Spain's anti-tourism protesters team up with Extinction Rebellion and Free Palestine activists to cause CHAOS this summer

Protests took place last weekend in Majorca
Reuters/Getty
George Bunn

By George Bunn


Published: 26/07/2024

- 12:45

Thousands of anti-tourism activists protested in Palma de Majorca last weekend

Just Stop Oil and pro-Palestine protesters have teamed up with anti-tourism campaigners in Spain.

Activists from Less Tourism, More Life have thrown their support behind JSO and Free Palestine's tactics such as airport blockades.


They said the causes are linked and refuse to rule out joining attempts to disrupt flights.

A spokesman for Less Tourism, More Life Joan Villalonga told The Sun: "We understand it as a systemic problem, so we obviously support these other groups and we talk with each other. Together we are stronger to fight as a community and to empower people to rule ourselves."

\u200bProtests took place last weekend in Mallorca

Protests took place last weekend in Majorca

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It comes after thousands of anti-tourism activists protested in Spain's Palma de Majorca on Sunday in the latest demonstration against a key industry for the Iberian nation.

Protesters walked through the streets of the capital of Majorca with posters reading "no to mass tourism" and "stop private jets" and carrying makeshift models of planes and cruise ships.

Anti-tourism activists have staged a series of protests this year in Barcelona, and other popular holiday destinations like Palma de Majorca, Malaga and the Canary Islands, saying visitors drive up housing costs and lead to residents being unable to afford to live in city centres.

Villalonga added: "Mass tourism is making it difficult for local people who cannot afford to live on their own island because tourist flats push up prices. Tourists fill up beaches and put a strain on public services in the summer. We want to cut mass tourism and to ban non-residents from buying houses which are just used for a few months a year or for speculation."

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\u200bProtests in Palma de Mallorca

Protests in Palma de Majorca

Reuters

It comes as Just Stop Oil protesters have been targeting airports in the UK and across Europe. British police said they had arrested nine members of the climate action group Just Stop Oil for conspiring to disrupt Heathrow Airport

In Switzerland, three anti-oil demonstrators were detained after blocking a road to Zurich airport, police said. Footage broadcast on Swiss media showed a man gluing his hand to the road, sitting beside two other protesters holding banners.

Vienna airport said four protesters had spilled paint in a check-in area but police had intervened quickly to prevent further disruption.

In Norway, three activists were apprehended after cutting a hole in a fence and briefly making it onto a runway at Oslo Airport, police said. Helsinki's Vantaa airport said a demonstration by climate activists had had no impact on passengers or operations.

\u200bJust Stop Oil climate activists Anna Holland and Phoebe Plummer

Just Stop Oil climate activists Anna Holland and Phoebe Plummer

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Elsewhere, two climate protesters from Just Stop Oil who threw tinned soup at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting in London's National Gallery in 2022 were found guilty of criminal damage.

Anna Holland and Phoebe Plummer, now both 22, had thrown tins of Heinz tomato soup on the artwork, leading to charges of criminal damage to the frame of the painting.

The priceless canvas, one of five versions on display in museums and galleries around the world, was unharmed and later went back on display.

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