20,000-strong Protest Against Excessive Tourism Gathers in Spain
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About 20,000 protesters took to the streets of the Spanish resort town of Palma de Mallorca on Sunday for a large-scale demonstration against mass tourism.
This was reported by France 24.
The protesters demanded changes in the tourism model, which they believe is harmful to the Spanish Mediterranean island.
Under the slogan ‘Let's change course and put restrictions on tourism’, demonstrators with bright flags and banners, carrying makeshift models of aircraft and cruise ships, marched through the most visited streets of the city.
‘Your luxury is our poverty,’ read one of the posters, and another: ‘It's not tourism phobia, it's the numbers: 1,232,014 residents, 18 million tourists.’
This year, activists have held a series of protests in Barcelona and other popular holiday destinations such as Malaga and the Canary Islands, claiming that visitors are driving up housing costs and causing residents to be unable to afford to live in city centres.
The protests were organised by around 80 organisations and social groups demanding a curb on excessive tourism in the Balearic Islands, the main three of which are Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. Organisers claimed that 50,000 people joined the protests, with police estimating the number of participants at 20,000.
The organisers said the current tourism model has put an excessive strain on public services, damaged natural resources and made it difficult for locals to access housing.
Last year, a record 17.8 million people from mainland Spain and abroad visited the Balearic Islands, and this year's figure is expected to be even higher.
According to Reuters, according to the industry organisation Exceltur, tourism generates 45% of the Balearic Islands' gross domestic product.
In the first quarter of this year, 16.1 million people visited Spain, which is 18% more than in the same period last year.
In 2023, tourists spent 109 billion euros in Spain, compared to 63.5 billion euros in France.
As The Gaze previously reported, an angry crowd of protesters against excessive tourism in Spain soaked foreign visitors with water pistols in restaurants in Barcelona. Thousands of people marched to the Catalan capital and called on tourists to ‘go home’.