ANKARA A group of residents of the Spanish island of Mallorca launched a platform Monday to express their gratitude to tourists amid growing protests against mass tourism, according to media reports. The initiative comes as thousands took to the streets of the city of Palma de Mallorca on Sunday to demand changes to the island’s touristic model, which they argue is causing significant harm. Approximately 20,000 protesters marched through Palma waving brightly-colored flags and banners with slogans like “Let’s change course and set limits on tourism” and “Your luxury, our misery.
” They called for measures to address the strain on public services, natural resources and local housing caused by the influx of visitors. The demonstration, organized by around 80 social groups, is part of a broader movement against over-tourism in the Balearic Islands. Amid these protests, a group of residents, mainly from Palma, formed the platform WeLoveTourismMallorca.
com to thank tourists for choosing Mallorca as their destination. The platform’s members, who wish to remain anonymous for now, emphasized the island’s reliance on tourism and called for a balanced approach to the issue. “Closing our island to tourists is not the solution,” their website says.
On the day of the protest, the platform’s members placed “We love you” stickers on demonstrators’ posters and handed out cards with messages of appreciation to tourists in central areas of the city. They aimed to cou.
