Lived Madrid: Urban problems from the citizens’ perspective in the context of mass tourism

Abstract

The article analyses the problems of the central district of Madrid from the perspective of its inhabitants. Based on the presentation of the main demographic and territorial features of the district and on the study of the instruments of intervention promoted by the City Council, the main problems felt by the population are subsequently inferred from the data contained in the formal rooms of citizen participation and from the interviews held with representatives of neighbourhood associations, municipal staff, city councillors and non-organised individuals. The research shows, from the citizens’ perspective, that tourism is not perceived as one of the main problems of the Central District, but other phenomena linked to it.