Spanish Islands Protests: Dates Revealed Amid 'Kill a Tourist' Graffiti

There may be bigger protests against tourism this summer, like those in 2024 and 2025.

A group called Menys Turisme Més Vida plans a big protest, expecting a record turnout.

Graffiti against tourists has appeared in the Canary Islands, including a 'kill a tourist' slogan in Tenerife. Two expats found this graffiti while hiking and saw more during a walk to Bollullo Beach.

In Majorca, five estate agents with international names were vandalized with 'guilty' and 'Guiris out!' graffiti. Guiri is a derogatory term for tourists from Northern Europe.

Anti-tourism graffiti has been seen in places like Barcelona.

Menys Turisme Més Vida announced a protest in Palma on July 26, which is when the school holiday season starts. There will also be protests in Menorca on June 13 with similar sentiments.

The group says that previous demands have been ignored, and problems like housing and tourist saturation continue to worsen.

The protest aims to show the strength of social unrest due to an economic model that prioritizes tourism over residents' living conditions. The group says this model breaks tourism records while making life harder for many residents.

The protest has the support of 53 groups on the island, which gets nearly 13 million tourists each year, with Brits being the second-largest group after Germans.

Last June, Majorca had protests with 30,000 attendees, according to organizers, though other reports say fewer people came. Some tourists were harassed during these protests. Another protest in Barcelona used smoke devices and water pistols.

Despite protests, the number of tourists doesn't seem to decrease much. In April, the Canaries had 8.3% fewer visitors than the year before, but still got 1.2 million foreign tourists. This was the first drop since the pandemic.

Over Easter, the Balearics saw a 20% drop in tourist spending by card, even though overall spending in Spain increased. This suggests tourists chose to spend their money elsewhere.

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