In a speech to business leaders in Palma on Tuesday, President Marga Prohens stated that “firm and brave decisions” to tackle tourist overcrowding in Mallorca and the Balearics will be taken and applied before the start of the 2025 season.
At a dinner organised by the Economy Circle think tank, Prohens said that the working parties under the government’s social and political pact for sustainability will set in motion long-term change but that the government will adopt measures against overcrowding without waiting for that long-term change. These will be “brave” measures arrived at through consensus.
“We have to listen to the citizens, to listen to a growing and general social discontent that goes far beyond the protests.” This discontent indicates a shared opinion that “we can no longer grow in volume. We have to talk about limits and we have to talk about containment”. She nevertheless stressed that these measures would not imply a total revision of the current tourism model.
The president emphasised that tourism is the Balearics main industry and that it will continue to be for many years. She called on the public to feel proud of it. “The tourist is always welcome and well treated on our islands. Tourism has been and will continue to be the main source of wealth generation and income to sustain our well-being for many years.”
Prohens pointed out that the transformation of the model has to be supported by a process of reindustrialisation in which the business sector must play an essential role. She said that the government wants to take a leading role in attracting innovation and investment through its legislation for administrative simplification and the implementation of what she called a “project accelerator unit”.
In reviewing the 2024 season, the president referred to a 6% increase in the number of visitors and a 13% rise in tourist spending*, which has has translated into a further increase in employment. She noted that 56% of new employment contracts are permanent, which represents a change of model towards a higher quality contract in the Balearics.
* The caveat here is that this is largely because of increased spending on the cost of holidays – packages or independent travel plus accommodation.
