With overtourism and gentrification I always wonder about possible solutions look like and what case studies exist where cities have managed to redirect wealth to the people who live there. To me it seems like a combination of regulatory solutions (tax policies, incentives for people to live in a neighborhood or start businesses, etc) and promotion of responsible tourism (or civic engagement if you’re a transplant), like participating in community activities, supporting affordable housing, buying from local family-owned businesses. I think in general a lot of the commentary (not this newsletter, but a lot of others) leans heavily on individual actions or spotlights the ugliness of irresponsible tourists, because policy change seems so hard to achieve. No novel ideas here, but I’m a dual citizen who just moved back to Italy from the US and I’ve been trying to learn more about how I can engage my new community, neighborhood, etc and how to avoid inadvertently harming it. Appreciate your writing and reflections on the country and these issues!
I think the answer has to involve a mosaic of solutions and one of them -- I realize this is impossible -- is to somehow change the style of tourism. We live in a disposable culture. And I think vacations are the same. There's no cultural exchange, it's take-take-take.
I love the neighborhood I live in in Rome, San Paolo, but one thing I DISLIKE about it is that it's dirty. Young people drink a few beers and eat pizza on the city steps at night and leave everything there. People throw trash around the dumpsters without putting it in them. Cigarette butts, plastic bottles, etc. are on the sidewalks. I'm convinced it's because there are Roma Tre University students all around and they don't integrate into the community. They're visitors in the neighborhood. They're not invested in its wellbeing.
In that way, I think there's a strong parallel between the students' impact on San Paolo and the impact of many modern tourists on the communities they slowly consume.
I think you’re 100% right that many highlight individual actions because policy feels so hard to change. But changing individual actions on a mass scale is even harder, and so regulatory solutions are key. For instance, many cities should ban short-term apartment rentals in order to protect housing for residents. Responsible tourists should avoid AirBNB, especially in certain cities, but relying on individuals to change their travel habits is less likely to bring about meaningful change.
Yes, yes. Regulations are necessary. I wrote a post a couple of months back called "What to Do About Airbnb" -- I love the idea of a 15- or 30-day minimum stay in B&Bs in urban areas (renting a room in a house or apartment would be exempt).
I can't even begin to think how many articles I've written over the years arguing that individual good intentions won't solve anything endemic -- whether on climate, hate crimes, recycling, etc. Rules have to create incentives that encourage people to do the right thing. Such an important point.
Wonderful story. And I think you really hit on something significant: it's one thing for a country to develop its tourism industry, it's quite another to make a tourist economy actually work for the country itself. I'm always struck in Rome by how few Romans actually work in the tourist-driven businesses-- the parents or grandparents may own the business, but most of this generation wind up moving to another country to pursue the professional jobs they went to school for. You made another good point as well: why do buskers in tourist places only have a repertoire of 3 songs? Living near Castel Sant' Angelo, I could live with never hearing "My Heart Will Go On" or "Perfect" again.
Hahaha. I guess I understand the buskers. They aren't really counting on repeat customers are they? Like the street artists who paint the same scene over and over. Or the same patter certain waiters have in tourist restaurants. But It's got to be boring. Get some new material, right?
Plus, singing "Bésame mucho" to some guy with his 86-year-old mother??
Your comment and a few others here already have been thinking of a future essay about this topic of the tourism economy. It's a serious problem.
I’m not sure what could be done to slow the trend. I’m sure an economist could come up with a system of taxes, fees, restrictions, etc. to reduce tourist density and incentivize people to slow down. But I keep coming back to the idea that travel has simply changed. It’s not about experiences and cultural learning, it’s about status. Makes me sad.
Perceived status. What status does a person actually receive who has traveled, or does it become just another commodified cultural currency, like clothes, houses, and cars?
I don’t think BEING a traveler creates status. I sometimes get strange looks. During the height of MAGA I was accused once of being unpatriotic for living outside the U.S. But having been to places other people have heard of, I think that counts.
Yes! Perceived status. Or the illusion of status. The selfie on Ponte Vecchio posted on social media as currency. Hmmm. This is all very interesting. I think one or both of us will end up exploring this in a newsletter essay.
Only you could find an interesting and worthwhile connection between the two cultures!
I like your mom and the lady who helped you, and the singer. Even though you made it sound like he was going thru the motions, he looks soulfull in that photo you took. Did you get him contacts to send it to him?
No, the singer wasn't anything special and he wasn't the kind of guy who'd want an English-language article sent to him. But he was mildly entertaining (above all for his song selection) and the 20 pesos he earned is the equivalent of around €0.30, so no harm done.
But the woman who helped me! I wish I did ask for her contact ... I would have translated the article into Spanish for her.
Unfortunately, the crowding isn't going away. Neither is AirBnB. Or Instagram or TikTok or whatever comes next. Even here in CA, we have places like Yosemite that the world comes to see along with a lot of Americans. Limited places to stay, a few ways in and out, limited facilities and Yosemite Valley that everyone wants to see. I haven't seen it in years, because I go to "the back side" and "the East Side" and the routes that avoid Yosemite Valley but still are part of the park and the greater area around the park. Yosemite is still a great place to visit and I just drove through yesterday and avoided the crowds. Just gotta keep finding those places around the world.
I can’t disagree. I think what you said about finding the “hidden” or under-appreciated places is key. But I also think that somehow creating a more thoughtful kind of tourist is part. Any ideas on how to do that??
The Thoughtful Tourist...you're the writer my friend, sounds like the title to the book you just conceived. It's tough enough to have a thoughtful Thanksgiving each year here among family. Thoughtful tourists around the Duomo in Florence...I have no idea.
So sad about Punta Cana. In 2009 I went to Bayahibe in the southeast and it was great. Yes, there was an all-inclusive but the village had all kinds of shacks for good food and cold drinks frequented by kind locals. Glad I avoided Punta Cana. Will in future, too.
The lyrics do sound better in Spanish although my Spanish is basic. So what is the verdict, is it worth visiting Dominica or will we be adding to the plight of overtourism?
By all means, go! It’s a beautiful country, inexpensive, people are very friendly. I would just encourage you to explore beyond the tourist resorts.
But attention: I’m writing about the Dominican Republic, not Dominica. I haven’t been to Dominica so I can’t offer any suggestions about it. But one thing I do know is that you won’t need Spanish there. The official language is English.
Oh, yeah I am aware they are separate countries, but the names are so similar. Easy to confuse. :D I’ve never been to a resort my entire life, so that should be easy to avoid.
As always, enjoyed the reading, wrote down some observations. Whatever you say there is true, it happens now everywhere and we`re in so deep it`s not possible to understand where to start from. I feel, that one of the ways is to work with the "desires" of people, the tourists. It`s a long term work, but eventually if we look back it`s the expectations of the ones who pay that form the offer of the ones who want money. Sometime sit`s the opposite too, but certain work has to be done there, right there, in the layer of expectations and demand...the so called "stage set" as you nicely worded it is built in such a way to be understandable and likable for the majority of people and majority`s taste today is far beyond what could be called "bad" strategically low and bad. So the question is the following, should we really follow the path of the bad taste and offer worse things or to take time and start elevating it back? wow...this was a mean comment :D
What do you think, Ella? Does tourism necessarily take away the nuance of a place? I think it may. There's nothing subtle about Disney. But Rome or Venice -- or Armenia, I'm sure -- have layers and layers of history and meaning that have to get painted over in the mind of someone who goes someplace for just a few days.
I know Yerevan is smaller and attracts many fewer tourists than Rome, but do you feel the city is changing in ways you can feel?
You raise so many good questions about the destructive nature of overtourism — chief among them: who deserves to travel, and on what terms?
Respectfully, we hope. But when cheap airfare abounds and a short-term rental costs a fraction of a hotel room, it's hard to fault the hoi polloi who hop on a plane with no particular idea of where they're going or why. The purpose, often enough, is the selfie — a checklist of Important Locales as indexed by social media, Baedeker on speed. And then: cui bono? What is actually changed in the traveler? What do they actually get?
Meanwhile, major cities and so-called destinations are crumbling under the onslaught. We watch it happen and ask why we let it happen — but the proposed remedies tend to collapse under scrutiny. I live inside the UNESCO center of Florence, commuting among tourist hoardes, and this has been my daily lived reality for a decade.
Should people simply stay home? That entrenches provincialism. Should travelers be required to demonstrate basic language skills or cultural knowledge before boarding? That tips into something globally autocratic. Is it worth opening minds at the cost of an essential culture — and is there even proof that any minds are being opened? The degree to which a mind has been opened is a qualitative judgment, and a supremely subjective one.
I came to travel in the old mold: study abroad, language proficiency required, months of advance planning, and a commitment — months — to stay come what may. Humbling came in spades, and that was rather the point.
I remain humble, and always willing to reconsider my own opinions and desires in light of new information. I wish that short-term tourists were encouraged - and able - to interrogate their own opinions and desires.
I'm responding late, Monica, and I know we've discussed some of this ground in the past. But I think the most important part (not the most urgent part) of what you wrote here was remaining humble and willing to reevaluate your opinions. This is far too rare today.
I stand by my committed self-interrogation and the examination of both my conscience and opinions in light of the facts which, by the way, I do believe exist.
I’m not sure what could be done to slow the trend. I’m sure an economist could come up with a system of taxes, fees, restrictions, etc. to reduce tourist density and incentivize people to slow down. But I keep coming back to the idea that travel has simply changed. It’s not about experiences and cultural learning, it’s about status. Makes me sad.
I hope this is something that urban planners are looking at.
In Palermo, the mayor has stop granting business licenses to people who want to open restaurants on a major thoroughfare that is already saturated with eating places that no locals eat in. It’s a start.
I did a lot of research before I picked my neighborhood in Palermo in pray it doesn’t change anytime soon!
What a commentary on your trip! I am so glad I saw you before you left, and now (thanks to your excellent descriptive writing) I have a better understanding of events in DR. One thing I appreciate is how you can relate other foreign experiences into this trip. Over the years, Betty and I have made similar comparisons here in America. We watched Moscow, Russia make radical changes driven by the mafia during our diplomatic assignment there. And you had a "basis" to see the changes in DR this trip as compared to the past. Some changes are good. Some aren't, especially when something meaningful is lost. But lucky for you, a person with a good heart jumped to help. Loved that part of the story, and that type of interaction always gives me hope for civilization.
I can't agree more regarding the interaction ... it's easy to despair these days, but I find encouragement in small every-day encounters with people. Anne Frank said it: even while hiding out from the Nazis she wrote that she believed most people were still basically good.
So nice that your mom supports the orphanage. Your point about the impacts of tourism are correct. But we should all count our blessings that we were born into fortunate circumstances.
Very true, life has been impacted negatively by over tourism in so many places that while you long to go back, you often decide against it, as the changes we end up seeing are t genuinely for the better
The cliché is that you can't go home again (because it will have changed so much). Ditto for places we visited and loved long ago.
Machu Picchu in Peru is probably like that for me. I lived in Peru for five years and probably went to Machu Picchu a dozen or more times, though not since the 1990s. Based on what friends who've been there more recently tell me, I'd be heartbroken if I returned.
it's true Eric. I haven't been to Peru for a decade, but hear that it has changed drastically and there is growing malaise and discontent. Overtourism and influencing is truly destroying something precious and unseen to the eye that many of use dear;y loved and miss now
It’s not just Italy and Peru. It’s spreading like a virus.
I sometimes find myself feeling dread at the idea of returning to places I used to love for fear that the new version of them will be so terrible it’ll change my memory of the place.
I know that & feel exactly like you about many places I have been visiting over the years around the world. One of the reasons I no longer share my true ‘gems’
The story with the misspelled name is classic! Years ago someone in Austria found out that in some internal documents my daughter's name was misspelled. She was 25 then, her stolen passport couldn't be reissued, Eugenia had simply seized to exist in the system. I fixed that and it required the same courage and creativity as you did (leaving out the details for a reason).
Oh, wow! It's unfortunate that that happened, obviously, but it a way encouraging to me that it happened in Europe with a European name!
In my case, it was my Dominican mother's hispanic name being manually typed into some system in New Jersey in the 1960s. It's almost surprising there were no errors on the documents for my brother and sister.
How long did it take to fix the error? Weeks? Months? Longer?
It took about 20 - 30 minutes. I was able to charmingly convince the person in front of me that it had to be fixed NOW and after 20 minutes of murmuring, sweating and cursing a way was found.
That seems very fast compared to the third-world bureaucracy! It took me two years (granted, I did other things in the meantime). But you are a force of nature … so it makes sense you’d get things done!
With overtourism and gentrification I always wonder about possible solutions look like and what case studies exist where cities have managed to redirect wealth to the people who live there. To me it seems like a combination of regulatory solutions (tax policies, incentives for people to live in a neighborhood or start businesses, etc) and promotion of responsible tourism (or civic engagement if you’re a transplant), like participating in community activities, supporting affordable housing, buying from local family-owned businesses. I think in general a lot of the commentary (not this newsletter, but a lot of others) leans heavily on individual actions or spotlights the ugliness of irresponsible tourists, because policy change seems so hard to achieve. No novel ideas here, but I’m a dual citizen who just moved back to Italy from the US and I’ve been trying to learn more about how I can engage my new community, neighborhood, etc and how to avoid inadvertently harming it. Appreciate your writing and reflections on the country and these issues!
I think the answer has to involve a mosaic of solutions and one of them -- I realize this is impossible -- is to somehow change the style of tourism. We live in a disposable culture. And I think vacations are the same. There's no cultural exchange, it's take-take-take.
I love the neighborhood I live in in Rome, San Paolo, but one thing I DISLIKE about it is that it's dirty. Young people drink a few beers and eat pizza on the city steps at night and leave everything there. People throw trash around the dumpsters without putting it in them. Cigarette butts, plastic bottles, etc. are on the sidewalks. I'm convinced it's because there are Roma Tre University students all around and they don't integrate into the community. They're visitors in the neighborhood. They're not invested in its wellbeing.
In that way, I think there's a strong parallel between the students' impact on San Paolo and the impact of many modern tourists on the communities they slowly consume.
I think you’re 100% right that many highlight individual actions because policy feels so hard to change. But changing individual actions on a mass scale is even harder, and so regulatory solutions are key. For instance, many cities should ban short-term apartment rentals in order to protect housing for residents. Responsible tourists should avoid AirBNB, especially in certain cities, but relying on individuals to change their travel habits is less likely to bring about meaningful change.
Yes, yes. Regulations are necessary. I wrote a post a couple of months back called "What to Do About Airbnb" -- I love the idea of a 15- or 30-day minimum stay in B&Bs in urban areas (renting a room in a house or apartment would be exempt).
I can't even begin to think how many articles I've written over the years arguing that individual good intentions won't solve anything endemic -- whether on climate, hate crimes, recycling, etc. Rules have to create incentives that encourage people to do the right thing. Such an important point.
Wonderful story. And I think you really hit on something significant: it's one thing for a country to develop its tourism industry, it's quite another to make a tourist economy actually work for the country itself. I'm always struck in Rome by how few Romans actually work in the tourist-driven businesses-- the parents or grandparents may own the business, but most of this generation wind up moving to another country to pursue the professional jobs they went to school for. You made another good point as well: why do buskers in tourist places only have a repertoire of 3 songs? Living near Castel Sant' Angelo, I could live with never hearing "My Heart Will Go On" or "Perfect" again.
Hahaha. I guess I understand the buskers. They aren't really counting on repeat customers are they? Like the street artists who paint the same scene over and over. Or the same patter certain waiters have in tourist restaurants. But It's got to be boring. Get some new material, right?
Plus, singing "Bésame mucho" to some guy with his 86-year-old mother??
Your comment and a few others here already have been thinking of a future essay about this topic of the tourism economy. It's a serious problem.
If you could decide what to do about this problem, if it were up to you, what would you do? Is there a solution?
I’m not sure what could be done to slow the trend. I’m sure an economist could come up with a system of taxes, fees, restrictions, etc. to reduce tourist density and incentivize people to slow down. But I keep coming back to the idea that travel has simply changed. It’s not about experiences and cultural learning, it’s about status. Makes me sad.
Perceived status. What status does a person actually receive who has traveled, or does it become just another commodified cultural currency, like clothes, houses, and cars?
I don’t think BEING a traveler creates status. I sometimes get strange looks. During the height of MAGA I was accused once of being unpatriotic for living outside the U.S. But having been to places other people have heard of, I think that counts.
Yes! Perceived status. Or the illusion of status. The selfie on Ponte Vecchio posted on social media as currency. Hmmm. This is all very interesting. I think one or both of us will end up exploring this in a newsletter essay.
Only you could find an interesting and worthwhile connection between the two cultures!
I like your mom and the lady who helped you, and the singer. Even though you made it sound like he was going thru the motions, he looks soulfull in that photo you took. Did you get him contacts to send it to him?
No, the singer wasn't anything special and he wasn't the kind of guy who'd want an English-language article sent to him. But he was mildly entertaining (above all for his song selection) and the 20 pesos he earned is the equivalent of around €0.30, so no harm done.
But the woman who helped me! I wish I did ask for her contact ... I would have translated the article into Spanish for her.
Who wouldn’t be proud to be in the Italian Dispatch???
We humans are friggin' weird.
Unfortunately, the crowding isn't going away. Neither is AirBnB. Or Instagram or TikTok or whatever comes next. Even here in CA, we have places like Yosemite that the world comes to see along with a lot of Americans. Limited places to stay, a few ways in and out, limited facilities and Yosemite Valley that everyone wants to see. I haven't seen it in years, because I go to "the back side" and "the East Side" and the routes that avoid Yosemite Valley but still are part of the park and the greater area around the park. Yosemite is still a great place to visit and I just drove through yesterday and avoided the crowds. Just gotta keep finding those places around the world.
I can’t disagree. I think what you said about finding the “hidden” or under-appreciated places is key. But I also think that somehow creating a more thoughtful kind of tourist is part. Any ideas on how to do that??
The Thoughtful Tourist...you're the writer my friend, sounds like the title to the book you just conceived. It's tough enough to have a thoughtful Thanksgiving each year here among family. Thoughtful tourists around the Duomo in Florence...I have no idea.
So sad about Punta Cana. In 2009 I went to Bayahibe in the southeast and it was great. Yes, there was an all-inclusive but the village had all kinds of shacks for good food and cold drinks frequented by kind locals. Glad I avoided Punta Cana. Will in future, too.
I’ve never been to Bayahibe! It’s been years, but I agree it isn’t as much a cliché as Punta Cana and La Romana.
The lyrics do sound better in Spanish although my Spanish is basic. So what is the verdict, is it worth visiting Dominica or will we be adding to the plight of overtourism?
By all means, go! It’s a beautiful country, inexpensive, people are very friendly. I would just encourage you to explore beyond the tourist resorts.
But attention: I’m writing about the Dominican Republic, not Dominica. I haven’t been to Dominica so I can’t offer any suggestions about it. But one thing I do know is that you won’t need Spanish there. The official language is English.
Oh, yeah I am aware they are separate countries, but the names are so similar. Easy to confuse. :D I’ve never been to a resort my entire life, so that should be easy to avoid.
As always, enjoyed the reading, wrote down some observations. Whatever you say there is true, it happens now everywhere and we`re in so deep it`s not possible to understand where to start from. I feel, that one of the ways is to work with the "desires" of people, the tourists. It`s a long term work, but eventually if we look back it`s the expectations of the ones who pay that form the offer of the ones who want money. Sometime sit`s the opposite too, but certain work has to be done there, right there, in the layer of expectations and demand...the so called "stage set" as you nicely worded it is built in such a way to be understandable and likable for the majority of people and majority`s taste today is far beyond what could be called "bad" strategically low and bad. So the question is the following, should we really follow the path of the bad taste and offer worse things or to take time and start elevating it back? wow...this was a mean comment :D
What do you think, Ella? Does tourism necessarily take away the nuance of a place? I think it may. There's nothing subtle about Disney. But Rome or Venice -- or Armenia, I'm sure -- have layers and layers of history and meaning that have to get painted over in the mind of someone who goes someplace for just a few days.
I know Yerevan is smaller and attracts many fewer tourists than Rome, but do you feel the city is changing in ways you can feel?
You raise so many good questions about the destructive nature of overtourism — chief among them: who deserves to travel, and on what terms?
Respectfully, we hope. But when cheap airfare abounds and a short-term rental costs a fraction of a hotel room, it's hard to fault the hoi polloi who hop on a plane with no particular idea of where they're going or why. The purpose, often enough, is the selfie — a checklist of Important Locales as indexed by social media, Baedeker on speed. And then: cui bono? What is actually changed in the traveler? What do they actually get?
Meanwhile, major cities and so-called destinations are crumbling under the onslaught. We watch it happen and ask why we let it happen — but the proposed remedies tend to collapse under scrutiny. I live inside the UNESCO center of Florence, commuting among tourist hoardes, and this has been my daily lived reality for a decade.
Should people simply stay home? That entrenches provincialism. Should travelers be required to demonstrate basic language skills or cultural knowledge before boarding? That tips into something globally autocratic. Is it worth opening minds at the cost of an essential culture — and is there even proof that any minds are being opened? The degree to which a mind has been opened is a qualitative judgment, and a supremely subjective one.
I came to travel in the old mold: study abroad, language proficiency required, months of advance planning, and a commitment — months — to stay come what may. Humbling came in spades, and that was rather the point.
I remain humble, and always willing to reconsider my own opinions and desires in light of new information. I wish that short-term tourists were encouraged - and able - to interrogate their own opinions and desires.
I'm responding late, Monica, and I know we've discussed some of this ground in the past. But I think the most important part (not the most urgent part) of what you wrote here was remaining humble and willing to reevaluate your opinions. This is far too rare today.
I stand by my committed self-interrogation and the examination of both my conscience and opinions in light of the facts which, by the way, I do believe exist.
Thank you for inspiring my follow-up piece ! https://substack.com/@monicasharp/p-196682854
Wonderful article. And I can relate! I see Palermo moving in the same direction and it saddens me.
I’m not sure what could be done to slow the trend. I’m sure an economist could come up with a system of taxes, fees, restrictions, etc. to reduce tourist density and incentivize people to slow down. But I keep coming back to the idea that travel has simply changed. It’s not about experiences and cultural learning, it’s about status. Makes me sad.
I think it’s a combination of both.
I hope this is something that urban planners are looking at.
In Palermo, the mayor has stop granting business licenses to people who want to open restaurants on a major thoroughfare that is already saturated with eating places that no locals eat in. It’s a start.
I did a lot of research before I picked my neighborhood in Palermo in pray it doesn’t change anytime soon!
What a commentary on your trip! I am so glad I saw you before you left, and now (thanks to your excellent descriptive writing) I have a better understanding of events in DR. One thing I appreciate is how you can relate other foreign experiences into this trip. Over the years, Betty and I have made similar comparisons here in America. We watched Moscow, Russia make radical changes driven by the mafia during our diplomatic assignment there. And you had a "basis" to see the changes in DR this trip as compared to the past. Some changes are good. Some aren't, especially when something meaningful is lost. But lucky for you, a person with a good heart jumped to help. Loved that part of the story, and that type of interaction always gives me hope for civilization.
You were in Moscow during an amazing period!
I can't agree more regarding the interaction ... it's easy to despair these days, but I find encouragement in small every-day encounters with people. Anne Frank said it: even while hiding out from the Nazis she wrote that she believed most people were still basically good.
Your story about the bureaucracy is funny! I guess Italy's inefficiencies are good for something! Lesson learned.
All muscles grow stronger with repeated use.
So nice that your mom supports the orphanage. Your point about the impacts of tourism are correct. But we should all count our blessings that we were born into fortunate circumstances.
Absolutely. There but for the grace of God go I ... I think about that a lot.
Very true, life has been impacted negatively by over tourism in so many places that while you long to go back, you often decide against it, as the changes we end up seeing are t genuinely for the better
The cliché is that you can't go home again (because it will have changed so much). Ditto for places we visited and loved long ago.
Machu Picchu in Peru is probably like that for me. I lived in Peru for five years and probably went to Machu Picchu a dozen or more times, though not since the 1990s. Based on what friends who've been there more recently tell me, I'd be heartbroken if I returned.
it's true Eric. I haven't been to Peru for a decade, but hear that it has changed drastically and there is growing malaise and discontent. Overtourism and influencing is truly destroying something precious and unseen to the eye that many of use dear;y loved and miss now
It’s not just Italy and Peru. It’s spreading like a virus.
I sometimes find myself feeling dread at the idea of returning to places I used to love for fear that the new version of them will be so terrible it’ll change my memory of the place.
I know that & feel exactly like you about many places I have been visiting over the years around the world. One of the reasons I no longer share my true ‘gems’
What a sweet story!
The story with the misspelled name is classic! Years ago someone in Austria found out that in some internal documents my daughter's name was misspelled. She was 25 then, her stolen passport couldn't be reissued, Eugenia had simply seized to exist in the system. I fixed that and it required the same courage and creativity as you did (leaving out the details for a reason).
Oh, wow! It's unfortunate that that happened, obviously, but it a way encouraging to me that it happened in Europe with a European name!
In my case, it was my Dominican mother's hispanic name being manually typed into some system in New Jersey in the 1960s. It's almost surprising there were no errors on the documents for my brother and sister.
How long did it take to fix the error? Weeks? Months? Longer?
It took about 20 - 30 minutes. I was able to charmingly convince the person in front of me that it had to be fixed NOW and after 20 minutes of murmuring, sweating and cursing a way was found.
That seems very fast compared to the third-world bureaucracy! It took me two years (granted, I did other things in the meantime). But you are a force of nature … so it makes sense you’d get things done!