THOUSANDS of people brought the centre of Sóller to a standstill on Saturday as Mallorca’s anti-tourism movement returned to the streets for the second time this summer.
Organisers called the march ‘historic,’ with more than 80 civic groups backing the protest, led by Moviment Jove de Soller and Menys Turisme, Més Vida.
The Olive Press revealed in May that the town’s visitor numbers now outstrip its population — 75 tourist beds for every 100 residents.
The town has form for stirring things up. It was Soller youths who last year hung t-shirts reading “wherever you look, they’re all guiris,” sparking accusations of racism.
It was also a Soller-based group behind a viral TikTok trend of locals filming themselves eating packed lunches rather than “somewhere with an English menu.”
Numbers, inevitably, were disputed. Organisers put the turnout at 2,500. The Guardia Civil, which deployed more than 25 vehicles, put it at 1,000 to 1,500. Businesses in the centre had to pack away terraces and market stalls for the day.
SÓLLER DIU PROU! Més de 2.500 persones prenen els carrers contra la massificació turÃstica, els preus de l'habitatge i l'especulació que destrueixen el poble. La situació és lÃmit: volem viure-hi, no sobreviure-hi! pic.twitter.com/1NzAEah7CC
— Moviments Socials STEI Intersindical (@msocialsSTEI) August 8, 2026
According to Diario de Mallorca, crowds began building from 9.45am, some arriving from other towns, as organisers wondered aloud whether famously reluctant Soller would actually turn out.
A performance from traditional Batu-al-Mon percussionists and Xeremiers bagpipers sent the march off at 10.20am, and within minutes the old town’s lanes had run out of room.
The march wound through Santa Teresa and Sa Lluna to Plaça de la Constitucio, chants ringing out the whole way: “Qui estima Mallorca no la destrueix” (whoever loves Mallorca doesn’t destroy it).
READ MORE: Police blame crowd trouble at Mallorca anti-tourism march on protesters attacking holidaymakers
In solidarity with two women arrested in Santa Maria del Camà over the vandalising of estate agencies, marchers chanted “Santa Maria, jo també ho faria” — I’d do it too.
At the town hall, campaigners Sofia Zamrik and Dani Comas read the manifesto to applause. “
We are here because we love Soller,” they told the crowded square. “Precisely because we love it, we refuse to watch it become a place where living gets harder every year.”
They accused institutions of turning tourism into the town’s “only economic bet,” pointing to gridlocked roads, vanishing local shops, unaffordable rents, and a Port de Soller buckling under pleasure boats.
Even Constitucio square “has stopped being a place to live in, and become a place to consume in.”
The pair also invoked the 26 July march in Palma, which organisers say drew 70,000, and condemned the police charges that left a dozen injured that day. “They won’t push back a peaceful citizens’ movement,” they said.
Organisers say the fight now moves to “every neighbourhood and every village” across the Balearics.
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