Mallorca facing summer of new tourism protests amid “nothing has changed” fury | World | News
Majorca is facing new mass tourism protests this summer as campaigners accuse government leaders of “doing nothing”. Organisers Menys Turisme, Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life) say that they intend to repeat the protests of last year as they feel nothing has changed on the island. The first of a series of demonstrations will take place on July 26.
The group says the demonstration will take place from 7pm and will be followed by similar protests during the summer to coincide with the mass influx of tourists.
They say there are “still more than enough reasons to maintain the pressure against the excess of tourism on the islands and the consequences of this model based on overcrowding”. The group is calling on supporters to take to the streets again to show their opposition to overcrowding and its negative effects on the island.
They are mostly concerned about the internal remodelling being carried out by the Spanish airport authority AENA at Palma airport. They say the appearance of six new boarding gates in module D means it will be possible to increase the capacity at the airport and the number of flights.
Thousands of people have joined in the demonstrations called by citizen groups against the overcrowding of tourism on the island that have been held in recent years.
According to the organisers, some 30,000 of protestors crowded the streets of Majorca’s capital Palma in June last year to complain about the “negative consequences of a model based on the touristification of the community”. According to the National Police, the number was significantly lower, though.
Protestors say the government is not acting to contain the massive arrival of tourists to the Balearic Islands and believe that some announcements, such as the limitation of vehicles, are nothing more than a “band-aid” that does not solve the problem.
President of the Balearic Islands Marga Prohens announced the increase in the ecotax, but this has failed to materialise due to the lack of support.
