Anti-tourism protesters have started a new campaign against "middle-class" visitors in a picturesque town in Majorca.
Residents from the town of Sóller have launched an Instagram page called "Welcome to Sollerland" which features unsettling AI images highlighting the problems of overtourism in the area.
The town in the north-west of the island has become known for its historic tram route and nearby port overlooking the Balearic Sea.
However, the area has seen overcrowding in recent years, with the Sa Mola tunnel entering the town having to close last week due to heavy traffic.
The images were posted on the Instagram account
Instagram/Getty
The account, which appeared on Instagram, appears to be named after the "Welcome to Veniceland" banner unveiled on the day the Italian city started its entry charge in 2023.
One of the images features a young child standing on the beach holding up a sign saying "jo jugava aqui", translating to "I played here." Another features a man stood in a town square with a sign reading: "I used to drink coffee here."
The protest group said: "If you ask AI what this summer will be like in Soller, this is the answer."
"There is a scarcity of water...Hospitals and public places are full. Rich foreigners buy houses in the countryside, but they don’t live here. Our way of life is being threatened," said Joana Maria Estrany Vallespir, a key voice of the protest group SOS Residents.
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One of the AI Generated images posted on the Instagram account
'Mallorca is not for sale,' reads a protest banner in Plaza Espana, Palma de Mallorca
Reuters
Banners against real estate speculation in houses at Tribute Street, Lavapies
Getty
Protests have broken out across Spain and the Balearic Islands against the rise of tourism and the impact on residents.
Average Spanish rents have doubled and house prices swelled by 44 per cent over the past decade, data from property website Idealista showed, far outpacing salary growth. Meanwhile, the supply of rentals has halved since the 2020 pandemic.
Margarita Aizpuru, a 65-year-old resident of the popular Lavapies neighbourhood in Madrid said: "They're kicking all of us out to make tourist flats."
"No matter who governs, we must defend housing rights," activists shouted as they rattled keychains in Madrid, where more than 150,000 protesters marched through the capital's centre, according to the local tenants' union.
'Tourism kills city' reads a sticker stuck on a restaurant's banner
Reuters
Spain's centre-left government has been at loggerheads with tenants, trying to find a balance between attracting tourists and migrants to fill job gaps and keeping rents affordable for average citizens.
The Bank of Spain said the country received a record 94 million tourists in 2024, making it the second most-visited country in the world, as well as an influx of thousands of migrants, both of which are widening a housing deficit of 500,000 homes.
According to official data, only about 120,000 new homes are built in Spain every year, a sixth of the levels before the 2008 financial crisis, worsening the already acute supply shortage.
Wendy Davila, 26, said that the problem was not just in the city centre, since rents were too high "everywhere".
"It cannot be that to live in Madrid you need to share a flat with four others."
