When I lived in London, I often felt like a tourist in my own city. A particularly bad day at work could be salvaged if, when walking home, I looked up and caught sight of St Paul’s Cathedral in just the right kind of light. From the South Bank, I would pause amongst the bustle of tourists and gaze at it across the surface of the silvery Thames. I’d just stand there, smiling at the ridiculous beauty of the building. For a few seconds at least, that last client email was forgotten.

I live in Barcelona now, and sometimes feel like a tourist in London when I go back there. However, the strange thing is that I don’t think I behave very differently as a visitor to the city than I did when I lived there. Last month I was on the train in from Stansted when two Spanish tourists started taking pictures from the window as the skyscrapers of The City came into view. Without thinking, I did the same. I questioned myself a few minutes later, before realising that I often took pictures like a tourist when I lived in London, too.

Earlier today I was walking down Carrer Sicilia on my way to a meeting. I looked up and my new St Paul’s Cathedral popped into view from behind a building – The Sagrada Familia. Like St Paul’s, I’ve seen Gaudí’s masterpiece thousands of times. But I can’t think of a time when I haven’t looked at it twice. Great buildings can do that. Even on a slightly grey day like today. I felt it deserved one more picture in my phone alongside hundreds from other angles. After all, maybe I’d missed a particular detail.

Living in Barcelona, you can suppress your tourist tendencies sometimes. I know locals who live in areas like the one around the Sagrada Familia. Sometimes they can get a bit tired of the visitors. Or the guiris, as they call them. I have a friend who lives near to where I took the photo today. She tells me that she struggles to get through a week without tripping over at least one of the thousands of tourists that congregate there. Normally, she says, it’s when they stop suddenly in front of her before whipping out their smartphone. Looking for the perfect shot.

I don’t want to be tarred with the guiri brush, but I think it’s fine to be a tourist in your own city. Better that than to walk amongst the beauty without recognising it. Or worse, to just stare at your phone.

So that’s it. It’s decided. I’m going to carry on being a tourist in my own city. I did it in London, and in Sydney before that. But I’ll make a deal with you, Barcelona. I’ll always look behind me before I reach for my smartphone. And don’t worry, I agree with you about selfie sticks.