Mallorca residents protest surge in tourism, block beach access
On the popular vacation island of Mallorca, protests by the local population against the mass influx of tourists to this Spanish island are increasing. Its residents are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction by organizing pickets on the beaches.
Jun 17, 2024 | updated: 12:38 PM EDT, June 17, 2024
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 more than 300 participants in the demonstration blocked tourists' access to the beach and shouted hostile slogans toward the local authorities.
The law enforcement services confirmed that, in recent weeks, similar protest actions against mass tourism have occurred 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.
Favorite tourist destination
In 2023, Mallorca, inhabited by 900,000 people, was one of the main destinations chosen by tourists traveling to Spain. A total of 85 million foreigners visited the entire country, and an unprecedented 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.
