MADRID – Britons and other foreigners should leave Mallorca, say anti-tourism protesters who claim they have turned the Spanish island into an “amusement park for the rich”.
In a damning open letter in English and German, addressed to foreign buyers and estate agencies, activists claimed that residents had been “pushed out of their towns by unaffordable prices” caused by foreigners buying property on the island.
The letter, which was seen by The i Paper, says: “For decades now our island has been treated as a commodity, a place to be exploited, a holiday backdrop, a picture postcard to be bought and sold. And this has come at a cost we can no longer bear.”
SOS Residents, which wrote the letter, is among 85 groups that have staged a series of protests in the streets of the Balearic Island against the “touristifcation” of their home.
Palma’s beach in Palma de Mallorca in July, where anti-tourism protests have been held (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP)“Every luxury villa sold to a millionaire, a foreign retiree or a foreign family means one local family without a home. Every agency that advertises a ‘Mediterranean paradise’ in London, Berlin or New York fuels gentrification and drives out those who have lived there all their lives,” the letter adds.
“We are tired. Tired of being foreigners in our own home. Tired of seeing our communities, our language and our culture disappear.
The letter continues: “That is why we want to tell you very clearly, the residents of Mallorca do not want you anymore. You are not welcome if you come here to buy houses for speculation.
“Mallorca is more than an amusement park for the rich – it is a living land, a community, a home.”
Nuria Salom, 30, of SOS Residents who works as a biochemist, said she had been forced to leave the island because there was no work for her there apart from in tourism, and housing prices were too high.
Demonstrators against mass tourism and housing prices in Palma de Mallorca in June (Photo: Jaime Reina / AFP via Getty Images)“With a monthly wage of €1,500 [£1,300], I cannot afford to pay rent in Mallorca of about €1,600 [£1,386]. I would like to move back but it is cheaper to live in Barcelona,” she told The i Paper.
Domingo López, who lives in Palma, the capital of Mallorca, is 72 and until the anti-tourism protests, had never been involved in political activity.
However, he is typical of how the protests against tourism are now involving all generations, not just younger people.
“It is impossible to drive on the roads during summer and whole villages are becoming dominated by foreigners. Mallorca is not what it was,” he said.
In June, anti-tourism groups staged a demonstration along with protesters in other parts of Spain, Italy and Portugal in June. Demonstrators brandished signs in English which read: “Take back your drunks, we want our homes.”
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The protesters claim the Balearic Island government has done nothing to try to halt the tide of property speculation in Mallorca.
The regional government is led by the conservative People’s Party which has sought to introduce higher tourist taxes and new restrictions on rented vehicles during the summer months but has opposed any controls on property purchases by foreigners.
Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist Spanish prime minister, announced in January that his government would bring in a punitive property tax in response to soaring rents in major cities, which have been partly blamed on foreigners and tourists driving up local house prices.
Those outside the European Union, like Britons, who do not live in Spain, will now face a new levy on property purchased, which may be as high as 100 per cent of the value of the home, Sánchez said.
However, so far the controversial proposal has not been passed by parliament.
After Catalonia, the Balearic Islands is the second most popular region in Spain, attracting 14.4 million visitors, according to the Spanish National Institute for Statistics.
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