BRITS heading for Ibiza this bank holiday weekend could face major carnage as anti-tourist protests are set to flood the popular hotspot. Hundreds of fuming demonstrators have taken to the Spanish paradise’s streets to vent their anger as others vowed to cause chaos at the busy Majorca airport. Some 1,000 campaigners held up banners saying “We don’t want an island of cement” and “Tourism, yes but not like this” as they massed outside Ibiza Council’s HQ.
Last night’s noisy Ibiza town centre protest took place just hours before thousands more head over to Palma this evening in what is expected to become the largest protest in the Canary Islands. And just yesterday, riot cops and anti-tourist protesters went head-to-head in a violent clash outside a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Barcelona. The main focus of the march will be the difficulty local people have in affording homes in Majorca, either for rent or sale, due to the higher prices owners can get for holiday rentals.
But protesters will also spotlight all other aspects of tourist saturation which they say is ruining Majorca. Last week, another group “Més turisme, menys vida” (“More tourism, less life”) said it planned to cause chaos at Palma Aiport over this coming weekend so it would be paralysed. Meanwhile, Brits across the other side of the island in San Antonio drank themselves silly and dismissed a street drinking ban which could see them hit with fines of up to £1,300.
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