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Anti-tourist protesters in Majorca mock England's Euro 2024 loss By Natalia Penza and Matthew Lodge Published: 07:49, 22 July 2024 | Updated: 07:49, 22 July 2024 e-mail Advertisement Anti-tourist campaigners in Majorca have mocked England's Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain and demanded Britain 'takes back its drunks' as thousands demonstrated against holidaymakers this evening. Up to 50,000 locals descended onto the streets of the Majorcan capital Palma tonight as they called for curbs on the amount of foreign visitors allowed on the Spanish island. Among them was one who held aloft a picture of England full-back Kyle Walker accompanied by the words: 'The only thing coming home is you'.

The mass protest, which is the second in two months to be held in the city, also saw people hold up banners written in English saying: 'Take back your drunks, give back our homes.' That's despite calls from the regional government for demonstrators to show foreign visitors 'respect' during the march, as the wave of anti-tourist sentiment continues to grow in the Mediterranean. Before tonight's march organisers had released a bizarre video gloating about the idea of empty hotels and banning hire cars, despite some Spaniards warning them that if their wish comes true it could cripple their economy with tourists taking their money elsewhere.



At tonight's protest in Palma, many signs took aim at the behaviour of tourists while they are on the island. Other English language messages carried by some on cardboard posters said: 'We used to have a life. SOS Residents.

' and 'Enjoy balconing'. The latter is a reference to the dangerous practice of jumping from hotel balconies into pools or climbing between terraces which partying Brits in places like Magaluf have been linked to over the years. The demonstrators also took aim at the Germans, with a message in German saying: 'Out at the finale.

Get out of here' - a reference to Spain beating Die Mannschaft on their way to Euro 2024 glory. Responding to claims they are guilty of unjustly making the holidaymakers the butt of their anger, some protesters had banners which said: 'This is not tourism-phobia.' 'Your luxury, our misery,' read one sign, while another placard said: 'This isn't tourismophobia, it's numbers: 1,232,014 residents, 18 million tourists.

' The protests were called by some 80 organisations and social groups who want limits to be placed on excessive tourism in the Balearic Isles, whose main three islands are Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza. Organisers claimed that 50,000 people took part in the protest, although police put the figure at a more conservative 20,000. There were no immediate reports of any confrontations or other problems involving demonstrators and tourists.

Those taking part say the current model of tourism has stretched public services to breaking point, harms natural resources and makes local access to housing increasingly difficult. Last year, a record 17.8 million people visited the Balearic Islands, from mainland Spain and abroad, and the figures are expected to be even higher this year.

At the last protest in the city on May 25 some foreign tourists were booed and jeered by some locals as they ate evening meals on terraces in Palma's Weyler Square. Organisers ended up making a public apology for the abuse they received. Ahead of tonight's protest, organised by platform Menys Turisme, Mes Vida which in English translates as 'Less Tourism, More Life.

' The bizarre music video featured images of queues to get into the cove of Calo des Moro and a large group of foreign cyclists. It starts with the lyrics 'there will be no more regattas, tomorrow is the last cruise' before continuing: 'Goodbye rental cars, goodbye rat businesses. Houses will be cheap and we won't see more cyclists.

' It ends with an islander singing in Catalan: 'We will plough the highways, the hotels will be empty and so the world will understand that there are too many tourists.' Last night the Melia Palma Bay Hotel was one of a number of buildings in Palma lit up with messages of support for this evening's protest. A neon message on the front of the hotel, which appeared around 10pm, said: 'Let's put limits on tourism.

' Climate activist Pere Joan Femenia, one of the spokespeople for Menys Turisme Mes Vida said as the protest got underway: 'The Balearic Islands have a limit. 'The ability to receive more people has reached its limit.' Jaume Foil, a Spanish resident who has taken part in demonstrations against 'overtourism', told Sky News that areas are 'struggling' to cope with the influx of holidaymakers.

'We are not protesting against the tourism, we protesting against mass tourism or what we call 'overtourism' that we are experiencing in Majorca,' he said. 'For example there are one million people living in Majorca and when it comes to the summer we double our population so our structures - roads, hospitals, even beaches - cannot support this mass tourism and we are struggling for that.' He added that while it was difficult to blame a single person or political party for the issue, it has been 'growing for the last 20 years'.

He said: 'Maybe no political party and no one wanted to take this problem and try to solve this problem. 'I don't know who is responsible but at the very least our politicians must do something.' But Toni Perez, mayor of British holiday favourite Benidorm, seemed to suggest overnight the groups behind the current wave of protests across Spain targeting the current tourist model were opening the door to the country's economic [self-murder] with their actions.

Asked if he understood people warning about the 'dangers' of mass tourism, he retorted in a newspaper interview: 'Has anyone considered that in a European country in which its great strength is the car industry, the population demonstrates against it?' Earlier this month tourists were sprayed with water pistols in Barcelona by demonstrators during a protest there against tourist massification. Regional government spokesman Antoni Costa has urged protesters to leave British holidaymakers alone. Mr Costa said: 'There's no fear because here it hasn't happened and people have always been respectful.

' 'But we have seen a certain type of behaviour in Barcelona which, as you can imagine, we didn't like. 'We ask for the upmost respect for those who have decided not to demonstrate and urge those who do protest to do so peacefully and not interrupt other citizens and visitors.' Politicians in Barcelona have indicated they will take action against foreign visitors by raising the tourist tax on cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours 'substantially'.

Jaume Collboni, Barcelona's mayor, said the current tourist tax for stopover cruise passengers was 7 euros (£5.90) per day. He did not say by how much the tax would be increased.

'We are going to propose...

substantially increasing the tax for stopover cruise passengers,' he told outlet El Pais. 'In the case of stopover cruise passengers (less than 12 hours) there is intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a feeling of occupation and saturation. We want to have tourism that is respectful of the destination.

' Collboni announced last month that the city will bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move as it seeks to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for residents. Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Hit the follow button above for more of the news you need. Spain Share or comment on this article: Anti-tourist protesters in Majorca mock England's Euro 2024 loss e-mail.

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