Anti-tourism activists in Majorca have vowed to bring the island’s capital to a standstill with what they are billing as a “historic” demonstration next month — just weeks before a solar eclipse is expected to draw record numbers of visitors to the Balearic Islands and intensify the pressure on communities already pushed to breaking point by mass tourism.
The protest, organised by campaign group Menys Turisme Mes Vida — Less Tourism More Life — has been planned for 7pm on 26 July in Palma. Activists announced the date during a smaller demonstration outside the city’s cathedral on Sunday, with the July march timed to allow a series of smaller, less publicised protests to build momentum in the weeks beforehand.
Group spokesman David Comas was unequivocal about what is driving the anger. “We can’t cope with more tourists,” he said, describing Majorca as having been turned into a “theme park” where it is now “impossible” for young people to become independent or find decent housing. “Majorca is at its limit,” the group’s statement read.
The timing of the main march is deliberately pointed. An astronomical solar eclipse on 12 August is forecast to bring thousands of additional visitors to the Balearic Islands, compounding what activists say is already an unsustainable level of arrivals.
The demonstration is planned for just over a year after thousands marched in Palma in what became the islands’ most significant anti-tourism protest to date — an event that ended with around 100 activists drumming in the city centre until police moved in to disperse them. The same group also held up a sightseeing bus in the days before that march.
The first anti-tourism demonstration of this summer season is due to take place this Saturday in Menorca, which is among the most popular Spanish island destinations for British visitors.
The movement has grown substantially across Spain over the past two years. In Palma in May 2024, an estimated 15,000 people marched in a demonstration that descended into jeering at tourists eating in a city square — prompting organisers to issue a public apology. Signs at various protests have read “tourists swim in s***,” referencing sewage dumped into the sea, “my misery is your paradise” and “stop excessive tourism — this is our home.” In Barcelona last April, locals fired water pistols at tourists outside the Sagrada Familia. In the Canary Islands, activists have been glueing shut Airbnb key boxes and using fake police tape to cordon off beauty spots and beach access paths to trick tourists into thinking they are closed.
The protests are having a measurable effect on visitor confidence. ABTA, the UK travel body, has issued guidance to members on how to reassure clients worried about travelling to Spain. Mark Meader, vice-president of the US ASTA travel association, told an industry summit that water pistol scenes had discouraged some Americans from visiting Barcelona, and Spain’s travel industry has recorded a significant slowdown partly attributed to the demonstrations.
Yet the numbers keep growing. Spain recorded a record 94 million tourists in 2024, and by August 2025, 66.8 million had arrived — up nearly four per cent on the same period the previous year. Britain, which accounts for 26.5 per cent of all visitors, helped drive that increase. Spanish Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu has declined to view the prospect of 100 million annual visitors as cause for concern, pointing to rising tourist spending. For the people of Majorca preparing to march in July, that framing is precisely the problem.
