スペイン・バレアレス諸島、反観光デモに２万人参加

【パルマデマジョルカ（スペイン）ＡＦＰ＝時事】スペイン・バレアレス諸島州の州都パルマデマジョルカで２１日、オーバーツーリズムに抗議する大規模なデモが行われ、約２万人が参加した。（写真は、スペイン・バレアレス諸島州の州都パルマデマジョルカで行われたオーバーツーリズムに抗議するデモ）
　観光大国スペインではこのところ反観光デモが相次いでいる。今回のデモは、同市のあるマジョルカ島やメノルカ島、イビサ島といった人気観光地を含む地中海のバレアレス諸島で、過剰な観光客数に制限を設けることを求める約８０の組織やグループが呼び掛けた。
　デモ隊は「あなたの贅沢は、私たちの苦しみ」「観光嫌悪ではなく数字の問題。住民１２３万２０１４人：観光客１８００万人」などと書かれたプラカードを掲げた。参加者は主催発表で５万人、警察発表で２万人だった。
　デモの参加者らは、現行の観光モデルが公共サービスを崩壊寸前に追いやり、自然資源に打撃を与え、地元住民の住宅へのアクセスをますます困難にしていると主張している。
　昨年、スペイン本土や国外からバレアレス諸島を訪れた観光客は１７８０万人。記録的な数字となった。
　観光業の専門家マヌエル・デラカジェ氏は、「実施可能な解決策の一つ」は観光税の導入だという。同氏はスペインの公共放送ＴＶＥに対し、観光税を導入すれば「観光客の流れを減らすことはできないが、観光マネジメントの他、地元住民の支援といった別の手段に資源を投入することができる」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/22-18:40）

Some 20,000 protesters hit the streets of Palma in Mallorca Sunday for a mass demonstration against overtourism, demanding changes to a touristic model they say is harming the Spanish Mediterranean island.
Under the slogan Let's change course and set limits on tourism, the demonstrators formed a sea of brightly-coloured flags and banners as they surged through the city's most visited streets, in the latest in a wave of mass anti-tourism protests in Spain.
Your luxury, our misery, read one sign, while another placard said: This isn't tourismophobia, it's numbers: 1,232,014 residents, 18 million tourists.
The protests were called by some 80 organisations and social groups who want limits to be placed on excessive tourism in the Balearic Isles, whose main three islands are Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
They say the current model of tourism has stretched public services to breaking point, harms natural resources and makes local access to housing increasingly difficult.
Organisers claimed that 50,000 joined the protests, with police estimating 20,000 participants. Earlier, the central government's delegation in the islands had said 12,000.
Last year, a record 17.8 million people visited the Balearic Islands, from mainland Spain and abroad, and the figures are expected to be even higher this year.
The demonstration followed another mass protest across the archipelago's three main islands at the end of May, in which many thousands of marchers hit the streets to demand steps to limit overtourism under the slogan: Our islands are not for sale.
From a practical point of view, it is a legitimate economic activity. But as an economic activity, it should ultimately be regulated in the same way as hotels, said architect and urban planning expert Jose Maria Ezquiaga, who told TVE public television he believes tourist rental flats should require the approval of local residents' associations.
It should be local property owners who set the rules of the game and decide whether or not certain formats are acceptable, he said.
And Manuel de la Calle, an expert in the field of tourism and business, said imposing a tourist tax could be part of the solution.
It is one of the possible solutions that could be put in place. It will not reduce the flow of tourism, but it will generate resources that can be driven into tourism management or other avenues to help the local population, he told TVE.