Fins Aquí Hem Arribat, the collection of various residents and environmental groups which staged the "anti-massification" protest in Palma last September, have called for restrictions on the number of cruise ships in Palma. They want a maximum of two at any one time and they are also wanting the tourist tax paid by cruise passengers to go up to five euros (as of 1 May it went up to two euros).
Margalida Ramis, the spokesperson for environmentalists GOB, said yesterday that this "specific ecotax" is needed in order to compensate for cruise-ship pollution and use of resources. The ships, she noted, will be bringing some two million tourists to the Balearics this year.
The call for an increase in the tourist tax has been directed at the regional government, while the demand for a limit on the number of ships has gone to the Balearic Ports Authority (APB). Although the APB is a state authority, the selection of its president is made by the regional government.
Ramis added that there are days when up to six cruise ships arrive and can each be carrying up to 5,000 people.