Riled by ‘drastic’ price increases on hotels and restaurants, a passionate British tourist has slammed Spain for making one of its most popular islands completely ‘unaffordable’
The extent of Spain’s escalating anti-tourist rhetoric has been laid bare – and it seems Brits are paying the full price quite literally. Last year, the country witnessed a record-breaking 94 million international visitors flock to its mainland, and slew of insatiably popular islands.
It was an unprecedented tourist boom that quickly descended into chaos, motivating droves of fed-up locals to take to the street and demand holidaymakers ‘go home’. The string of confrontational protests has kept their momentum, with activists vowing to ‘intensify’ their efforts ahead of the looming summer season.
Demonstrations have even taken a violent spin in recent months- with one shocking sign threatening to ‘Kill a Tourist’ popping up in Tenerife. Reports also suggest anonymous locals set fire to rental cars – often used by tourists to explore the island – to make their message clear.
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Despite the furore, it seems some Brits are willing to persevere – unable to image a world without their beloved Costa del sun. Edward Fox, who has been holidaying in Mallorca for more than three decades, visits the island for up to nine weeks every single year.
In a brutal letter sent to Majorca Daily Bulletin – a Spanish news site for English readers – Edward passionately argued the island has undergone a ‘drastic’ up-charge on accommodation as well as food and drink prices. He insists these rising prices are ‘not reflective’ of global inflation figures, and is worsened by growing ‘tourist tax’ levies that can sting travellers with up to €4 fees per night.
The Spain-enthusiast went on to claim Mallorca is now ‘unaffordable’ for most British tourists – who are now opting to visit cheaper destinations such as ‘Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines’. “So go ahead Mallorca, bite the hand that has came to this island put so much money into your tourism, infrastructure, government , hoteliers pockets etc etc for the best part of 40 years,” Edward wrote.
“Us tourists ‘Do Bite Back’, and me personally and many hundreds of thousands of tourists have bitten back. As a seasoned traveller to Mallorca it is getting far too expensive and non tourist friendly and everything is so not worth visiting or holidaying on this island until your Balearic Government and the people of Mallorca realise this.”
Edward also raised issue with locals referring to tourists as ‘guiris’. This is a word that describes English-speaking foreigners, but has slowly expanded to include northern European tourists as a whole.
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Despite Edward’s concerns, it seems most Brits aren’t fazed by rising costs or growing hostility. New data published by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica) found a staggering 810,045 international visitors flocked to the Balearics during the first three-months of 2025 – a 3.6 per cent increase compared to the year before.
However, with threats of more planned protests in the summer – Brits may start listening to the demands of frustrated locals, who argue that over-tourism is worsening the country’s housing crisis. In fact, hotel bookings in Tenerife – one of Spain’s most popular hotspots – have already warned of a hotel booking ‘slump’ ahead of the peak season.
Is Spain trying to price Brits out? Have your say in the comments section below.