Venice, Barcelona, Marseille... For several summers now, these European cities have been sounding the alarm about overtourism. In Spain, the second most-visited country in the world after France, this came to a head when thousands of people protested across the country this summer. ENTR went to Menorca, a small island in the Balearic archipelago, which is struggling to keep up with the overwhelming flow of visitors.
Picturesque white buildings and crystalline waters have earned Binibeca Vell the title of one of the most “Instagrammable” sites in Menorca. Sitting in front of the port of the small private community, José sees the number of tourists triple in the space of 15 minutes. Some, cameras-at-the-ready, do not hesitate to sit on people’s doorsteps to capture the perfect shot. “These people are on holiday, so they think they can do what they like,” he sighs.
“We get about 800,000 tourists every year. And for a town this small, that's a lot of people. The streets are very small. They're very narrow,” says the 35-year-old Spaniard, who sits on the Binibeca Vell community council. “So we decided we're closing the village from 10pm until 10am so that people at least can relax during the evening. And you don't get people visiting at night, waking up everybody around.”
Instagram vs. reality
Summer after summer, José has seen his family’s home undergo a metamorphosis. Since the rise of social media, the internet has been flooded with curated pictures and videos of the village. At lunchtime and sunset, its tiny streets and port are now swamped by hordes of tourists, who have come to make their own Instagram post of these little white houses.
“People just feel the need to share where they've been, to copy the posts that they saw from that influencer, or just to say, 'Hey, I've been here first',” laments José.
In the Balearic Islands, 18 million tourists and 1.2 million inhabitants
Many locals are faced with a growing paradox: tourism accounts for half of the Balearic archipelago's GDP and is therefore at the heart of their economic model. But they are finding that making a decent living from tourism is increasingly difficult. Last year, almost 18 million tourists visited the Balearic Islands, which only have a population of 1.2 million.
“The tourists we receive today have a huge impact on our lives tomorrow,” says Víctor. Behind him, a ferry bound for Barcelona is struggling to make its way through Mahon Bay. For five years now, he and his partner have been attempting to buy a home for themselves and their two young children with little success. Originally from Es Castell, a small village on the outskirts of Mahon, Menorca's capital, Víctor dreams of buying property in the area where he has always lived. But the real estate market is increasingly inaccessible, and he's finding it hard to make offers that can compete with those of more affluent foreign customers.
“A large number of tourists are no longer content to come to Menorca on holiday and leave again. Many of them really want to come and live here and own a house on the island,” explains the 31-year-old Menorcan. “And a lot of people don't even use it for 11 months,” he adds.
“Menos turismo, más vida” (Less tourism, more life)
“I think that governments definitely have to take action and find ways to limit tourism to X number of people, or put a fee,” says José.
But while some cities, such as Venice, have introduced regulatory measures such as tourist taxes, these remain perilous to implement in most of the major tourist hotspots. What's more, for the moment, decisions are taken at the local or regional level, and struggle to be implemented at the national or European level. This is partly what sparked discontent all over Spain, from Barcelona to the Canary Islands.
For Víctor, the focus should lie on improving the quality of life of local residents. “It's not the amount of people, in my opinion,” he says. “Because if you have a better quality of life, you face things better.”
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