Fed up with overcrowded beaches and disrespectful visitors, a Spanish anti-capitalist group has placed fake signs across beaches in Mallorca to scare off tourists.
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Manacor Caterva has been campaigning against over-tourism that’s gripped the Spanish island. Each year, Mallorca’s beaches are swarmed by European vacationers, and the locals are growing frustrated with the tourism industry and its impact on their own lives.
☎️ Parlem amb Lluc Gayà, membre de la coordinadora anticapitalista de Manacor @Caterva_mnc.
👉 Han penjat cartells de perill en anglès per desfer-se dels turistes de les cales de Manacor.https://t.co/ouL394Guyt pic.twitter.com/4V0Xn0pDjP
— 'VERSIÓ RAC1' (@versiorac1) August 14, 2023
The tongue-in-cheek signs were placed along the island’s shoreline to prevent tourists from visiting. The top of the posters are written in English, while the bottom is written in Catalan, the native language of Catalonia, and one less known by tourists.
“Caution falling rocks,” one sign reads in English, but just below it states, “Enter at your own risk. The danger isn’t a landslide; it’s excessive crowding,” in Catalan.
Another sign warns, “Beware of jellyfish,” while the Catalan sentence states, “Open beach. Not to jellyfish nor foreigners.”
The other widely circulated sign claimed one beach is a two-hour and 53-minute walk away, despite the shoreline actually being no more than 100 yards down the road.
Manacor Caterva recently made headlines after criticizing Spanish tennis hero Rafael Nadal, who owns a restaurant and tourist business in Mallorca.
“Capitalism uses tourism to the extreme to dry out the territory and extract the maximum surplus value from workers,” as reported by The Sun.
“There are culprits and it is necessary to name them, such as the hoteliers or the Rafael Nadals who are as complicit as the Balearic Government,” it continued.
Over-tourism isn’t a new concern for Mallorcan residents, with the island being a hot spot for vacationers since the 1950s when it was first established. In 2023, the island is trying its best to reduce tourism numbers. Director for Tourism of Mallorca, Luica Escribano, spoke to The Sun last year and shared her view on the situation: “We are not interested in promoting the island in summer… We are limiting the number of beds on the island… We want quality not quantity.”
