Is anybody avoiding booking holidays to Spain due to the demonstrations?

[SmileLady]

Just wanted some advice. I have only been to Spain 3 times in my 46 years. Times 1 &2 were educational trips when I was a student. But last year as a family we went to Mallorca for the first time in October and really enjoyed it. We stayed in a hotel, rented a car and did loads of day trips. The weather was terrible but we made the most of it.

We are a family of 7 (2 adult children, 3 younger kids, and us, of course). However, we are being put off by the demonstrations. We thought this time, we could maybe fly into Madrid, spend a few days in a B&B seeing the sites, and maybe get a train to Valencia and stay somewhere for a few days. Older children may not come straight with us, depending on work/sports.

However, DH now says we should respect the Spanish and not go if they don't want tourists.

Just to clarify, our ethnic origin is a very popular tourist island in the Med, and DH and I grew up working in the tourist industry, as did both our families. So I have seen the effect of limited tourism on the economy of an area.

Anyway, am I mad to still plan this trip?

Tourism is a significant part of the Spanish economy. If it all suddenly went away, a lot of people who rely on it for an income would suffer.

In Madrid and Valencia, you're unlikely to see any protests against tourists.

Even among people who've been to Mallorca at the time of the protests, few have actually seen anything, because they've been quite small scale and in isolated areas. And now there's also been a backlash from the people who realise that scaring tourists away is damaging the economy

https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2024/07/21/125935/secret-counter-demonstration-sees-pro-tourism-stickers-handed-out-around-palma.html

So I don't think you're mad to plan the trip.

Thanks, I will have a read of this., Very helpful.x

DH now says we should respect the Spanish and not go if they don't want tourists

It's not correct to say that "The Spanish don't want tourists". A few people in a few areas that have a lot of tourists have been protesting, principally at the impact that this is having on (mostly) housing costs. The number of people who have taken part in the demonstrations in Mallorca, which are probably the biggest, represent about 2% of the population. Their demands (which will sound very reasonable to any resident of Bath or Edinburgh) are that the local and/or national government (a) does something to mitigate the effects of Airbnb lettings - many of which are illegal - on local housing prices, and (b) puts in place a plan to prevent future tourism growth from turning the place into Disneyland. This is all part of the normal process of raising awareness of problems in a democracy. No tear gas has been fired, nobody has been arrested, and with the recent exception of a couple of tourists who were squirted with water pistols in Barcelona, not one tourist has been personally confronted or assaulted.

From the UK media you could get the impression that coachloads of tourists are being pelted with eggs on a daily basis, or that locals are steaming along the beaches kicking sand in everyone's faces. But that's what happens in the media when something unusual happens: They milk it for all the clicks they can get. "Man bites dog" continues to outsell "Dog bites man". 🙄

The two most likely bad things to happen to you on holiday in Spain are (a) getting pickpocketed and (b) getting assaulted by a drunken fellow tourist. Both of these are far worse, and far more common, than seeing a demonstration go by with a couple of mildly hostile placards, but you don't see the media writing about them because they are not new and people have come to accept them.

So, please, do not worry about this. You are very unlikely to see the organised peaceful protests, and even less likely to encounter anyone who shows any hostility to you at all.

As previous posters, it doesnt bother me. In my eyes they are only protesting about the same issue that those who live in Devon/Cornwall experience, they are just more vocal and more organised.

Ive just booked for next summer for a week in Ibiza.