Kim Ji-soo, artistically known as
Jisoo
, is the singer of the South Korean K-pop group Black Pink.
Last December,
Jisoo
visited Barcelona.
He entered the small Manuel San Román del Gòtic churrería and uploaded to his social networks (only on Instagram he has 70 million followers) a video eating churros.
Since then, Korean tourists have marked this small Barcelona business as a mandatory stop.
“Tourist clients have always come but now it is a non-stop of Koreans.
Jisoo has given us a great boost”, admits Francisco Almandros, head of the churrería.
The Catalan capital is fashionable among Koreans and the administrations have set themselves the goal of seducing these tourists who spend a lot (300 euros a day, compared to 138 euros on average in 2021, including accommodation and spending, according to the Tourism Observatory of the Town Hall), they hate the sun and the beach and travel in spring and autumn when the hotels are in low season.
Nayouny and Soomin after buying churros. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI
In San Román -open on Banys Nous street since 1968- half a dozen churros cost two euros and if you also want a glass of chocolate the price rises to four.
The trickle of Koreans buying their ration and -before giving them the first bite- taking about twenty
selfies
it's constant.
Minjun is 32 years old and married his 28-year-old wife Joayoun just a few weeks ago.
This Thursday they entered the churrería as a mandatory stop on their honeymoon.
“We traveled from Korea to Iceland, then we came to Barcelona, then to Mallorca and back to Barcelona.
Tomorrow we are going back to Seoul ”, reports this computer programmer while he does not stop taking selfies with his cone of churros.
Joayoun reveals why this candy business has become one of the pilgrimage points: “Koreans are very practical and we let ourselves be advised.
In all the social networks they tell us that this is the best place to eat churros in Barcelona and we come”.
Raül Guerra is the director of Asian markets for the Catalan Tourism Agency.
He assures that seducing the Korean market is a priority objective.
In 2012, 50,000 Korean tourists visited Catalonia, before they barely did.
From then on, the number of arrivals increased, in 2019 the record was set with 295,400 South Korean visitors.
In 2022 with Asian tourism at half throttle due to the pandemic, 106,100 Koreans arrived in Catalonia and, so far this year, 70% of the Korean visitors who came in 2019 are expected to recover. “They are very interested in visiting us.
For them we are part of the scenarios that appear in series, movies, video clips.
In addition, it is a tourism that is very attracted by religion.
They go to Montserrat, the Camino de Santiago, they love Gaudí and, above all, they are passionate about gastronomy”,
Statistics from the Generalitat reveal that Koreans in Catalonia spend an average of 300 euros per person per day.
"The Americans, Japanese and Australians spend more but the international average is 180 euros per person per day, so it is a very interesting customer," he maintains.
It is so interesting that since 2018 a direct flight between Incheon and Barcelona has been established.
There are seven flights a week that directly connect the two cities.
“In Catalonia, 43% of tourism visits us in June, July, August and September.
Korean tourism comes in spring and autumn, deseasonalizes the market, generating occupancy at valley times.
They spend twice as much as other tourists, they are not looking for sun and sand and they love Montserrat and, above all, the outlet at La Roca Village”, reveals Guerra.
The tourist experience of Koreans is closely linked to the use they make of mobile applications.
Guerra reports that in Korea there is a superApp called
Kakao
in which Koreans integrate "all social networks, maps, pay with it, order taxis, read the newspaper... they concentrate all the information for daily life and, if something is becomes fashionable, it comes to them thanks to this application”.
Using Kakao, millions of Koreans saw Jisoo eating churros or the video clip that the singer YooA made in Tossa de Mar (Girona), turning this municipality in the La Selva region into another point of pilgrimage for Koreans.
Minjun and Jouyoun, on their honeymoon in Barcelona after buying churrosMASSIMILIANO MINOCRI
'Carlus'
Roca, the president of the Tossenca traditional cooking association, is precisely one of those who is most familiar with the phenomenon of the arrival of Korean tourists to this Girona coastal town
.
“They are very educated.
They queue up to take photos at the points where YooA's video clip was recorded.
Restaurants already have signs and menus in Korean, ”he admits.
The arrival of these tourists out of season is helping a lot to the businesses of the municipality.
Nayoun is 23 years old and her friend Soomin is 24. They just bought half a dozen churros at San Román.
Last Wednesday the Tossa were taking pictures.
“Koreans don't take risks on vacation.
We inform ourselves and we go directly where they advise us”, maintains Nayoun showing the Kakao application.
After Nayoun, Hysesun Park, 30, leaves her, along with her mother, Migyeng Kim, 60. Hysesun is the second time she has come to Barcelona, her mother is the first time she has lived in the Catalan capital.
Tomorrow, following Kakao's recommendations, they will travel to Portugal.
The president of Turisme de Barcelona, Eduard Torres, maintains that attracting Korean tourists is extremely important.
“In 2019, 86,429 tourists slept in hotels in the city of Barcelona, an average of 2.6 nights per tourist.
When there are speeches that say that we have reached the maximum capacity of visitors in the city, we are very interested in selecting the visitor and the Asians are important because they spend a lot of money and do not cause problems”, says Torres.
In addition, Torres agrees that he is a tourist interested in culture and gastronomy.
The president of Turisme de Barcelona makes an appeal to try to improve air connectivity with these countries that are "vital" for tourist destinations.
Seullai Parla and Jihyeon Eun are two young men aged 33 and 32 who have just taken a selfie with a churro cone.
Tomorrow they fly to Granada where they can be photographed on the same stage where the Korean series Recuerdos de la Alhambra was recorded.
You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter