Hundreds of people take to the streets to protest against overpopulation while they 'cool off'

PalmaGetting some fresh air to denounce the loss of spaces for residents. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Palma this Saturday to protest against tourist overcrowding and demand measures to curb the pressure that Mallorca is suffering. They did so with their chairs, sitting in the city center and forming a large human chain that started in Plaça d'Espanya and advanced to La Llotja.

The mobilization, called by activist Madò Farta and with the support of GOB and Terraferida, has turned one of the most daily traditions of the towns and neighborhoods of Mallorca –sitting in the street in the evening to enjoy the cool air– into an act of protest. The image of hundreds of chairs occupying the streets of the center of Palma has served to claim, precisely, the right of residents to occupy and enjoy the spaces of their city and their island.

The participants, many of whom dressed in green, red, and white, the traditional colors of the siurells, have set up their chairs along the route. Some have taken advantage of the afternoon to read and play board games, and others have taken out their crochet tools, while banners and proclamations against mass tourism accompanied the chain.

The protest aims to bring to the table various demands related to the protection of the territory, climate and water security, and the need to limit tourism growth.

A chain of chairs to the Llotja

The action began in Plaça d'Espanya and has travelled through some of the main streets and squares in the centre of Palma. The chain passed through Porta Pintada, Sant Miquel, Plaça Major and Jaume II until reaching Plaça de Cort. From there, the protesters continued towards the Palau Reial, Carrer del Conquistador, Antoni Maura and Passeig Sagrera, before reaching the Consolat and ending the route at La Llotja.

During the mobilization, participants were able to submit their written claims to the Government through volunteers from the organization. Madò Farta's intention is for the protest to also serve to directly convey citizen demands against overpopulation to the Executive.

The call comes just days after the last anti-gentrification dinner organized by Brunzzit, another recent action that has brought the debate on touristification and the transformation of neighborhoods to the streets of Palma.