Some 20,000 protesters took to the streets of Palma, Mallorca on Sunday for a mass demonstration against overtourism, demanding changes to a tourism model they say is damaging the Spanish Mediterranean island.

Under the slogan “Let’s turn things around and set limits on tourism,” the protesters formed a sea of ​​brightly colored flags and banners as they marched through the city’s busiest streets. It was the latest in a wave of mass protests against tourism in Spain.

“Your luxury, our misery,” read one sign, while another said: “This is not tourism phobia, these are numbers: 1,232,014 inhabitants, 18 million tourists.”

The protests were organised by some 80 organisations and social groups who want an end to excessive tourism in the Balearic Islands. The three main islands of the Balearic Islands are Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

They say the current tourism model has pushed public services to the limit, damaged natural resources and made it increasingly difficult for local people to access housing.

Organizers claimed that 50,000 people joined the protests, while police estimated that 20,000 people took part. Earlier, the central government delegation on the islands had said that there were 12,000.

Last year, a record 17.8 million people from Spain and abroad visited the Balearic Islands, with numbers expected to be even higher this year.

The demonstration followed another mass protest on the archipelago’s three largest islands in late May, which saw thousands of demonstrators take to the streets to demand measures to curb overtourism, under the slogan: “Our islands are not for sale”.

“From a practical point of view, it is a legitimate economic activity. But as an economic activity, it should ultimately be regulated in the same way as hotels,” said architect and urban planner Jose Maria Ezquiaga, who told public broadcaster TVE that he believes tourist rental apartments should require the approval of local residents’ associations.

“It should be the local property owners who set the rules of the game and decide whether certain formats are acceptable or not,” he said.

According to Manuel de la Calle, an expert in tourism and business, introducing a tourist tax could be part of the solution.

“It is one of the possible solutions that can be put into action. It will not reduce the flow of tourists, but it will generate resources that can be used for tourism management or other ways to help the local population,” he told TVE.

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