UK tourists have claimed they will “go elsewhere”, with many having cancelled their holidays to the Spanish Canary and Balearic Islands amid ongoing protests and disputes between tourists and residents.
Over the past few months, fed-up residents have taken to the streets to protest over-tourism in the islands of Lanzarote and Ibiza as well as Tenerife and Majorca.
They have been blaming tourists for rising house prices as foreigners buying property and renting holiday homes have driven prices up to unmanageable levels.
According to GB News, One Brit wrote on Facebook: “As they say, be careful what you wish for,” while another said “There’s a lot of other places on the Mediterranean Sea that would welcome tourists with open arms. Spain is not the be-all and end-all. There are some lovely places in the south of France and Portugal”.
Another took to X to say: “Well, if they don’t want our money, so be it. We can spend it elsewhere”.
Last week, approximately 2,800 protesters gathered in Barcelona and sprayed tourists with water pistols, telling them to “go home”.
Another added: “This is easy – don’t go to Spain on holiday, go somewhere else in the world. They will soon suffer.”
Another said: “If we all go elsewhere, they’ll soon realise their economy needs tourism, then they’ll want everyone to return. Be adventurous everyone, lots of other Mediterranean countries love tourists, so that’s the place we should take our Euros.”
“Won’t be back, there is Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria among others, and I believe Albania is trying out the package holiday route too,” another said.
Others, however, did sympathise with the Spanish protesters, saying that protests happen every year: “I lived in Majorca for the best part of 13 years mostly in Palma. Some of the locals protest every summer.
“Their grievance is that Brits, Germans, Swedes and Norwegians with deeper pockets than them are buying up the island, which is in part true (me being one of them in 2003).”
Another drew parallels with Malta, claiming it was “the place for the British to have holidays”, but tourism levels dropped “virtually overnight” amid “bad press”.
“Spain should be careful as the same could happen to them,” they warned.