Mallorca campaign organisations and political groups have sent a strong and clear message to tourists who they say have harmed the island when arriving in their masses: “Do not come” and “stay home”.
Seven organisations representing residents, such as the environmental association GOB and campaigners Menys Turisme, Més Vida, which was behind the large anti-tourist protest that packed out the streets in Palma de Mallorca last July, have signed an open letter discouraging tourists from visiting the Spanish island.
Last summer, efforts materialised in Palma de Mallorca with 10,000 protesters showing up to take part in a large demonstration, with people walking with models of planes, cruise ships and posters reading “no to mass tourism” and “stop private jets”.
Ahead of the peak summer tourist season this year, the organisations are trying to raise awareness of overtourism impacts and deter the number of visitors flocking to the Mediterranean holiday hotspot.
Addressing tourists in a letter published on Saturday, 15 March, the organisations said that until very recently Mallorca’s tourism industry was a “source of pride” but has since become their “biggest problem”.
After becoming increasingly popular over the years, the organisations say: “The island has been exploited to unimaginable limits, leading to the collapse we are now suffering.”
With the island’s tourist industry successfully bringing in high amounts of revenue, this has attracted hoteliers, politicians and real estate investors to Mallorca, however, the letter brands them as “parasites” motivated by “greed and avarice”.
Among the impacts, the letter says that Mallorca’s residents therefore are experiencing environmental deterioration, infrastructure issues, overwhelmed public services, transport problems, gentrification and a housing crisis.
The organisations also called out politicians for continuing to promote tourism on the island and said that the use of the word “sustainable” when talking about the industry is “insulting”.
“Politicians tell us they want to promote the deseasonalisation of the tourism industry,” they wrote. “This would mean reducing the number of tourists during peak season by spreading them throughout the year.
“However, what is actually happening is exactly the opposite.
“Mallorca is not the paradise they are selling you,” the letter continues. “The local population is angry and no longer hospitable because the land we love is being destroyed and many of us have to leave the island because it is uninhabitable. Put yourselves in our place!”
The organisations then ask tourists to help them by not coming to the island: “We do not need more tourists; in fact, you are the source of our problem”.
“Locals say: ENOUGH. STAY HOME!” the letter signs off.
The letter comes over a month since Menys Turisme, Més Vida called on its members to “regroup” and “redouble” its efforts against the impacts of the tourist industry ahead of the peak tourist season.
The campaign group said it would “intensify” its actions in response to an announcement of a billion-euro investment into the tourist sector, the rise of real estate and luxury tourism speculation while the housing crisis continues to worsen.
However, it was just two weeks ago that the Balearic Government proposed a tightening on “tourism containment measures” by offering up plans to raise the “Sustainable Tourism Tax” from €4 (£3.36) to a maximum of €6 (£5) per person, per night in high season.
The government has also proposed the banning of new tourist accommodation in residential apartment buildings and will now be negotiating the proposals for approval in parliament.
The Independent has contacted the Balearic government for comment.
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