Hatred of tourists is growing in the Swedish paradise

 

Tenerife
Death threats against tourists in the holiday paradise

Christina Nordh

Updated 20.10 | Published 20.07

Neither demonstrations nor hunger strikes helped.

The tourists keep coming.

Now the tone is turned up – with pure death threats.

The protests against the tens of millions who make up mass tourism in Spain are becoming increasingly noticeable in the Canary and Balearic Islands.

The locals have tried to protest, most recently a couple of weeks ago 10,000 Spaniards demonstrated against tourism. And in April islanders on Tenerife went on hunger strike.

Increased prices - and wear and tear

According to protesters, mass tourism is behind sharply increased housing prices and wear and tear on the environment and nature.

Graffiti in Barcelona with the text "Tourists, go home". Photo: Olle Douhan

Brutal messages have been scrawled on Mallorca.

"Kill a tourist", is written on a wall in the city of Manacor - something that spreads anxiety on the island and further dilutes the dissatisfaction with tourists, writes Dagbladet.

In recent weeks, the local authorities have tried to calm down the violent atmosphere and urge the islanders to show respect for the tourists.

skriver Dagbladet.

            

         

The residents have grown tired of the sewage problems on the island.

1 / 2Photo: Private

"Welcome"

Maria Antònia Sansó, spokesperson for the PP, Partido popular, emphasizes that this type of vandalism does not represent the general opinion of the local population of Manacor. Tourists are and will remain welcome there, she says according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin.

Protests in Tenerife this spring. Photo: Miguel Velasco Almendral / AP

A few days ago, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Palma de Mallorca. Their placards read, among other things, "Take back your drunks - give back our homes" and "Your paradise, our nightmare".

On the northern side of the Canary island of Tenerife, the authorities have now put up large signs on Playa Jardín beach in Puerto de la Cruz - due to polluted sewage. And it is about the undersized sewage system in partly Puerto de la Cruz, partly in Los Realejos, according to local media.

Last year, 6.5 million tourists visited the island, which may have contributed to the problem.

New luxury hotels

At the same time, two new luxury hotels are being built on the south side of the island - and have caused the protests to gain further momentum. The approximately 900,000 islanders have had enough and do not want even more tourists to Tenerife.

But tourism accounts for 35 percent of the Canary Islands' GDP and 40 percent of all jobs.

Although the Spanish islands seem to be the epicenter of the locals' distaste for tourism, the protest movement has also spread to Greece, the Netherlands - and mainland Spain.

People on the beach in Barcelona, ​​Spain. Photo: Joan Mateu / AP

At the beginning of July, the slogan "Tourists, go home" rang out in Barcelona. At the same time, unprepared tourists there found themselves being sprayed with water from water guns. In addition, t-shirts with the message "Tourists, go home" were visible in the crowd.

26-year-old Carlos Ramirez, a teacher in the city, says he has a decent salary and has been saving for a place of his own for several years. But prices have risen sharply and now he is afraid he will be forced to move.

- Everyone I know lives here. But the only way you can afford to live in Barcelona is to share with two, three, four others, he told CNN.

Rents in the city have increased by 68 percent in the last decade.

According to Ramirez, there is only one reason for this: Mass tourism. On his shirt are the words the same slogan that the protesters chanted: "Tourists, go home".

The negative attention surrounding the anti-tourism currents has affected the tourism industry as a whole. The high season has not gone as expected - now there are barely four weeks left.