Protesters clashed with police as between 25,000 and 75,000 took part in a two-hour march (Image: Getty)
Protestors have clashed with police as Majorca saw its biggest-ever demonstration against mass tourism. Between 25,000 and 75,000 people took part in a two-hour march through the capital, Palma, on Sunday (July 27), which remained peaceful until the final stage.
Police had to control scuffles and angry shouts when they decided to close the protest’s endpoint, Ses Voltes. Authorities said it was for safety reasons, but it meant thousands of marchers were unable to hear the reading of the final manifesto. Two police cordons were placed on the ramp of the hotel Dalt Murada and on the promenade by the lake to control access. Police justified the measure on the possibility of a crowd crush amid an influx of people much larger than expected.
Several people were hit by police batons and officers fired rubber bullet (Image: Getty)
The thousands of demonstrators who tried to gain access began shouting at the police, and at one point, officers could not prevent a small group from jumping over the fences.
Several people were hit by police batons, while officers fired rubber bullets. A small group of the demonstrators also threw objects, mainly plastic bottles. Videos of the scenes show armed police arriving in full riot gear and chasing demonstrators through the city’s main square.
At least seven people were injured, two of them seriously. It is understood that a number of arrests were made, but the number has yet to be specified. The island’s press said a number of the protestors suffered head injuries, with gashes and cuts.
In their manifesto, organisers, led by the campaign group Menys Turisme, Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life), claimed “Mallorca is at the limit” and said the island’s saturation ceiling “was exceeded years ago”. The document argues that tourist pressure no longer only affects the coastline or natural spaces but also access to housing.
Organisers also claimed there had been a ‘wave of repression’ against the anti-touristification movement (Image: Getty)
According to the organisers, “touristification invaded our coasts, then our towns and our cities and is currently occupying our homes”, while recalling that in Majorca there are “more than 105,000 accommodation places for tourist use, legal or illegal”.
Organisers also claimed there had been a “wave of repression” against the anti-touristification movement after a police investigation into graffiti on real estate and tourist establishments.
Two women were arrested earlier in the week and taken to court in handcuffs before eventually being released. Campaigners said it was a complete overreaction.
In the manifesto, the platform directly links tourism expansion with the residential crisis and claims that not being able to have a decent life “expels us from our island and more and more of us are forced to leave”.
A new protest has been announced for August 8 (Image: Getty)
In the year prior to the regional and municipal elections, the organisers demanded an immediate political response: “It is the last summer before the elections and every day that passes without decisive action on the tourist monoculture will have serious consequences for the habitability of Mallorca,” they warned.
The manifesto also accused the Balearic Government of failing to take sufficient measures to control overtourism following two previous marches. Another of the axes of the speech was the promotion of tourism and, specifically, the solar eclipse scheduled for August 12.
The platform has criticised the fact that this astronomical phenomenon has become a tourist attraction and denounces that it is used to “attract more visitors, increase prices exorbitantly and ignore the collapse it can generate”.
The platform has called for demonstrations to continue throughout the year and has announced a new protest on August 8.