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The happiest place on Earth is apparently in Europe.
Dan Mahboubian Rosen, an American comedian, ranted online, claiming Europe is “not a real country.”
In a one-minute and 28-second TikTok video uploaded on July 23, which has over 1.3 million views, Rosen explains why Europeans should be grateful for American tourism.
“I’ve seen a lot of news about how local Europeans are mad that tourists are just ruining their cities, and they’re complaining, and they’re squirting the water,” Rosen revealed.
Locals in Barcelona, Spain, were very unwelcoming to American tourists dining outdoors. The experience ended with customers being squirted with water during a protest against mass tourism.
The locals chanted, “Tourists go home,” and held signs that read, “Enough! Let’s limit tourism.”
To appease Barcelona citizens, the mayor, Jaume Collboni, vowed to ban tourists from renting holiday apartments by 2028 to prevent increased living expenses.
Meanwhile, Rosen finds these actions repulsive and reminds Europeans that they must remember their place.
“You guys just have to accept at this point that you’re our Disney World now. It’s your function in this world,” he said.
“You’re a living, breathing ‘It’s a Small World’ ride,” Rosen added, referring to the famous Magic Kingdom attraction at the Disney theme park.
Rosen unveiled how European countries have “prostituted” their history to foreigners, built centuries-old monumental structures, made few architectural advancements, and only produced cured meat and manchego.
“You had your fun colonizing the world, pillaging and extracting wealth to make your nice little piazzas and palaces. So, now you have to accept that you’re just museum cities,” Rosen stated.
Other countries such as Italy, Greece and Amsterdam have increased regulations to push tourists out.
Venice, Italy, has implemented a daily visiting fee of $5.36 during peak times. Greece set a time-slot system for visitors at the Acropolis in Athens, and Amsterdam’s city council voted to ban cruise ships from entering the city’s main port.
The comedian exclaimed Europe’s global economy survives off luxury goods and ancient culture but nothing that enhances the overall development of the world.
“When tourist come to your country you should say ‘thank you so much for coming to visit our poor little playground’ because that’s what you are… our playground,” Rosen continued.
The comedian listed the alleged benefits locals receive from Americans fueling tourism, such as pensions, healthcare, nine months of vacation time, and the opportunity to retire at 42.
“It’s okay you had a good run, time to accept your fate Europe,” Rosen captioned the clip.
Many TikTokers agreed with Rosen’s sentiment and applauded his bravery for speaking something they were thinking.
“Why would you say something so controversial, yet so brave,” wrote one person.
“My favorite beef has to be USA and Europe,” chuckled another.
“Oh man, I love this and can’t wait til it hits Eurotok,” a watcher commented. “He ate this up.”
“As someone who has ventured throughout Europe, I can’t believe how on point this is,” a watcher admitted.
“This take shouldn’t even feel controversial because it’s 100% facts,” another another.
However, some people defended the European’s frustrations with increased tourism.
“It’s not about the tourists but the housing. It’s unaffordable for working-class individuals to live, and if we can protest that here why can’t they there?” one TikToker commented.
“Tourism is driving prices so high for the local population they can’t afford to live in their own city,” wrote another.
Europe’s tourism industry has peaked at 12% year-on-year from foreign visitor arrivals, according to a report from the European Travel Commission. This finding revealed that cities like Barcelona experienced a 12% rent increase and an 8.2% increase in the cost of buying a home, explained BCN Advisors.
