Some 100 residents staged an occupation of a beach in Ibiza recently to protest overtourism amid growing frustration over mass tourism in Spain — and more action is apparently planned. The group gathered at Cala Saladeta, a popular tourist beach, last week, according to Balearic public broadcaster IB3.The protest was organized by the Ibiza Youth Association, a local youth group.INFLUENCERS REACHING PEAK BACKLASH AFTER SUMMER OF RUINED DESTINATIONS AND EXPERIENCES FOR AMERICANS Ibiza is one of Spain's Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.The island is visited by many tourists, with its population swelling during the summer months.Around 100 residents staged an occupation of a popular Ibiza beach to protest overtourism and tourist crowds on the Spanish island.(Instagram/Associació de Joves d'Eivissa)Known to locals as Eivissa, Ibiza received nearly 1.2 million tourists in the second quarter of 2025, according to data from the Balearic Islands Statistics Institute.Organizers rallied "against tourist overcrowding," IB3 reported, and activists handed out watermelon as part of a demand "that residents be able to enjoy the island's public spaces."CRUISE SHIP CRACKDOWN HITS TOURIST HOT SPOT AS CITY FAST-TRACKS NEW VISITOR TAXThe group said in its manifesto that "our land and our culture are being directly pushed out of public spaces, and increasingly out of private spaces, as well, displayed solely as tourist attractions," according to local outlet CadeNA SER.Residents gathered at Cala Saladeta in Ibiza as frustration over mass tourism continues to fuel demonstrations across Spain.
(Instagram/Associació de Joves d'Eivissa)The manifesto also decried a tourism model catering to "wealthy foreigners and famous partygoers," while arguing that housing, food and other living costs have become unaffordable for residents.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER"[Young people are] fed up with not being able to enjoy [the island] as tourists do, because we believ...