Majorca’s tourism crisis is continuing as the top UK holiday hotspot is rocked by protests.
On Friday (July 12), dozens descended on Palma for the ‘Marxa Guira’ event, a precursor to the anti-tourism protests planned for next week. Guiri is a colloquial term for a foreign tourist.
Protestors dressed as tourists marched through the town and occupied a space near Church Sant Miquel – to denote the strain of tourism on residents.
Pere Joan Femenia, one of the organisers, said the group is criticising gentrification and how houses and businesses are made for tourists, not locals.
The march had posters with slogans against Airbnb, hotels, the occupation of public space by bar and restaurant terraces, tourist consumption of water, and the proliferation of hire cars.
This is part of ongoing anti-tourism protests across Spain due to locals feeling as though they’re being pushed out of their homes and communities by foreign visitors.
Stickers have been plastered on buildings, reading: “More tourists? No thanks”, “Stop Tourism” and “Tourists go home – you are not welcome here.”
lícia Aguiló, spokeswoman for SOS Residents, an activist group co-ordinating rallies in Majorca, said that anti-tourism sentiments are rampant across Spain.
“They started in the Canaries. Now I see that in Ibiza they are beginning to mobilise. This is just the beginning. We will continue until politicians are willing to make changes.
“Majorca is being colonised by foreigners and greedy developers have turned the islands into a theme park for tourists.”
Tourists have also been urged by holiday companies to look elsewhere when booking their next trip, with TUI announcing that the Balearic Islands have “reached capacity”.
The CEO of TUI, Sebastian Ebel, 61, is encouraging holidaymakers to look at less crowded destinations such as Egypt and Turkey, as he says the Spanish archipelago cannot host any more tourists.
