The anti-mass tourism movement in Mallorca is not giving up and today it has taken to social media to ask people to keep August 11 free for the next one. The last demonstration was only a few weeks ago on the eve of the start of the British summer holidays. The demonstration Canviem El Rumb: posem límits al turisme, (Change course: limit tourism) took place on Sunday July 21 and the message was clear: “It’s time to take to the streets, get organised and stand up for real change, to stop the impacts of the current tourism and economic model. We want a change of course to guarantee the rights of all people and the respect and protection of natural spaces, of our land and our villages.
The demanded measures include:
- Access to decent housing.
-An end to property speculation, gentrification and neighbourhood eviction.
- Improving public
services
- Decent and well-paid
jobs, put an end to precariousness
- The conservation and regeneration of natural areas
- Respect for our culture and our language
“We will make our vision felt everywhere. We must set limits to tourism and work towards a fairer and more sustainable socio-economic model.”
The organisers said that they want the demonstration to be “a turning point, a statement, and the start of actions and mobilisations on the four islands, not only in Mallorca, which will extend beyond the summer”. The organisers of the demonstrations have warned that they will continue to take to the streets until the Balearic government takes action and adopts measures against the housing emergency and tourist overcrowding.
“This has only just begun”, assured Javier Barbero, one of the organisers of the demonstration.
He is confident that the demonstrations have helped the government to take “immediate measures” to stop the property collapse, and one of the measures he mentions as a matter of urgency is that the Balearics should be declared a housing hot spot and that the state law should be applied. “If the reality is denied and still no measures are taken, we will take to the streets until they act,” he said. What the new protest will target remains to be seeen.