Majorca’s protests are pushing aside vacationers, native survey finds

Anti-tourist protests in Majorca are putting holidaymakers off visiting the island, a survey by a local news website has revealed.

A poll by the Majorca Daily Bulletin found that around 44 per cent of people will now think twice about booking a holiday on the popular island after huge demonstrations over mass tourism. 

Fortunately for the tourist industry, around 55 per cent of the more than 650 respondents to the survey said that they were not deterred by the campaigners, who are calling for more affordable housing and fewer holiday homes. 

Businesses are reportedly anxious about whether enough tourists will come to the island this summer, with protesters warned to ‘be careful what you wish for’ in calling for them to stay away.

It comes after around 15,000 locals took to the streets of Palma last week, with a British holidaymaker telling MailOnline she felt ‘intimidated’ as protesters told  tourists to ‘go home’.

Protesters shout at shocked holidaymakers enjoying dinner and drinks in Palma

Protesters hold a banner reading ‘Mallorca is not for sale’ during a demonstration to protest against mass tourism and housing prices

Pictures emerged last week of empty beaches in the popular resort of Magaluf

As the summer holiday season gets underway, protesters who have been campaigning against overcrowding are said to be planning more demonstrations.

The Palma protest was organised by Banc del Temps, a group which hails from the inland Majorcan town of Sencelles and is outraged by the struggles locals face in affording homes on the island.

Following Saturday’s protest, Banc del Temps spokesman Javier Barbero warned: ‘This is just the start of things. If measures aren’t taken we will continue taking to the streets until we see action.’

There are concerns within the tourist industry that the protests are having an impact on their footfall.

Though peak holiday season is still a few weeks away, Majorca Daily Bulletin reportes that some resorts are ‘unusually quiet’ for this time of year.

Pictures emerged last week of empty beaches in the popular resort of Magaluf, with one bar owner suggesting of the protesters: ‘Their wishes have been granted.’ 

Others in the sector have reportedly said that demonstrators are ‘playing with fire’ over their rejection of mass tourism, which the island’s economy largely relies on. 

The words ‘Go Home Tourist’ were scrawled in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in Nou Llevant, Mallorca, a neighbourhood that has seen a massive influx of foreign buyers over the past few years

One campaign group, known as Menys Turisme, Mes Vida (Less Tourism, More Life), have suggested they could ‘collapse’ Palma airport, which according to The Times hosted 31.1 million passengers last year.

The tactic, which was first proposed at a ‘citizens’ assembly in the Majorcan town of Sineu, also involves causing a traffic gridlock outside the airport.

‘It is a proposal that has no place within a society like the one we live in today, a measure that is currently classified as a crime,’ said Jaume Bauza, the tourism minister for the Balearic Islands.

The groups have also discussed the possibility of blocking the main port and other tourist hot spots, such as the Calo des Moro and Es Trenc beaches.

Despite anti-tourist sentiment among locals and crackdowns on boozy behaviour in hotpots like Magaluf, local authorities have repeatedly insisted that Brits and other foreign tourists are welcome on the island.

Britain is the second biggest tourist market for Majorca after Germany. 

Despite concerns among some in the holiday hotspot, the number of foreign tourists visiting Spain is up this year.

Spending by holidaymakers from abroad has also increased by more than 22 per cent on last year for the first four months of 2024, according to the latest government figures.