Palma de Mallorca, the stage of protest against mass tourism

At least 12,000 people took part in a protest in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Sunday against mass tourism on the island and the loss of quality of life, among other demands.

The protest was organised by the platform “Less Tourism, More Life”, formed by more than a hundred associations, groups and social movements in Mallorca, and comes two months after a similar demonstration in May.

Organisers say 50,000 people attended, but the National Police counted around 12,000, and the protest took place at the height of the tourist season in the Spanish bathing area.

The demonstration is described as “a turning point, a table-banging and the start of other mobilization actions on four islands.” [Menorca, Maiorca, Formentera e Ibiza]”, not only in Mallorca, which will continue after the summer,” said the representative of this platform, Pere Joana Femenia, quoted by the Efe agency.

Limiting the number of flights, cruises, car rentals and vacation homes, as well as regulating home purchases for non-residents, are some of the measures the platform advocates for.

Despite the pressure on the economy, the population of Spanish regions with a lot of tourism has shown in recent months what they consider to be a saturation of activity, with a depletion of resources or a serious impact on the housing market.

According to official statistics, Spain is the second tourist destination in the world after France, and was visited by 86 million foreign tourists in 2023.

The most recent data from the National Statistics Institute shows that tourism accounted for 11.6% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 and created more than 1.9 million jobs in the same year.