MALLORCA – Stunned sunbathers watched as hundreds of protesters formed a three-kilometre human chain to protest against what they claim is a plan to turn one of Mallorca’s most beautiful beaches into “a new Magaluf”.
Demonstrators claimed that 10,000 people joined the protest at Playa Es Trenc, a stunning, unspoilt beach with white sands like a scene from the Caribbean in the south of the Spanish island. Authorities put the figure at closer to 1,000.
Pensioners, children and mothers and fathers from all over Mallorca were bussed in to take part in the demonstration last Sunday under the title “Don’t Touch Es Trenc”.
Campaigners fear a relaxation of planning rules will allow the construction of new hotels and tourist apartments and are calling for better protection of the coast and natural attractions on the Balearic Islands.
“No matter how much [the government] makes videos promising that not a single metre of Es Trenc will be left touched, the reality is that this new legal framework is tailor-made to fill Es Trenc with construction, beach bars, car parks, beach services and tourist uses of all kinds,” a series of protest groups said in a joint statement.
