The Mallorca Sustainability Observatory (Banca March and the Mallorca Preservation Foundation*) has undertaken a study of the environmental impact of tourism and calculated that the per capita carbon footprint of Mallorca's tourists in 2022 was almost double that of residents - 11.2 tonnes of CO2 against 5.8 tonnes.
The study also analysed the Human Pressure Indicator (HPI) for Mallorca in 2022. The average HPI determines the number of people per day and per square kilometre. This was 3,309 people, exceeding 3,000 for the first time. The previous year the indicator was 2,823 people, so there was an increase of 17%.
The Observatory has distributed the carbon footprint according to different uses and consumption. Of the per capita carbon footprint of the tourist population in Mallorca in 2022, transport represented 45%, while energy consumption accounted for 35% and waste generation 20%.
In addition to the total number of visitors during the year (11.48 million in Mallorca; 16.48 million in the Balearics), the per capita carbon footprint was calculated using the following data: an average length of stay of eight days; average energy consumption of 3.5 kilowatts/hour per day; average consumption of 200 litres of water per day; average transport consumption of one thousand kilometres per person; and average waste generation of one kilo per day.
The carbon footprint of residents was similar. For energy consumption it was 35% (the same as tourists), while transport was lower (40%) and waste generation higher (25%).
The Observatory says that it is vital to know and visualise how the flow of people affects Mallorca. The evolution of the HPI indicates that meeting 2030 Sustainable Development Goals can only be done if environmental impact is minimised and the effects of increased high energy consumption, more transport and a very high waste generation rate are offset. "In the case of Mallorca, the increase in the HPI poses a series of challenges for environmental conservation."
* This Observatory was established by Banca March. There is also the Council of Mallorca's Sustainable Tourism Observatory of Mallorca.