BRITS heading for Mallorca this Bank Holiday weekend are facing major disruption as thousands will take to the streets in anti-tourist protests.
The popular holiday island is the latest Spanish destination to see demonstrations, following on from Tenerife and the other Canary Islands last month.
The Mallorca protests will be held on Saturday evening, starting at 7pm in capital Palma.
Organisers say they are shocked by the number of groups which have pledged their support.
“Initially, we thought there would be about 2,000 people but now it is going to be considerably more,” said a spokesman for the organising group, Banc de Temps de Sencelles.
The main focus of the march will be the difficulty local people have in affording homes in Mallorca, either for rent or sale, due to the higher prices owners can get for holiday rentals.
But protesters will also spotlight all other aspects of tourist saturation which they say is ruining Mallorca.
Last week, another group “Més turisme, menys vida” (“More tourism, less life”) said it planned to cause chaos at Palma Aiport over the coming weekend so it would be paralysed.
Tourist saturation has become the biggest single topic in Mallorca over the last few months.
Locals say there are too many cars on the roads, traffic congestion, overcrowded beaches, blocked access roads, ruined beauty spots and just too many holiday-makers flocking to the island which expects record figures this summer.
Opposition party, Mes is calling for a reduction in the number of flights at Palma airport, saying: “Mallorca is no longer overcrowded, Mallorca is experiencing collapse. You cannot have airports that, year after year, break records.”
The Balearic government says it is willing to change the tourist model and has started a round of talks with the public.
But no concrete measures have been agreed yet.
Banc de Temps de Sencelles has labelled its campaign “Mallorca is not for sale!” and is so surprised by the promised support that it has asked the government to lay on more buses and trains so people from all over the island can attend.
“The demonstration aims to highlight the problem of access to housing in Mallorca, a general problem, but not isolated, because it cannot be separated from tourist saturation, the purchase of properties by foreigners,” said Carme Reynés of Banc de Temps de Sencelles.
The group says the protest will be followed by “other actions” over the coming weeks.
Local people are particularly incensed by the traffic jams across the island, including in and out of Palma and have described the centre of the capital as “unbreathable” in the middle of the tourist season.
Beauty spots are also clogged up, with queues of up to four hours long to some of the beaches and viewpoints.
The Balearic Government held its first meeting on Wednesday to “lay the foundations for a new tourism model” in the face of the existing “social unrest” and congestion on the islands.
“The time has come to adopt difficult decisions and transform the tourism model,” said Balearic president, Marga Prohens.
She said the Balearic economy has developed until now with a growth pattern based mainly on “volume and quantity” and that it has been “incapable” of growing in “value or quality”.
But she warned the change in model will not be active in one year or two.
“Today we begin to work for a great social and political pact for the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the Balearic Islands,” she said.
“The path to reaching agreements will not be easy but we owe it to the entire society in the face of the current situation of overcrowding of the archipelago and mobility problems.”
The Balearic Islands received almost 18 million tourists last year and this year bookings for the summer have increased by 15 per cent, the president confirmed.
The government will now launch a macro-survey among residents of the Balearic Islands to find out their opinion, quantify this summer‘s traffic on the main roads and monitor the influx of visitors to tourist areas and certain natural enclaves.
It comes after another holiday hotspot sparked fury over its anti-tourism plans, which include hunting “illegal” visitors and a “fascist” list of foreigners.
Residents and businesses in Girona, Spain, argue they have reached their limit with “overtourism” and called for urgent measures as “it is already too late”.
Locals in the Catalan town proposed increasing the number of patrols to find illegal tourist apartments and creating a list of all foreign residents living in Girona.
The controversial plans have left many expats fuming, with some slamming the proposals as “fascist”.
One user said: “Far right nationalism in Girona. Looks like populism is taking a hold even in traditionally left leaning liberal areas.”
A second added: “List of foreign residents? What has that got to do with tourism? Sounds a bit fascist to me.”
Another replied: “Scratch Girona from my list of places to visit.”
