Thousands of furious protesters marched through the streets of holiday hotspots in Spain yesterday against airport expansion plans.  

Demonstrators waved flags and banners and blew whistles as they made their way through Barcelona, Palma in Mallorca and Ibiza Town. 

Around 5,500 turned out in Barcelona alone, according to local police, with thousands more in Palma and Ibiza. 

Organisers disputed the police's estimate in Barcelona, claiming it was more like 30,000. 

They raised concerns that the proposals would bring in more tourists to areas that are already battling overtourism. 

There were reportedly no arrests and the demonstrations were described as 'mainly peaceful'. 

The Spanish airport authority Aena denies that multi-million-pound airport expansion plans will bring in more holidaymakers at a time when locals in holiday hotspots are already distressed by what they claim is 'overtourism'. 

The management body insists improvements and upgrades are necessary to keep pace with changing demands.

The centre of Barcelona was taken over yesterday as locals demanded a halt to the expansion of El Prat airport. 

The protest had the support of more than 250 organisations and more than 150 academics, according to the organisers. 

Groups including 'Living Costs Us life, Enough Noise, the association for the promotion of public transport, and even members of the Educational Assembly and health professionals joined in. 

Around 300 cyclists joined the route along with four farm tractors.

The march started at noon on Passeig de Gràcia under the slogan 'No to expansion, neither now nor never' and ended the route in Plaça de Sant Jaume.

The protest came five years after another mobilisation against the project, when the Spanish government and the Generalitat de Catalunya - the region's governing body - announced the expansion agreement. 

It also follows the approval of Aena's 2027-2031 investment plan, which includes a project to prepare for the expansion.

Banners carried slogans such as: 'Commuter trains for the people, not airports for the 1 per cent,' 'Support, help, this is an ecocide' and 'Listen to science, this is an emergency'.

The mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Alba Bou, said: 'It is disappointing to think that they have not buried an expansion proposal that does not do any service to ordinary people and to those who aspire to leave a liveable world to future generations.'

In Mallorca's capital of Palma, a protest brought together hundreds of people to demand that any action that allows increasing the capacity of Son Sant Joan airport be stopped. 

They want to reduce the number of flights and move towards a tourism model that relieves pressure from the island.

Spokesman Pere Joan Femenia said the Balearic Islands were 'at the limit', and questioned the arguments of Aena, which maintains that its plans for the airports of the islands will improve their facilities rather than expand capacity.

Among the protesters' main demands are a reduction in flights, limiting private aviation and the approval of an airport co-management law that allows the Balearic Islands to participate in decisions about infrastructure. 

They have also called for an end to night flights and a greater focus on the inconvenience suffered by residents near the airport.

'It cannot be that after midnight planes continue to pass over our houses,' Pere Joan Femenia said during the rally, in reference to the complaints of residents affected by the noise of Son Sant Joan.

The demonstrators also want an end to the promotion of new air routes, and for the Balearic Islands to be able to regulate the capacity of their airports according to the tourist and environmental pressure they face.

In Ibiza, the demonstration was called yesterday evening by the Associació Joves d'Eivissa.

Demonstrators said Aena's intentions to expand the airport have been rejected by most political parties, organisations and members of civil society.

The organisers had already condemned plans to increase of the 17 boarding gates to 32, as well as the expansion of the VIP area and the creation of a specific area for non-Schengen flights, saying these actions would put more pressure on the region and its public services.

Aena maintains that the refurbishment will not increase the capacity of the airfield or the number of take-offs and landings per hour and argues that the increase in gates responds to the need to separate Schengen and non-Schengen passengers and adapt to European safety regulations.