Residents of Santa Catalina in Puerto Soller are hanging out banners as a sign of protest against what they say is the progressive touristification and gentrification of residential areas. Bearing the message 'SOS Veïnats' (neighbourhoods), one resident explains that the banners have been commissioned because the "quality of life has plummeted".
The residents are making clear that they are not against tourism but are against the fact that a quiet area that had traditionally been home to fishermen and other local people is now "full of restaurant terraces and with a high percentage of properties for holiday rental".
Those affected believe that replacing traditional homes with businesses is "a serious problem" in a number of areas in the port and in the village. A "saturation" of holiday rentals is leading to there being more people on the streets at night, as there is now also a proliferation of bars and restaurants occupying the ground floors of houses.
Five years ago, the then mayor of Soller, Jaume Servera, complained that Santa Catalina was being "turned into a hotel".