The central requirement is a limit on the number of visitors.Image: www.imago-images.de
July 27, 2026, 01:17July 27, 2026, 01:17
Thousands of people took to the streets of Mallorca against mass tourism. The demonstrators initially gathered in the evening in the Plaza de España in the center of Palma, the capital of the Spanish Mediterranean island. From there the demonstration marched through the city center to the cathedral, where a manifesto was to be read out later that evening.
The initiative “Menys Turisme, Més Vida” (Less Tourism, More Life) had called for protests on the island, which is particularly popular with tourists from Germany and Great Britain, under the motto “Mallorca at the Limit” for the third year in a row – and expected up to 40,000 participants. The Mallorcan police estimated the number of demonstrators at 25,000.
Many participants carried homemade posters. “Mallorca overbooked” or “No more capacity” was written on it, among other things. A spokesman for the organizers told journalists that they wanted to make their opinions known a year before the regional elections in the Balearic Islands. The timing was deliberately chosen with the current peak travel season in mind. The end of July and the beginning of August are the weeks with the most holidaymakers on the Balearic island.
Protesters complain about housing shortages, traffic jams, dirt and noise
The central requirement is a limit on the number of visitors. The increasing number of holidaymakers and holiday apartments is blamed for the dire housing shortage. The organizers of the protest complain that many people with a normal income can hardly afford an apartment on the island.
Neighborhood associations, environmental protection groups and other organizations also attribute problems such as pollution, traffic jams and noise as well as the destruction of nature to mass tourism.
At the rally, the German-Mallorcan singer Maria Hein was supposed to sing the Mallorca anthem “La Balanguera”. Significant incidents or attacks with water spray guns on holidaymakers, such as those that had occurred during previous protests in Barcelona or Madrid, were initially not reported in Palma. (sda/dpa)