The Devastating Effects Of Spain's Anti-tourism Protests Revealed

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Bookings in a few of Mallorca's most popular summer vacation resorts have slumped by as much as 20 percent, say hoteliers on the Balearic Island, suggesting holidaymakers are voting with their feet.

Bookings in some of Mallorca's most popular summertime vacation resorts have plunged by as much as 20 percent, say hoteliers on the Balearic Island, suggesting holidaymakers are voting with their feet following anti-tourism marches.


The hoteliers association that represents the resorts of Alcudia and Can Picafort state their essential markets have slowed in current months.


The news comes following major anti-tourism demonstrations across mainland Spain and its islands this year - with another huge protest march in the pipeline for Mallorca's capital next weekend.


Last week, thousands of defiant anti-tourism protesters promised to bring the streets of Palma to a standstill on June 15th, with representatives of around 60 groups saying they're preparing to march.


The Alcudia and Can Picafort hoteliers association this week stated bookings had dropped throughout essential markets, consisting of Germany, its primary market, reporting a 15% to 20% slump on in 2015.


Pablo Riera-Marsa, president of the hotelier's Association, said: 'We are seeing how the German market, traditionally our Number 1 market, is the one that has slowed down the most.'


However, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports that the group is positive that late bookings would still see figures increase, saying tourists were edging their bets on bargain last-gasp offers.


He described: 'We are finding that this season, last-minute bookings are as soon as again becoming more popular, with tourists awaiting special offers and promos before making their purchase choices.'


Backlash? Hoteliers in the resorts of Alcudia and Can Picafort on Mallorca have actually reported a depression of up to 20 percent in hotel bookings year-on-year. Spain has actually seen anti-tourism marches across the mainland and popular islands this year


And another demonstration remains in the pipeline, with Mallorca's capital, Palma, the area for another substantial demonstration on June 15th, with 60 organisations set to march (Pictured: protests on Mallorca on May 25th)


The hoteliers association kept that numbers are just returning to normal levels following a 'champagne effect', when people started taking a trip once again following completion of the pandemic.


The presentation in Palma on June 15th will be led by project group 'Menys Turisme, Mes Vida' (Less tourist, more life), which claims that the daily life of residents has ended up being 'intolerable' thanks to foreign holidaymakers.


They have implicated both the Balearic Islands' government of overlooking the pleas for drastic modifications in their current tourism design.


The platform is asking the island's citizens to require to the streets to require a change in the financial design and what they explain as 'touristification.'


This will be the third significant protest of its kind but the activists state they are getting no place regardless of calls to clampdown on tourists.


The presentation in Palma will be held at the same time with similar marches in Ibiza, Barcelona, Donosti and other major Spanish cities.


'We stand for the right to a dignified life and to demand an end to touristification', stated Jaume Pujol, representative for Menys Turisme, Més Vida.


The group today likewise criticised the city government, implicating them of promoting policies that have intensified the mass tourism crisis.


The June 15th presentation will be led by project group 'Menys Turisme, Mes Vida' (Less tourist, more life), which declares that the everyday life of locals has become 'intolerable' thanks to foreign holidaymakers. Pictured: Campaigners announcing the demonstration


'Mallorca is not for sale' checks out a demonstration banner held by a lady in a march held in April versus housing rates and the effect of tourist on the residents of the Mallorca


They also cautioned that, with the start of the tourist season, 'excruciating scenarios' are currently being duplicated on the island, consisting of roadway closures due to tourist events and genera; saturation of public areas and markets.


Menys Turisme, Mes Vida also argued that their island is 'not for sale' and that 'it is immediate to put limitations' on a tourist model that they think about increasingly harmful.


It comes a month after 10s of countless furious Spaniards required to the streets across the country to require an option to the cost of living crisis they state has been intensified by tourism.


The presentations on April fifth happened across major Spanish towns and cities consisting of Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma.


According to organizers, 30,000 individuals required to the streets of Malaga - a seaside town in the south of Spain - as they required options to the housing crisis, with banners checking out: 'Houses for individuals of Málaga. Hotels for travelers, budget friendly leas.'


But authorities reported that around 5,000 demonstrators took part in the Malaga march.


Residents were photographed holding banners with the motto: 'Houses for individuals of Málaga. Hotels for travelers'.


Some likewise hung posters from their verandas and windows with messages saying: 'Housing is a right, not a service'.


The demonstration will be led by campaign group 'Menys Turisme, Mes Vida' (Less tourist, more life), which declares that the daily life of locals has become 'unbearable' thanks to foreign holidaymakers. Pictured: Campaigners today revealing the protest next month


Brits turn their back on Tenerife as bookings plummet amidst substantial anti traveler protests


Meanwhile in Madrid, around 15,000 individuals collected in the capital's neighbourhood of Atocha and marched towards Plaza de Espana shouting mottos like: 'Landlords are thieves' and 'Madrid will be the burial place of rentals'.


Angry renters pointed to circumstances of global hedge funds purchasing up residential or commercial properties, frequently with the aim of leasing them to foreign tourists.


The question has ended up being so politically charged that Barcelona's local government pledged in 2015 to phase out all its 10,000 authorizations for short-term rentals, a number of them marketed on platforms like Airbnb, by 2028.


Marchers in Madrid last month chanted 'Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods' and held up signs versus short-term rentals.


'No more leaving our areas, our homes, and even our cities every five or 7 years,' stated Valeria Racu, representative for the Madrid renters' union, in a statement at the start of the demonstration.


'We're calling on the half-million households whose contracts expire in 2025 to stay home and resist,' she included.


Last month, British holidaymakers were left cring in hotels as protesters stormed the streets of the Canary Islands.


Residents campaigning against over-tourism introduced demonstrations throughout Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Ela Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Lanzarote.

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