The pain in Spain our gain to eas traffic strain?

Noosa councillor checks out Spanish response to tourist congestion to see what works

Traffic snarls are plainly a pain in Spain. Picture: Contributed

A NOOSA councillor has used her personal travel time in Spain to look at how one major tourist centre deals with a very Noosa dilemma - the threat of being loved to death.

Cr Ingrid Jackson has posted on Facebook of how Barcelona does its best to cope with the tourist squeeze and part of the parking "fix” is underground parking stations.

Cr Jackson said the famous city of around 1.6million is "one of the tourism capitals of the world”, attracting about 32million visitors a year.

"In August it is peak season and there are lots of tourists. I have been particularly interested to see what we can learn for Noosa's management of tourist influx,” she said.

"Loved to death? In part.

"The old Gothic town precinct has become a tourist precinct... not so when you walk a couple of blocks off the beaten track into residential areas.

"Tourists don't venture far.”

Cr Jackson said several broader avenues in the tourist precinct, nearby CBD and residential areas are pedestrian-only.

"At the outskirts of the tourist precinct are many underground paid parking stations, including at the waterside, so there is no disruption of visual amenity.”

She also saw a multi-deck car park hidden imperceptibly behind some buildings.

"There are some dedicated bus/taxi transit lanes on some multi-lane thoroughfares. I also saw some bicycle-only lanes with cute dedicated bicycle traffic lights,” she said.

"Bicycle hire stations all around - no helmets required. Scooters - there are stretches of free scooter parking areas on streets.”