A POPULAR town in northern Spain has embarked on a novel way of monitoring tourist numbers: a network of sensors that track mobile phone signals.
Officials in the picturesque Catalan town of Girona have installed nine detectors throughout Bari Vell, a medieval district popular with sightseers, that will count the number of visitors and map where they go.
The devices will use mobile phone signals to judge whether passers-by are tourists or locals, what routes they are taking through the town, and how long they are staying for.
The town’s local council insists that all data gathered will be anonymous, with information used to give authorities a better picture of tourist patterns.
“We will be able to adapt events to see if one area needs more promotion than another and to improve the balance between locals and visitors,” said Gemma Geis, the deputy mayor of Girona.
The sensors have been funded by the Menja’t Gurona project, which has received a grant from the European Union.
Officials hope the investment of over €20,000 will allow Girona to become a ‘smart tourist’ destination at a time of growing anti-tourist sentiment across Spain.
In 2024, over 8.5 million visitors travelled to the Girona region.
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