Balearic government praises organisers of anti mass tourism march, British media says their tone was out of line

The Balearic government praised the organisers of the anti-mass-tourism march in Palma on Sunday saying that it had passed without incident and that demonstrators had acted with respect. More than However, the British media disagreed claiming that British tourists had been mocked.

"The only thing coming home is you': Anti-tourist protesters in Majorca mock England's Euro 2024 loss to Spain as THOUSANDS take to the streets to demand Britain 'takes back its drunks'," said the Daily Mail. The Daily Express said "British tourists 'booed and jeered' in Majorca as Spanish rage at number of visitors." The Sun said HOLS NO ‘Empty hotels, no rental cars and no cyclists’ chant anti-tourist zealots as thousands storm ‘historic’ Majorca protest."

The Balearic government said they agreed with many of the concerns which had been expressed by demonstrators and that they were working on a new tourism model which would reduce tourism. Much of the business community echoed the government's stance saying that mass tourism was not the way forward.

But the Hoteliers Federation said that the government should be doing more to crackdown on illegal holiday rentals and claimed that this unlicensed offer was behind the "tourism saturation" which was being felt by many people on the island. They claimed that over the last few years more than 90,000 more illegal holiday places had come on the market.

There is concern that the protest, which made banner headlines across Europe, will also impact on holiday bookings. This summer Mallorca is unusually quiet.