Tourists call hotels asking if it's 'safe' to travel amid 'tourism-phobia' on Spanish islands
Holidaymakers are calling hotels in the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands to ask if it is 'safe' to travel as a result of the protests on Spanish islands
Holidaymakers are calling hotels in the Canary and Balearic Islands amid fears over whether it's "safe" for them to visit. Protests escalating in popular spots like Majorca, Barcelona, as well as Tenerife and Lanzarote, have sparked concern following advisories issued to EU vacationers.
In a report by Majorca's local paper Diario de Mallorca, hotel manager Maria Gilbert revealed: "Long-standing clients who have been coming to Majorca for years and had already made their reservation this year have called - after seeing the news - to cancel."
Gilbert shared the worry of tourists: "We get questions asking us if it's dangerous to go to Majorca, are they going to hurt us? " Despite the tensions, last year the Balearic Islands welcomed close to 18 million visitors and boast an impressive 15% increase in summer bookings this year.
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Adding his voice to the concerns on social media was Yoann Blanc, president of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of the Balearic Islands and board member of the Cercle d'Economia of Mallorca. He said: "I worry because I don't know what the next step will be," referring to the disruptive anti-tourism stickers being slapped onto rental cars on the driver's side to make them unusable.
"When they bother to make stickers and put them on a rental car." Blanc also conveyed his personal apprehension: "I'm worried that I'll have to think about whether or not to write that post I wrote."
Besides stickers, the spread of unsettling messages through tourism graffiti, including phrases such as 'Tourismus macht frei' (tourism makes you free), is evident across the island.
Blanc, who co-runs Alquilair, a holiday lettings firm, revealed: "We've been receiving calls for weeks now from guests who are worried about the news of tourism-phobia. A few days ago a family who were in a holiday rental property in Bunyola found the windshield on their hire car covered with stickers saying 'Tourist go home.'".
Recently, up to 50,000 locals descended onto the streets of the Majorcan capital Palma as they called for curbs on the amount of foreign visitors allowed on the Spanish island.
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