Islanders in Majorca crammed together on to sarongs and towels on Saturday, to symbolise how they feel squeezed out of their own beaches by the crush of foreign holidaymakers.
Residents say they feel smothered by over-tourism and called for cuts to the 18 million visitors who arrive each year in the Balearic Islands, of which Majorca is the largest.
Dozens of protesters jostled for space on Sa Rapita beach on the south coast, saying that during the busy summer months they feel excluded from their favourite coastal spots.
“In July and August it is impossible to find space on the beach. The roads are full of traffic, the congestion is terrible,” said Gloria Sanchez, 35. “You can’t drive to work or to the supermarket. Rental cars are a very big problem. It gets worse every day. We have to regulate mass tourism in some way.”
Campaigners organised protests under the social media hashtag #OcupemLesNostresPlatges – Catalan for “Let’s Occupy Our Beaches.”
They spoke to journalists at Sa Rapita as children played in the sand and jet skiers hurtled across the turquoise bay.
“We are here to say, ‘OK, tourists have rights, but we have rights, too, and these are our beaches. Always have been and always will be’,” said Rosa Marsilli, 25. “It is so frustrating in the summer to go to the beach and find it overcrowded – you can’t enjoy it with your family. We understand that tourism is necessary but it should be better controlled.”
The protests were called after a local politician suggested that Majorcans should be resigned to not going to the beach in high summer because of the huge number of tourists.
Manuela Canadas, a member of the far-Right Vox party in the Balearic Islands’ regional parliament, said that “us Majorcans, who live directly or indirectly from tourism, cannot expect to go to the beach in July and August like we did years ago.”
She said it was dangerous to send out a message that tourists were not welcome because they would choose other Mediterranean destinations.
Protesters insisted that they were not totally against tourism, but rather the huge numbers of visitors that the Balearic Islands attract.
Lucia Luna, 25, said: “We need tourists to show respect to Majorca just as we show respect to the places that we visit when we go abroad.”
She said she had been dismayed to see video footage of British tourists brawling on a Majorcan beach earlier this week after waiters reprimanded them for throwing beer cans and rubbish into the sea.
A journey on the island that would take 15 minutes by car during the winter off season can taken 90 minutes during the summer.
“You can’t park anywhere because there are too many cars, you can’t go to bars because there are too many people,” she said.
Foreign visitors on the beach seemed largely sympathetic to the protesters’ complaints.
“Tourism is important for their economy but I can understand how it has become too much for them,” said Zoltan Langhaus, a teacher from Germany who was on holiday.
But with tourism accounting for at least 45 per cent of the island’s GDP, generating more than €16 billion in income, there are no easy answers for authorities in Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
Juan Jose Company Orell, an author and commentator on social affairs in Majorca, said politicians had been talking for years about how to move to a more sustainable model of tourism.
“Sustainability is a very nice word. I like it. But what does it mean? Where do we have to cut tourism? We have to do something. But nobody wants to do it because there will be consequences that politicians don’t want to face,” he said.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
