The shock warning comes as a second major survey confirms the impact of the huge number of visitors visiting Majorca (Mallorca), Menorca and Ibiza is the single biggest concern of local residents.
The Balearic Institute of Social Studies says the worries are “more than anguish” because mass tourism is directly affecting many aspects of their daily lives.
Although the unrest is reflected across all the islands, the Institute says it is especially prominent in Palma.
IBES director, Gonzalo Arán says there are fears that the capital has lost its identity.
He said: “The rivers of people that are created in Palma do not leave space for the ‘idiosyncrasy’ of the city and citizens fear it is becoming a theme park.”
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It follows rising protests across Spain against tourism.
Last weekend, thousands took to the streets of Majorca holding placards such as ‘tourists go home’.
The Institute of Social Studies released details of its fifth study of public opinion today and it backs up findings by a similar survey conducted by the Mallorca-based Gadesco Foundation which looks at island life.
In a statement, the IBES says 56 per cent of residents of the Balearic Islands consider the arrival of tourists in the summer to be excessive, despite the economic benefits. Last year, the same percentage was 53 and the level of discontentment has been rising each year since 2013.
In Menorca, 39 per cent of those interviewed said the arrival of tourists was excessive, 56 per cent in Ibiza, 51.4 per cent for Mallorca and 63 per cent in Palma.
Gonzalo Adán said that in recent years there had been a “progressive loss of perception of environmental quality, which has been accentuated this year, and which is attributed almost exclusively to tourism”.
From May 2013 to June 2017, the percentage of citizens who described the quality of the environment as very good has gone down from eight per cent to four per cent, while 12 per cent now call it bad, as compared to nine per cent in the very first survey.
The main problems identified are too many cars, too many people, water quality, dirt and deteriorating beaches.
The IBES says the survey results should serve as a “wake up” call to the authorities to do something about excessive tourism numbers.
The Institute says people are not against people coming to the Balearics for a holiday but want something done to control the numbers and lessen the problems they are creating.
In total 600 people were interviewed for the survey in three age groups -18 to 30, 31 to 65 and over the age of 66
Half were interviewed over the phone, half through an online panel.
Figures from 2016 Britons make up a quarter of the 9.6 million tourists heading to Spain for summer holidays.