Related news: Mallorca news from August 2 to August 8

Not against tourists; against the tourism model We'd all but forgotten about Mallorca Platja Tour before this group popped up again and announced that they would be having another "playful and festive" beach protest. Given that Menys Turisme, Més Vida have totally stolen the protest thunder - 20,000 or so on the streets of Palma - a few hundred (if that) objecting to beach overcrowding now seems somewhat passé or indeed pointless.

But was the protest scheduled for August 11 only to do with beach overcrowding? It was hard to say as the chosen location by Balneario 6 in Arenal had been selected as it was "a symbol of a drunken beach". Can a beach be drunken? Not as such, but it can accommodate people who are drunk, while Balneario 6 has attained fame or infamy, depending on one's point of view, for having lent its name (in German) to a whole area. Mallorca Platja Tour are thus, in playful and festive manner, seeking to reclaim the past - the 60s and 70s before the Ballermann became synonymous with a German intake of industrial quantities of alcohol.

Be it overcrowding or drunkenness, the brave souls of Mallorca Platja Tour will be occupying part of the beach by the beach bar from 11am , once more stressing that they are not against tourists but against the tourism model. Now constituted as an association, they have informed the Spanish government's delegation in the Balearics of the action and have presumably been given the go-ahead. When they occupied Caló des Moro a few weeks back, the Guardia Civil interpreted this as a protest for which no permission had been given, so they had to pack up their banners and leave earlier than they had intended to.

The president of the UN World Tourism Organization's ethics committee, Daniela Otero, insists there is no "tourismphobia" in Mallorca and that nor is there "a general rejection of tourists". In this regard, one could say that she's on a similar page to Mallorca Platja Tour. Having lived most of her life in Mallorca, she stressed last weekend that the protests can't be ignored, arguing (correctly) that they are an expression of a problem that has existed for years but which is now "knocking on the doors of political leaders more loudly than ever".

The announcement of Sunday's protest coincided with the release of the tourism figures for June. The National Statistics Institute's Frontur survey pointed to a 6.14% year-on-year increase in terms of the number of tourists in the Balearics and to a new record for June - 2,637,411 .

The sea's a hot tub Daniela Otero blamed sensationalist foreign media reporting for conveying an impression that there is a rejection of tourists, this being the same media which has spent the past several weeks indulging itself in seemingly dire warnings about heat waves. The fact is that Mallorca and indeed Spain have not been as hot as last summer, but there have been heat waves and we are currently experiencing number three. Temperatures do hit the 40C mark or more. There's no question that summers are hotter than they once were, and the high temperatures also cause marine heat waves. On Tuesday, a sea temperature of 30.5C was recorded at a buoy in Pollensa Bay.

This isn't great news as these high sea temperatures threaten marine life . There has been a decline in Mediterranean biodiversity since the 1980s.

Is Sant Llorenç that overcrowded? If Mallorca Platja Tour are looking for further venues, might they opt for that part of Cala Millor which is in Sant Llorenç? Or possibly Sa Coma or even the Sant Llorenç bit of S'Illot? The Holidu holiday rentals website hasn't necessarily done Sant Llorenç properties any favours if prospective rentals holidaymakers are looking for somewhere that isn't overcrowded. In fact, any holidaymaker seeking a quiet (ish) destination had better give Sant Llorenç a miss .

According to Holidu, "the town" of Sant Llorenç is the most overcrowded tourist destination in Spain . Town is stretching it when referring to Sant Llorenç village; what Holidu meant was municipality. There are apparently 73.1 tourists per inhabitant. These are over the course of the year. In 2023 there were 595,340 tourists. The population of the Sant Llorenç municipality, as of 2023, was 9,227 (National Statistics Institute figure). So in fact there were 64.5 tourists per inhabitant.

Whatever.

Mallorcans on holiday Given the apparent overcrowding, some of the 9,000-plus people i n Sant Llorenç may well be wanting a holiday far away from the municipality and perhaps even Mallorca. This assumes, however, that they aren't part of the 30.4% of Balearic residents who can't afford at least one week's holiday away from home.

The National Statistics Institute established that this was the case in its Survey of Living Conditions published in May this year. This was a finding that points to the inequalities in Mallorca and the Balearics, and the Aviba association of travel agencies has in a way reinforced this. It says that more and more Mallorcans, those who can afford holidays, are opting to pay for them through instalments . This is partly due to the fact that prices have gone up, while there is a general Mallorcan reluctance to borrow in order to pay for holidays.

Aviba also highlights the fact that a large section of the population goes on holiday out of season (the main tourism season in Mallorca, that is). Many do of course work throughout the season.

Reporting illegal lets Coming back to holiday lets and also to the whole story about overtourism, the Council of Mallorca is determined to clamp down on the illegal lets. The tourism inspectors, of whom there are now 30, have an email system for members of the public who want to advise them of illegal letting. However, the tourism councillor, José Marcial Rodríguez, says these reports don't always contain exact information. There have been more than 3,000 over recent months , and Rodríguez is asking for the maximum information and accuracy - "The exact address, the floor, the name ... of where they suspect that an illegal activity is taking place." The email is: inspeccioturisme@conselldemallorca.net.

Andratx is number two in Spain, with an average price of 6,672 euros. What they speak in Magalluf Just like foreign tourists, the number of Spanish tourists coming to Mallorca has been increasing. But what do these mainlanders find once they arrive on the island? What language is spoken? The local broadcaster, IB3, interviewed one disgruntled tourist from Asturias. He and his family had spent a week in Magalluf. "It's been a long week ... very bad, very bad."

What had been the problem? Tourism of excesses? No, nothing like that. They had been spoken to "in a foreign language". It was "a lack of respect" that Spanish hadn't been used . But which other language or languages was he referring to? He didn't specify. Some took this as an attack on the use of Catalan, but most came to the conclusion that he had meant English.

Magalluf is of course in the municipality of Calvia, and in Calvia there are various parts that are known for luxury homes and very expensive properties. The website Fotocasa places Calvia at number five in the top ten most expensive coastal municipalities in Spain. The average price per square metre, according to Fotocasa, is 6,014 euros.

Calvia's neighbour Andratx is number two in Spain , with an average price of 6,672 euros. The most expensive of the lot is the municipality of Ibiza - 6,898 euros.

Palma's noisy port Properties on Palma's Paseo Marítimo fetch a pretty penny (cent) or two. Residents have views of Palma Bay, and these also include the port. Setting aside the attractiveness or not of some cruise ships, the residents suffer from the noise from cruise ships as well as ferries, tankers and the party boats that are permanently moored by the frontline.

The Balearic Ports Authority is planning a reorganisation of the port. The plan, says the president of the Paseo Marítimo Residents Association, Antonio Ruíz, "looks very good". However, there is the noise. The association wants there to be greater use of ship-to-shore electrical connections. These will cut engine noise and emissions. As to the party boats, these should be moved to "a more remote location". As far away as possible, one would think.

Mallorca town is the “most overcrowded tourist destination in Spain”

New Mallorca anti-tourism protest called

Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

Mallorca town is the “most overcrowded tourist destination in Spain”

New Mallorca anti-tourism protest called