Mallorca protests.

[fez]

Would I be right in thinking those that are doing the water pistol thing don't work in the tourism industry ?

Those islands economies are pretty much all tourism, I have no doubt that some of their grievances are genuine, but how short-sighted do you have to be to take action that might well kill the entire economy on which your habitat exists. I expect that is also the case in Dubrovnik.

Not exactly the same with Barcelona, but no doubt a sizeable portion of the money spent in the city is from tourists.

People get to the point where they don't care. If you can't afford to live then whats the difference. They are doing this for their future because its only likely to go in one direction unless something changes. Sometimes you cut off your nose to spite your face.

Also, the people in charge will do something if their bottom line is being killed. They will find a solution.

 

[tangey]

People get to the point where they don't care. If you can't afford to live then whats the difference. They are doing this for their future because its only likely to go in one direction unless something changes. Sometimes you cut off your nose to spite your face.

Also, the people in charge will do something if their bottom line is being killed. They will find a solution.

I'll agree that certain people get to the point where they don't care, but I assume none of the employees of the restaurants were involved in the water pistols, people were only targeted tourists if they don't work in tourism or certainly not at the places they work.

Problem is not enough forward thinking. All these great high end marinas and top hotels and seafront apartments and promenades brings in mega bucks in land sales and construction employement for years, and the island finanacially flourishes. And those that are involved at that moment make wonderful money and are not one bit interested in looking past the end of their nose. By the time the city/island figures out it is becoming an issue, it is already an issue. But if the tourist numbers diminish, the locals can now get access to housing, but the jobs that many of them are directly in, are no longer there, so they can't afford to buy, and also they can't afford to pay for other services unrelated to tourism and so day-to-day services are also hit.

I guess a per night levy on lodgings might be the way forward....hasn't somewhere like manchester just started that ?

 

[Rainmaker]

The locals doing the best to "protect their country" really comes across as a nose/face scenario in my eyes.

Yeah, this basically sums up my thoughts. I understand lobbying for legislation to limit or exclude foreign ownership of properties (especially on a smallish island), but why bite the hand that feeds you? The tourism ministry has promoted Spain and the islands for many years, and when it works the population revolt. When we go on holiday I've always made an effort to learn at least conversational language (Catalan for Mallorca, Portugese for Porto Santo etc), we dress according to the locals (long linens, my wife veiling for visiting church while there etc) and generally try to blend in. We visit the non-tourist bits and spend the day there, eating and exploring, we don't drink or party, and generally keep to ourselves.

Despite this, a few years ago when walking through the market at Cala Millor a local old lady spoke to my wife (who does look Spanish with a tan) in Catalan. She (who doesn't speak any of the lingo) said 'I'm sorry, Ingles?' and the woman scowled and said 'UGH, English?!' and spat on the floor by my wife's feet. Wholly unwarranted, but we didn't go back. Greece next I think.

 

[fez]

Problem is not enough forward thinking. All these great high end marinas and top hotels and seafront apartments and promenades brings in mega bucks in land sales and construction employement for years, and the island finanacially flourishes. And those that are involved at that moment make wonderful money and are not one bit interested in looking past the end of their nose. By the time the city/island figures out it is becoming an issue, it is already an issue. But if the tourist numbers diminish, the locals can now get access to housing, but the jobs that many of them are directly in, are no longer there, so they can't afford to buy, and also they can't afford to pay for other services unrelated to tourism and so day-to-day services are also hit.

I guess a per night levy on lodgings might be the way forward....hasn't somewhere like manchester just started that ?

This is the thing though, the people don't see it. They don't see all the money that tourism makes. I doubt all the locals are thinking "man, my life is so much better than it was 30 years ago because Sergio the billionaire has tripled his fortune and owns 4 high end hotels in Mallorca". Trickle down economics don't work. A tiny bit trickles down and the rest just goes to the wealthy and allows them to hoard even more wealth.