The escalation of protests in Spain has seen new graffiti appear in Majorca urging ‘kill a tourist’, causing outrage and authorities to speak out against the violent daubing
The anti-tourism heat in Majorca has been turned up a little with the appearance of violently worded graffiti.
A wall in the Spanish holiday town was daubed with the words ‘kill a tourist’ . According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, Maria Antònia Sansó from the centre right Partido Popular party of Manacor, was among a large number of politicians who were quick to distance themselves from the sentiment.
She said: “This graffiti does not represent, in any case, the majority feeling of the residents of Manacor.”
The councillor insisted that tourists are welcome, and will continue to be welcomed in the Majorcan town. Maria also acknowledge the growing social unrest in relation to ‘over-tourism’, but denounced this particular graffiti as “totally unjustified”.
Majorca continues to experience high numbers of tourists through their peak season and an increasingly intense pushback from locals fed up of the crowds and rising rents.
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Escalating protests have also occurred in Menorca. On Saturday morning, 250 people filled public parking spaces close to the beach and the bus that covers the route from Ciutadella to the coast for six hours. The protest stopped tourists from getting to the beach, where there was also a mosaic of towels with the message ‘SOS Menorca’.
Graffiti referring to visitors has become common in Spain during the protests, especially in Majorca. One phrase repeatedly seen graffitied is ‘tourists go home’.
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The past few months have seen several anti-tourism protests take place across Spain. In Barcelona, crowds of tourists where face with protesters squirting them with water. In Malaga, a protest of 15,000 people expressed ‘Málaga for living, not surviving’ in an attempt to demand more affordable housing and protections against mass-tourism in the Costa del Sol city.
In the Canary Islands, over 200,000 protestors targeted the main holiday areas in April. Many surprise protests have also in the past week, taken place in Ibiza.
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The main concerns of Spanish residents are that they are becoming priced out of their own communities, the number of holiday rental properties is becoming too high and tourists are damaging cultural and historical locations.
The number of tourists in the popular holiday hotspot of Majorca has risen dramatically over the past 12 months. In 2023, the number rose by 1.3 million to hit 17.8 million. For 2024, it is forecast this number will increase by a further two million to reach the 20 million mark.
