A wave of protest against the negative impact of mass tourism is sweeping over Spain’s most popular holiday hotspots. Euronews reporter Valérie Gauriat travelled to Majorca, the biggest of the Balearic Islands, to hear from residents who feel their future is under threat.
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00:00I am on one of the most famous beaches of the Spanish island of Mallorca, Balearic Islands.
00:21And it is occupied today not by tourists, but by residents in anger.
00:26They came to protest against the more and more devastating effects of mass tourism.
00:39In the Balearic Islands, as in the Canary Islands, or even in Barcelona and even Madrid,
00:43a wave of protests is raging in the most popular destinations for tourists.
00:48Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, has a little less than a million inhabitants.
00:53This year, it expects some 20 million visitors, a record.
00:58There is such pressure. Prices of the housing have increased.
01:03We have cruises every day with thousands of people.
01:06We have every minute one flight. It's cars, it's pollution.
01:10You go to the beaches, full of people. You go to restaurants, full of people.
01:14The streets are full of people. We just want to say that we are fed up.
01:27We are fed up. Our lives are ruined because we can't afford to pay rent.
01:33Here in Mallorca, it is even more impossible.
01:36Mallorca is coming to the streets.
01:38Mallorca is coming to tourism? No, not tourism.
01:40Tourism is drying up. It is killing us.
01:46Tourism represents almost half of the GDP of the Balearic Islands.
01:51Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands
01:55An economic mania that does not benefit everyone.
02:02The all-inclusive formulas of large hotel chains or ferry companies,
02:06whose giant ships dock every day in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital,
02:11even have the opposite effect for part of the local trade.
02:16From Bulgaria, Cristina has settled and worked in Mallorca for about 20 years.
02:24The massification of tourism is not synonymous with overconsumption,
02:28especially since the pandemic, she says.
02:31There are a lot of people.
02:34And the financial possibility is less.
02:39Now there are more offers of hotels, all-inclusive,
02:44vacations.
02:46People prefer to be on one floor and prepare food alone.
02:50And maybe they sit in a bar to have a soda or a sangria.
02:56Sometimes to share.
02:59Paz and Cecilia try on their part to resist the effects of over-tourism
03:04within a collective that seeks to promote sustainable and local trade.
03:09For the business, it is not bad that there is so much tourism,
03:12but it is not exponential.
03:15That is, it does not mean that because more people come, I sell more.
03:19I earned the same with half the people.
03:22And it is not a matter of money either,
03:25because in the end you have to make a balance between quality of life and business.
03:31It takes away our clientele who live on the island,
03:35because when the center is collapsed by people,
03:38it is not pleasant to come and do business here.
03:41There are almost only franchises.
03:44They are the only ones who can survive on the main axis.
03:47The city loses its identity because traditional trade leaves.
03:50But we still try to fight to be there and offer things with soul.
03:58In addition to the degradation of quality of life,
04:01there is a shortage of housing that hits the inhabitants with full force.
04:05The flambé of real estate prices
04:07especially makes employees flee from public services.
04:10In an economy focused on tourism,
04:13most jobs are seasonal in Mallorca.
04:17Diego works six months a year as a tourist bus driver.
04:21Every day for eight years,
04:23he transports holidaymakers between the airport of Palma and the hotels on the island.
04:28He earns about 2,000 euros per month and up to 3,000,
04:31depending on his additional hours.
04:34But his living conditions continue to deteriorate.
04:37I like what I do, I like the job.
04:39I like to live here, but the doors are closing.
04:42Because at the moment it is difficult to live in Mallorca.
04:45There are workers everywhere,
04:47but there are people who have not come this year because of the rent.
04:51After a separation,
04:53Diego chose to live in the caravan he owned.
04:58The rental market and real estate have become inaccessible for him.
05:04The only way to live is to live like this.
05:07Because the floors are built for foreigners,
05:10and the prices are for foreigners, they are prohibitive.
05:13If a builder comes and builds a floor that costs 350,000 euros,
05:16it is not the floor that any Spaniard will buy.
05:19Work permits are not prioritized either.
05:21And for that kind of building, for the most expensive,
05:23and for normal people, there is nothing.
05:25It does not expand.
05:26I have evaluated several times
05:28that I have to leave Mallorca because of this situation.
05:31I also have my daughter here, who I have as a neighbor.
05:34Hello, hello.
05:35Flore.
05:38A life that Flor prefers to stay,
05:41an option that more and more young workers must resort to in Mallorca.
05:45I work as a waitress now,
05:47and I earn very well compared to other places in Spain.
05:50But even so, paying for a flat for yourself is something you can't afford.
05:57You can't afford to have freedom and independence,
06:00like me in this case, to live like this, calm.
06:02You have a freedom that you don't have in a shared house.
06:06The overexploitation of tourist attractions in Mallorca
06:09is accompanied by increasing precariousness,
06:11emphasizes this former municipal councillor on the left.
06:15She points the finger at international speculation
06:18and the complacency of the new right-wing majority.
06:22Very rich people or companies with a lot of capital
06:25come here to invest, to buy houses,
06:27because they know that the price of housing is rising every year,
06:30and therefore it is a very profitable speculation business,
06:33or they use it for their temporary holidays.
06:36But the prices of housing, or the basket of buying,
06:40because we are on an island
06:42where 80% of the fresh food comes from abroad,
06:45are very high.
06:47The working families don't arrive at the end of the month.
06:50There are certain measures that have been taken in recent years,
06:53which is, on the one hand,
06:55the prohibition of the tourist rental of flats in Palma,
06:58because that evidently also meant an increase in housing.
07:02The number of hotels that can be in the city has been limited,
07:05but now all these types of initiatives are being stopped.
07:09Neither the municipality behind me
07:12nor the government of Mallorca
07:14wanted to follow up on our interview requests.
07:17Faced with the growing anger of the population,
07:20local authorities have promised new measures
07:23to limit mass tourism.
07:25Cosmetic solutions,
07:27says the person in charge of the main environmental defense organization in Mallorca.
07:31Climate change, she says,
07:33makes it all the more urgent
07:35a radical reform and a diversification of the island's economic model.
07:39More than half of the 54 municipalities in Mallorca
07:43do not have drinking water in their reefs.
07:46There are water restrictions in various municipalities.
07:49Water restrictions are never imposed on the hotel sector,
07:52which continues to consume two or three times more
07:56per person or per tourist than per resident.
07:59Protecting fertile soil and protecting water resources
08:03should be two strategic issues
08:06from the point of view of economic policies,
08:09and they are not.
08:11The reality is that we have current plans
08:14to expand the operational capacity of the airport in Palma,
08:18to expand the port of Palma.
08:20We have a decree that allows
08:22to increase tourist places on the rustic soil.
08:25Obviously, we are advocating and accelerating
08:28our path towards collapse.
08:34A concern that spreads in many tourist spots in Europe,
08:39but that does not affect the good mood of the holidaymakers.
08:55It's the end of the day and this report in Mallorca.
08:58The beaches are empty, the bars are full,
09:01and whatever the concerns of the Spaniards,
09:04those I met here,
09:06how many will come back to Mallorca?
09:08Or at least almost all.
09:10At night it is very busy,
09:13it knocks on doors,
09:15there is no restraint.
09:17It speaks very loudly.
09:19Personally, I would never come back to this neighborhood.
09:23This universe, I would say.
09:27Yesterday, country roads...
09:30Nevertheless, according to estimates,
09:33the number of tourists in Spain
09:35must beat a historic record in 2024.
09:38I will get all I know, West Virginia
09:42Mother, mama, take me home
09:48Country roads...
09:56Country roads...