Press
The locals of Mallorca want to ban holidaymakers from the island. Many can no longer afford to live there – because of tourism.
Palma – Tourists are increasingly a thorn in the side of the locals of Mallorca. The more than ten million holidaymakers who visit the island every year bring money into the island’s coffers. But they also create rubbish, pollution and make life increasingly unaffordable for the population on the island. One of the residents is José de las Heras. In a Current affairs-Post he gave an insight into his life.
The retired bus driver lives in a trailer. He can’t afford an apartment. “It’s not a good life,” says Heras resignedly. A statement that more and more residents agree with.
Life on Mallorca is becoming increasingly unaffordable for locals
In order to accommodate the increasing number of holidaymakers, more and more hotels, holiday apartments and other accommodations are needed – which in turn reduces living space for the locals and makes it more expensive. Added to this are higher prices for food and other goods and increasing environmental destruction caused by tourists.
The nature conservation organization Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza (ATAN) described the situation on the island as CNN as an “ecological and social collapse”. This also includes the party excesses at Ballermann, which are increasingly being stopped.
Now the locals have had enough. With signs like “Tourists, go home!” and “Mallorca is not for sale!” At the end of May, residents demonstrated against mass tourism and its effects. Even the real estate agent association Abini, which benefits from the high real estate prices, expressed its solidarity with the demonstrators and described mass tourism on the island as “unsustainable”.
“Tourists, go home!” – Mallorcans protest against mass tourism
This protest was not an isolated event. There have been repeated demonstrations of this kind in recent months – including in the Canary Islands. The people of Mallorca are demanding a restriction on tourism. “It is time to demand a rethink,” the environmental protection organisation Ecologists in Action told CNN at a demonstration in April 2024.
It remains to be seen whether these protests will have an effect. However, more and more travel destinations are being forced to introduce strict rules for tourists and the tourism industry. Italian Cinque Terre now admission to hiking trails and make train tickets more expensive for holidaymakers during peak season. And There is now an entrance fee for the lagoon city of Venice. (sp)
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