Lewis BlackI know many Mallorquins, and so far, none of them has expressed these views, except for some irritations with cyclists and a few other minor irritations. And most of them are either directly or indirectly benefiting from tourism in one way or another and aren't under any illusions about that. Yet at the core, the overall dissatisfaction is all but entirely about cost of living and availability of affordable housing, which tourism has precious little to do with. Agreed, over-tourism is irritating at peak times in the peak areas, but it is not the cause of their struggles. In terms of "affordable" housing, the ingress of foreign residents with far more fiscal resources than the average Palma-dweller is the verifiable cause, and that's not going to change, tourism or not, unless they can somehow ban such foreigners, which is a very very slippery slope to navigate. Well, impossible, really. And it's still a bit cheaper here than most major metropolitan areas in Europe, so the attraction isn't going away anytime soon either. The "cost of living" quotient is a global phenomenon, not related to tourism - and it's still a bit less expensive here than other places around Europe - except of course, for those choosing to live in beach resorts in summer, who most certainly aren't Mallorquins, and far more likely to be foreigners who can afford it anyway, otherwise, they wouldn't be there. I have to suspect that the protesters are made up of a combination of older Mallorquins who remember the "good old days" when the island was poor, with minimal infrastructure, and low cost of living (but tranquil and without tourist irritations), and groups of (younger) who aren't Mallorquin, but struggle to afford it, particularly in Palma and the resorts, where most of the income-generating potential is. And then a few who are largely agnostic and don't fully grasp what it's all about, but just along for the ride, because it's a fun social outing with friends and family.

It astounds me that the commentators who live there permanently don’t consider themselves to be part of the problem.

Lisa JuliaAbsolutely spot on and i think (hope) that politicians on all sides get it. They now need time to make changes, not only to the tourist model but vitally to the provision of affordable housing. I also don’t think that the negative press the demos have caused in the UK, Germany and worldwide will have a long term damaging effect if they stop now. However, if they escalate, the tourist model will change but noone in Mallorca will be in control of it. Possibly the worst outcome for the people of Mallorca who undoubtedly deserve better.

well not sure what rally Jason Moore went too but i didn't see many mallorceans at all!

The protest appeared to be sensible and well organised. Island people saying we need balance. This isn’t a comfortable message for many to hear. But they are spot on - mass tourism can not be allowed to grow exponentially. It won’t benefit locals, businesses or even the tourists. People don’t want to feel like sardines crammed in on their summer hols. It’s in everyone’s best interest for sensible controls to be put in place. The government have the opportunity to act. The people have spoken. Their message was clear ‘no to over-tourism’. And they were sensible. This is an opportunity to put Mallorca on the map as a positive example of considered tourism. I really hope government have the courage to act in an equally sensible way.

"over-tourism" in Mallorca is quite verifiably both seasonal and regional. And I suspect that come November when the resorts close down, this will be largely forgotten until next year. Besides, as seen earlier this year, protesting on an empty beach would appear... well, empty. And somewhere along the line, they might discover the fact that they're not only pointing the gun in the wrong direction, but holding the gun backwards. Yet that might first require pulling the trigger to learn that lesson.

Threatening and scaring potential holiday makers is not the way to create balanced tourism. We will receive better living conditions by making thousands of people unimployed.

Tranq, what would YOU do ?

Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyI agree with your first and last sentences. The rest is bunkum. I"ll lay a pound to a penny that a census across the local population would show by far the majority want some form of control and the size of this demonstration on a small island is the evidence to prove it. Finally when are commentators going to wake up to the fact the charter of these demos is not " Tourist Go Home " It is "Less Tourism, Better Quality of Life" ie Get better and effective control of the sector and work out what they have to do to keep their voters satisfied.

Well done everyone l! It's all over the 10 o'clock news across the UK tonight. Your message is getting through very loud and very clear in Great Britain.