British holidaymakers laughed off anti-tourism protests from exasperated Mallorcans this weekend who jeered beachgoers and wore t-shirts exclaiming: ‘All tourists are b*******’.
Demonstrators vented their anger over rampaging Brits and mass tourism on the Mediterranean holiday hotspot, wielding placards reading: ‘Beware of locals, we are angry.’
More than 200 activists descended on the popular Caló des Moro beach, heckling holidaymakers who dared to sunbathe or dip in the cool waters.
One protester wore a white t-shirt declaring tourists on the Spanish island ‘b*******’ – while another had a slogan adapted from Marie Antoinette’s famous quote ‘Let Them Eat Cake’.
The slogan, translated into English, stated: ‘If they have no bread, eat the tourists’.
British holidaymakers laughed off anti-tourism protests from exasperated Mallorcans who jeered beachgoers and wore t-shirts exclaiming: ‘All tourists are b*******’
More than 200 activists descended on the popular Caló des Moro beach, heckling holidaymakers who dared to sunbathe or dip in the cool waters
Marisa Pennetts-Harrif, 53. Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
Protesters held banners in the sea and on the beach to ward off tourists
Grassroots group Mallorca Platja Tour summoned locals to take over the idyllic cove – ranked the world’s 11th finest in a major poll.
Caló des Moro’s tranquil turquoise beauty has gone viral on social media, leading to 4,000 visitors and 1,200 cars descending on the hard-to-access spot every day to grab an Instagram shot.
The group’s social profile translates as saying: ‘What Mallorcan man or woman would think of going to Caló des Moro on a summer Sunday?
‘Impossible! It’s full of Instagrammers who are just going to take a photo!’
Ukrainian Kristina Vashchenko, 20, was forced to retreat along the craggy rocks leading down to the stunning bay after locals alerted each other to her presence by whistling.
Kristina, originally from Mariupol but now living in Germany, said: ‘I saw pictures on TikTok and wanted to come but we just realised that there are protests by people who live here.
‘So now we’re looking for another beach to go to.’It is a shame but I appreciate that we are guests on their island and they live here.
‘It will not be difficult to find another beautiful beach to go to.’
The impact of mass tourism on Caló des Moro sees six tonnes of sand disappear from the cove every three months – with 70kg disappearing in towels and footwear every day.
Locals say the cove, accessible by traversing down rocks and passing 120 steep steps, is used as a dumping ground by tourists who are too lazy to make the return journey with their possessions.
Marisa Pennetts-Harrif, 53, spends each day clearing up the mess left behind by littering visitors who queue for hours to access the crystal-clear waters.
She said: ‘The cove is being wrecked by tourists.
‘You name it and I find it. Tampons, toilet paper, cool boxed, soiled underwear, needles and cigarettes by the million.
‘The worst thing is people will hide their rubbish.
‘They’ll put a tampon in tissue paper and hide it under a rock, pretending it will just vanish.
‘People abandon their camping chairs on the beach because they can’t be bothered to carry them back up the rocks.
‘It’s just relentless and it’s all being driven by social media.’
The beach sit-in, Ocupem Les Nostres Platges – which translates to Occupy Our Beaches – was the latest in a series of demos from locals against mass tourism in Mallorca.
They blame foreigners for driving up property prices by 250% in a decade while stagnant wages remain amongst the lowest in Spain.
Demonstrators vented their anger over rampaging Brits and mass tourism on the Mediterranean holiday hotspot, wielding placards reading: ‘Beware of locals, we are angry.’
Locals dance as they block the beach to tourists
Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
Matias Pizarro, 52. Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
Protesters say tourists no longer give money to local bars and restaurants and instead pile into all inclusive resorts
Members of the guardia civil are seen overseeing the protests
So far there have been mass rallies in capital Palma, threats to close the airport, and aggressive anti-tourism graffiti sprawled across the island.
Matias Pizarro, 52, from the village of Santanyi, said the impact of tourism was in danger of ‘killing our society’.
He said: ‘This is not just about tourists going on the beaches.
‘The island’s resources are so overstretched because of the demand from tourist places.
‘We don’t have drinking water in our town – the water that comes out of the tap is rust-coloured. We can’t drink it or even shower in it.
‘The trains were cancelled in 1970s and there are hardly any buses because the taxi firms have all the power here.
‘The number of rental cars multiplies by a number of factors the amount of cars on our roads.
‘Mallorca is bursting at the seams and we are on a road to collapse both ecologically and societally.
‘Local people can’t afford rent or afford to study or work on anything that’s not tourism. The situation is dire for a lot of people.’
Mr Pizarro pointed to the popularity of Magaluf – the hedonistic resort overrun with boozy Brits – as a major example of the Disney-fication of Mallorca.
He added: ‘Mallorca used to be a place where we had family tourism. These people would explore the island, eat in local bars and restaurants and go to the shops. They left a lot of money here.
‘But this has been replaced by all-inclusive tour operators so people don’t go out to spend money in those places any longer.
‘Instead of seeing the beautiful nature and eating the great Mallorcan food, they’re staying in the hotels to eat cheap freezer food which has come from anywhere but here.
‘Magaluf has been completely destroyed in terms of family life and anything that’s not tourism.
‘It’s not Magaluf as it used to be – it’s like going to the moon. It’s just another world – a completely different reality.
‘It’s like dead tissue on Mallorca and the worry is that the infection is spreading.’
Guardia civil officers look on at the protests from above
Protesters hold a banner as they chant slogans
The beach was overran by anti-tourism protesters
Various banners and flags were seen carrying anti tourism messages
Spanish government figures show tourist spending in the Balearic islands – including Ibiza and Menorca – was £3.82bn over the first five months of 2023, with British tourists visiting Mallorca spending an estimated £130 per day.
More than 750,000 visit the island each year with Palma airport this month reportedly processing more flights in a day – 1,600 – than London Gatwick.
Locals say the surging numbers of holidaymakers mean that residential homes are being snubbed in favour of hotels, holiday lets and AirBnBs.
Rents across Spain’s Balearic island have more than doubled over the past decade. An average 80-sq m apartment that cost 562 euros in April 2014 was this year 1,451 euros.
Mr Pizarro added: ‘The money that comes into the hotels from tourism doesn’t stay here. It ends up in tax havens in the Virgin Islands or in the USA.
‘We have the highest rents in Spain and the second-lowest average income. It is just not sustainable.
‘It’s not like the money is funding our beautiful lifestyles – if anything it is killing our society.
‘We are destroying the golden goose. Hotels, bars and restaurants can’t find people to work because the low pay comes nowhere near to covering increased rents.
‘We don’t have a tourism model that respects our tradition or culture. It has been replaced by a Disneyland version which deprives people of anything even remotely authentic.’
In May, 25,000 islanders chanted ‘Tourists go home’ as they protested in Palma against over-tourism.
One banner read: ‘Where you look they’re all guiris’, a mildly offensive colloquial Spanish word for northern European tourists, such as Brits.
At Caló des Moro, Eva Maria Rapp, 73, warned that mass tourism had left the island at breaking point.
Eva Maria, who swapped Germany for Mallorca in 1971, said: ‘If the protestors weren’t here, the beach would be full of tourists. They come from all over the world, not just Britain and Europe. We have so many Chinese and Korean tourists now.
‘Thousands of them come every day just to make a picture for Instagram. They might not even go in the water – they just come for the photograph.
‘We’re not against tourists, but it is too much.
‘I’ve come to this beach for 53 years. It was an ancient, holy place but now it is being destroyed.
‘We need to put pressure on the government that there must be more restrictions on visitors to Mallorca.
‘I would like it to be like a theatre – if all the tickets are sold, then no more can come in.’
Asked what he would say to British visitors thinking of a holiday in Mallorca, another campaigner retorted: ‘Just come once – and then don’t come back.’
In May, 25,000 islanders chanted ‘Tourists go home’ as they protested in Palma against over-tourism
People look on at the protesters flooding the beach
Some tourists were seen sitting on the beach keeping themselves to themselves
Describing tourism as ‘diet colonialism’, Sergio, a native Mallorrcan, said: ‘We don’t want to blame individual tourists. It’s not the fault of every individual tourist. We need to look at this issue as a global problem rather than just looking for people to blame’
Mayor of Santanyi Maria Pons said: ‘El Caló itself is very small, it is only about 15 square meters and there is almost no sand. ‘Every year there are usually six or seven due to falls or other injuries and ambulances, police and firefighters have to be mobilized, and they are overwhelmed and have a hard time arriving’
Tourist Kristina Vaschenko, 20 who was kicked off the beach. Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
In a play on the famous Maria Antionette quote ‘let them eat cake, artist Sergio Monje, 29, wore a t-shirt exclaiming in Catalan: ‘If they have no bread, eat the tourists’.
His friend went further, with a top emblazoned with the phrase: ‘All tourists are b*******.’
Describing tourism as ‘diet colonialism’, Sergio, a native Mallorcan, said: ‘We don’t want to blame individual tourists. It’s not the fault of every individual tourist.
‘We need to look at this issue as a global problem rather than just looking for people to blame.
‘The problem is tourism, not the tourists. There are the same problems in Rome, Barcelona, and in the UK.
‘In Mallorca we have a situation where local people are being priced out of being able to live here. Young people are leaving the island because, unless they have parents who can support them or inherit something, they have no other option.’
Mayor of Santanyi Maria Pons said: ‘El Caló itself is very small, it is only about 15 square meters and there is almost no sand.
‘Every year there are usually six or seven due to falls or other injuries and ambulances, police and firefighters have to be mobilized, and they are overwhelmed and have a hard time arriving.’
After protesters dispersed under the watch of Guardia Civil police officers, the campaign group posted on X: ‘We have recovered Caló des Moro.
‘It has been magical. We call for ‘recovering’ each and every one of Mallorca’s beaches.’
After protesters dispersed under the watch of Guardia Civil police officers, the campaign group posted on X: ‘We have recovered Caló des Moro. ‘It has been magical. We call for ‘recovering’ each and every one of Mallorca’s beaches.’
The idyllic cove is a favourite of social media influencers
Tourists were prevented from reaching the beach for hours
Spain’s Balearic Islands – which also include Ibiza and Menorca – are desperately trying to clamp down on boozy Brits amid the heated protests, which are set to carry on through the summer
Back in Magaluf, holiday-making Brits brushed off the protests, arguing that Mallorcans should be grateful for the money brought into the resort by tourists
Members of the public protesting at the Calo des Moro beach outside Santanyi, Majorca, Spain on June 16 2024
Back in Magaluf, holiday-making Brits brushed off the protests, arguing that Mallorcans should be grateful for the money brought into the resort by tourists.
Sat outside a bar overlooking the sandy beach, Jake Hanley, 37, from Gloucester, warned the island would crumble without tourism.
He said: ‘The businesses aren’t protesting – they love us here. They’re quick enough to take our money.
‘There are 27 of us here and we must have spent £10,000 on food and drinks in the last two days.
‘The beaches are big enough for everyone.’
But fuelled by alcohol in the heat of the midday sun, members of the group then proceeded to perhaps showcase why locals are fed-up with boozy Brits on their island.
While talking to our reporters, one man suddenly exposed his penis from a tiny pair of briefs, prompting another to suggest: ‘This is why they don’t want us here’.
Pal Dave Harris, 38, from Gloucester, then posed for our photographer wearing an apron with a prosthetic penis – upon which Mr Hanley then performed a sex act.
Londoner Leo Morris, 23, said: ‘We make them a lot of money. We keep their economy going.
‘A lot of these places would close down without us.
‘If we had hot summers in the UK we’d have tourists coming, just like this.
‘I don’t get what their problem is. We are throwing money at them.’
Charlotte Cunningham, 17 from Ayr, Scotland, said locals should not grumble about sharing the island’s 262 beaches.
On a week-long girls trip, she said: ‘The Spanish have them all year long, so surely they can let us have a week.
‘If they knew how bad the weather is back home they’d understand.’
Amanda Gibson, 53, from Islington, north London, sunbathed on Magaluf’s beach with granddaughter Amelia, seven.
She said: ‘I hate all this division. When people start saying ‘this is ours’ it causes conflict.
‘How are we all meant to get on if they start saying the beaches belong only to them and they don’t want tourists?
‘They should be for everyone to share.
‘My nan lives in a little place in Norfolk and it was exactly the same there. They didn’t want tourists, they didn’t want people buying their homes there. Now everyone’s been run out of the village and it’s a ghost town.’
Spain’s Balearic Islands – which also include Ibiza and Menorca – are desperately trying to clamp down on boozy Brits amid the heated protests, which are set to carry on through the summer.
Officials have hiked up fines for drinking in the street, taking off clothing and have banned shops from selling alcohol at night.
Anyone breaking the rules could be fined up to €1,500 (£1,350).
The Balearic government said politicians would have to ‘make brave decisions’ to tackle tourist and housing overcrowding.
Calling for a ‘rigorous and serious’ review on tourism, spokesman Antoni Costa said: ‘The objective is to think about the future of the Balearic Islands.’
