Mallorca residents fear media will scare away foreigners «Euro Weekly News

Daily stories about the increasing anti-tourism sentiments in Mallorca can be found in the international press. Many locals believe that these articles wrongly portray the island as unwelcoming and dangerous.

In reality, residents are mostly frustrated by rising costs, limited housing and overcrowding; problems that they believe need to be addressed by local authorities.

Tourists are not to blame

“Tourists are not responsible for the problems we have in Mallorca,” says Raul Martinez from Palma. “We need tourism. Without that, our youth will leave the island because there will be mass unemployment. Many Mallorcans understand this, but the negative press can deter tourists.”

Viktoria Meyer, who has lived on the island for thirty years, feels uneasy about the current reports in the international press: “My children were born here. I'm German, my husband is British. We run a company on the island and employ more than fifty people. Personally, I don't feel unwelcome, but reading the news from Germany and Britain makes me uneasy. If the anti-foreigner movement grows, we will leave.”

Paul Torres, who has a Spanish father and British mother, said: “If the foreigners leave, Mallorcans will go to the mainland for work. Mallorca becomes a ghost island. Everyone is still welcome here!”

The government must urgently implement reforms

There is almost universal agreement that the government urgently needs to reform its approach to tourism and improve the quality of life for both residents and visitors.

Palma Mayor Jaime Martínez said today: “We have been studying for a year a series of measures and changes in line with finding a better balance between tourists and residents, and to respond to concerns about tourist congestion and its consequences of them. that this activity has on the resident. Palma and other tourist cities must propose complex and innovative solutions.”