On Thursday, the Balearic tourism minister, Jaume Bauzá, stated that "tourismphobic" messages were not impacting tourism markets and insisted that "we can't break records every year".
Bauzá acknowledged that revenue in the complementary sector (bars, restaurants, shops, excursions) was "uneven" and that there are tourist areas where expectations are not being met, but he urged people to wait until the end of the season to conduct a thorough analysis.
In general, he said, "the data confirm that the tourism season is good", stressing that tourist records cannot be broken every year and that the government is in favour of a "quality tourism", which he defined as a higher spending per visitor.
He emphasised his belief that tourismphobic messages "are not catching on" in tourism markets, but accepted that graffiti and the burning of images (including his own by the radical youth group Arran) were "not desirable".
Asked if the government plans campaigns to counteract negative messages, as the hoteliers and retailers are already doing, he pointed out that the government has been running these for months at airports. He meanwhile expressed his gratitude for the actions taken to demonstrate that tourists are welcome.