An anti-tourism campaign in Mallorca is urging locals not to share the island’s beauty spots on social media in a bid to deter unruly visitors.
A sticker with the tagline “Don’t tag this beach, you bastards!” They have been seen posted near beach entrances after Mallorcan news agency La Indis first launched the campaign last year.
La Indis launched this campaign to stop local residents from tagging the locations of the island’s most beautiful spots on social media, offering users the ability to download designs containing the slogan for free in any format. offered the possibility.
But this year, campaign groups upped the ante and urged: “Don’t tag this beach, you bastards!” The newspaper Ultima Hora reports that thousands of stickers with this motto have been printed and distributed free of charge to interested local residents, thereby saving lives.
The bright red stickers, which feature a bold slogan and a locator symbol below, can be placed “on cars, at work, anywhere,” said La Indis director Virginia Mohr. It is said that it can be done.
A sticker with the motto “Don’t tag this beach, you bastards!”Sighted near beach entrance as Mallorca attempts to crack down on tourism levels
Mallorca is calling on locals to share a motto aimed at preventing people from tagging the location of the island’s most beautiful spots on social media
“Overcrowding first affects us as residents by increasing prices and deteriorating the quality of life, but tourists are also affected,” a local resident of Mallorca (pictured) told Ultima Hora. .
“We are not recommending that they be placed on the same beaches, but each person can decide what to do with their stickers. At the moment they have been spotted in coastal areas such as Son Serra and Cala Mayor. ” she added.
Mol revealed that the group leaves a pile of stickers outside the office every weekend, and by the time Monday rolls around, the stickers are gone.
“Several businesses from different parts of the island have expressed interest and are already selling, including Bonaire 15 stores in Binisalem,” she said of the campaign’s growing popularity.
The agency has so far printed more than 1,000 stickers and has already distributed more than half to locals, pasting them around businesses and beauty spots near the sunny island.
Mol said the initiative was undertaken to demonstrate “commitment to the cause” as La Indi aims to “promote genuine social discussion on the issue of overcrowding”.
“Overcrowding first affects us as residents by increasing prices and deteriorating the quality of life, but tourists are also affected,” a local resident told a respected Spanish publication.
“Therefore, our campaign aims to involve them in the search for solutions to alleviate this problem.”
“Don’t tag this beach, bastard!” The campaign was officially launched last summer as a hashtag that locals could use in social media posts about overcrowding issues.
La Indis told the Mallorca Daily Bulletin that just one tag can lead to millions of views on Instagram, adding: “The problem is not that people can’t find a space to lay out their towels. “This is a problem that has very serious consequences for local residents.” population’.
The agency is offering free downloads of the slogan, and Mohr said one city hall has asked for the design to be used on a local beach.
“Our paradise can no longer give us more than that. Being sustainable doesn’t just mean not harming the environment; posting a beautiful photo can have a dramatic impact on the environment.” It’s about understanding what it means to give,” Mol said.
The sticker campaign comes after a series of crackdowns on the Spanish island to combat overcrowding and a surge in tourists.
Last week, the holiday village in Menorca, nicknamed the “Mykonos of Spain”, closed to all tourists after informing them in advance that they should only visit between 11am and 8pm to enjoy breakfast. Then he threatened me.
This comes after the Balearic Islands government introduced a ban on the sale of alcohol from 9.30pm to 8am in a bid to crack down on so-called low-quality tourism.
The decree bans the sale of alcohol late at night in commercial establishments in Lucmayor, Palma and Calvia on Mallorca, and Sant Antoni on Ibiza.
Ibiza has also become the latest Spanish destination to join the growing anti-tourism protests across Spain.
Demonstrators fill Plaza Weyler in Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz, the starting point for a march on the popular British holiday island, on April 20.
The words “Go Home Tourist” were scrawled in English on a wall beneath a real estate billboard in Nou Levanto, Mallorca, which has seen a huge influx of foreign buyers in the past few years.
“We welcome everyone who wants to enjoy local culture, gastronomy, local traditions, beautiful beaches and coastlines,” said Zaquelina Ana Perry, spokesperson for the activist group Puru Ebiza (Enough Ibiza). .
“We are only against the massification of tourists flocking to our island. This island is particularly saturated with illegal rentals and the 572 square kilometer site cannot tolerate any more,” she said. added.
Similar protests have been seen in other popular destinations such as Tenerife, where furious locals have gone on hunger strikes to express their anger.
In Menorca, graffiti told tourists to “go home” on a wall, and in Marbella last year the tires of a car with British license plates were slashed.
On April 20, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Canary Islands to protest the problems caused by mass tourism and demand action from politicians.
Demonstrators chanted the slogan “Canaries Tien An Limit,” which means “The Canary Islands have limits.”
Two weeks ago, the same letters appeared painted in white on the pavement of one of the access roads to Mount Teide in Tenerife.
Another message painted on the road read: “Moratoria turistica,” in English “Tourism Moratorium.”
Mallorca-based hotel manager Joan Pla recently warned that the large-scale tourist protests in the Canary Islands could be repeated in the Balearic Islands.
The Spanish islands are threatened by ocean pollution, traffic congestion and a lack of cheap and affordable housing linked to soaring real estate prices due to Airbnb-style vacation homes.
Graffiti reading ‘My misery, your paradise’ found in Balearic Islands
He argued that the problem was that many of the homes built for local residents were instead being bought by foreigners as holiday properties.
And he complained that islands like Mallorca, where he is based, have to deal with an influx of too many people at certain times of the year.
Tenerife, a popular island with British tourists, has been at the forefront of protests related to the mass tourism it attracts.
Just before the protests, Tenerife’s leading politicians urged British and Irish tourists looking for cheap all-inclusive sunbathing to take their holidays elsewhere.
Carlos Tarife, deputy mayor of the island’s capital Santa Cruz, said vacationers who want to wear wristbands and stay in hotels should book somewhere like the Dominican Republic instead.
Early last month, graffiti in English was left on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar in the south of Tenerife, saying things like “My misery, your paradise” and “The average salary in the Canary Islands is 1,200 euros.” was written.
