"Let's occupy our beaches" Opponents of mass tourism demonstrate directly at Ballermann
Around 100 activists demonstrated against the excesses of mass tourism amidst surprised beach vacationers.
Image: dpa
At the beginning of the month, more than 20,000 people demonstrated against mass tourism on Mallorca. Their main complaint is about unaffordably expensive housing.
Image: dpa (Archivbild)
Tourists were surprised by the protest action and had the opportunity to take a different kind of souvenir photo.
Image: dpa
Around 100 activists demonstrated against the excesses of mass tourism amidst surprised beach vacationers.
Image: dpa
At the beginning of the month, more than 20,000 people demonstrated against mass tourism on Mallorca. Their main complaint is about unaffordably expensive housing.
Image: dpa (Archivbild)
Tourists were surprised by the protest action and had the opportunity to take a different kind of souvenir photo.
Image: dpa
Critics of mass tourism are still demonstrating peacefully on the Ballermann, but some graffiti sprayers on Mallorca are taking a different tone: Nasty slogans, clearly aimed at Germans too.
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- Once again, people on Mallorca have demonstrated against mass tourism and its effects.
- Around a hundred people have symbolically occupied the beach of the popular Ballermann.
- The demonstrators first gathered on the beach and then ran into the sea, where they unrolled a banner reading "Let's occupy our beaches".
On Mallorca, locals have once again demonstrated against mass tourism. Around one hundred people symbolically occupied the beach of Ballermann.
"It's about drawing attention to the fact that Mallorca is simply too crowded now," demonstrator Reyes told Mallorcamagazin. Her colleague Eric added: "We must finally put a limit on mass tourism on the island." The demonstrators first gathered on the beach and then ran into the sea, where they unfurled a banner reading "Let's occupy our beaches".
Already the third action this year
Tourist Marco from Berlin took the action in his stride. The Mallorca Zeitung newspaper quoted him as saying that he understood, even if he was irritated by the "Tourist-go-home" sign. "I haven't done anything to anyone. I like coming to Mallorca, and the Mallorcans are also welcome to come to us in Germany," he says. Another German vacationer turned up his music - German Schlager. "A bit of a counter-demonstration," he said.
This is the third such action on the vacation island this year: tens of thousands of people took part in two peaceful demonstrations in Palma in May and June against the excesses of tourism.
Protests also took place in other tourist centers in Spain. Critics complain above all about the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing as a result of the mass influx of holidaymakers.
Protests peaceful so far - but now also nasty graffiti
The demonstrations have all been peaceful so far. At worst, and more as a joke, demonstrators in Barcelona sprayed tourists or locals they thought were tourists with water pistols. In Mallorca, some holidaymakers even supported the demonstrators and showed solidarity with them.
Now, however, slogans have appeared on walls in the vacation paradise that are difficult to digest. "Kill A Tourist" reads one in Manacor, another in several places in Palma in German "Tourismus macht frei", apparently an allusion to the cynical Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" above the entrance gates of concentration camps, as reported by the "Mallorca Zeitung".
"Tiny minority shouting loudly"
Tourism associations on the island are slightly nervous. "It's a tiny minority that is shouting very loudly," the newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for the hoteliers' association FEHM as saying.
Although opponents of mass tourism are not in favor of such graffiti, they welcome its effect of unsettling tourists. "That's exactly what we want to achieve," Pere Joan Femenia, one of the spokespersons for the "Less Tourism, More Life" movement, told the newspaper. "It's clear that some people don't like it as much, but if we want to achieve something, we obviously have to find clearer words," Femenia added.
Comedian Tom Gerhardt told Der Spiegel: "Let's imagine the citizens of the tourist hotspot Rothenburg ob der Tauber took to the streets against Americans or Japanese. That would be a case for Interior Minister Faeser, and there would be a counter-demonstration for more diversity." Gerhardt has shaped the image of the island to this day with the movie "Ballermann 6".
Tourism is vital for Mallorca's survival
In addition to the protests, the tourism industry on Mallorca is also concerned about another development. Although around 500,000 more visitors came to the Balearic Islands, whose main island is Mallorca, by the end of June than in the same period of the record year 2023, the money is no longer so loose, wrote the "Mallorcamagazin". Savings from the coronavirus pandemic were spent in the last super year, and higher flight and hotel prices have hit vacation budgets. Cabs, car rental companies, restaurants, stores and tour operators are suffering as a result, the newspaper wrote. These sectors have reported 15 to 20 percent less turnover.
Almost 1.2 million locals live on the Balearic Islands. According to figures from the Spanish statistics authority INE, 18 million holidaymakers visited the islands last year, 4.6 million of them from Germany and 3.4 million from the UK. Tourism is vital to Mallorca's survival: the industry accounts for 45 percent of the island's economic output.
