Alex Trelinski
BRITISH tourists are phoning Balearic Islands hotels to ask whether it is safe to stay there in the wake of recent protests against mass tourism.
Some bookings are even being cancelled in Mallorca according to business owners.
Speaking to the Diario de Mallorca newspaper, hotel manager Maria Gilbert said some people were scrapping their holidays.
READ MORE:
- This historic town has the worst case of tourism ‘massification’ in Spain, figures reveal
- US digital nomads blast ‘xenophobic’ anti-tourism movement in Spain – while others say they’re ‘scared to speak English in public’
- Number of tourists in Spain reaches record high for first half of 2024 – amid local anger over ‘excessive’ nature of the industry
“Long-standing clients who have been coming for years and who had already made their reservations for this year have called – after seeing the news – to cancel,” she said.
“We are getting questions about whether it’s dangerous to go to Mallorca and whether people are going to be hurt,” Gilbert added.
Despite the protests, bookings to the Balearic Islands have risen this year by 15%.
That’s in keeping with the upward trend across Spain which will almost certainly mean a record-breaking year for tourism.
Yoann Blanc, co-owner of the tourist accommodation agency, Alquilair, echoed concerns shown by hotels.
“We’ve been receiving calls for weeks now from guests who are worried after hearing about tourism-phobia,” he said.
“A few days ago a family who were in a rental property in Bunyola saw the windscreen of their hire car plastered with stickers with the slogan ‘Tourist go home’.”
“I worry because I don’t know what the next step will be,” Blanc added.
