Outrage as Spanish attractions slapped with aggressive message to tourists

Protestors defaced hugely important heritage sites in a island with graffiti.

Police are seeking the individual or group responsible for spraying explicit messages on buildings visited every day by . The graffiti, which is in Catalan but in English means "f***ing tourists" and "get out of our city" has appeared in an area of high monumental and cultural value in the Majorcan capital of Palma.

One of the buildings attacked is the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, which dates back to the 14th century, and is the official residence of the King and Queen during their stays in Majorca. Together with the Cathedral of Palma it is a landmark of the capital of the Balearic Islands.

Historic stone walls near the s'Hort del Rei botanical gardens and Dalt Murada, a beautifully restored manor house, have also been targeted.

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The area is visited by thousands of tourists who say they are shocked by the viciousness of the messages, while some official tour guides have reiterated the fury.

Tour guide company Pro Guías Majorca said that the grafitti is regretful and an attack on the heritage of Palma, making it clear that "there are many ways to protest, as long as the forms are appropriate, and it is an inalienable right. But this is unforgivable." They say that the person "who has done this, is against himself and the values that constitute us as a community".

Although the majority of visitors would not be able to read the Catalan messages, it is obvious that the huge red and blue slogans are anti-tourists and will cost a substantial amount of money to clean off.

Local residents, who have got used to repeated demonstrations and protest marches against mass tourism, have also taken to the social networks to condemn the vandalism.

"I am against excess tourism but also against graffiti. One thing does not take away from the other," said one.

Another posted: "Now it turns out that Majorca's number one enemy is the tourist, without thinking that hundreds of thousands of people eat every day thanks to tourists. This should also be considered a hate crime."

A further post said: "These are acts of vandalism perpetrated by mindless individuals who do not appreciate our heritage or care about our economy, and deserve an exemplary punishment, such as a prison sentence. The issue of excess tourism is not solved in this way, but by preventing tourist housing of any kind, which is what hotels are for; as well as preventing the creation of new tourist places, which with those that exist, we have much more than enough."

The graffiti is not the first bit of radical to take place in Spain this year. Last month tourist aboard a sight-seeing bus in were blocked and squirted with water by protesters. The organizers of many of the anti-tourism protests held in 2024 in Mallorca launched a protest in the Northern Spanish city. The Catalan Police were called when the campaigners blocked a bus packed with tourists close to the famous Sagrada Familia.