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You will see two uncontrollable forces if you can reach one of Majorca’s sunspots this summer.
The first, as old as time, are the waves of the Balearic Sea, which systematically erase the day’s beautifully made sandcastles.
The second is a more recent phenomenon, a tsunami of tourism that threatens to swallow everything in its path.
Every inch of the beach has been taken. Finding a parking spot is like striking gold.
If you leave your sunbed for too long, your belongings will be summarily turfed to make way for the long line of would-be usurpers.
These are indicators of a windfall that can be seen and heard all across the island, including the constant beeping of contactless payment terminals from the packed hotels, restaurants, and bars.
A cacophony of commerce, fueled by record numbers of visitors.
But if this is a story of massive wealth being bestowed upon a business-savvy Spanish community, Sonia Ruiz has undoubtedly yet to share any of it.
We meet the 31-year-old mother of one in a park near the beach in Palma.
Her four-year-old son Luca navigates the different playground slides with apparent ease.
But Sonia is genuinely struggling. Her landlord has asked them to leave, and she thinks finding another house is impossible.
“Every day I’m looking and every day the rent is higher,” she goes on.
I even stop people on the street and ask if they have anything since the day is nearing when I will have to leave the apartment, and I only picture myself and my son homeless because there is nothing.
Sonia and her spouse are separated but have been compelled to live together since they cannot afford rent alone, despite earning 2,400 euros per month combined.
“They ask for several-month deposits. Some people have told me that they do not want children or animals. And a lot of people are looking.
Like thousands of other Majorcans, Sonia is protesting this weekend against the growth in tourism, which is being blamed for the local population’s falling living standards.
Activists claim that rising housing costs are driven by many houses and apartments purchased by foreigners or rented out to them for large portions of the summer.
“It’s impossible to sustain this sort of model,” comments 25-year-old Pere Joan Femenia from outside the cathedral in Palma, Majorca’s city.
He is a member of the “Menys Turisme, Més Vida” movement, which stands for “Less Tourism, More Life.”
He claims that unprecedented numbers of visitors are not only driving people out of the property market but also depleting public places, services, and natural resources.
Pere began his involvement five years ago as part of Greta Thunberg’s climate movement, but his attention has since switched to the cost of living for his fellow islanders.
Businesses are transitioning from traditional items to multinationals selling ice cream, and we are losing our identity. “We want to preserve our culture,” he explains.
Pere looks to the dock, far beyond the rows of street sellers and surging crowds who fill the square, and explains that some cruises bring up to 12,000 tourists to the island every day.
He claims it is a fallacy that Majorca requires ever-increasing tourism to survive and that many locals are ready to leave permanently since they can no longer afford it here.
According to Pere, limiting the number of planes arriving and cruise ships landing will immediately relieve congestion on the island.
This demand will be reflected in the slogans and banners carried across Palma during this weekend’s protest.
According to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, 14.4 million foreign tourists visited the Balearic Islands last year, with Majorca leading the way, followed by Menorca and Ibiza.
According to the institute, the number of international visitors to the archipelago climbed by 9.1% compared to 2022, with spending increasing even more (16.4%).
Advocates predict that 20 million visitors will visit the Balearics this year when Spanish visitors are considered.
As Spain’s tourist sites have grown over the years, the argument over whether millions of visitors create more issues than advantages has heated up.
Something has changed this year. Many residents are enraged, as evidenced by the recent use of water guns on visitors in Barcelona.
Demonstrations have taken place on the mainland, in Malaga, and in the Canary Islands. Spain’s tourism attractions are now attempting to fight an apparent relentless deluge.
Some British publications published lists of “hostile holiday hotspots” to avoid during the summer of 2024.
The Green family from Rotherham paddles cheerfully on a crowded beach in Magaluf, a long-time favorite holiday destination for millions of British visitors.
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This is parent Adam’s first trip abroad, though calling it a “holiday” may be a stretch given that he and his wife are responsible for their seven children.
“It is stressful, but we are getting there. “Apart from the heat, it’s fantastic,” he says.
I ask if they’ve heard about the numerous protests going on and if they’ve reconsidered coming to Majorca.
“I saw a little bit on the news,” declares Charlotte, “but I tried not to watch it because I didn’t want it to stress me out and put me off coming because we’d already booked and paid for it.”
And what about the critical tenet of the local protesters’ claim that increasing tourism has a massive detrimental impact?
“Don’t the tourists boost it and make the money for this place?” Adam inquires.
People traverse the world, and this is it. Without tourism, there would be no jobs, pay, or anything. They depend on it, don’t they?
