The “Less tourism, more life” platform on the island of Majorca has issued a warning on Friday that the impacts of mass tourism which include access to housing, job insecurity and overcrowding cannot continue to be denied.
They also announced that they have begun working on promoting protests and actions throughout the autumn.
In a press release to mark World Tourism Day on September 27, they said: “It’s a day on which we hear speeches that deny, minimise or actively ignore the denunciation of the social, environmental and climatic impacts that affect the territories.”
They highlighted, as part of their inter-island campaign in the Balearic Islands, a “Let’s change course” demonstration has been called in Ibiza, to follow the protests in Majorca and Menorca.
The platform has also joined forces with groups in other areas where anti-tourism protests have taken place, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
“Our territories have limits and so does the planet. Tourist exploitation is surpassing them and we will organise ourselves to stop and reverse these processes”, they concluded.
First celebrated in 1980, World Tourism Day highlights the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. Cala Millor, a coastal town, is the only place in Majorca that recognises the day to any great extent.
At its fourth open assembly on August 21, “Less tourism, more life” had said they may disrupt the day by holding a huge protest, but there have been no reports of any demonstrations thus far.
The “Less tourism, more life” platform was the organiser of a huge demonstration in Majorca in July, which saw around 20,000 people rally to raise awareness about uncontrolled tourist numbers causing drops in wages, a loss of quality of life, noise and increases in housing prices for residents.
At the time, Pere Joan Feminia, spokesperson for the platform, said: “Now is the time to say enough is enough. We want concrete measures to limit and decrease the number of tourists coming and to improve the wellbeing of the local population”.
They marched behind a banner which read: “Let’s change course, let’s put limits on tourism”.
The “Less tourism, more life” is not the only platform to have launched protests in Spain. In June, the group “Mallorca Platja Tour” staged a protest on the popular tourist beach of Calo del Moro, with people arriving as early as 8am local time. By 10am, over 300 people had set up camp on the beach.
Maria Pons, the mayor, had previously criticised social media influencers that visited the beach, telling a council meeting: “We have seen how some visitors change their swimwear three or four times to take different selfies and claim on their online profiles they’ve been to Cal des Moro many times”, adding that the beach needed a “rest” and to be “forgotten” for a season.
On July 21, the eve of the start of the British summer holidays, a staggering 10,000 people took to the streets of Palma under the slogan of “Change course: limit tourism” from 7pm to protest about mass tourism. During the one-hour march, they displayed various banners which told tourists to “go home” and that they were not welcome on the island.
