Spaniards have taken to social media to voice their joy after tourist protests forced Britons away from the Costa del Sol's holiday hotspots.

Some of the country's most popular resort towns have seen the biggest drop in visitors since the end of the Covid pandemic, with Majorca and the Costa Blanca both taking big hits.

The downturn follows widespread demonstrations throughout Spain, where protesters argued that excessive visitor numbers were pricing residents out of their homes and making urban areas unliveable.

Alongside the south coast, tourist mega-hotspots Barcelona and the Canary Islands have been rocked by major demonstrations - with activists demanding travellers go home.

And with Britons either returning home or looking elsewhere, locals have expressed their relief.

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"The news is painted as bad but the reality is that it's good," one, Jesus Alejo, said.

"Tourism is fine but the tourist mass coming to Malaga was more than the city could handle. I'd rather take care of 10 tourists well than 100 bad."

Another welcomed the decline as "very good news", adding: "Let's see if we stop depending on tourism and the business fabric returns to Spain.

"Tourism should be regulated somehow and see if the real estate bubble explodes because of that and people here can buy a house again like it used to be."

REUTERS | PICTURED: Two bemused holidaymakers watch on as anti-tourist protests rumble on in Spain

A third said: "It seems good to me that it goes down, even if it [has a] negative impact on commerce."

But despite some locals' glee, restaurants and bars across much-loved resorts have been left empty.

Images from the Rockstar Bar in Benidorm showed empty chairs and tables in the summer sun, while others showed just a handful of guests dining beneath umbrellas at the height of the summer season.

It comes just days after holidaymakers were urged to return to Spain by cash-strapped industry bosses after protests forced them away.

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'It seems good to me that it goes down, even if it [has a] negative impact on commerce,' one local said

Officials admitted the chaos has "scared away visitors" - while travel firms are warning that tourists no longer feel "welcomed" in Spain.

Miguel Perez-Marsa, the head of the nightlife association, told the Majorca Daily Bulletin: "The tourists we're interested in are being driven away; they don't feel welcome and are going to other destinations."

While Pedro Oliver, president of the College of Tour Guides, revealed excursion rates have dropped by 20 per cent this summer, with British, German and Italian tourists all being put off.

"The anti-tourism messages are resonating," Oliver admitted.