Brits who are travelling to Majorca have been warned about the next protest against overtourism that is happening on the popular Spanish island. Majorca is a favourite for many British holidaymakers, with popular spots on the island including Palma, Santa Ponsa, and Pollença. However, many residents on the island have become fed up with the number of tourists visiting every year, and protests have been taking place there, similar to those in other tourist hot spots such as Tenerife and Malaga.
Another protest will take place on Sunday, June 15, to highlight the problems locals face due to overtourism. Majorca is among the locations where such a protest will take place, with others happening in Barcelona, Ibiza, Menorca, San Sebastián, Granada, Tenerife, and Málaga, as well as Venice in Italy and Lisbon in Portugal. The protests have been organised by the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification.
Organisers have pointed to problems like overcrowded streets, a shortage of housing stock, and ecological strain caused by high levels of tourism in these areas.
Menys Turisme Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life) is the group that organised last year’s protests in Majorca and has vowed to demonstrate again this year, intensifying its actions as the tourist season kicks in.
In an online statement, the group says this fresh action comes after “seeing the Balearic government’s new tourist campaign, the announcements of billion-dollar investments, the boom in property speculation and luxury tourism while the housing problem worsens, while policies only favour the liberalisation of land and favour speculation and business in a context of serious climate and ecological crisis, with the negotiation of the hospitality agreement on the table, and the failure – more than foreseeable – of the Pact for Sustainability round tables.”
Around 10,000 protestors showed up to last year’s demonstration. This Sunday, 60 other anti-tourism groups, trade unions, and environmental organisations will participate in the protest, which will take place at 6pm in Plaça Espanya.
The group is calling for limits on tourism on the island. They claim that Sóller, Artà, and Palma are among the areas suffering most from tourism.
They explain: “Entire roads and paths cut off by tourist-sports events, record numbers of cruise passengers, streets, squares and markets saturated with tourists, occupied and commercialised, and the situation of the housing problem increasingly bloody and without solutions.”
Meanwhile, Menys Turisme Més Vida said in a statement that the group is “not against tourism”. A social media post by the group reads: “Of course we want you to come. To get lost in the narrow streets of the old town, to sit by the sea in winter, to taste a freshly made ensaimada or listen to Mallorcan in a market. We want to share all that. But without meaning that we stop being who we are.
“We are taking to the streets again to say ‘enough’, and we will do it as many times as necessary.”