One is the Via Menorca campaign, which on 8 June filled Maó’s Plaça Biosfera; another is the network of social movements on Ibiza and Formentera and other entities under the name Plataforma Cambiem el Rum, and the platform Menys Turisme, Més Vida (from Mallorca). Since the end of May, representatives of the different initiatives on the four islands have been meeting every week to coordinate demands, denouncing actions and potests as part of the jointly promoted inter-island campaign.
The aim is to coordinate “an intense season of protests” that will spread across the four islands to warn of the “harmful” impacts of the current tourism and economic model on all the islands and to demand “the necessary changes for a change of direction of the model that guarantees the fundamental rights that are at stake”.
They listed these as housing, social services, education, conservation and regeneration of natural resources, the sea and beaches, and natural spaces that have become “speculative assets”.
“The political class has to take forceful measures to establish limits and regulate this activity, and in turn, put the profits it generates at the service of the social majorities,” they added.
And finally, they have assured that they will work and articulate together to demand another socio-economic model “that addresses the current ecological and social crisis, respects the uniqueness and limits of the islands, and allows us to move together towards social and environmental justice, betting on the common good and dignified life”.
3 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Why not put the island mugging tax up to €1000 and then tell everyone that arrives that you hate them and don't want them to come back . Keep up with this nonsense , i'm sure it'll work out just fine comrades .
To demand “the necessary changes for a change of direction of the model that guarantees the fundamental rights” is wonderful. Bliss. But why not start by making changes yourselves rather than protest?!? No doubt that what they REALLY ask for is…. money, subsidies, etc etc. I’m seeing such a lack of initiative, entrepreneurial thinking here…. No wonder talented local kids all move away. Is that also the tourist’s fault?!
This change of attitude makes a lot of sense. Up to now many Mallorcans seem to blame tourists for coming to the island after their being expressly invited to do so. Yes, in some areas there are too many tourists (as they are also in UK villages and seaside towns). Local authorities on the island have a number of options: limit the number of flights per day; limit hotel accommodation in line with the control of private lettings; bar cruise ships from docking; remove licences for nightclubs and discos to address the problems at Magaluf etc; design regulations aimed at the tourist groups and numbers that are desired; make it illegal to sell properties to non-doms, thus putting the onus on the seller. Above all, a coherent policy is needed. It’s no good complaining on the one hand of too many visitors while simultaneously running advertising campaigns to attract them. It looks like people are waking up to this reality and rejecting the ‘tourists go home’ slogans which do not reflect the most constructive of attitudes.