Just one day after the July 26th demonstration, GOB and Terraferida requested a meeting with the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, and the President of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés. Neither of the two leaders has shown any sign of life so far, nor have they expressed any intention of meeting with the activists, who are demanding that the outcry against the saturation of more than 70,000 people who took to the streets on July 26th be heard. "We have not received any response and it worries us," stated GOB representative Tonina Siquier, adding a warning: "We will not stop. We have just begun." Siquier emphasized that Prohens and Galmés are "the only two people who can take measures against overcrowding." "Prohens says she agrees with the demands and that the Pact did it wrong, as if current responsibilities did not apply to her," she added.

A month ago, the Moviment Jove de Sóller (Young Movement of Sóller) called for the August 8th protest against saturation in the municipality, which they consider one of Mallorca's hotspots in terms of touristification: a municipality where "all the effects of overcrowding are clearly observed," state members of the entity, in conversation with ARA Balears. "For us, it is impossible to imagine a future in Sóller," they lament, and emphasize that the measures implemented by the City Council, focused on mobility (more parking, some only for residents, and low-emission zones among others), do not solve the underlying problems caused by saturation. The main one, as in the rest of the Balearic Islands, is housing.

With her face hidden behind a skull mask and dressed as a peasant woman, Madò Farta began to make noise —despite being a mute figure shrouded in mystery— on social media in June of this year. Since then, this figure, halfway between a bogart and a feminist water spirit, has appeared both alone and supporting other calls, in most —if not all— of the protests against tourist overcrowding convened throughout Mallorca.

"We no longer know what else we can do: banners, resist, demonstrations... But if you take one step further, like graffiti, they expose you in the media and come looking for you at your home; I don't know what else we can do." The indignation belongs to Margalida Castell, manager of the Quart Creixent bookstore, following the arrest of two young women for graffiti against tourist overcrowding in Santa Maria. Faced with this situation, the bookstore has reinforced the distribution of SOS Residents banners, which have almost run out after the Civil Guard's intervention.

The publication of the Manual of Action Against Touristification has, in recent days, provoked an avalanche of headlines, newspaper front pages, radio talk shows, and unprecedented reactions, condemnations, and warnings. There has been talk of radicalization, incitement to damage, vandalism, and even a threat to coexistence and security (we should ask ourselves, from whom). But very few voices have stopped to ask a preliminary question: what exactly do we mean by violence, and who has the power to exercise it, against what and against whom.

Professor of Philosophy at the UIB and founding member of Terraferida, Xim Valdivielso spoke with ARA Baleares about the hoteliers' campaign to convey a welcoming message to tourists. He believes the root of public discontent is the inability to access housing and attributes much of the problem to tourist rentals.

The youth organization Arran has accused the government of criminalizing the grassroots movement, especially in cases where protests go "against its ideals." "Both the current government of Marga Prohens and previous ones, especially those of Pacte, have led us to the current situation, in which we have lost in all areas of our lives to the profits of the tourism sector," Arran said in a statement on Tuesday. The organization ironically emphasized that "on an island full of graffiti of all kinds, the government has strongly condemned the only ones that have directly pointed it out." According to Arran, the government has taken "one more step in its attempt to criminalize the grassroots movement." The organization forcefully stated that the government "persecutes" certain displays of discontent from civil society.

Menorca, the Biosphere Reserve island with the benchmark territorial and sustainability model for the rest of the archipelago, is beginning to falter. Summer is starting with a growing forecast for tourist arrivals, but with less water and less decarbonization and waste separation than expected. It will also be the last Balearic island to implement measures to reduce vehicle traffic in the summer, although the PP government in the Consell recognizes that the roads are already much more saturated than the island's current road network can absorb. Some indicators of the environmental strategy it pledged to implement by 2030 have even regressed. This is, today, the environmental snapshot of Menorca.