Spain holiday warning: UK holidaymakers warned as popular hotspot to be rocked by huge anti-tourism protest tonight

UK holidaymakers jetting off to popular holiday destinations have been warned it could be dangerous amid escalating anti-tourism protests. As many as 1,000 protestors marched against mass tourism in Ibiza last night (Friday 24 March) and  thousands are set to protest against anti-tourism sentiment tonight (Saturday 25 March) in Palma, Mallorca.

The noisy protest in Ibiza kicked off at 8pm last night. Campaigners held up banners saying 'We don't want an island of cement' and 'Tourism, yes but not like this' as they massed outside the island's council HQ. A letter was read out at the end of the protest from an Ibiza-born woman who linked her decision to leave the island with her family and move to the Spanish mainland to a “destructive” tourist model that had led to “more cars, more tourists and more incivility”.

Tonight's march in Palma is set to attract thousands of people and is expected to become the largest of its kind since last month's protests in the Canary Islands. Glasgow, Bristol, Edinburgh and East Midlands are among the UK airports which fly to Palma. 

It comes as tourist hotspots including Palma, Llucmajor and Magaluf in Majorca and San Antonio in Ibiza have ramped up efforts to crackdown on rowdy tourists’ behaviour. In a bid to toughen up the islands' 2020 legislation, partygoers now face penalties of between €500 and €1,500 (£430 and £1,290) if their street drinking “disrupts coexistence, involves crowds or deteriorates the tranquillity of the environment”.

Anti-tourist graffiti has recently been popping up across in Spain saying "Tourists Go Home". The latest anti-tourist writing was scrawled in English over a wall in a Majorcan neighbourhood which has seen an influx of foreign buyers. 

Athens in Greece is another holiday hotspot to be rocked by anti-tourism sentiment. "Tourists go home" and "No Tourists No Hipsters" are among the messages that have been sprayed on the walls in Athens. A large piece of graffiti that says "Tourists enjoy your stay in the cemetery of Europe” also covers most of the side of a house seemingly referring to Athens' reputation as the continental capital of antiquity and a place where more and more people are being priced out.