Protestors at Majorca’s anti-mass tourism demonstration used Spain’s Euros final victory to mock English tourists, labelling them as “drunks.”
They paraded through the streets of Palma, the island’s capital, carrying banners. One such banner featured a picture of Kyle Walker and a taunting message: “The only thing coming home is you” followed by the 2-1 scoreline printed between England and Spain flags.
Another poster targeted German tourists, who also lost by the same scoreline in the Euros quarter-finals due to a last-minute Spanish goal. The poster read in German: “Out at the finale. Get out of here.”
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Despite regional government spokesman Antoni Costa’s plea for locals to show “respect” to foreign visitors, another placard carried by the protestors read: “Take back your drunks, give back our homes.”
(Image: MJS/SOLARPIX.COM)
Other messages in English displayed on cardboard posters included: “We used to have a life. SOS Residents” and “Enjoy balconing”, referring to the dangerous trend of jumping from hotel balconies into pools or climbing between terraces, a practice often associated with partying Brits in places like Magaluf.
In response to accusations of unfairly targeting holidaymakers, some protestors held banners that read: “This is not tourism-phobia.”
Yesterday evening’s march through the streets of central Palma kicked off with the battle cry ‘Let’s change direction and put limits on tourism’.
(Image: Getty Images)
The demonstration was set to culminate in the proclamation of a manifesto at 9pm.
The turnout for the protest, already being hailed as “historic” before it even began, remains unconfirmed, but expectations were high with over 10,000 locals anticipated to join, supported by 100 different organisations that had declared their backing ahead of time.
In a peculiar twist, the group behind the march, Menys Turisme, Mes Vida – or ‘Less Tourism, More Life’ in English – released an odd video endorsing the idea of banning hire cars, celebrating the prospect of deserted hotels and the absence of cycling tourists.
(Image: MJS/SOLARPIX.COM)
They also discussed the radical notion of tearing up Majorca’s motorways in the clip promoting the Palma rally
One local paper branded the video “emotive”.
However, Toni Perez, the mayor of Benidorm, a hotspot for British holidaymakers, implied last night that the groups fuelling the current spate of protests across Spain against the prevailing tourist model might be flirting with economic disaster.
During the last protest in Palma’s Weyler Square on May 25, some locals booed and jeered at foreign tourists as they dined on terraces.
The organisers were forced to issue a public apology for the abuse received.
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