Majorca hit by furious anti-tourism protests as angry 15,000-strong mob yells: 'Go home!'

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Majorca, chanting at tourists "Go home" amid a 15,000 strong demonstration against mass tourism. Marchers made their way through the capital, Palma, brandishing banners which read "Salvem Mallorca, guiris arruix", which means "Let's save Majorca, foreigners out" in Catalan.

"Guiri" is a mildly offensive term used to describe tourists who drink to excess and party hard.

Images show protesters pouring through the streets of Palma, with the march route taking in Weyler Square where demonstrators filed past tourists out for dinner with placards reading, "Your luxury, my misery".

Polly Taylor was dining with three friends and at first had no idea what the crowd was doing until protesters approached the restaurant and armed police began to appear.

She told MailOnline it felt as if a storm was coming, with the noise from protesters getting louder and louder. Ms Taylor said a local man dining nearby tried to reason with the protesters, but they blew just whistles in his face.

The shocked tourist said: "It felt very intimidating to the point we discussed trying to leave and get out in case it turned nasty."

She said they managed to move into the restaurant away from the street before "any trouble" could start.

The protest was organised by the group, Banc del Temps, from the town of Sencelles, located in the island's interior.

Banc del Temps's spokesman, Javier Barbero, warned after the protest on Saturday (May 25): "This is just the start of things. If measures aren't taken, we will continue taking to the streets until we see action."

The group wants more affordable homes for locals and cheaper rents, with holiday homes commanding higher rental prices.

It demands only people who have lived on the island for five years should be able to buy property and called for a moratorium on holiday rentals.

Patri Vecina told MailOnline she and her family of three have lived in the same rented house for 10 years, but that in December the owner told her he was selling to foreigners and they would have to move out.

She said: "I work in the hotel industry and my husband is a builder. We cannot afford the inflated price of property in Majorca so we were never able to buy our own home. Now we cannot afford to live in Majorca anymore we are moving to Asturias in the north of Spain.

"It was our dream to bring up our children in Mallorca but that cannot happen."

Ms Vecina and her husband initially paid £500 per month for the three-bedroom house in Sencelles, but this increased to £690 per month before the couple's landlord put the house on the market for £383,000.

Bac del Temps campaigner Laura Lau told the same publication foreign buyers have snapped up what were family homes and are renting them to tourists.

She said this was why property prices on the island have risen to levels which are unaffordable for locals.

The protest on Majorca comes after 1,000 people took to the streets in Ibiza on Friday (May 24). In April, the Canary Islands saw mass demonstrations against over-tourism and its impact on housing and the cost of living for local people.