- Several people have gone viral on TikTok over the summer for criticizing their European vacations.
- Mikaela Testa, an Australian influencer, is the latest person to wade into the controversy.
In recent months, several TikTokers have faced backlash for sharing their thoughts on viral summer hotspots. They often say they want to show the reality behind the aspirational social-media posts, but viewers argue their expectations are uninformed or their criticisms are unfounded.
Most recently, Mikaela Testa, a 23-year-old OnlyFans model and TikTok personality from Melbourne, Australia, was at the center of the debate.
Testa posted a video on August 15 telling viewers she was on the Italian island of Capri, which has a reputation for being a celebrity and influencer hot spot thanks to its natural beauty and designer shops. But in the clip, she said people shouldn't be sad if they weren't in Europe this summer because "it is not all it is cracked up to be."
She said: "Influencers come to these locations and make them look so pretty and so photogenic and so amazing, but half of it is edited and filtered and just not real." She said she and her friends had been traveling for three months and that they were "dying to go home."
She also said that there was so much walking involved that she felt as if she had burned "literally 3,000 calories a day" from walking up stairs, and that they were so hot that they had to drench themselves in water before they went inside.
The video received 2.5 million views and a mixed response, but it didn't end there.
@mikaelatesta ♬ original sound - Mikaela Testa
In another video posted on the same day which received 1.6 million views, Testa told viewers they should "skip Barcelona" if they were traveling Europe.
"I stand in piss every single day, this place stinks, and it's horrible," she said.
Testa also said every friend that she had made there had their phone stolen and she and her friends were "depressed" and "so bored."
In one clip, she showed herself and her friend walking through the streets wearing oversize shirts. "It's 8 p.m., and yes we're wearing pajamas outside because there is no point in looking good for this city," she said.
@mikaelatesta ♬ original sound - Mikaela Testa
Most viewers disagreed with Testa's criticism of Barcelona. Many said that it was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and several people said that they had visited the city recently and loved it.
One viewer wrote, "Barcelona is amazing, what are you talking about." Testa replied, "Why does nobody mention the negatives like literally urine puddles EVERYWHERE and major crime, violence and theft in daylight!"
Barcelona has a bad reputation when it comes to pick-pockets and petty theft, and thefts account for half of the crime in the city, according to the local government website Info Barcelona. Most of these thefts occur in the street. But the problem appears to be improving — between 2019 and 2023, thefts dropped by 26.6%, the website reported.
Another viewer criticized Testa and her friend for wearing Ugg Boots and a winter hat in some of the clips, even though they had complained about a heat wave, although another commented that Uggs were "not winter shoes" in Australia.
Testa has 2.4 million followers on TikTok, where she posts lifestyle, beauty, and travel videos. She did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
These types of videos and backlash against them are becoming something of a trend. At the beginning of July, one US tourist went viral for saying traveling to the Amalfi Coast in Italy was "literal manual labor." Soon after, several groups of US tourists went viral for claiming that Europeans didn't drink water. Many viewers have criticized the video creators for not doing their research before traveling,
Many tourists have also gone viral for sharing the outrageous charges from their European vacations, with one American tourist claiming that she "accidentally" spent $100 on breakfast in Paris in July.