Some problems  like unwelcome guests never  go away. They lie just lie dormant and at certain times of the year erupt spill their lava of irritation over everyone. Take the phenomenon of "Top Manta" which peaks from Easter onwards to October as far as Barcelona is concerned. Not that fleecing the tourist is a singularly Barcelona problem. I've been offered homemade jewellery halfway up a steep mountain slab in Marrocco's Atlas mountains and, like thousands of others, been pestered aggressively to buy anything from silk shirts to extensive 'massage' on the beaches of Goa, Bali and Phuket.

According to Friday's El Pais, residents of the Parc Guell area (which draws thousands of tourists to see Gaudi's crazy ceramic creations in the wild) enough is enough is enough.  They're fed up of complaining about the park being overun - literally - by these itinerant sellers of trash who dash off at the faintest whiff of a police uniform. Locals feel that they cannot enjoy their park anymore and that the Town Hall has done little to alleviate things in finding a solution.

The gardeners complain too when they are planting out trees and plants. When the manteros scarper they take an as-the-crow-flies route, which usually means tramping across the newly planted or weeded gardens. When they return a few minutes - after the police have gone of course - they take the same route.Work of the devil the gardeners call it! Of Sysiphus more like.

Even the most consumer-minded tourist doesn't want to have to toil up a bloody great hill only to see Gaudi's masterful dragons draped with fake Calvin Kline sunglasses and Gucci handbags? It's hardly what they came to Barcelona for so what's the solution if no one wants the manteros there?.

Well it was not so long ago rumoured that the Town Hall were going to charge people to enter the park but the cost of closing up entrances and fitting extra security fencing was deemed 'probibitive in a time of financial crisis'. Plus the local residents didn't want to have to pay to go in a park which they feel belongs to Barcelona residents, so no pleasing them either.

No obvious 100% effective solution comes to mind but clearly several things need to be done, though I doubt the 'Top Manta syndrome' will ever be eradicated. In Naples I saw the highly organsied Mafia collectors coming round to collect rent from the pavement sellers at the end of the day, and on a beach in Tunisia I remember one seller asking me if I had 'seen a Fiat' - he thought I was German and the police patrolled on horseback (on a 'Pferd' !) There's no doubt the problem really is world-wide.

At the least, the police need to be more determined and go for the suppliers too. All the stuff sold is fake and therefore illegal. The sellers are only trying to scratch a living. Despite what they have said, residents of the area could pay annual sum, a token,  to use the park. Tourist vistors will have to be charged an entrance fee like they do for all the Gaudi sites, despite what the Town Hall says about the cost of setting this up. This would both limit the numbers using the park and keep the salesme out. If not, soon there soon won't be any Gaudi ceramis visible.They'll all be worn away.

 Or maybe we should just ban all tourism in Barcelona! Then the manteros would have no one to sell handbags to. Or would they ? Have you seen all those Gucci accessories in Corte Ingles? Come to think of it, not having tourists in the city would have lots of advantages for residents. I think I'll make a list.

The last last train to Sabadell?

In fact travelling on a last train to anywhere seems dangerous around BCN these days (or more precisely these nights). So much so that railway company RENFE has decided to up its security after a guard was killed in Casteldefels stopping some youths leaping over the station exit gates after a fun night out.

Young men (?) who go out for the night (especially at weekends) clearly would rather spend their money on alcohol and drugs than RENFE and FGC tickets. Fair enough. They are on the expensive side. Plus at the end of the night there's always the chance of fun with the train driver or a security guard. You can even have a game of football with his head like they did in Casteldefels. In fact last year there were 242 reported attacks on RENFE staff and 132 on the BCN Metro which runs all night at the weekend.

To prevent more such incidents RENFE are going to cordinate with the Mossos and create a Transport Force to cover trains and late-night buses. They will install more cameras on stations and in trains and close some blackspot stations early. The hotlines (?) seem to be the R1, the R3 and the R4 which serve out-of-town cowboy areas such as Mataro and Sabadell.

Union officials, however, are sceptical of the measures which fall far short of what they want in terms of numbers. Perhaps increasing the number of dog-handlers might help. There's nothing better than an enormous Alsatian sniffing round your nether regions to keep you passive and responsive. All the way home!