Snarky language, perhaps - but not vulgar.
I grew up in Puerto Rico - and although not native Puerto Rican - I feel Puerto Rican.
One thing that used to always gall us about American tourists
was when they complained about Puerto Ricans not speaking English.
The typical ugly American asking, "How do you get to Ponce?" - -
And when the Puerto Rican person does not understand, simply yelling it out louder.
Nowhere have I seen a requirement that everybody in the world must speak English.
But far too many Americans (and Brits, too?) travel with such a mindset.
I am an environmental historian with considerable cycling experience.
Increasingly, tourism is seen as a consumptive industry - not unlike mining or logging.
And increasingly, hard-hit tourists areas - like Barcelona - are seeking to reduce tourism.
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/barcelona-locals-hate-tourists-why-reasons-spain-protests-arran-airbnb-locals-attacks-graffiti-a7883021.htmlBicycle tourers are tourists - often trying to stealth camp if you've read the many threads about it.
(Or they need to have a place to park their cars for a month.)
Increasingly, if communities are going to be swamped with tourists, they want the ones with lots of money.
In today's info age, even if I am from France I should realize that Aspen, Sedona, or the San Juans are "destinations".
I have no problem with someone saying that they didn't enjoy riding in the San Juans.
But I do disagree and will disagree when someone says -
"San Juan itself was a disappointment. There are a few State Parks with beach and coastal access, a stretch of maybe 1/2 mile where the island has bought the coast. The rest is all trees and rooftops and fences of folks who have staked out their piece of land with all sorts of signage. It was pretty dull"
And
"In my honest opinion the process of people buying up coastal land, erecting high fences or hedges and stealing the views is seemingly everywhere. Combined with lots of Douglas Firs has in my opinion spoilt an area that should be great for cycling."
Neil is acting very much the way American tourists acted when I was growing up in Puerto Rico.
The San Juans are a small, somewhat rural enclave in a huge metropolitan region.
They are not a national park or a few communities out in the High Plains of Montana.
In Neil's original post and in his follow-ups he seems to have an ax to grind with landowners.
I would counter that landowners on the San Juans are pretty darn tolerant of the swarms of tourists.
And I would suspect that they tolerate a significant amount of litter, noise, and trespass, too.
You may have your opinion and I have mine.
It is not a p------ match - it is a disagreement.