Discontent on the beaches: Mallorca residents protest mass tourism
Mallorca is a popular vacation island in Spain. The local population is increasingly protesting the mass influx of tourists, organizing pickets on the beaches.
As reported by the police in Palma de Mallorca on Monday, the main city of the Balearic island, demonstrations are increasingly being organized on Calo del Moro beach, in the south of Mallorca.
Picket with banners
On Sunday, the Spanish gendarmerie (Guardia Civil) supported by the national police (Policia Nacional) identified a group of several dozen island residents picketing with banners at the beach.
Some of the more than 300 participants in the demonstration blocked tourists' access to the beach and shouted hostile slogans towards the local authorities.
The law enforcement services confirmed that in recent weeks, similar protest actions against mass tourism have taken place both at Calo del Moro and near other beaches on Mallorca.
According to a survey published on Monday by the newspaper "Diario de Mallorca," only 30% of foreign tourists consider the protests by Mallorca residents to be "unfair." Most view them with empathy and understanding.
Favourite tourist destination
In 2023, inhabited by 900,000 people, Mallorca was one of the main destinations chosen by tourists travelling to Spain. 85 million foreigners visited the entire country, and an unprecedented number of 12.4 million came to the Balearic island.
This year is a record-breaking year in terms of the number of foreign tourists in all of Spain, with more than 16.1 million foreigners arriving in the first quarter.
The most popular tourist destinations in Spain in 2024 are: the Canary Islands, Catalonia, and Andalusia. In the first quarter, they received 4.3 million, 3.4 million, and 2.4 million vacationers from abroad, respectively, with the majority being British and Germans.
