As many as 1,000 protestors have marched against mass tourism in Ibiza amid backlash at boozy UK holidaymakers.
Campaigners held up banners saying ‘We don’t want an island of cement’ and ‘Tourism, yes but not like this’ as they massed outside the island’s council HQ.
The noisy protest last night kicked off at 8pm in Ibiza Town – with another due to take place this evening in the Majorcan capital Palma.
Tonight’s march is set to attract thousands of people and is expected to become the largest of its kind since last month’s protests in the Canary Islands.
The organisers of the Ibiza demo, a group called Prou Eivissa – which literally translates to ‘Enough Ibiza’, met with Ibiza’s president Vicent Mari before taking to the streets.
Tourist hotspots including Palma, Llucmajor and Magaluf in Majorca and San Antonio in Ibiza have ramped up efforts to curb rowdy behaviour by hiking fines for drinking in the street, banning shops from selling alcohol at night and restricting party boats.
Campaigners held up banners saying ‘We don’t want an island of cement’ and ‘Tourism, yes but not like this’ as they massed outside the island’s council HQ
The noisy protest last night kicked off at 8pm in Ibiza Town – with another due to take place this evening in the Majorcan capital Palma
The organisers of the Ibiza demo, a group called Prou Eivissa – which literally translates to ‘Enough Ibiza’, met with Ibiza’s president Vicent Mari before taking to the streets
The protestors’ demands include a limit on the number of vehicles that can enter the island in summer and a ban on using taxpayers’ cash to promote Ibiza as a tourist destination
In a bid to toughen up the islands’ 2020 legislation, partygoers now face penalties of between €500 and €1,500 (£430 and £1,290) if their street drinking ‘disrupts coexistence, involves crowds or deteriorates the tranquillity of the environment’.
The protestors’ demands include a limit on the number of vehicles that can enter the island in summer and a ban on using taxpayers’ cash to promote Ibiza as a tourist destination.
A letter was read out at the end of the protest from an Ibiza-born woman who linked her decision to leave the island with her family and move to the Spanish mainland to a ‘destructive’ tourist model that had led to ‘more cars, more tourists and more incivility.’
In the run-up to yesterday evening’s protest, organisers said: ‘We are completely fed up with the failure to properly address the complaints of so many citizens about the nefast consequences of a massive and selfish tourism which ignores the future of the island.
‘Our beautiful island is in danger. Tourist crowds not only affect our quality of life, but also the beauty and authenticity that makes Ibiza such a special place.
‘Tourist overcrowding makes the cost of living unattainable for many residents.
‘We fight for an Ibiza where we can all live in dignity. It is time to raise our voices and protect our home.’
The protest comes a month after thousands of people in the Canary Islands took to the streets of the Atlantic archipelago to demonstrate against the problems caused by mass tourism and demand their politicians take action.
A letter was read out at the end of the protest from an Ibiza-born woman who linked her decision to leave the island with her family and move to the Spanish mainland to a ‘destructive’ tourist model. Pictured: The harbour and the Old City of Ibiza
Demonstrators packed into Weyler Square in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz, the start point for a march on the Brit-popular holiday island
A woman raises her fist as she pounds the streets in protest against the levels of tourism in the holiday-isles
Government officials in Tenerife, where protestors held up banners which said: ‘You enjoy we suffer’ and ‘Tourism moratorium now’, said around 30,000 people had taken part but organisers put the figure at 80,000.
This evening a platform called Banc del Temps has organised a separate protest against ‘tourist overcrowding’ in the centre of Palma under the slogan ‘Mallorca no se vende’ which is Spanish for ‘Majorca is not up for sale.’
The idea of an airport protest in the peak tourist season which involves collapsing Palma Airport with cars was discussed at a brain-storming session just over a week ago organised by association Menys Turisme, which translates into English as ‘Less Tourism, More Life.’
Mass protests outside hotels and on beaches were also put forward as proposals at a citizens’ assembly attended by more than 300 people.
Anti-tourist graffiti has appeared in both Majorca and Tenerife in recent months.
Some foreign holidaymakers have shown their support for the issues raised by campaigners but others have accused them of biting the hand that feeds them.
Overnight a British tourist celebrating her birthday in San Antonio’s raucous West End said toughened-up regional government restrictions designed to promote responsible tourism were ‘stupid.’
They cover the party area as well as Magaluf’s party strip Punta Ballena and include a ban on street drinking as well as night-time closure orders for shops selling alcohol.
Tourist hotspots including Palma, Llucmajor and Magaluf in Majorca and San Antonio in Ibiza have ramped up efforts to curb rowdy behaviour by hiking fines for drinking in the street
The new rules include a ban on drink parties in public places, graffiti, scooters, and even nudism and semi-nudism. Pictured: Revellers in Majorca
A hen party enjoys a night on the town in Majorca this weekend, as the rules come into effect
Party boats are no longer permitted to get closer than one nautical mile (1.852km) of the designated areas and they have been banned from picking up or dropping off passengers.
Shops selling alcohol in areas of ‘excessive tourism’ must now completely close between 9.30pm and 8am, rather than simply stop selling booze between these hours.
The strict rules, which also prohibit tourists from organising drinking parties in public, spraying graffiti, riding scooters and displaying nudity, are set to stay in place until at least December 2027 – by which point the government hopes the law will no longer be necessary.
A Prou Eivissa spokesman said: ‘We don’t want no tourism but we want a different tourism.
‘We want some controls. We want our lovely island back.’
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