Thousands of Spaniards flooded onto the streets over the weekend in a wave of demonstrations against tourism and airport expansion plans.
Rallies took place in Barcelona, Palma, Ibiza and Alicante, with some protesters going so far as to chant “this tourism is terrorism”.
The protests erupted as Spain hurtles towards a record-breaking year for foreign visitors, with the country on course to welcome 100 million international tourists in a single calendar year.
Figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed that 11.5 million overseas visitors arrived in Spain during July alone.
That represented a 4.6 per cent rise compared with the same month last year and shattered the previous monthly record of 11.2 million set in August 2025.
The August figures are expected to surpass even that tally, partly driven by visitors drawn to Spain by the recent spectacular total solar eclipse.
In Barcelona, local police estimated that roughly 5,500 demonstrators marched through the city centre, though organisers claimed the real number was closer to 30,000.
The march was organised under the banner “No expansion, not now, not ever.”
Close to a dozen separate processions converged and made their way towards Placa de Sant Jaume, situated outside the Catalan Government and Barcelona city council headquarters.
In Barcelona, local police estimated that roughly 5,500 demonstrators marched through the city centre
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Anger has been mounting since the Spanish Government gave its approval to airport operator Aena’s investment programme for the 2027 to 2031 period.
That plan allocates €1.76billion (£1.51billion) in fresh funding for Barcelona’s El-Prat Airport.
Spanish officials maintain that the money is not intended to extend runways or boost flight capacity, insisting it will instead fund the reconfiguration of terminals one and two.
Demonstrators, however, are convinced the investment will aggravate existing problems including overcrowding, pressure on housing and environmental damage, particularly to the Llobregat Delta adjacent to the airport.
In Palma, hundreds of locals brandished placards and chanted slogans opposing plans to expand capacity at Mallorca’s principal airport.
Anger has been mounting since the Spanish Government gave its approval to airport operator Aena’s investment programme
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GETTY
Over a dozen organisations threw their weight behind the Palma demonstration, among them the environmental group GOB, the Federacio d’Associacions de Veïns de Palma, Greenpeace and Menys Turisme, Mes Vida.
Marchers then stormed down from the Spanish Government’s delegation offices to the Balearic regional government headquarters.
Aena’s own projections suggest Palma Airport will process approximately 35.7 million passengers every year by 2031, an uplift of around two million compared with 2025 levels.
Those protesting demanded a cap on passenger numbers, a halt to the marketing of new international routes and fresh legislation granting Balearic authorities more power over airport management and capacity.
On Ibiza, an estimated 5,000 people took to the streets of the island’s capital in opposition to expansion plans for the local airport.
Figures from the National Statistics Institute revealed that 11.5 million overseas visitors arrived in Spain during July alone
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REUTERS
The proposed works include a new pier designed for non-Schengen flights, which would encompass arrivals from Britain, along with eight additional airbridges.
Marchers carried banners bearing slogans such as “Aena a la trena” – meaning “Aena to prison” – and “Eivissa no es ven,” translating as “Ibiza is not for sale”.
One flag featured indigenous lizards as emblems of the island’s threatened natural habitat.
In Alicante, a popular destination for British holidaymakers, hundreds more residents marched against the toll of mass tourism on their city.
At the head of the procession, demonstrators held aloft a large banner reading “Alacant esta al limit, menys negoci, mes vida” – “Alicante is at the limit, less business more life”.
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