Mallorca’s anti-tourism campaign has urged locals not to reveal the island’s beauty spots on their social media in its latest bid to deter rowdy visitors.
Stickers with the slogan ‘Don’t label this beach, bitch!’ They have been seen plastered around beach entrances following the initial launch of the campaign by Mallorcan communications agency La Indis last year.
La Indis started the campaign with the aim of preventing locals from tagging the location of the most picturesque places on the island on social networks and offered users the possibility of downloading designs with the motto for free in any format.
But this year, the campaign group upped the ante and launched “Don’t label this beach, bitch!” comes to life by printing thousands of stickers with the slogan and distributing them for free among interested locals, reports Last minute.
The bright red stickers display the slogan written in bold with a location symbol underneath and can be displayed on “your car, in your business or anywhere,” said Virginia Moll, director of La Indis.
Stickers with the slogan ‘Don’t label this beach, bitch!’ They have been seen around beach entrances as Mallorca tries to crack down on tourism levels.
Mallorca is urging locals to share the slogan which aims to prevent people from tagging the location of the island’s most picturesque places on social media.
A local from Mallorca (pictured) told Ultima Hora: “Overpopulation affects us residents first, making life more expensive and worsening our quality of life, but tourists are also harmed.”
‘We will not be the ones to recommend sticking them on the same beaches, but each person can decide what to do with their stickers. At the moment we have seen them in coastal areas such as Son Serra or Cala Major,” he added.
Moll revealed that every weekend the group leaves a pile of stickers outside their office, and when Monday comes, there are none left.
“Several businesses from different parts of the Island have been interested, such as the Bonaire 15 store in Binissalem, which already distributes them,” he stated, referring to the growing popularity of the campaign.
So far, the agency has printed a batch of more than 1,000 stickers and has already distributed more than half to locals who have displayed them in their businesses and in the nearby beautiful locations on the sunny island.
Moll stated that the initiative was carried out to show a “commitment to the cause” since La Indis aims to “promote a true social debate on the problem of overcrowding.”
One local told the respected Spanish publication: ‘Overpopulation affects us residents first, making life more expensive and worsening our quality of life, but tourists are also harmed.
‘Therefore, our campaign seeks to involve them in the search for solutions to alleviate this problem.’
The message ‘Don’t label this beach, bitch!’ The campaign officially launched last summer as a hashtag that locals could use in their social media posts about the overcrowding issue.
The Indis told the Mallorca Daily Bulletin that a single label can generate millions of views on Instagram and that “the problem is not that people do not find space to hang their towels, it is a problem with very serious consequences for the local population.”
The agency offered free downloads of the slogan and Moll revealed that a council had asked to use the design for its local beach.
‘Our paradise can no longer give more of itself. “Being sustainable is not just about not harming the environment, but about understanding that posting a pretty photo has drastic consequences for the environment,” Moll said.
The sticker campaign comes after a series of crackdowns on the Spanish island as it battles overpopulation and immense tourism spikes.
Last week, a Menorca holiday town dubbed ‘Spanish Mykonos’ threatened to ban all tourists after previously telling them to only visit between 11am and 8pm so they could enjoy its breakfasts.
It comes after the Balearic Islands government banned the sale of alcohol between 9.30pm and 8am in a bid to crack down on so-called low-quality tourism.
The decree prohibits the night-time sale of alcoholic beverages in commercial establishments in Llucmajor, Palma and Calvià in Mallorca and Sant Antoni in Ibiza.
Ibiza also became the latest Spanish tourist destination to join the growing anti-tourism protests that have broken out across the country.
Protesters packed Weyler Square in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, the starting point of a march on the popular British tourist island, on April 20.
The words “Go Home Tourist” were scrawled in English on a wall beneath a property development sign in Nou Levante, Mallorca, a neighborhood that has seen a massive influx of foreign buyers in recent years.
“We welcome anyone who wants to enjoy our local culture, gastronomy, local traditions, beautiful beaches and beaches,” said Xaquelina Ana Perry, spokesperson for an activist group called Prou Eivissa (Enough Ibiza).
‘We are only against the massification of the type of tourism that our island attracts. “The island is saturated, especially with illegal rentals, and our 572 square kilometers can’t take it anymore,” he added.
Similar protests have been seen in other popular destinations, such as Tenerife, where furious locals even went on hunger strike in an effort to express their anger.
In Menorca, graffiti has also appeared on walls telling tourists to “go home”, while in Marbella last year tires were slashed from cars with British plates.
On April 20, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Canary Islands to protest against the problems caused by mass tourism and demand their politicians take action.
The protesters chanted the slogan: ‘Canarias tiene un limit’, which in English translates to ‘The Canary Islands have a limit’.
Two weeks ago the same words appeared painted in white on the asphalt of one of the access roads to Teide in Tenerife.
Another message painted on the road read: “Moratoria turistica” – “Tourist moratorium” in English.
The Mallorcan hotel director, Joan Pla, recently warned that the massive protests against tourism in the Canary Islands could be repeated in the Balearic Islands.
The Spanish islands are threatened by sea pollution, traffic jams and a lack of cheap and affordable housing linked to rising property prices due to Airbnb-style holiday rentals.
Graffiti is seen that says ‘My misery, your paradise’ in the Balearic Islands
He stated that the problem is the number of houses built for local residents that are bought by foreigners as holiday properties.
And he complained that islands like Mallorca, where he lives, had to deal with the influx of too many people at certain times of the year.
Tenerife, an island popular with British tourists, has been at the front line of protests linked to the type of mass tourism it attracts.
Just before the protests, a prominent Tenerife politician urged British and Irish tourists looking for cheap, all-inclusive breaks in the sun to go on holiday elsewhere.
Carlos Tarife, vice mayor of the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, said tourists interested in staying in their hotels with their mandatory wristbands should book places like the Dominican Republic.
Graffiti in English left on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar, southern Tenerife, early last month included “My misery, your paradise” and “The average salary in the Canary Islands is 1,200 euros.”