Living gentrification and touristification from inside: an autoethnography account

Abstract

Autoethnography is a useful yet little-explored tool for understanding complex social phenomena such as the touristification or gentrification of cities. The autoethnography presented here is also based on two previous works by the author, as well as on statistical data that support the analysis conducted. Through everyday life in the neighbourhood, the gradual process of converting a poor and multicultural urban space into a commodity for global tourist consumption can be observed through the researcher’s own eyes and experiences. This research is the result of several years of direct and participant observation of this transformation of the Russafa neighbourhood in Valencia (Spain), which also analyses data and news since 2004, making it an analysis of the neighbourhood’s history over 20 years. In the case of the researcher’s experiences, these begin with his arrival in the neighbourhood before 2011 and continue until his departure in 2024, due to the consequences of the intermingled processes of gentrification, especially commercial, and the conversion of the neighbourhood and Valencia into a ‘tourist city’.