Rosana Morillo is Spain's secretary-of-state for tourism, having been the Balearic director-general for tourism until December last year. As number two to Iago Negueruela at the tourism ministry, she was instrumental in introducing the tourism of excesses legislation in January 2020. She believes that a "new dynamic" has started because of the legislation and that "the first results are already palpable".
"The tourism sector in the Balearics is very aware of the negative reputational damage from this type of offer. Image is everything. We must promote family tourism and diversification through sport, gastronomy, culture ... ."
Society in general in the Balearics is also aware of this damage, as it is of a sense of being overwhelmed in the summer by the number of tourists. For Morillo, "the strategy in the Balearics should not be to continue growing". Tourism is a very mature sector that operates in a limited territory. "The key is to diversify beyond sun and beach and try to avoid peaks in demand. In this regard, the Council de Mallorca has said that the number of tourist accommodation places will not be increased."
A contributory factor to the feeling of saturation is the scale of holiday rental, but Morillo insists that the issue lies with illegal accommodation. Spain's tourism ministry "is in favour of legal holiday rental, that which meets the conditions of each region, and at the same time is seeking to combat the illegal offer, which is the one that causes damage to the whole of the Balearics and to residents". "The European Union is currently working on a proposal to regulate the information that websites must provide. This will be a great advance."