Spain is set to welcome a record number of visitors for the second year in a row, despite a massive surge in anti-tourism protestors across the country.
Travel agency Destina reported that it already has 54% more bookings for Spain this year than in 2023’s summer months.
Tourists from Portugal, Germany and Italy are heading to Spain in droves, with each nation seeing an increase of 70%, 48% and 36% respectively.
But the agency’s data shows Brits have largely eschewed Spain, with bookings from the UK specifically falling by 15%.
Data from the UN’s tourism agency showed the country welcomes 85million visitors, double the native population, last year. This number is 13million more than the previous year.
British tourists watch the coronation of Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla on TV screens in a pub, in Benidorm
Protesters hold a banner reading ‘Mallorca is not for sale’ during a demonstration
A demonstrator holds a sign that reads ‘rebels with out a house’
While tourism makes up around 13% of Spain’s GDP, furious locals in travel hotspots have been protesting tourism in their regions, leaving holidaymakers feeling intimidated.
An estimated 15,000 locals joined the protest that snaked through the capital Palma and headed for Weyler Square on Saturday, where holidaymakers were out in force for dinner and drinks.
Polly Taylor, who was dining with three friends, said that she initially had no idea what the crowd were doing until they started to come closer to the restaurant as armed police began to show up on the scene.
‘It was like a storm was coming but we didn’t know what the storm was about….then the noise from the protestors just got louder and louder and we were swamped with them’, Taylor said.
Eventually, as the small group with whistles and drums began to get louder and louder, a Majorcan who was dining nearby attempted to engage with the agitators.
The group responded by blowing whistles in his face and taunting him, Taylor said.
Demonstrators take part in a performance depicting a tourist and a Mallorcan in traditional costume during a demonstration to protest against the massification of tourism and housing prices
Protesters hold signs reading ‘For rent and I can’t pay’ during a demonstration to protest against the massification of tourism
The intimidating atmosphere continued as Taylor said the noticed signs reading: ‘Go home tourists’.
‘At that point, between the sea of people and…, it felt very intimidating to the point we discussed trying to leave and get out in case it turned nasty. We eventually managed to move into the restaurant to get off the street before any trouble could start’.
One protestor walked through the dining area on the street while ‘clapping and shouting’.
The Londoner said that she asked her waiter what the protest was about but he said that he didn’t know. ‘Clearly he did, but he seemed embarrassed,’ she added.
Now, Taylor said that she won’t be visiting Majorca again.
‘I will take my money elsewhere until they sort this all out. I understand their cause, being priced out of their own country owing to tourism, but they were targeting the wrong people.’
People take part in a protest against mass tourism and gentrification in the island ahead of summer season in Palma de Mallorca,
Bilbao locals were shocked after seeing a large-handwritten anti-tourist sign over a bus-stop billboard offering cheap flights to the Balearic Islands
‘They never to target their government and the huge holiday companies. We were simply contributing to their economy by holidaying for a few days,’ Taylor said.
Anti-tourist sentiment is spreading across Spain, with Palma-based Laura Barcelo, who describes herself as a birth photographer, shocking some and winning the support of others by plastering a bus stop with a ‘no tourism’ message after leaving Majorca for a weekend away.
She shocked locals in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao by putting up a large-handwritten sign over a bus-stop billboard offering cheap flights to the Balearic Islands from just 19 Euros (£16) to enjoy the region’s ‘rhythm and waves’ which read: ‘The Balearic Islands are very overcrowded.
‘If you want to help us don’t come for the time being. We will welcome you back again if we manage to reverse this situation of unsustainable tourism.’
She added referencing the price of accommodation on islands like Majorca and Ibiza which protestors against the current tourism model have linked to Airbnb-style holiday rentals: ‘Flights at 19 euros, rents at 1,900 euros’ before signing off her message as ‘Una Mallorquina’ – English for ‘A Majorcan woman.’
She wrote on X, formerly Twitter, where she posted the photo of her protest: ‘I couldn’t leave Bilbao…without complaining and thanking a city that wishes us the best in this cause.’
