Watch: Britons brawl in Majorca as islanders vow to block tourists from beaches

Eight British men on a stag party were arrested after brawling on a Majorca beach on the same day locals vowed to take to the sands to protest against rowdy tourists.

Islanders in Majorca have vowed to block tourists from “every centimetre” of beach this weekend as protests against the effects of over-tourism intensify.

Tourism has brought great wealth to the Balearic Islands but locals now say that they are being choked by traffic congestion, high prices, overcrowding and unaffordable rents.

After about 10,000 islanders marched through the streets of Palma, the capital, last weekend, protesting against saturation tourism, new demonstrations are planned for this weekend.

It came as dozens of British tourists kicked and punched each other outside a bar on a beach in Majorca on Thursday.

Video showed some two dozen people scuffling in the sand and in the sea, throwing each other to the floor, some with beer cans still in hand.

The brawl occurred at 7:30pm on the Illetes beach in Calvia after a waiter reprimanded the group for throwing cans of beer and rubbish into the sea, Diario De Mallorca reported, citing City Hall sources.

The party responded violently and attacked the waiter, prompting other staff and beachgoers to get involved.

Groups of police arrived and eight of the Britons were arrested.

The waiter was taken to a medical centre after being hit on the head and knocked unconscious, while two police officers also suffered injuries.

Locals say that they want to take back their beaches from the millions of tourists who descend on the island each summer.

Many residents were furious when a Spanish politician suggested that they could no longer expect to enjoy their own beaches in July and August, at the height of the tourist season, and instead they should make way for international visitors.

“I understand the discontent but us Mallorcans, who live directly or indirectly from tourism, cannot expect to go to the beach in July and August like we did years ago,” said Manuela Canadas, a member of the far-Right Vox party in the Balearic Islands’ regional parliament.

She warned islanders not to bite the hand that feeds them. “There are other, more attractive destinations and we can end up going hungry because here there’s a lack of jobs.”

In reaction to those comments, activists are urging locals to occupy beaches on Saturday.

Under the hashtag “OcupemLesNostresPlatges” – Catalan for “Let’s Occupy Our Beaches” – a campaign group called Mallorca Platja Tour (Majorca Beach Tour) wrote on social media: “We invite all residents near the beaches to go for a swim, recover our beaches and enjoy them as before. The beaches are for everyone!”

One supporter suggested staging a protest on a beach called S’Arenal near Palma. “Come to S’Arenal and don’t leave a single centimetre for the guiris,” he said, using a local derogatory word for foreign visitors.

Another local wrote: “Let’s fill the beaches!”

The protest on Saturday is intended as a warm-up for a bigger demonstration on June 16, with activists saying that they intend to “fill the beach with Mallorcans”.

In response to the growing disquiet over the effects of mass tourism, on Thursday, Palma’s city council was due to discuss a range of new measures suggested by Jaime Martinez, the mayor, to try to tackle the problem.

They include limiting the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in Palma, banning the biggest cruise ships, imposing new taxes on cruise ship passengers when they disembark, restricting the number of rental cars that can enter the city at a time, and limiting or banning party boats and booze cruises.

During the protest in Palma last weekend, some participants booed tourists who were drinking and eating in bars and restaurants.

They held placards, one of which read: “Salvem Mallorca, guiris arruix” – Catalan for “Let’s save Majorca, foreigners out”. Another read: “Enough Mass Tourism”.

Javier Barbero, one of the organisers, told local media: “This is just the start of things. If measures aren’t taken, we will continue taking to the streets until we see action.”

There were similar protests in Ibiza and Minorca, the two other Balearic Islands. Last year, the archipelago attracted more than 14 million visitors.

Tourism accounts for about 45 per cent of the islands’ GDP, according to data from Exceltur, an industry organisation.

The protests in the Balearic Islands follow similar demonstrations in the Canary Islands in April.