Angry Cornish locals graffiti message telling holidaymakers and second home owners to ‘go home’

Angry Cornish locals graffiti message on road telling holidaymakers and second home owners to ‘go home’ as staycationers continue to flock to South West

  • Message was daubed on the road leading up to the Minack Theatre, Porthcurno 
  • It reads ‘tourists go home, no second homes’ as the number of visitors soar   
  • Cornwall currently has more than 10,290 active Airbnb listings for tourists

Graffiti telling tourists to ‘go home’ has been sprayed outside one of Cornwall’s biggest tourist attractions as tens of thousands sign a petition to stop the second home ‘threat’.

The message was daubed on the road leading up to the Minack Theatre, a popular outdoor theatre built into the granite cliffside in Porthcurno.

A photograph shows the words ‘tourists go home, no second homes’ a short distance from the theatre’s welcome sign. 

It comes as tens of thousands of people have signed a petition to stop the second home ‘threat’ in Cornwall. 

The petition calls for a higher levy on second home tax to help build affordable homes for local families. 

The message reading ‘tourists go home, no second homes’ was daubed on the road leading up to the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall

So far, it’s been signed by more than 40,000 people and says it aims ‘to save Cornwall’s precious coastal communities’.

The latest graffitti incident has been reported to Cornwall Council and Devon and Cornwall Police. Both have been approached for comment. 

This is not the first time that vandalism telling tourists and second home owners to ‘go home’ has appeared at a Cornish beauty spot. 

Earlier this month a section of the South West Coast Path near Looe was vandalised with hateful words towards visitors – with ‘tourists go home, 2nd home owners also’ scratched into a gate.

Both residents and visitors expressed their 'disgust' at the growing animosity towards visitors and holidaymakers. Pictured: Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall (stock)

 Both residents and visitors expressed their ‘disgust’ at the growing animosity towards visitors and holidaymakers. Pictured: Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall (stock)

Earlier this month a section of the South West Coast Path near Looe was vandalised with hateful words towards visitors

Earlier this month a section of the South West Coast Path near Looe was vandalised with hateful words towards visitors

Both residents and visitors expressed their ‘disgust’ at the growing animosity towards visitors and holidaymakers.

Adorned into the gateway inside a circular walk near the holiday resort was a message saying ‘tourists go home’ and ‘second home owners also’.

The criminal damage divided commenters on social media, with some condemning the behaviour, whilst others called it ‘freedom of speech’.

A recent report by The Guardian revealed that Cornwall currently has more than 10,290 active Airbnb listings, and in comparison, as of June 3 there were only 69 rental properties available for people to rent short-term or long-term on Rightmove.

Abigail Harding created the petition and plans to send it to the Conservative leader of Cornwall Council, Councillor Linda Taylor.

Prime Minister's wife Carrie Johnson sits with Brigette Macron, and US First Lady Dr Jill Biden as they watch a performance of Ocean World at the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, June 12

Prime Minister’s wife Carrie Johnson sits with Brigette Macron, and US First Lady Dr Jill Biden as they watch a performance of Ocean World at the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, June 12

She will also be sending it to Eddie Hughes, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Christopher Pincher, Minister of State for Housing. 

There are no longer any restrictions on leaving England to travel internationally, however to protect public health in the UK and the vaccine rollout, those in the UK are asked not travel to countries or territories on the red or amber lists. 

Despite promises to open up travel on May 17 with the launch of a ‘green list’ of countries that can be visited without the need to quarantine, the only popular holiday destination, Portugal, was removed shortly after it was added. The list is next up for review on June 28.  

New data shows the UK’s travel industry has been the hardest hit in Europe, with a 73 per cent collapse in flights to and from the UK compared with 2019.

Industry estimates show more than a third (37 per cent) of the UK’s 526,000 travel and tourism jobs could be wiped out due to the pandemic.

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