About 30 members of the protest group Arran waded into the sea at El Arenal on the south coast to let off orange flares and hold aloft placards claiming "tourism kills Majorca".
But the demonstration, watched by dozens of families on the beach during one of the busiest weeks of the summer, turned nasty as tourists turned the tables, swearing and shouting and accusing them of being "shameless".
A number of sunbathers, believed to be Spanish, also accused the protestors of putting their jobs at risk because of their anti-tourism views.
Arran has always stressed that it is not against tourism itself, but rather over-tourism, whereby holiday resorts in Majorca and Ibiza have become too over-crowded to the detriment of residents.
They have staged a series of protests this summer and last year, including storming a restaurant at the marina in Palma where they also let off pink flares and showered customers with confetti.
Some diners were so scared they thought it was a terrorist attack.
Last year, Arran also attacked tourist buses, pelted them with eggs, daubed graffiti on hotels and superglued the locks of tourism establishments, as well as slashing the tyres of hire bikes in various locations in Spain.
The latest demonstration against mass tourism saw the Arran members wade into the water a few metres from the shore with posters which also claimed “this tourist model drowns us".
Many carried beach balls or wore novelty rubber rings.
Police were called in as a row escalated between holidaymakers and the protesters and officers had to give special protection to those who were holding the placards.
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Other Arran members ran off when they spotted the police.
Arran Palma said they were protesting about the current tourism model and "labour exploitation" associated with it.
The group later tweeted that it had "a right and a duty" to demonstrate and claimed police seemed more concerned about their protests rather than all the problems residents had to endure as a direct result of mass tourism on a daily basis.
Palma council said it was their intention to move towards a more sustainable tourism model "that generates quality employment and respects cultural and architectural heritage."
Sun Online Travel previously revealed that Ibiza is to launch fines of up to £1,400 for anyone caught inhaling laughing gas in the street.
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