The leader of Spain’s Balearic Islands said the era of mass tourism in the islands is over after thousands demonstrated against a model that has overwhelmed the popular holiday island.
Marga Proens, president of the Balearic Islands regional government, said authorities must aim for “quality tourism” rather than simply trying to attract more tourists.
“The quantity model is over. You can’t increase quantity, you can only increase value. The model of increasing quantity has reached its limits,” Prohens told local newspaper Ultima Hora.
Protesters have called for affordable housing to be built on the island, saying illegal tourist apartments have driven up rents and forced some locals to live in caravans or their cars.
A demonstrator holds up a sign during a protest in Palma de Mallorca (Photo: Juan Medina/Reuters)
Activists estimate that around 1,000 people are living in caravans or mobile homes, with the average monthly rent being 1,500 euros (1,300 pounds).
Prohens said the Islands’ Conservative government has approved 700 housing projects, cut property sales taxes and handed over public land to developers so they can build more rental homes.
But despite Mrs. Prohens’ words, protesters signalled they might hold further demonstrations this summer, right in the middle of the holiday season.
Around 10,000 people protested in Palma de Mallorca on Saturday against excessive tourism, Spanish police said.
Protesters filled the streets of the capital of the Balearic island’s largest, carrying posters, some of which were written in English, that read: “Too many tourists… SOS to residents”.
Protesters carrying banners reading “Mallorca is not for sale” and “We once had a life” marched through the streets, beating drums.
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Hundreds of people took part in a smaller demonstration against mass tourism in Menorca, while around 1,000 protesters marched in Ibiza on Friday night.
Rafael Jimenez, of Prou Ibiza, which organised Friday’s protest on White Island, said further demonstrations were likely over the holiday season.
“We have to talk to other groups, but we expect there will be more protests later this summer,” he told me.
Jimenez said protesters wanted to restrict the construction of new tourist sites and ban more illegal tourist apartments, which are driving up rental prices for locals.
But he stressed that activists are not against tourism, but the current mass tourism model that has forced people to leave the island and live on the Spanish mainland.
Protesters in Mallorca said they wanted to ban people who have not lived on the island for five years from buying property and to tighten regulations on holiday accommodation.
The Balearic Islands were Spain’s second most popular tourist region after Catalonia last year, attracting 14.4 million holidaymakers, according to data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute.
Around 18 million tourists are expected to visit Catalonia in 2023, while 13.9 million will visit the Canary Islands.
Tourism generates 45 percent of the Balearic Islands’ gross domestic product, according to data from industry group Exceltur.
In April, thousands of people protested in the Canary Islands, calling for a temporary ban on tourists to stem soaring housing costs for locals caused by a surge in short-term vacation rentals and hotel construction.
