Banners of “give back our homes” in hands, waving the Mallorcan flag, booing tourists having meals in restaurants, and some cheeky shots at England and Germany for their losses at the Euros — these were the scenes as thousands took to the streets of Palma to protest against the record number of tourists visiting the Spanish island of Mallorca, including cyclists.

Located between Ibiza and Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has long been one of the most sought after locations for international tourists in search of sun. The island’s splendid beaches and sweeping mountains play a role too, of course.

Spain’s National Institute of statistics says last year 14.4 million foreign tourists visited the Balearic Islands, of which Mallorca is by far the biggest, with number of visitors increasing by 9 per cent since 2022, while their spending went up even more – 16.4 per cent.

But most importantly, it has been at, or at least very near, the top of the list of cycling destinations in Europe, as going by conservative estimates, almost 350,000 cyclists visit the island every year for rides along the gorgeous vistas and the brutal climbs, one of them being the Sa Calobra, the 10.1km long Category 1 climb, bridging 654 vertical meters with an average gradient of 6.5%.

> Just how good is Mallorca for cycling?

komoot mallorca feature -sa calobra 1
komoot mallorca feature -sa calobra 1 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
Sa Calobra, a brutal climb in north-eastern part of Mallorca

According to a report, cyclists usually have an average spend of €95 a day, bringing around €200 million into the island economy, typically in the low season. But with all the commerce, tourists have also allegedly driven up house and renting prices along with cost of living.

And to protest against that, hundreds of organisations held a joint demonstration in the Mallorca’s capital city of Palma, bringing together almost 10,000 people who felt they were being betrayed by their own government by receiving a lower priority than tourists.

People sang Catalan chants in unison, lyrics ringing out: “There will be no more regattas, tomorrow is the last cruise.

“Goodbye rental cars, goodbye rat businesses. Houses will be cheap and we won’t see more cyclists.

“We will plough the highways, the hotels will be empty and so the world will understand that there are too many tourists.”

The BBC reports stories of tenants struggling to pay rent or find cheaper places to live as landlords find it more lucrative to rent out their places as Airbnbs, or sell to a private developer interested in constructing hotels, or even sell them to foreigners to come and live there, or as holiday homes.

25-year-old Pere Joan Femenia, part of the movement called “Menys Turisme, Més Vida”, or “Less Tourism, More Life”, said: “It’s impossible to sustain this sort of model…Businesses are changing from ones selling traditional products to multi-nationals selling ice cream and we are losing our identity. We want to preserve our culture.”

He added the unprecedented numbers of visitors are not only pricing locals out of the housing market, they are also using up public spaces, public services and natural resources.

> Stephen Roche pledges to pay creditors of his Mallorca-based cycling holiday business €600,000

At the demo yesterday, some people held up placards saying: “Take back your drunks, give back our homes” and “We used to have a life… SOS Residents”.

Some even saw it as an opportunity to take a dig at Germany and England’s losses at the hands of the Spanish football team at Euro ’24 semi-final and final. One poster said: “Raus aus dem finale, raus hier”, or “Out of the final, out of here” to German tourists, while another targeted at English tourists said: “The only thing coming home is you.”

"Anti-tourist" protest in Mallorca
"Anti-tourist" protest in Mallorca (Image Credit: Twitter: @marcmasmiquel)
Protesters holding up placards in Mallorca during anti-tourist protest (credit: @marcmasmiquel on Twitter)

The anti-tourist sentiment however, isn’t just local to Mallorca, but has grown in a number of parts of Spain, most notably in Barcelona, Valencia and San Sebastián.

> Mallorca tourists to get access to Bicipalma “Boris bikes”

Meanwhile Toni Perez, mayor of Benidorm, Valencia, has blasted anti-tourist protesters for not understanding fewer visitors would be economic suicide. He told local media: “Has anyone considered that in a European country in which its great strength is the car industry, the population demonstrates against it?”

The Sun reports regional government spokesman Antoni Costa said: “There’s no fear because here it hasn’t happened and people have always been respectful.

“But we have seen a certain type of behaviour in Barcelona which, as you can imagine, we didn’t like. We ask for the upmost respect for those who have decided not to demonstrate and urge those who do protest to do so peacefully and not interrupt other citizens and visitors.”

However, Pere Joan Femenia described the notion that Mallorca needs tourism to survive as a myth, the reality instead being that many locals are contemplating leaving the island altogether because they can no longer afford living there.

Pere argued that putting limits on flights arriving and cruises docking will immediately ease the pressure on the island — a demand that formed part of the slogans and banners during the weekend’s protest.

As anti-tourism sentiment runs high in Mallorca, are you planning to visit the island for cycling?