Mallorca is set to witness its second anti-tourism protest in two weeks, as grassroots collective Menys Turisme, Mes Vida (Less Tourism, More Life) organizes a demonstration in Sóller on Saturday, August 8. This follows a July 25 march in Palma where over 30,000 protestors demanded an end to mass tourism, an event that ended with police firing rubber bullets at a small group of demonstrators.
Protest details and route
The Sóller protest, announced on Instagram, will take place on what is typically the busiest day for the town. Businesses have been asked to remove terraces, market stalls, and commercial displays from public areas. The route covers Carrer de sa Lluna, Plaça d’Espanya, and Plaça del Mercat, with restrictions in place from 10am to 2pm. Residents along the route must remove parked vehicles before the demonstration begins. While outdoor spaces will be off-limits, businesses can operate indoors.
According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, some traders requested a route change to minimize disruption, but organizers rejected the request. The protest comes at a peak time for tourism, with Mallorca expecting around 400,000 foreign tourists on the evening of August 12, when a total solar eclipse will be visible from the Balearic Islands, potentially causing 'pandemonium' as crowds gather to witness the event.
Mass tourism statistics and housing crisis
Overtourism protests have escalated across Europe, with Mallorca at the forefront. Between 2005 and 2025, the Balearic Islands' population grew by 280,000 to 1.25 million, while annual tourist numbers increased by 7.5 million to over 19 million. Palma's airport passengers rose from 21.2 million to 33.8 million. Housing prices have nearly doubled, from €2,207 to €4,062 per square metre, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
In a declaration before the July protest, Menys Turisme, Mes Vida criticized the government for prioritizing tourism while 'the resident population suffers an unprecedented housing crisis and a progressive decline in living conditions.' They stated, 'We declare that Mallorca has reached its limit – its ecological, territorial and social limits; the limit of human pressure and the limit of what its residents can endure.'
Clashes with police in Palma
While the July march was largely peaceful, tensions erupted at the end when protestors tried to gather at Ses Voltes, an open-air plaza near Palma's cathedral. Police, equipped with shields and rubber bullet guns, blocked access. Some protestors chanted 'I'd be ashamed to be a police officer' and 'Out with the occupying forces.' A small group threw plastic bottles, prompting police to fire around twenty rubber bullets and use baton charges. Paramedics treated eight people, with two taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Protesters and tourism experts emphasize that holidaymakers are not the enemy. As one organizer in San Sebastián put it, 'people who go on vacation to one place or another are not our enemies…our enemies are those who speculate on housing, who exploit workers and those who are profiting handsomely from the touristification of our cities.'
