Moment axe-wielding anti tourist mob surrounds Brits in Majorca chanting ‘go home’ & ‘go to hell’ sparking...
THIS is the terrifying moment anti-tourist protesters swarmed a table of dining Brits and chanted "go home" and "go to hell".
Officers were called to reports of the ambush in central Palma on Sunday afternoon, where demonstrators mobbed groups of tourists enjoying a meal in the Majorcan sun.
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One protester was even caught wielding an axe amid the deafening jeers.
Mass anti-tourism protests started erupting across Spain last year, amid concerns holidaymakers were driving rising costs and job insecurity.
In a video shared online, protesters are seen jeering at tourists whilst holding placards inscribed with the words: "Mallorca is not for sale" and "Mallorca is not your cash cow...go home".
Demonstrators are also heard shouting: "As you come I have to go" and "No balconing" - a reference to the drunken craze of jumping off balconies into swimming pools.
Regional governors have since criticised the group of noisy activists who turned up banging drums and later surrounded the upmarket eatery Cappuccino Borné.
Hotel chain boss Gabriel Llobera also condemned the incident, calling the protests unfair on local businesses accommodating the tourists.
He said: “The tourists that were targeted were sat on terraces provided by business leaders who to be able to receive them have paid their taxes and done things correctly.
“We condemn the anti-social acts we saw yesterday.”
Today, the Balearic Islands Government vice-president Antoni Costa called the behaviour "unacceptable" on a local radio station, but insisted the mob only made up a small minority of the Balearic people.
He said: “This type of behaviour is not acceptable. This government condemns and rejects the actions of a small minority of people who rebuked tourists who were relaxing on a terrace having a drink or eating.”
He added: “Abandoning tourism would be madness. We’re a tourist economy and we’re proud to be so.
Anti-tourist protesters blast holidaymakers with water guns & block hotels
“I think people are deluding themselves if they think that in the Balearic Islands it’s possible to do mostly other things than tourism.
“What guarantees the future of tourism is to taking into account the social and environmental sustainability factor. Looking the other way is not the right way to go.
“We must implement policies that allow us to move from an economy that basically grows in volume to an economy that grows in value.”
Yesterday's march in Palma followed a similar string of incidents in Barcelona, where an anti-tourist mob surrounded a hotel and shot at holidaymakers with water pistols.
Congregating outside the hotel, the group launched flares and held placards claiming tourism was robbing them of their futures.
What is overtourism?
Overtourism refers to the phenomenon where a destination experiences a volume of tourists that exceeds its manageable capacity
The term is often used to describe the negative consequences of mass tourism, which includes overcrowding and environmental issues
As a result, popular destinations have become less enjoyable for both visitors and locals
Local communities, in particular, bear the brunt, facing rising costs and a depletion of resources
In response, national and local governments have started to implement measures to reduce overtourism
Some solutions include:
- Safeguarding historical and heritage sites
- Promoting off-peak travel
- Tourism caps and regulations
- Promoting lesser-known destinations
Staff at a nearby hotel were seen trying to break up the crowds and shouting at protesters to move away.
Police stepped in before protesters could reach the famous tourist hot-spot la Sagrada Familia, avoiding potential clashes between holidaymakers and locals.
Shouts of ‘Tourists Go Home’ and ‘One More Tourist, One Less Local’ could be heard as activists marched through the streets.
They were also heard shouting: ‘This tourism is terrorism.’
City police said only 600 people had taken part, far less than the 8,000 who took part in the protest in Palma.
Other marches took place in the Basque city of San Sebastian, several cities in Italy and in Lisbon as part of a co-ordinated series of street protests in southern Europe.
This comes as thousands flooded the streets of the Canary Islands in May.
Demonstrations took place across the Spanish archipelago's islands, including Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura.
The march carried the slogan: "The Canary Islands are not for sale, they are loved and defended."
Other banners read: "The Canary Islands have a limit and so does our patience" and "Enough is enough!"
Spain's anti-mass tourism movement began gaining serious momentum in April 2024 - particularly in popular tourist destinations.
Locals have been demanding an end to the problems associated with mass tourism, including pollution, traffic chaos, the lack of affordable housing and low wages for tourism workers.
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