Kill a Tourist’ Graffiti Found on Popular Spanish Island’s Wall

Mallorca and other regions that are in the news due to their anti-mass tourism may want to rethink their stance. Unemployment in Spain fell in the second quarter, according to official statistics released on Friday. This was due to an increase in service sector jobs brought about by the country’s ongoing tourism boom. The national statistics institute INE reported that the unemployment rate in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy dropped to 11.3% from 12.3% in the previous three months, with March and June contributing to the decline.

Still, many in the country loathe vacationers “invading” their land. One town saw a fed-up local spray paint a message on a wall saying people should “kill a tourist.’

Some local officials in Manacor, on the Spanish island of Majorca, denounced the spray-painted graffiti. Others may not endorse killing but are sympathetic to the frustration displayed.

The beaches and two sets of caves in the town of Porto Cristo, which is located inside the municipality of Manacor, draw tourists to this Mediterranean island, the biggest of the Balearic Islands. Manacor is the second-largest municipality on the island.

Critics from the right-wing Popular Party, which opposes the current left-wing coalition in Manacor’s municipal council, have condemned the graffiti and the administration’s policies.

Even though the Balearic Islands welcomed 14.4 million tourists in 2017, ranking second in Spain, anti-tourist sentiment has been observed in other regions of the country. On Saturday, an anti-tourism group organized 250 individuals to take up all of the parking spaces in Cala en Turqueta, Spain, in an effort to prevent visitors from accessing the beach.

According to the organization, there are too many people visiting the beach, 30% more cars than the island of Menorca can manage annually, and locals have a hard time obtaining homes because landlords purchase properties to use as holiday rentals.

On July 21, some 10,000 people demonstrated against tourism in Palma, the city of Majorca.

Some locals would rather see tourism go, but those who work in the field argue that it would be economically disastrous to crack down on rentals or take a more general stance against tourists.