-ECPAT Spain and with the support of Barcelona City Council .

Why a diagnosis on tourism and childhood?

Barcelona is one of the main tourist destinations in Europe. However, until now there was very little research on the relationship between tourist activity and the violation of the rights of children and adolescents. The project was born with the desire to shed light on this often invisible reality, generate evidence and promote policies and practices that make tourism a safe and protective space.

Research methodology

The diagnosis was carried out during 2025 through a mixed methodology :

• Quantitative surveys of citizens, tourism professionals, taxi drivers, students and administration representatives.

• In-depth interviews and focus groups with experts in children’s rights, social entities and professionals from the tourism sector.
  This approach has allowed us to collect diverse perceptions, knowledge and experiences and contrast them with statistical and qualitative analyses.

Relevant results

The study confirms a structural invisibility of violence against children in the tourist context of Barcelona:

• Low social and professional awareness: more than 80% of citizens and 70% of professionals surveyed do not identify the problem as serious.

• Lack of protocols: up to 75% of participants claim not to know any specific action procedures.

• Training deficiencies: more than 80% of professionals have not received training in child protection, although there is a high willingness to train.

• Areas of greatest risk: the Raval, Barceloneta, the Olympic Port and the Ramblas concentrate factors such as mass tourism, nightlife and criminal networks.

One step further: from diagnosis to action

The diagnosis is only the first step. During this year, the DITUR working group was also created, made up of tourism professionals, human rights and administrations, which has co-created a sectoral protocol to protect the rights of children and adolescents in tourism. The protocol is currently awaiting validation and will be presented publicly before the end of the year.

Download the report

You can consult the full report through this link .