Tourists in the Spanish island of Majorca were reportedly surrounded and jeered by protestors as mass tourism demonstrations swept across popular holiday destinations in Europe. Thousands rallied in Palma de Majorca on Sunday, while hundreds also gathered in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese cities.
The marches were part of the first coordinated effort by activists concerned by the effects of overtourism in southern Europe. Campaigners have blamed mass tourism for driving rental prices and the protestors were also calling for cheaper accommodation. In Palma de Majorca, the capital of Majorca, protestors held placards that included messages — many of which were written in English — such as “tourists go home” and “Mallorca is not your cash cow”.
The tourists who were surrounded and jeered were in a bar in central bar Palma, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports, adding this was done by a small group of protestors.
In Majorca and Barcelona, protestors used water pistols against tourists.
“The squirt guns are to bother the tourists a bit,” one protestor said after spritzing a couple seated at an outdoor cafe.
“Barcelona has been handed to the tourists. This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents.”
Tourists who were targeted by water pistols in Palma de Majorca laughed it off, according to reports.
Majorca is a favourite for British and German holidaymakers, with more than 2.3 million Britons visiting the sun-soaked island each year.
Protestors chanted “everywhere you look, all you see are tourists”.
The Balearic island has seen housing costs skyrocket as homes are diverted to the short-term rental market.
One Parma local, Oriol, 40, told the MailOnline: “I’m protesting because I don’t want 80% of my money to go on rent.
“I don’t want to be forced to speak only English or German in by apartment block.
“I don’t want my friends to have to go to the mainland when they have children just to be able to afford a dignified life, a lot of us are fed up.”
