- FOCUS-online editorial team / dpa
At Ballermann, critics of mass tourism are still demonstrating peacefully, but some graffiti sprayers on Mallorca are striking a different tone.
In Mallorca, locals have once again demonstrated against mass tourism. Around a hundred people symbolically occupied the beach at Ballermann, which is particularly popular with Germans.
“It’s about drawing attention to the fact that Mallorca is now simply too crowded,” said demonstrator Reyes to the “Mallorca MagazineHer colleague Eric added: “We must finally put a limit on mass tourism on the island.” The protesters first gathered on the beach and then ran into the sea, where they unfurled a banner that read “Let’s occupy our beaches”.
This is already the third such action this year on the favorite holiday island of many Germans: several tens of thousands of people took part in two peaceful demonstrations in Palma in May and June against the excesses of tourism.
Protests so far peaceful – but now also nasty graffiti
The demonstrations have so far all been peaceful. But now nasty slogans have appeared on walls in the holiday paradise. One in Manacor reads “Kill A Tourist”, another in several places in Palma reads in German “Tourismus macht frei” (Tourism makes you free), apparently an allusion to the cynical Nazi slogan “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes you free) above the entrance gates to concentration camps, as the “Mallorca Zeitung” reported.
Tourism associations on the island are playing down the issue with some nervousness. “It is a tiny minority that is shouting very loudly,” the newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for the hoteliers’ association as saying.