The organisers of the large demonstration that brought together thousands of people in Palma on Saturday have warned that they will continue to take to the streets until the Balearic government takes action and adopts measures against the housing emergency and tourist overcrowding.
“This has only just begun”, assured Javier Barbero, one of the organisers of the demonstration.
He is confident that the demonstration has helped the government to take “immediate measures” to stop the property collapse, and one of the measures he mentions as a matter of urgency is that the Balearics should be declared a housing hot spot and that the state law should be applied.
“If the reality is denied and still no measures are taken, we will take to the streets until they act,” he said.
Barbero believes that number of measures that can be taken with immediate effect already exist, such as limiting the rise in rental prices, something that the Balearic president, Marga Prohens, has already said she will not do. In fact, the president insisted that she will not cap rents.
“We wanted to denounce the housing situation, but we also believe that we have to rethink the tourism model with respect,” he said. “We are not saying ‘no’ to tourism,” Barbero said.
“The response was amazing and beyond all expectations,” added Barbero.
“The size of the demonstration reflects the feeling of the suffocation of the citizens”.
He insists that this has only just begun because it is urgent to act against the “dramatic” housing emergency.
Tourism generates 45% of the islands’ gross domestic product, according to data from Exceltur, an industry organisation.
“We want the authorities to stop people who have not lived here more than five years from buying properties and to put more controls on holiday accommodation,” said Carme Reines, from a collective which organised the protest in Palma de Mallorca.
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If he gets his way Snr Barbero will become known as the man who led Mallorca to be a third world economy!
The hysteria is getting silly. Photos showing twenty odd protesters on an otherwise empty beach. Ridiculous. Lots of noise but no real story. The British Tabloids are whipping it up domestically but nobody else is. Yes, about time Spanish/Mallorcan politicians actually do something thoughtful and effective. That’s me being optimistically deluded then.
RickI can assure you that those (Mallorquins and others) benefitting from that foreign investment directly or indirectly, whether in the form of tourism or property prices or investing in businesses... aren't the ones protesting. The ones protesting are those who suffer from the paltry salaries and higher-than-it-used-to-be cost of living (cost of living here is still well below that of many other European countries, but wages here haven't kept up with that). And they aren't all Mallorquin. I'd wager that many, if not most - aren't Mallorquin at all, but came here from elsewhere.
So tired of this nonsensical ranting against tourism. Without it this island would be a total mess and unemployment ridiculous. The hypocrisy of such a large part of the population being happy to rely financially on tourism, yachting etc and yet take to the streets and repeat whatever they hear others scream. And all these Mallorquin families that are relatively well off amassed a great portion of their wealth by property prices driven up by foreigners. Thanks very much! Stop blaming your apparent misery on others - look in the mirror instead for once.
Chris GWell, you know how foreigners are.
Nigel MaudeI think your comment "Just a small minority group (rent a mob) who want something for nothing and have nothing better to do." is extremely disrespectful and dismissive of what is a serious problem that causes great angst among Mallorcan families where there kids are forced to leave the island because they cannot afford accommodation on the island. Or, residents of towns like Soller where access is closed to all when the deluge of tourist cars blocks the access roads.
We aren’t talking about Spain , this is about Mallorca , which has more like 95% dependency on tourism,tell me an industry here that’s not related directly or indirectly to the tourist trade. lets not forget who the landlords are either, mostly locals ,some who own hundreds of properties.
Nigel MaudeSpain does not 'live on tourism' any more than the UK does. It accounts for around 11% of GDP in both places.
Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyExcept for the Brexit comment agree. MDB poll, "what is too many"? Spain lives on tourism, they benefit from tourism, why are they biting the hand that feeds them? Spain is not. Just a small minority group (rent a mob) who want something for nothing and have nothing better to do. Sad.
And curious how this problem seems to be amplified now PSOE lost the election on the island. Running their normal playbook of resistance if people dare to stray away from them. After all tourism exploded while they were in power and combined with the tourist tax that seemed ok as long as lip service was played over the issue. Tourism fuels the island. PSOE made no attempt to develop alternative industries or housing. I think we have to give PP a chance to find solutions