Spaniards waging war on Brit tourists by creating fake signs to keep them off best beaches
CRAFTY Spaniards are stopping Brits hogging prime beach spots — by putting up fake warnings of cliff falls and jellyfish.
Other bogus signs tell holidaymakers bays are closed to the public or that it takes two hours and 53 minutes to walk to a beach which is actually 100 yards away.
The trick alerts appearing across Mallorca have explanatory small print written in Catalan.
One explains: “Open beach. Not to jellyfish nor foreigners.”
Another in Cala Murta claiming there is a risk of rock falls informs locals: “Come in.
“The danger is not of a landslide, it is of overcrowding.”
The warnings are the work of protest group Caterva.
The campaigners have criticised Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal who owns a restaurant and tourism business on the popular island.
They said in a statement: “Capitalism uses tourism to the extreme to dry out the territory and extract the maximum surplus value from workers.
“There are culprits and it is necessary to name them, such as the hoteliers or the Rafael Nadals who are as complicit as the Balearic Government.”
Each year more than 2.3million Britons head to Mallorca — accounting for more than a quarter of the total tourist traffic.
And the average British visitor to the Balearic Islands spends £950.
But tourism bosses have said they are fed up with overcrowding and want posher punters.
Lucia Escribano, director of tourism, told The Sun last year: “We are not interested in promoting the island in summer.
“We are limiting the number of beds on the island.
“We want quality not quantity.
“At the moment we have 300,000 hotel beds and we want less, not more.
“If a hotel wants to make improvements, build a spa or new restaurant, we will insist that they have to remove hotel beds to gain permission.
“We are trying to decrease the number of beds in order to provide a better experience for visitors.
“We are not interested in having the budget tourists from the UK — we don’t care if they go elsewhere to Greece and Turkey.”
Last night, British holidaymaker Ian Jennings told The Sun: “I love Mallorca and have gone most years.
“But if this is their attitude then, I’m sorry, but screw them.
“I don’t want to go anywhere I’m not wanted.
“I’ll be taking my cash and beach towels elsewhere — and I suspect there will be millions more Brits like me.
“Let’s see what they moan about on their rude signs then.”