…Spending by overseas visitors to
Spain rose by 14.8% in the first half
of the year to €37.2 billion, 36%
of which was in the two regions
that have registered the greatest
number of protests against
mass tourism: Catalonia and the
Balearic Islands. Tourists spent
some €8.2 billion in Catalonia
(22% of the total for Spain) in
the first half of the year while the
region’s car exports over the same
period were worth around €5
billion. For full story see: El País
in English
Tourism phobia - a reality
Over the last 20 years, the Balearic
islands have become venues for
a non-stop party packed with
tourists whose numbers grow
annually. Record upon record
is broken and this August it is
predicted there will be as many
tourists as locals.
In Ibiza The 70,000 to 80,000
seasonal workers who arrive from
the mainland to work the summer
often share apartments with 12
others and pay €500 a month for
a bed or sofa: either that or they
sleep in cars or tents. In recent
years, there have been outlandish
accommodation listings including
a mattress on a balcony going for
€500 a month and a camping van
for €700. Though nobody would
deny that tourism is the main
source of income on Mallorca, it
is no longer seen as unequivocally
beneficial or acceptable at any
cost. Locals are growing sick of
the way the mass tourism model
is encroaching on their lifestyle.
Not only are they unable to meet
the absurdly high cost of living
on the island, but they are also
witnessing the desecration of their
city’s character and the collapse of
their services and infrastructure.
Along with the tourists has come
tourism-phobia. El Pais in English