Protests in Mallorca - enough to put you off?

[Vopik]

Friends have found a nice air BnB in Mallorca. But given everything that is going on there with protests I would feel very uncomfortable. Dh is saying that I need to let it go but what’s the point of spending money if I will be feeling like my presence is unwanted.

Honestly you’ll be fine. We are there a lot and it’s okay.

Yes def I won't be going to Spain until it's people want tourists, maybe when they have no jobs etc theyll see the economic value tourism provides.

Having said that tourism has a huge impact on local people. But its for their governmrnt to put in place protection against property prices being out of reach, for sanitation, waste management etc.

I dpnt hear Thailand rising up against tourism, yet its the most visited country in the world. Having spent 3 weeks there last year, Id suggest going there, its a bit more costly to get there but very inexpensive when you're there. Chang Mai was my fav provence.

Spanish owners do very much have the same problem, they even have a word for the squatters, "okupas". Why the Spanish government don't act to make it easier to evict people who don't pay rent or for utilities, I have no idea. Like another poster said, it's the poor bastards who own the properties being squatted who are liable for all the costs, including for the very long process of getting Okupas evicted. and any bills that have gone unpaid or damage that has been caused. And of course have to pay to rent another place for themselves!

@Dibbydoos Thailand is probably the most touristy nation in Asia, but France and Spain (followed by USA and a few more European countries) lead the most visited country chart.

Spain, however, would be jiggered without tourists so I doubt it’s the hotel and restaurant owners complaining. It’s more likely the poor locals who, thanks to social media, have their lovely sleepy villages and unspoilt beaches over run with Insta-seekers.

I’m here now, everything normal & friendly, spoke to several hotel people about it & was told the problem is those who come over with little money and no accommodation, and spend the day begging & drinking, and sleep on the beaches at night.

@SoYoung we go most years and this year was just as lovely as always- very welcoming- saw no signs of any animosity- the agent I mentioned below told me that some of it is directed at 'all' people buying up old houses, knocking them down and building big scandi style boxes- it's most certainly not aimed purely at Brits or Germans - it's a general thing due to housing issues-

@Totallymessed and those idiots behaving like that bugger it up for respectable locals as agents like the nice lady I was chatting too prioritise Brits, scandis and Germans looking for lets of 6 months plus

I don’t think that’s quite what people meant when they voted leave… LOL

I agree. People who believe in open borders/the free movement of people forget the impact it can have. If there were only a few million humans, it wouldn’t be so bad, but there are eight billion of us, and we’re heading for ten. Everyone is so preoccupied with those who want to move, and their right to do so, that they forget those who are already living there. I know this is a small tourist destination, but the principle is the same.

We are going in late September. I'm not worried at all. We will be at a long established hotel in an area we have been to many times before.

I think when you just focus on news reports it is easy to form the impression that it is the whole place that is affected when it isn't. It is concentrated in certain pockets and there is a good chance you will encounter nothing.

Years ago my PILs used to have an apartment there which we all went to quite often. Sold many years ago now so we are going to a hotel just along the road from it. It will be a trip down Memory Lane for us.

I do understand how some locals may feel as high season approaches because it must feel like quite an invasion with mass tourism, which could be overwhelming. It will have quite an effect on their lives and environment.

However, the local economy in places like Mallorca does rely very heavily on tourism. It supports a lot of businesses and jobs, and props up the hospitality industry there so deterring tourists could be very damaging - maybe a case of being careful what they wish for.

Did I miss something? I remember half the country voting to leave a bureaucratic institution. I don’t remember anyone voting to change our geographical location. So far as I know, you can still see the French coast from southern England, and trains are still zipping back and forth between London and Paris. Considering that places like Edinburgh, Bath, Cambridge, Oxford and London are crammed with European tourists, it seems like our fellow Europeans don’t want us to ‘leave’.

What a dumbo

Who’s “you”? Half of us didn’t.

I'm going next month to Cala Dor and not concerned at all.

I've booked Menorca in July hope that's okay

I definitely wouldn’t go. Not because I’d be worried but if people are against about my presence enough to demonstrate about it, then it feels polite to just not go. There are loads of lovely places in Europe that aren’t actively protesting against tourists so I would just go there instead.

I wouldn’t go to Tenerife either for the same reason although that’s never been an issue because it isn’t somewhere I would choose to go anyway.

We left the EU , we still live in Europe. Obviously not everyone voted to leave, and how does it stop us going on holiday to another European country?

After literally 12 years of house swapping in random totally non touristy bits of Europe I resent being rioted at as a pesky tourist one of the few times we opt for a conventional holiday!

Tell me you don't know anything about the demographics of MN without telling me you don't know anything about the demographics of MN...

In answer to the OP, personally I would not be doing Air B and B in Mallorca. Or at least make this your last one if it's already paid for. That appears to be a big part of the problem. I think they're awful anyway though, and did so long before these protests, so I do have a bias. but also I'm right, they are!

The protests have been misrepresented in the press I feel. It’s not that they don’t want tourists. They do, they just want them to stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and be respectful of the area. As it stands air b n b is making it impossible for locals to live in the area and drunken behaviour is putting a strain on the local emergency services.

Stay in uk. You wanted to 'leave ' Europe , so leave

On the Brexit vote (dons hard hat...) 37.5% voted for Brexit:

• 17.4 million voted for
• 16.1 million voted against
• 13 million didn’t vote

https://www.statista.com/statistics/570118/eu-referendum-results/

Exactly this. Happened to my parents. Absolute nightmare for them.

My family live on Mallorca.
They say the protests are really only a very small minority of people and that most Mallorcans still welcome the tourists, for most, tourism impacts their livelihoods in some way or other.
I'm going out in a few weeks and no plans to change!

Exactly this. Happened to my parents. Absolute nightmare for them.

I am so sorry, it must have been devastatingly stressful.