Meghan Markle 'hated every second' of the 'pointless' engagements on 16-day Australia tour despite it happening in the peak of 'Megmania', according to royal expert
For many, a two-week, state-funded trip to Australia would be a dream.
The endless sun and trips to Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo and Bondi Beach would be enough to turn most Britons green with envy.
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Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Furious Spaniards demand Brits 'go home' as they march through streets in front of stunned holidaymakers in latest wave of anti-tourist protests
Thousands of locals have taken to the streets of Mallorca to tell Brits to 'go home' as part of a nationwide protest against so-called 'over tourism'. Holidaymakers were visibly stunned by the dramatic demonstrations in Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza on Sunday afternoon. Thousands of fed-up locals were seen banging their drums and chanting slogans while marching by tourists enjoying their evening meals. The demonstration began at Plaza de España, in the heart of the tourist city, shortly after 6pm. Activists claim more than 30,000 people took to the streets to voice their frustrations about the impact of tourism on the island. Placards held up by marchers read: 'Tourists go home', 'Mallorca is not for sale' and 'Mallorca is not your cash cow… go home.' Footage shows Brits visibly shocked by the demonstrations, while some tourists were seen taking refuge on their accommodation balconies. Other signs read: 'Your vacations, our anxiety.' Dozens of placards read 'tourists go home… refugees welcome', while a group of teenagers could be heard chanting 'tourists go home!' as they marched through the city. Activists have claimed more than 30,000 people attended the protest today Children taking part in the protest were seen carrying water pistols, with plans to spray holidaymakers as they pass on by. Protesters were heard chanting slogans against Airbnb and 'guiris' - the Spanish slang term used to describe Brits and other foreigners. One placard read: 'Rich foreign property buyers go to hell', while another said: 'Enough is enough.' Local resident Oriol, 40, told MailOnline: 'I'm protesting because I don't want 80% of my money to go on rent. 'I don't want to be forced to speak only English or German in by apartment block. 'I don't want my friends to have to go to the mainland when they have children just to be able to afford a dignified life, a lot of us are fed up.' Alex, 32, has a masters degree and a well-paying job. He told MailOnline: 'I'm here because I cannot afford to buy my own place, I'm having to live with my parents because the rent is also too much. 'There are also far too many people coming to the island for holiday, our resources cannot cope, there needs to be a limit.' The demonstrations are taking place in major destinations including Barcelona, Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, San Sebastian, Granada, Tenerife and Malaga. Other European destinations involved in the action include Venice in Italy and Lisbon in Portugal. The action is designed to 'call attention to the social and environmental costs of overtourism.' The protests have been organised by the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification (SET), and are supported by local activist groups. Many locals living in tourist hotspots in Spain believe the industry's model has become too excessive. They say the numbers of visitors continue to increase year by year, creating an increasing demand on local resources. They also complain that the overwhelming amount of tourist activity is causing environmental pollution, particularly in Tenerife, where natural landscapes are not being properly protected by local authorities, while a surge in pleasure boats and sewage waste are polluting the marine environment, they claim. More importantly, the explosion of Airbnb-style properties has seen property prices surge over the past five to 10 years. In holiday hotspots, landlords are choosing to rent to tourists instead of selling or renting to local families. This is stripping housing supply and making the available stock far more expensive and out of reach for a growing number of locals. The protesters marched for over a kilometre before gathering in Plaza de Reina near to the seafront. A series of activists gave speeches demanding a 'drastic' change in laws regarding the tourism industry - including banning Airbnb style properties from the island. Dozens of officers from the armed National Police force were seen escorting the protesters throughout the march, which ended without incident. In Ibiza, another popular Spanish island for British holidaymakers, similar protests took place demanding reductions to tourism. Around 1,000 protesters took part in the march organised by major anti-tourism platform Canviem el Rumb, which has been carrying out demonstrations in the Spanish holiday hotspot over the last year. Security was stepped up to protect tourists from the demonstrators, who left Portal de Ses Taules in the town centre at around 6pm and ended at Plaza de sa Graduada, in front of the courts at 9pm. Major demonstrations also took place across other cities in Spain, including Barcelona, and San Sebastián, as well as other European cities in Portugal and Italy. The protests aim to keep pressure on governments to address the problems generated by tourism, including rising rents, housing shortages and environmental damage. Canviem el Rumb is campaigning for a reduction in tourism, which it claims is having an adverse effect on Ibiza. 'Although each of them will have their own characteristics, they will all jointly critique mass tourism and luxury tourism,' said Pau Kokura, a member of Canviem el Rumb. The group says tourism is only helping the rich whilst the poor in Ibiza suffer, especially due to the lack of affordable housing. It also argues that there is an overabundance of hotel rooms, making it impossible for residents to afford rentals and therefore remain on the island. Agnès Vidal, another member of the organization, said: 'Mass tourism affects many aspects of our daily lives. This time, we want to highlight five key areas: the first, the right to water, because we have villages that dedicate themselves to irrigating water when the people of the island reduce their consumption. 'The second, the right to have a property in good condition. Third, we demand decent work, because people who work, especially during the summer, do so in terrible conditions in many sectors. 'We also demand the right to rest, which is often not possible with the mega-clubs. The fifth block is housing. We have more and more people living in substandard housing around Ibiza Town. And that's why we have to find a solution.' Activists believe the current tourism model is 'unsustainable' and pushing the islands toward collapse. They want to limit the number of tourists visiting the islands, ban new hotel construction and introduce a tougher tourist tax, among other measures. But Brits holidaying in Tenerife previously told MailOnline the locals 'should be careful what they wish for.' A poll by Majorca Daily Bulletin found that around 44 per cent of people will now think twice about booking a holiday on the popular island after huge demonstrations over mass tourism. Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency warned: 'If this survey is accurate, local protestors should be careful what they wish for. 'The Majorcan (and other local islands) economy relies heavily on tourism to create jobs and bring money into the region. 'It would be a disaster for the area if the protests, however valid, cut off the flow of visitors and reduce income. 'The solution is to work with local authorities on spreading the number of visitors into the shoulder seasons, so there is a flow of tourists throughout the year rather than be concentrated over the summer.' One regular visitor to Tenerife told MailOnline last month echoed the same sentiment. Paul Nixon, 60, from Staffordshire said: 'I think they need to be careful what they wish for, the island is so dependent on tourism. 'I think bookings are down already to be honest, it seems quieter this year. 'I saw they were spraying tourists with water in Barcelona which is completely wrong, if they started doing that here then we would definitely be put off coming.'
Times
5 hours ago
- Times
Me, my son and the gap year I crashed: what's working (and what's not)
It's an early start today in Brisbane, on my gap-year-in-a-week alongside my 18-year-old son, Rider, and we have a plane to catch. I give him an alarm call, but in the room next door he's (unexpectedly) way ahead of me. There's no time for breakfast so the stylish Crystalbrook Vincent hotel sorts us coffee and croissants to go. Shame. I would have happily stayed in bed until 11am staring at the extraordinary view of Brisbane Bridge. By 9.30am, after a Qantas flight from Brisbane's domestic terminal ('My first plane with propellers!' Rider says), we're at Hervey Bay, on the Sunshine Coast 180 miles north of Brisbane. From the nearby SeaLink terminal at River Heads it's a 50-minute ferry ride across the Great Sandy Strait to the Kingfisher Bay eco-tourism resort on K'Gari, the world's largest sand island. Formerly known as Fraser Island, K'Gari (the 'K' is silent) is famous for its beach-dwelling dingoes and Top Gear-inspired 4×4 safaris. Despite its popularity as a holiday destination, here nature retains the upper hand: there's a metre-long reptile cruising the tables for lunch leftovers (known colloquially as a tree goanna, though technically it's a lace monitor lizard). Rider is wary: 'Uncle Jonny [my Aussie 'little' brother] says they're the only Aussie creature he's still scared of.' Tree goannas have notoriously poor oral hygiene and a nip can send you to hospital, so we leave this one to his chips. For those who aren't driving a high-clearance 4×4, it's worth joining an all-day tour on the resort's custom-built super-bouncy coaches. We set off the following morning with a driver who is seriously multitasking: combining a nonstop running commentary on the flora and fauna while towing another coach out of a sticky spot. When traffic backs up on a two-way sandy 'road' the width of an English country lane, we stop again to hoick a stranded car out of a rut. Our driver says many people hire suboptimal 4x4s that can't hack the terrain, with inevitable wheel-spinning results. Back on the 'road', we meander through Pile Valley's extraordinary subtropical rainforest, admiring the ancient Satinay trees and giant palms. On the return leg some of us take a short walk through the forest, spotting a tiny baby Carpet Python curled around a stick, happily nonvenomous. After a lunch break we head to 75 Mile beach, where we're lucky to spot a lone dingo ambling against the backdrop of the Pacific. This is not a swimming spot — currents and sharks see to that — but it's popular for beach fishing, barbies, camping and taking selfies against the rusted wreck of the SS Maheno or while floating down the freshwater Eli Creek in rubber rings. • 35 of the best things to do in Australia Eventually we arrive inland for tea and swimming at the gorgeous Lake McKenzie, with its extra-fine white silica sand and mild water. I fall into conversation with a British family. The mum (a doctor), dad (in finance) and their two young kids had moved to Australia a few years back but returned to the UK shortly after lockdown. They've pulled the kids out of their school for an extended Easter break back in Oz and, this time, plan to stay. 'It's a difficult decision but the quality of life here is just so …' Dad tails off, as the kids call for him to come into the lake. 'Have a lovely life!' I shout after him as he rejoins his family. I'm momentarily wistful for those holiday moments with young kids; we never appreciate how precious and fleeting they are until they're gone. We've had a fun day, however a coach tour is never the go-to for an 18-year-old. In truth it wouldn't be mine either, so when I catch Rider eyeing-up a convoy of 4x4s full of teenagers exuding gap-year-party vibes I ask him if he's really OK doing this stuff with his 61-year-old mum? 'One hundred per cent. I just really want to come back here sometime, with my mates,' he says. That evening we eat at the resort's very good Asian fusion restaurant, Dune, before heading to watch Illumina, a 30-minute alfresco immersive light, lasers and music show. It's beautiful — and surprisingly moving. Woven with dramatic First Australian dreamtime imagery and mythology, it's also the perfect way to end our day. If you've been watching the hit BBC1 series Race Across the World you'll have followed the emotional/physical journey of the winners — fellow sixtysomething mum, Caroline, and her 21-year-old son, Tom. Though it remains strong, the mother-son bond I have with Rider has also been tested since the sudden, accidental death of his older brother in September 2023. Unlike RATW's Tom, however, Rider was never an only child. Losing Jackson has completely reshaped the family dynamic because, even in his absence, his presence remains huge and it always will. Rider's own strength has been inspiring, yet I know that navigating my loss and keeping other relationships intact and my head above metaphorical waters is the hardest work of what's left of my lifetime. So I'd purposefully left it five months before joining Rider in Australia. We both needed space to deal with ourselves without having to accommodate each other: Rider deserved to find a route for his future that wasn't defined by being the charismatic Jackson's 'little brother', while I needed to build a different life around the unanticipated void my eldest son's death had now created. Waking very early the next morning, I watched the sunrise from my balcony, hoping these magical shared experiences would provide enough glue to help me and Rider through a future that will, inevitably, be spent further Flett is spending a month travelling in Australia, and crashing her son's gap year. Read more at She was a guest of Tourism and Events Queensland (
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
China will soon once again be the primary civilisation of the world
In May I had the opportunity to spend a month travelling around China. Many things caught my attention while I was there. In general, I came away with some strong and clear impressions, from what I observed, from interactions with people there and from things guides and others said. The first is that the infrastructure that has been built in the last thirty years or less is simply amazing, not just impressive but jaw-dropping. Most spectacular is the network of high-speed railway lines built since roughly 2005. Currently there are 30,000 miles of such lines, all built in the last twenty years. The total railway network, which has also been massively expanded, stands at 96,000 miles including the HSR lines with the plan being to extend it to 170,000 miles by 2050. According to the best estimates by outside observers, the return on this investment is between six and eight per cent. Since the system has largely been built from scratch, it features enormous brand-new stations the size of airport terminals. The trains, which run at 200 mph, are comfortable and clean and the ride is so smooth that the speed is almost unnoticeable. It is not only trains. There is also a series of airports all over China, most as big as major international ones in Europe. Again, these are brand new. Alongside the railways is a dense network of both long-distance motorways and modernised provincial and local roads. There are 114,000 miles of expressways with the rest of the national highway system amounting to 1.3 million miles (1.9 million kilometres). As with the rail system, this is being constantly extended. The big caveat is that building the infrastructure is one thing (not that Western countries are doing that) but the real challenge is maintaining it. The other aspect of infrastructure that anyone visiting China notices is the urban development. China has seen a dramatic process of urban development in the last two decades, with new cities springing up everywhere and older ones adding millions of new housing units. This takes a distinctive form, which is high-rise and high-density. Chinese cities and towns have grown upwards as much as outwards. Cities feature forests of high-rise towers, typically of thirty to forty floors. The initial impression is of uniformity but on closer examination that changes. Most of the towers are not simple boxes but have decorative features as part of the design and what seems a single mass resolves into grouped clusters of towers with similar styles. At ground level it becomes clear that each cluster is fenced off and forms a single gated neighbourhood, with retail and other facilities on the lower floors of the towers. The new cities thus have a high-density modular structure. The other feature of Chinese urban development is how green the cities are. There are trees and green spaces everywhere with most of the trees clearly planted in the last thirty years. The expressways and major roads have ivy growing up the sides of supporting pillars and boxes of flowers and plants along their lengths, all maintained. The pattern is what is known as a 'sponge city' with threads and 'holes' of greenery and open space between the high-rise neighbourhoods and the older low-rise ones and the very high-rise commercial centres. This pattern is far less car-centric than its American equivalent and although there are many cars, they are not at present the primary means of transportation. That is the electric scooter with swarms of them zooming around all of the streets, supplemented by both public transport and walking. Another difference between Chinese cities and many Western ones is their orderliness. There are no homeless people or beggars and although the cities are lively and dynamic you do not see or find anti-social behaviour. Public spaces are spotlessly clean, partly because of a veritable army of street cleaners (most of them older people) but also because littering simply does not happen. One reason for this is a low-key but pervasive police presence: each small neighbourhood has its own attached police officer with photographs of them displayed along with that officer's mobile number for contacting them. Police are highly visible. However, the evidence suggests that the police are simply backing up strong social norms of public behaviour, which strongly disapprove of anti-social conduct. The darker side of the orderliness is the degree of control. There are security checks at all transport terminals and most major historical sites or public buildings. Visiting many places requires photo identification, passports for foreigners, ID cards for locals. There is an important qualification to this though: while the security checks and ID system are uniform and national, the well-known social credit system is not – it varies considerably from one province or locality to another. This reflects a major feature of the Chinese state which is its relative decentralisation. The Party is not uniform and monolithic. Although there are national strategies and policies, each provincial or even city level Party has a great deal of autonomy and can pursue its own strategy to a great extent. As a result there is considerable variation in details of policy and strategy from one part of China to another. This is not novel – it reflects a system of governance found throughout the history of the Chinese state all the way back to its formation in 221 BC. This reflects one of the most surprising observations I made, the persistence and even reassertion of older Chinese ways of thinking and living. Although the cities and infrastructure are impressive, the striking feature is the prosperity and success of the countryside. Across most of China, rural towns and villages have new, modern housing, often funded by private savings. Alongside the network of major roads is a dense system of smaller paved roads and paths that connect the countryside to the national system. This is coupled with both near-complete electrification and internet provision. The pattern of agriculture is very traditional and strikingly different from the Western model. The rural landscape (and much of the open space around and within cities) is one of very small fields, more like allotments. What is practised is traditional Chinese intensive permaculture with regular rotation of crops and mixed farming, a pattern of agriculture that is very efficient in terms of yields but which does not rely on high energy inputs. It is however still very labour intensive but this is changing with urbanisation. However, there are still very strong connections between countryside and city, with many who have moved to the city retaining a connection with and responsibility contract for portions of rural land, which they still farm. The farming is very intensive – not a square inch of land suitable for farming is left idle no matter where it is. Agriculture is only one of many ways in which old China persists and re-emerges. Traditional ideas, such as the polarity of Yin and Yang are as strong as ever. Among the young there is a clear revival of traditional religious belief and observance, notably of Buddhism, but also of Taoism and Confucianism. Buddhist temples are crowded with young people, particularly women, who come not as tourists but to pray. The Party is comfortable with this and in many regions actively encourages it, rebuilding Buddhist temples and even Confucian ones. (That is surprising because of Confucianism being the official philosophy of imperial China.) In fact, the impression gained is that the ideological basis of the state is slowly but steadily shifting, to a hybrid one that owes as much to the historic traditions of Confucianism and Legalism as modern thought. The cult of Mao, while officially as strong as ever, is slowly fading not so much because of ideological repudiation as the simple passage of time. Mao is becoming simply another major historical figure, similar in many ways to his own role model, the First Emperor Ch'in Shi Huang Ti. The current system still has strong legitimacy but the Cultural Revolution is regretted. For middle aged people the figure who is admired is Deng Xiaoping, credited with the opening of China to the rest of the world and the transformation of the economic system from a command economy to a dirigiste market one. Another revered figure is Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Republic in the 1920s. Uniquely, he is venerated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the actual policy of the state owes as much to his 'Three Principles' as socialism (particularly 'Nationalism' or Minzu and Welfarism or Minsheng). There is a widespread popular interest in the historical past of China, and veneration of much of the history. One amusing aspect of this is younger people, particularly women, visiting historical sites while wearing historical period costume. This varies by region – in Beijing it is mainly Manchu court dress from the Qing dynasty, in Xi'An Tang era dress, while in the Yangtze Delta cities it is Song costumes. The past is not accepted uncritically but is generally admired and respected. Past figures who are widely admired are Ch'in Shi Huang Ti, the Hongwu and Yongle emperors from the Ming dynasty and Empress Wu and the Taizong emperor from the Tang. Generally, the Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties are admired, the Song and Qing less so. The common theme is that the figures and dynasties that are respected are ones seen as having promoted Chinese prosperity and power along with openness to the rest of the world, while the deprecated ones are those associated with Chinese weakness relative to the rest of the world and cultural decay. This all reflects another old idea that is reviving, that the crucial thing for state success is not so much institutions or policy but the quality of leadership. This is a very dynamic and innovative society that is also intensely competitive at an individual and familial level. It is highly futuristic and forward looking but also connected to its past, which is venerated in various ways. It has an authoritarian but effective and competent government. How long all this will survive is another matter but right now China is an advert for the idea of 'state capacity'. There is a strong cultural commitment to ideals of education and self-improvement, often very materialistic. One form this takes at a personal level is commitment to physical fitness and health, with public exercise classes being a major feature of urban life. This is coupled with a powerful work ethic. All of this faces challenges. It is not clear how long the ethical collectivism and work ethic will survive the impact of modern cellular communications and social media. There is concern, getting close to panic in official circles, about the below replacement birth-rate but, as elsewhere, there is no sign that the pro-natalist policies of the state are having any effect. The ageing population poses a massive challenge going forward but the current acute problem, as everywhere in the world, is housing costs in major cities – Shanghai has costs comparable to major metros in North America or Europe. That this coincides with massive and continuing supply suggests that it is not supply constraints that cause this but the financialisation of housing and the derangement of the global monetary system. One thing that many locals commented on was the continuing impact of the Covid pandemic – it has halved domestic air travel for example. For now, China is, on all of the evidence, a dynamic society with a functioning and effective state and economy that is comfortable with its past and its identity. There is a strong commitment to engagement with and openness to the rest of the world and a desire to see China recover the kind of position it had under the Tang, as the leading world civilisation. We are only starting to see the impact this model will have on the rest of the world. For a long time, China saw itself as the central or middle kingdom of the world and the rest of the world regarded it as the most powerful and most civilised state – this only changed after the 1770s. We are almost certainly going to revert to that.
