Tourists in Spain Targeted by Protests against Mass Tourism

A left-wing group who are against mass tourism to the Iberian country are targeting the tourists in Spain.

More than 20 youths affiliated with a radical group called Arran Països Catalans (Arran) recently burst into a restaurant in Palma de Mallorca.

The group, which believes and supports Catalan independence has ideological  links with the left-wing CUP and operates in the areas of Spain where Catalan and its variants are spoken. This includes the popular tourists regions such as Balearic Islands and the Valencia region.

In the events, the youths disrupted more than 70 diners inside the restaurant Mar de Nudos situated near to the cathedral by setting off firecrackers and threw confetti. They also released videos saying, “Tourism is killing Mallorca”!

The restaurant manager, Carmen Sánchez said that it was about ten minutes they had to wait before the local police intervened.

Arran claims on its Twitter account that the actions aim to “curb the mass tourism that is destroying Mallorca and condemning the working classes of the Països Catalans to miserable living conditions”.

They have targeted the tourist bikes as well as the yachts in the city port areas. At least seven hotels in Barcelona have recently been vandalized by left-wing groups claiming to be fighting what they say is excessive tourism in the region.

According to the group, they are not violent but the system is violent which is oppressing them!

More than two million tourists visited the Basque city last year. Also, the Minister for Energy and Tourism Alvaro Nadal said that the number of visitors to Spain hit a new record in 2016.

Spain is the third most visited country in the world and tourism is one of the major revenue generating sector which surge the job scope in the summer months.