While tourism accounts for about 45 percent of the Balearic islands’ gross domestic product, protesters in Menorca and Mallorca say the prices of holiday rentals are driving out locals.
Dylan Donnelly, News Reporter
Sunday 9 June 2024 15:31 UK
Thousands of people took to the streets in the Balearic Islands this weekend to protest against mass tourism and overcrowding.
Demonstrators marched through Menorca and Mallorca on Saturday in the latest protests against the “massification” of tourism in Spain’s island regions.
Tourism accounts for about 45 percent of the Balearic Islands’ gross domestic product, according to data from industry group Exceltur, but protesters say the prices of holiday rentals are driving locals out.
“We call on the authorities to ban people who haven’t lived here for more than five years from buying property and to tighten regulations on holiday accommodation,” said Carme Reynes, whose group organised the protest in Palma de Mallorca.
“We want to reduce mass tourism and increase sustainable tourism,” added Javier Carbonell, a real estate agent in Mallorca.
A spokesman for Spain’s national police said around 10,000 people took part in the protests in Mallorca, while hundreds more marched in Menorca.
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Menorca’s Balearic Islands Ornithology and Nature Conservation Group (GOB Menorca) said on its website that it was protesting against “the massification of tourism, the problem of access to housing, water management and the economic diversification of the island”.
Protesters turned out with deck chairs, towels and sunglasses, turning Menorca’s Biosfera square into a mock beach, the group added in a social media post.
It is the latest in a series of protests against mass tourism on the Spanish islands.
The protests in Menorca and Mallorca took place at the same time as anti-tourist demonstrations in Barcelona, just a day before around 1,000 people demonstrated in Ibiza.
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Image: Anti-tourism demonstration in Barcelona, Catalonia, on Saturday. Photo: AP
“We want new tourist restrictions and a ban on further construction of illegal apartments,” said Rafael Jimenez, spokesman for Pro Ibiza, which organized Friday’s protest.
“With fewer apartments on the market, prices go up.”
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And in April, thousands of people across the Canary Islands protested against mass tourism, claiming the region was “not for sale.”
At the time, the islands’ president said he was “proud” the region was Spain’s leading tourist destination, but acknowledged that further restrictions were needed.
“We cannot continue to look the other way or hotels will continue to operate out of control,” Fernando Clavijo told a news conference.
