Spanish beaches warn foreign tourists, 'don't fall for fake signs at popular spots'

A few locals have reportedly put up fake signs to keep foreign tourists away from some of the most popular Spanish beaches.

The fake signs are at around 50 beaches across Majorca that have been put in with the intention to trick foreign tourists to miss some beautiful spots, reported Daily Star.

Some signs are warning against jellyfish on the shore, cliff falls or sewage contamination in the water. Other posters state that the beach is closed or that it takes almost three hours to walk there – despite it only being around 90 metres away.

The warnings are written in English, however, there is a small text written in Catalan that gives a slightly different picture.

A few pictures of these signs have been shared on X, previously known as Twitter. Under an image of a swimmer surrounded by jellyfish, it reads: "Open beach. Not to jellyfish or foreigners."

Another, which is actually related to a rockfall, states that there is no landslide but that the danger is due to overcrowding.

These unofficial signs are being put across Majorca by Manacor Caterva, a group that campaigns against overtourism. The group said that they have been putting out these posters with a "bit of humour."

"These days we carried out a denunciation action against the #massificació tourist in the coves of #Manacor . With a bit of humor, we've put up a few posters that you can see in the photos. From Cala Morlanda to Cala Bota," the group wrote in a post on X.

In a press release shared with the Majorca Daily Bulletin, the group stressed that the danger was one of "mass tourism."

The group was critical of "the tourist overcrowding that Mallorca suffers", the messages were very clear - "the coves of the Balearic Islands have been expropriated by tourism."

"The usurpation of the coves is just one more expression of how capitalism uses an economic activity such as tourism, takes it to the extreme and freely dries up the land and extracts the maximum surplus value from the workers.

"There are guilty parties and it is necessary to name them, such as the hoteliers or the 'rafels [sic] nadals' with the total complicity of some municipalities and the government, the current and the previous one," the group added in the same press release.

Despite the fake signs, travellers heading to Spain must be aware that some beach warnings are real and they must be alert to take notice of them. The Agua Blanca beach in Ibiza has been declared dangerous to the public after storms and strong waves battered the shore this summer. Many other Spanish beaches have been issued a black flag because of pollution.