15 tourists for every local Thousands demonstrate against mass tourism on Mallorca

It was not the first demonstration of its kind in Spain: Several thousand people demonstrated against mass tourism in Mallorca.

Several thousand people took to the streets of Mallorca to demonstrate against mass tourism. The police estimated the number of participants at 20,000, while the organizers put the figure at 50,000, which observers on the ground described as too high.

On Sunday evening, people held placards with inscriptions such as "Your luxury, our misery" and "We don't want to lead the way in rising housing costs". One sign criticized low-cost airlines. The demonstrators made their way from Ses Estacions Park through the old town of Palma.

Tourists who were passed by the demonstrators were impressed, wrote the "Mallorca Zeitung". Some even encouraged the demonstrators and applauded. Others found the rally rather unpleasant.

There are 15 tourists for every local

Almost 1.2 million locals live on the Balearic Islands, of which Mallorca is the main island. Last year, they were visited by 18 million tourists, including 4.6 million from Germany and 3.4 million from the UK. Or rather haunted, as more and more locals are finding.

The rally was called by a group called "Less Tourism, More Life". According to Marga Ramis, one of the brains behind the movement, 100 associations and organizations have joined, as reported by the "Mallorca Zeitung".

Eight weeks ago, up to 25,000 people demonstrated in Palma under the slogans "Let's say basta!" and "Mallorca is not for sale!". There is also resentment in other Spanish tourist cities such as Barcelona and Málaga, as well as in the Canary Islands.

Don't saw at the branch you're sitting on

Tourism is vital for Mallorca's survival. The industry accounts for 45 percent of the island's economic output. And the tourism industry warns against sawing at the branch on which many are sitting. Around 20 billion euros flow into the island's coffers.

But protesters complain that only a minority benefit, while the vast majority get jobs with low salaries in the tourism industry, which are not enough to pay for increasingly expensive housing. In addition, traffic jams, noise and dirt are grating on the nerves of the islanders.

"Tourists go home"

"I understand the unease of many residents, but I ask that such demonstrations do not degenerate into vandalism against tourists and residents, as happened in Barcelona," said the conservative regional government leader of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens, to the "Mallorca Zeitung".

At the beginning of the month, several thousand demonstrators in the Mediterranean metropolis of Barcelona called for restrictions on the tourism industry in view of the ever-increasing cost of living there too. Guests at restaurants, which are particularly popular with tourists, were sprayed with water pistols.

"Tourists go home. You are not welcome" was written on posters they carried. The socialist mayor Jaume Collboni wants to increase the tax on cruise tourists and no longer renew the licenses for vacation apartments.

dpa