Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Majorca on Sunday, September 20, demanding an immediate reduction in flight numbers as a sweeping €13 billion (£11.2bn) Spanish airport expansion plan sparked fury across the Balearics. Demonstrators flooded the island's capital, Palma, against overwhelming tourist numbers, carrying banners declaring "No more expansion, no more promotion".
Protest route and demands
The protest, part of a coordinated wave of anti-mass tourism demonstrations across Spanish holiday hotspots including Barcelona, saw campaigners march from the Spanish Government Delegation to the Balearic Government's headquarters. Locals are angry over Madrid's newly approved €13 billion megaproject, which earmarked €621 million (£532.5m) for Palma's Son Sant Joan airport and nearby sites.
A massive 20-hectare (49-acre) solar farm planned in Marratxí, five miles from the capital, to power the airport infrastructure has also sparked fierce backlash. Under the new blueprint, Palma's airport capacity is set to swell by nearly 1.4 million passengers a year, reaching 35.7 million by 2031.
Residents' concerns
Outraged residents stressed the stark hypocrisy of local authorities who claim to want to curb tourism while actively promoting new long-haul international routes to non-Schengen destinations, including Canada and Abu Dhabi. Pere Joan Femenia, spokesperson for the Platform Against the Expansion of Palma Airport, slammed the approval as "opaque" and warned that authorities are attempting to normalise "an outrageous rate of 66 flights per hour", the Majorca Daily Bulletin reported.
He also urged officials to step in by banning private jets and passing a co-management law. Such a measure would give the Balearics direct control over how its airports are run, allowing local officials to cap visitor numbers and protect public services from collapse. Highlighting the severe toll on residents, Mr Femenia said: "It's unacceptable that planes are still flying over our homes after midnight."
Wider Balearic and Spanish protests
The fury extended to Ibiza, where protesters rallied in s'Alamera against a €229 million (£196.4m) expansion at Es Codolar Airport. Locals here have warned that plans to double the number of boarding gates and boost passenger capacity to nearly 10 million will choke public services, gridlock roads and overwhelm A&E departments. The project has also triggered environmental concerns, with tests revealing that sewage pollution near the airfield is 12 times the legal limit, threatening local flamingo nesting grounds in the Ses Salines Natural Park.
Meanwhile, thousands took to the streets in Barcelona as campaigners from the Zeroport movement fought against a €1.7 billion (£1.46bn) expansion of El Prat airport aimed at pushing passenger traffic to 80 million per year. Campaigners directed their anger squarely at airport operator Aena and Spain's Ministry of Transport, accusing them of deceptive tactics. Femenia dismissed claims that the current building works are merely for "upgrades" rather than to boost capacity.
"They have already lied to us," Mr Femenia insisted, highlighting that an earlier project fought by protesters in 2019 ultimately brought four million extra passengers to Majorca.
