Anti-tourist campaigners in Majorca have mocked England’s Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain and demanded Britain ‘takes back its drunks’ as thousands demonstrate against holidaymakers this evening.
Thousands of people have descended on the streets of the Majorcan capital Palma tonight as they called for curbs on the amount of foreign visitors allowed on the Spanish island.
Among them was one who held aloft a picture of England full-back Kyle Walker accompanied by the words: ‘The only thing coming home is you’.
The mass protest, which is the second in two months to be held in the city, also saw people hold up banners written in English saying: ‘Take back your drunks, give back our homes.’
That’s despite calls from the regional government for demonstrators to show foreign visitors ‘respect’ during the march, as the wave of anti-tourist sentiment continues to grow in the Mediterranean.
Before tonight’s march organisers had released a bizarre video gloating about the idea of empty hotels and banning hire cars, despite some Spaniards warning them that if their wish comes true it could cripple their economy with tourists taking their money elsewhere.
A protester holds a sign reading ‘Take back your drunks, give back our homes’ during tonight’s demonstration in Palma
Thousands of Majorcans have gathered in the capital of Palma to protest what they see as ‘overtourism’
Protesters in Palma hold a sign reading ‘Land threatened, resistance assured’ during a demonstration tonight
At tonight’s protest in Palma, many signs took aim at the behaviour of tourists while they are on the island.
Other English language messages carried by some on cardboard posters said: ‘We used to have a life. SOS Residents.’ and ‘Enjoy balconing’.
The latter is a reference to the dangerous practice of jumping from hotel balconies into pools or climbing between terraces which partying Brits in places like Magaluf have been linked to over the years.
The demonstrators also took aim at the Germans, with a message in German saying: ‘Out at the finale. Get out of here’ – a reference to Spain beating Die Mannschaft on their way to Euro 2024 glory.
Responding to claims they are guilty of unjustly making the holidaymakers the butt of their anger, some protesters had banners which said: ‘This is not tourism-phobia.’
At the last protest in the city on May 25 some foreign tourists were booed and jeered by some locals as they ate evening meals on terraces in Palma’s Weyler Square.
Organisers ended up making a public apology for the abuse they received.
Ahead of tonight’s protest, organised by platform Menys Turisme, Mes Vida which in English translates as ‘Less Tourism, More Life.’
The bizarre music video featured images of queues to get into the cove of Calo des Moro and a large group of foreign cyclists.
Some demonstrators held signs called for a different type of tourism on the Spanish island this evening
One protester brought a homemade model of an airplane to signify the large numbers of tourists arriving on the island
Thousands of protesters gather in the Majorcan capital of Palma this evening to protest what they see as ‘overtourism’ on the Spanish island
It starts with the lyrics ‘there will be no more regattas, tomorrow is the last cruise’ before continuing: ‘Goodbye rental cars, goodbye rat businesses. Houses will be cheap and we won’t see more cyclists.’
It ends with an islander singing in Catalan: ‘We will plough the highways, the hotels will be empty and so the world will understand that there are too many tourists.’
Last night the Melia Palma Bay Hotel was one of a number of buildings in Palma lit up with messages of support for this evening’s protest.
A neon message on the front of the hotel, which appeared around 10pm, said: ‘Let’s put limits on tourism.’
Climate activist Pere Joan Femenia, one of the spokespeople for Menys Turisme Mes Vida said as the protest got underway: ‘The Balearic Islands have a limit.
‘The ability to receive more people has reached its limit.’
Jaume Foil, a Spanish resident who has taken part in demonstrations against ‘overtourism’, told Sky News that areas are ‘struggling’ to cope with the influx of holidaymakers.
‘We are not protesting against the tourism, we protesting against mass tourism or what we call ‘overtourism’ that we are experiencing in Majorca,’ he said.
‘For example there are one million people living in Majorca and when it comes to the summer we double our population so our structures – roads, hospitals, even beaches – cannot support this mass tourism and we are struggling for that.’
Anti-tourism protesters in Barcelona gather outside a restaurant being used by holidaymakers in the city during a demonstration on July 6
Protesters hold signs reading ‘I have a right to live in my city’ and ‘you will be remembered for kicking young people and families out of Malaga’ during a demonstration in Malaga on June 29
Protesters hold signs reading ‘for sale’ during an anti-tourism demonstration in Malaga on June 29
He added that while it was difficult to blame a single person or political party for the issue, it has been ‘growing for the last 20 years’.
He said: ‘Maybe no political party and no one wanted to take this problem and try to solve this problem.
‘I don’t know who is responsible but at the very least our politicians must do something.’
But Toni Perez, mayor of British holiday favourite Benidorm, seemed to suggest overnight the groups behind the current wave of protests across Spain targeting the current tourist model were opening the door to the country’s economic suicide with their actions.
Asked if he understood people warning about the ‘dangers’ of mass tourism, he retorted in a newspaper interview: ‘Has anyone considered that in a European country in which its great strength is the car industry, the population demonstrates against it?’
Earlier this month tourists were sprayed with water pistols in Barcelona by demonstrators during a protest there against tourist massification.
Regional government spokesman Antoni Costa has urged protesters to leave British holidaymakers alone.
Mr Costa said: ‘There’s no fear because here it hasn’t happened and people have always been respectful.’
Spanish demonstrators gathers take part in a protest against ‘overtourism’ in Malaga on June 29
A woman holds a sign reading ‘fewer luxury apartments for wealthy gurus and more homes for families who live here’ at a protest in Malaga on June 29
‘But we have seen a certain type of behaviour in Barcelona which, as you can imagine, we didn’t like.
‘We ask for the upmost respect for those who have decided not to demonstrate and urge those who do protest to do so peacefully and not interrupt other citizens and visitors.’
Politicians in Barcelona have indicated they will take action against foreign visitors by raising the tourist tax on cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours ‘substantially’.
Jaume Collboni, Barcelona’s mayor, said the current tourist tax for stopover cruise passengers was 7 euros (£5.90) per day. He did not say by how much the tax would be increased.
‘We are going to propose… substantially increasing the tax for stopover cruise passengers,’ he told outlet El Pais.
‘In the case of stopover cruise passengers (less than 12 hours) there is intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a feeling of occupation and saturation. We want to have tourism that is respectful of the destination.’
Collboni announced last month that the city will bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move as it seeks to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for residents.
