Mallorca's beach businesses are warning of a brutal summer season, with earnings plummeting as the backlash against mass tourism intensifies both in Spain and abroad.
According to the Association of Temporary Services Concessions and Operations in the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain of Mallorca (Adopuma), beach bars, parasol hire companies, and water activity operators have taken a hit of around 20 per cent in July compared to last summer, and things aren't looking any better as August rolls on.
In a gloomy statement, the group blamed poor spring weather, spiralling costs, and falling demand for beach services.
But they say that increasingly aggressive rhetoric from anti-tourism campaigners is pushing the island's economy to the brink. Adopuma president Onofre Fornés said 'irresponsible negative messages against tourism' for the downturn.
Beach tourists, the bread and butter of Mallorca's daytime economy, are no longer spending like they used to, he added.
