Hotel businesses in Majorca are banding together to implore British tourists to “go home”, but unlike the placards of local residents protesting the impacts of mass tourism, the holiday destination’s hoteliers are asking them to come back “soon.”
The Majorca Hotel Business Federation (FEHM) is putting up signage across the island in a bid to reclaim the viral “go home” messaging that local protesters have deployed in their demonstrations calling for further crackdowns on short-term holiday rentals and the building of hotels rather than homes.
Messages in both English and German, two of Majorca’s most important tourist demographics, will now, awkwardly, tell visitors: “Tourist, go home happy. Be happier returning to Mallorca soon. Thanks!”
Despite the Balearics seeing an early summer slump in visitors from Germany and Spain, beach-mad Brits appear not to mind the possibility of having a ‘go home’ placard waved in their face, being described as the islands’ “most loyal holidaymakers” with a nine per cent jump in Majorca and a six per cent increase in the Balearics as a whole.
Around 20 billboards will display these messages, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, as business leaders attempt to turn around some of the negative feeling garnered by these often well-attended protests.
The president of MEHF, Javier Vich, made it clear that he hoped the billboards would capitalise on a recent major win for the local hospitality industry. Businesses had seen walk-outs and strikes over pay, before a “best in Spain” rise of 13.5 per cent was agreed with bosses.
Vich said: “Every month during the high season, 235,000 salaries are paid in sectors linked to tourism: transport, catering, culture, leisure and hospitality.’ before stressing that these salaries were paid from the proceeds of tourists visiting the island.
He added: “We cannot allow a radical minority to damage the work carried out over many years by so many people who have made tourism their way of life.”
The Balearic Islands are the third most popular destination for holidaymakers heading to Spain, which has seen a massive tourism boom since the pandemic. This has led to a vast growth of illegal holiday rentals across the country, reducing the number of homes available for local people and spiking rent costs.
However, Vich argued: “Tourism cannot be the punching bag for all the structural problems of this community.”