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Protesters hold a banner reading “Let’s change course” during a demonstration against mass tourism and property prices in Palma de Mallorca on the Spanish island of Majorca.
CNN
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Thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday to protest against mass tourism on the island of Majorca, as a crackdown on holidaymakers in Spain continues.
At the demonstration demanding a limit on the number of tourists, protesters carried placards reading: “Tourists, we love you when you don’t buy our land” and “Your paradise is our nightmare” as they marched through the city of Palma de Mallorca, located on the island’s southern coast.
Jaime Reina/AFP/Getty Images
A young man holds a sign reading “Stop Cruises” during the demonstration on Sunday, July 21.
Around 50,000 people took part in Sunday’s protest, which began around 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Eastern time), according to organizers Menys Turisme, Mas Vida (Less Tourism, More Life), although police put the figure at around 12,000, RTVE reported.
Organizers say the island’s tourism model “impoverishes workers and enriches only a few.”
They demanded an “alternative tourism model”, as well as “access to decent housing”, “improved public services” and “the conservation and regeneration of natural spaces”.
Juan Medina/Reuters
Tourists sunbathe on El Arenal beach in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
The demonstration brought together around 110 groups and social movements, according to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.
The move comes amid growing tensions over the impact of tourism on local areas in Spain.
The Balearic Islands, made up of Mallorca, the largest of the islands, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, attracted 14.4 million foreign visitors last year, according to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics.
Earlier this month, protesters against mass tourism in Barcelona doused visitors with water and marched through the city chanting: “Tourists go home.”
The Balearic Islands issued new rules in May banning drinking on the streets of the main tourist areas of the islands of Ibiza and Majorca, with the exception of terraces and other licensed areas.
In April, residents of Spain’s Canary Islands called a hunger strike to protest excessive tourism, which protesters say exonerates locals and causes environmental damage.
