Protest group angry at ‘mass tourism’ on Spanish beaches puts up signs warning Brits to stay away
17 August 2023, 08:28
A group of Spanish protesters is trying to keep British tourists away from prime beach locations with fake signs warning of sewage in the water, falling rocks, and dangerous jellyfish.
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The anti-Capitalist group Caterva put up signs at popular beaches in Mallorca to try and keep ‘mass tourism’ away from the sites.
Some signs that have gone up show beaches as being closed, others warn of rockfalls, and another warned of sewage contaminating the water.
One further sign warns tourists of a near three-hour walk to the beach when in fact it was just metres away.
Another of the signs has the words ‘Beach Closed’ in English in large text with a no swimming sign - but just underneath in the local Catalan dialect the sign reads ‘Platja Oberta’ - or ‘Beach Open’.
The protesters shared images of the signs online as part of a “denunciation” of mass tourism in the area.
“We carried out a denunciation action against mass tourism in the coves of Manacor. With a bit of humor, we've put up a few posters that you can see in the photos. From Cala Morlanda to Cala Bota.
“The usurpation of the coves is just another expression of how capitalism uses an economic activity like tourism, taken to the extreme, to dry the territory for free and to extract the maximum surplus value from the workers.”
The signs sparked copycat posters from other Spanish people with one person posting their own mocked up image for people to use to try and keep others off the beaches.
One Spanish social media user posted a fake ‘beach closed’ sign, for people to print off and use, writing: “I think that Galicians need a break. Here I leave you a gift, if you want more you can do it yourself!”
