Britons targeted ahead of massive anti-tourist protest set to strike Mallorca holiday resort

Britons have been targeted in a vandalism campaign ahead of a massive anti-tourist protest in Mallorca.

The event will take place on August 8 in the town of Soller under the slogan "Soller at breaking point".

Protests will be held before the solar eclipse on August 12 - with the Balearic Islands falling into the eclipse's path of totality, where the moon fully blocks the sun and the phenomenon can be observed by the naked eye.

Grassroots campaign group Menys Turisme, Mes Vida, which translates to Less Tourism, More Life, and the Moviment Jove de Soller have organised the protest amid a wider wave of anti-tourism protests in Spain.

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The first of the anti-tourism protests will be held on July 26, building momentum over the summer peak.

"We can't cope with more tourists," David Comas, a spokesman for Menys Turisme, Més Vida, told The Olive Press.

Mr Comas said Mallorca had become a "theme park", adding it had become impossible for young people to live independently or secure decent housing.

The August 8 protest in Soller will occur when visitor numbers in the town are at their peak.

Locals believe their quality of life has declined as tourism continues to grow, protesters said.

Organisers have said the protest highlights the growing impact of mass tourism on everyday life.

Overcrowding, inadequate public transport and shortage of parking spaces caused by an increased number of hired cars have all been caused by tourism, protesters claimed.

Traditional local businesses have also disappeared, with shops increasingly aimed at visitors, the organisers have also said.

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Two international estate agencies were graffitied ahead of the protests.

La Posesion Mallorquina was tagged with messages which read "culpables" and "fuera especuladores" - Spanish for "guilty" and "speculators out" - on Thursday.

The day before, the Calle Veri agency was sprayed with "26-J", the day of the march.

Written on the pavement were "arruix", Catalan and Mallorquin for "get lost", and "todos a la calle", Spanish for "everyone to take the streets".

The Balearic National and International Real Estate Association, ABINI, says the businesses are not to blame for regional housing shortages.

A spokesman for the group said the spray-painting was "cowardly and justifiable".

"These attacks falsely accuse the real estate sector of being responsible for the residential emergency being experienced in the Balearics," the association said.

It insisted the "real estate agencies are not the problem, but part of the solution" to the property shortage.

It also warned that it would not tolerate the "criminalisation" of small business owners and workers.

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