2024-07-22 07:45:54
Under the slogan “Let’s change the course and set limits to the march”, the demonstrators formed a string of brightly colored flags and banners as they passed through the streets visited. most of the city, is the latest in a wave of mass anti-tourism protests in Spain. .
“Your love, our sadness,” read one sign, while another placard said: “This is not tourism, it’s numbers: 1,232,014 inhabitants, 18 million tourists.”
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The protests were called by some 80 groups and social groups who want to put limits on excessive tourism in the Balearic Islands, of which the three main islands are Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
Gigantic exposure against much tourism and real estate speculation today in Mallorca. You are awesome.pic.twitter.com/qm83rdm1Bw
– Fonsi Loaiza (@FonsiLoaiza) July 21, 2024
They say the current model of travel has stretched public services to breaking point, harmed natural resources and made local access to housing difficult.
Organizers said 50,000 joined the protests, with police estimating 20,000 participants. Previously, the central government representative in the islands had said 12,000.
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Last year, a record 17.8 million people visited the Balearic Islands, from mainland Spain and abroad, and the figures are expected to be even higher this year.
🔴 Thousands of people took part in the demonstration against the tourist fair in Palma de Mallorca.
Stop tourism.
For a decent home at a decent price.
Whoever loves Mallorca does not destroy it.@contracimera #CanviemElRumb
📹: @OliverJaume pic.twitter.com/sHyJciZ3Ix— John Keating 🏴☠️🍉 (@Sir_JohnKeating) July 21, 2024
The show follows another mass of insects across the archipelago’s three main islands at the end of Mayin which many thousands of tourists hit the streets to demand steps to limit tourism under the slogan: “Our islands are not for sale”.
There has also been small demos held on Mallorcan beaches which is full of holidaymakers.
“From a practical point of view, it is a legitimate economic activity. But as an economic activity, it should be regulated in the end in the same way as hotels,” said architect and urban planner José María Ezquiaga, who told TVE on public television that he believes that tourist rental houses should require the approval of local residents’ groups.
Device: Spaniards should blame the hosts, not the tourists
“It should be local property owners who set the rules of the game and decide whether or not certain formats are acceptable,” he said.
And Manuel de la Calle, an expert in the field of tourism and business, said that raising the tourist tax could be part of the solution.
“It is one of the possible solutions that we can put in. It will not reduce the flow of travel, but it will generate resources that can be placed in travel management or other ways to help local residents,” he told TVE.
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