Spanish anti-tourist protests expand throughout country and take over popular island

Thousands of protesters have taken over a holiday hotspot as anti-tourist sentiment grips Spain.

Around 20,000 protesters filled the streets of Palma de Majorca with posters targeting tourists from both Britain and Germany.

A banner written in English read: “Take Back Your Drunks, Give Back Our Homes.”

Another poster, mocking England’s 2-1 defeat against Spain in the 2024 Euro final, added: “The only thing coming home is you.”

Demonstrations were seemingly supported by the Melia Palma Hotel after it opted to turn its lights on in solidarity.

Pere Joan Femenia, from the protest group Menys Turisme, Mas Vida, told The Telegraph: “What we want is to change the tourism model which is overwhelming the island.

“We cannot live here because house prices are so high. Beaches are swamped by tourists and public services are under incredible strain.”

Femenia, 25, claimed protesters wanted to ban foreign non-residents owning properties on the island.

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He claimed buying properties made it impossible for local people to get on the housing ladder.

The regional government of the Balearic Islands urged protesters against using the same tactics adopted in Barcelona earlier this month.

Footage from the Catalan city showed demonstrators squirting tourists with water pistols.

Barcelona’s Socialist Mayor Jaume Collboni has since announced plans to increase the local tourist tax on cruise ship passengers.

He intends to raise the current levy of €7 per day but would not confirm how much the rate would be.

Overnight visitors in the city currently have to pay a per person tourist tax of €4 per night.

Collboni said: “In the case of cruise ship passengers who do not stay overnight, there is an intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a sensation of occupation and of saturation.

“We want the kind of tourism that is respectful toward the destination.”

During a separate demonstration in Majorca in May, some tourists were jeered by a group of protesters.

Organisers, who were joined by 10,000 protesters, later apologised.

However, the Balearic Islands remain Spain’s second most popular tourist hotspot, with 14.4 million holidaymakers visiting last year.

Tourism is also a cornerstone of the region’s economy as the sector generates 45 per cent of the Balearic Islands’ GDP.