Nightmare for Spain tourist haters as new figures show protests 'make no difference'

protesting overtourism could be crying over their placards as new figures show holiday bookings have soared by more than 10% in the past week. According to data from the vacation platform TravelgateX, the number of people grabbing a place to stay on the Balearic Islands is also up 29.7% on the same time last year.

The collection of four major Spanish islands, Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, are ranked as the third most popular destination in the Mediterranean nation, behind Andalusia and Catalonia, both with 18% of bookings. The reports. The explains most holidaymakers, 56%, are aiming to stay on the islands for between two and five nights, with 28% looking for a break of six or seven days. Spain remains the most popular destination for British holidaymakers despite a recent wave of protests against tourism across the country.

Demonstrators have blamed foreign visitors and expats for a housing crisis which has seen increasingly expensive rents and prices most native Spaniards cannot afford. There have also been accusations the number of tourists visiting Spain is damaging the environment and putting a strain on local infrastructure.

But despite the bad feeling, it appears tourists are yet to be put off by the unwelcoming gatherings, and more than 60.2% of recent bookings have been couples looking for a romantic getaway. Families make up 9.3% of those going, and groups account for 16.4% with solo travellers making up the last 12.8%.

In the last seven days, British travellers made up 32.8% of all bookings, closely followed by Spanish visitors with 28.7% and the famously early towel placers, the Germans, with 10.84% of the interest.

However, despite the renewed interest from tourists, the demonstrators are also showing no sign of backing down and a date of June 15 has been set for the next wave of protests across Spain, with 60 anti-mass tourism groups so far expressing their interest in taking part.

A co-ordinated demonstration is expected to be staged in tourist hotspots like the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, the Canary Islands, Venice, Ibiza and Alicante as well as other European countries. The slogan for June's protest will be 'For the right to a decent life, stop touristification'. It will be led by campaign group 'Menys Turisme, Mes Vida', which translates to 'less tourism, more life'.

A manifesto was read out in Palma's Parc de la Mar in Majorca on Saturday to publicise the demonstration.

It said: "Our territory is not for sale. It is urgent to put limits on the growth of tourism, to demand a change of direction and to point the way to de-growth as a solution to the overexploitation of our resources and the exclusion of residents."