In response to these comments, activists have called on local residents to occupy the beach on Saturday.
Using the hashtag “Ocupem Les Nostres Platges” (“Occupy our beaches” in Catalan), a campaign group called Mallorca Platja Tour (Mallorca Beach Tour) posted on social media: “We want all the people who live near the beaches to go swim, restore the beaches and enjoy them as before. The beaches belong to everyone!”
One supporter suggested holding a protest at a beach called Sarenal, near Palma. “Come to Sarenal and don’t leave an inch for Gili,” he said, using a local derogatory term for foreign tourists.
Another local wrote: “Let’s fill up the beaches!”
Saturday’s protest is intended as a prelude to a larger demonstration on June 16, with activists saying they intend to “fill the beaches with Mallorcans”.
Amid growing fears about the impact of mass tourism, Palma’s city council was due to debate on Thursday a series of new measures proposed by Mayor Jaime Martínez to tackle the problem.
These include limiting the number of cruise ships that can dock in Palma, banning large cruise ships from doing so, imposing new taxes on cruise ship passengers when they disembark, limiting the number of rental cars that can be in the city at one time, and restricting and banning party boats and booze-filled cruises.
