The organisers of yesterday evening's demonstration in Palma against so-called tourist massification had hoped to attract 5,000 people, a number which would have been considered a success. Estimates suggested that there were more than 3,000, though in the absence of official figures it was hard to tell.
The march gathered in Plaça Espanya around six and made its way to the Born, where a manifesto against massification and the tourism economic monoculture was read out. There were speeches on behalf of the group against the Llucmajor-Campos road development, the Palma movement Ciutat per aqui habita, and the hotel chambermaids association (Las Kellys), who received the loudest applause of all.
Some fifty or so associations and organisations participated in what was a peaceful rally and demo. There was no evidence of any antagonism towards tourists as such. There was also a strong police presence, as there had been for much of the day in Palma because of the visit of Mariano Rajoy.
Margalida Ramis of GOB, one of the main forces behind the march, had said beforehand that the demonstration was not against the government or individual ministers, such as Biel Barceló. But the government was perhaps needing a "push" in adopting "more courageous measures" in tackling the excessive dependence on tourism.
Apart from a wish for greater economic diversification, principal issues for the demonstrators were the major increase in holiday rentals and the resultant impact on accommodation and housing, the increase in hire cars and the consequently high levels of traffic, and the precarious nature of employment in the tourism industry.
The government, for its part, argues that measures have already been adopted in its drive towards sustainable tourism, one of these being the holiday rentals legislation.