British tourists are cancelling trips to Majorca after months of anti-tourism protests on the Balearic island, a leading holiday rentals firm has said. Habtur Balears reported receiving calls from UK customers asking whether the island was 'dangerous' and if they could come to harm.
Manager Maria Gilbert told Diario de Mallorca: 'Long-standing clients who have been coming to Majorca for years and had already made their reservation this year have called - after seeing the news - to cancel.' She added: 'We get questions asking us if it's dangerous to go to Majorca, are they going to hurt us?'
Yoann Blanc, co-owner of holiday rentals specialist Alquilair, said he had been receiving calls for weeks from worried guests. He described an incident where a family found their hire car covered with stickers reading 'Tourist go home' in Bunyola, calling it 'worrying' and adding: 'I don't know what will happen next. What's going on this summer is becoming an emotional issue.'
Graffiti with slogans such as 'Kill a tourist' and 'Tourist go home' has appeared in several locations, including Manacor and the Tramontana mountains. In April, a banner reading 'Salvem Mallorca, guiris arruix' (Let's save Majorca, foreigners out) was carried at a protest attended by 15,000 people in Palma, where some foreign diners were booed.
A second large protest on July 21 passed peacefully, though some demonstrators mocked English tourists over Spain's Euros final win and carried signs saying 'Take back your drunks, give back our homes'. Javier Barbero, spokesman for protest organisers Band del Temps, apologised for earlier chants targeting tourists.
