A human wave overflows Palma to demand limits on tourist saturation

PalmTens of thousands of people, up to 70,000 according to the organization and 25,000 according to the always conservative calculations of the National Police, have taken the center of Palma and have shouted all kinds of slogans against the excess of tourism, with one idea above all others: a significant part of the island's society is tired of the collapse. The end of the demonstration turned out to be a real chaos because the planned space, les Voltes, has absolutely insufficient capacity for such a massive demonstration. The Police have closed the accesses to les Voltes, which has caused a strong confrontation among the demonstrators, because, after walking for more than an hour, most of the demonstrators have not managed to reach the end and have been dispersed throughout the Parc de la Mar, which has been filled with banners.

The most massive demonstration of the three held this legislature has highlighted the discontent of a significant part of society and constitutes a very clear message to the Government. The hundreds of slogans carried by the demonstrators have originally portrayed the feeling of exhaustion and indignation of the citizenry, which has increased in recent days after the arrest of two activists for graffiti on real estate agencies with a deployment of the Civil Guard that ignited tempers due to the disproportion of the police action. "I am 10 years old, what Mallorca will you leave me?", "We will make a thunderclap", "We will eat tourists", "Less gelato and more trempó", and the traditional Mallorcan phrase "En bastar, basta" have been some of the phrases with which the population, of all ages, has shown anger for the progressive loss of quality of life.

The demonstration called by Menys Turisme, Més Vida and GOB, with the support of 145 entities, to denounce the effects of the tourism model on the island has been a success that has surpassed all calculations. It comes after a year of growing mobilizations that a few weeks ago already experienced an episode of great mobilization in the Trenc Natural Park.

Families, children, young people, and the elderly have attended the call, favored by the meteorological truce. Many of the attendees were already filling the Plaça d'Espanya long before the scheduled start time, which predicted an exceptional mobilization. As the march progressed through the Avingudes, Baró de Pinopar, Rambla, Carrer de la Unió, and El Born, it became evident that the protest surpassed, at least visually, previous calls.

"I want to live where I was born", "Every year will be worse", "It is criminal not to listen to the cry of a people", and "Enyor Mallorca" have been some of the slogans exhibited and shouted by the participants. There were also those who joked about the situation, such as “I don't have any tourist places, and you?".

The slogans against overpopulation have been mixed with expressions of support for the two young women arrested a few weeks ago. Several banners denounced the "criminalization" of the movement and called for the dismissal of the case opened after the graffiti on real estate agencies in Santa Maria. The arrests have ended up becoming a new element of cohesion for a movement that considers the police response to have been disproportionate.

Manifest reading

The march has advanced slowly due to the large turnout of participants. The scale of the demonstration became particularly evident at the end of the route: the first reading of the manifesto began at 8:40 PM, but almost at 9:25 PM the tail of the demonstration was still arriving at Les Voltes, even though most of the demonstrators had to settle for staying around the area. However, farmers from Apaema handed out pieces of melon to those who could not enter to listen to the manifesto.

The most tense moments were experienced at the end of the gathering, as the National Police continued to prevent more people from entering, alleging a lack of space. Les Voltes has a maximum capacity of 3,000 people and, therefore, as some demonstrators stated, "it makes no sense that we ended up here." Right next door, there is a much larger space where parties are traditionally held, but the organizers said that Palma City Council did not offer them this space. In response to questions from ARA Balears, sources from the Government Delegation explained that "we are only informed when a demonstration is held, but we do not validate or approve capacities. We do not intervene," they explained.

Thousands of people spread out over the old city walls, also at the foot of the Cathedral, to try to follow the organizers' critical words about the lack of political action against over-tourism.

Finally, in the Parc de la Mar, Cristina Vaquer and Pere Joan Femenia read the manifesto of the call before thousands of people. The text assured that "Mallorca is at the limit" and that "this limit was already exceeded years ago", denouncing that touristification "invaded our coasts, then our towns and our cities, and is currently occupying our homes". The organizers warned that, in the midst of a housing crisis, "more than 105,000 housing places in Mallorca are destined for tourist use, legal or illegal", and called on all administrations to "listen to our demands". The manifesto also lashed out at the Balearic Government: "If after three massive demonstrations we are here again today, it is despite your policies and not thanks to them", and demanded "stop ignoring social demands and set clear limits that put the needs of the citizens first".

In one of the most applauded moments, the text denounced that "security forces and bodies have begun a wave of repression to stop the movement against touristification", in reference to the arrests of the two activists from Santa Maria, and defended that "a graffiti on the facade of a real estate agency or a bunker at Trenc can be erased, but the impact of unlimited construction on rustic land, the waste of resources, and the suffering of workers in the tourism sector are much more difficult to reverse".

The organizers insisted that "tourist degrowth is already an unavoidable condition" to guarantee housing, public services, the protection of the territory, language, and culture, and concluded with a call to maintain mobilization throughout the island: "We will only accept tourist degrowth as a solution. Mallorca cannot accommodate more cars, cannot accommodate more hotels, cannot accommodate more tourist rentals, cannot accommodate more coffee, fast food, or cheesecake franchises, and cannot accommodate more tourists! Mallorca at its limit! Less Tourism, More Life!". The manifesto also announced a new mobilization on August 8th in Sóller, with the aim of maintaining pressure on the administrations and extending protests beyond the annual Palma gathering.

Regardless of the exact number of demonstrators, the result has been a massive mobilization, unseen for years. A transversal cry reaching the doors of the Consolat de la Mar.

“Marga Prohens cannot ignore what 70,000 people have shouted. We are not against tourism. We are against living poorly, against having the Islands saturated, resources depleted, and no future for young people”, said the vice-president of GOB, Tonina Siquier.

“Even employers have said it. It is urgent to act and stop passing the blame between one another”, said the vice-president of GOB, in reference to recent messages from the PP government trying to justify the situation with the inaction of Francina Armengol's Executive, three years later.