The Balearic environmental group GOB is demanding that those in power in the Balearics, Mallorca and Palma “stop endorsing” the expansion of Son Sant Joan airport and the increase in air routes and stop spending public money on promoting tourism to the island.
The Balearic Ornithology and Nature Group (GOB) has joined a European and national campaign to demand a commitment from political leaders against the “uncontrolled growth of air traffic” because of its harmful environmental and social consequences.
According to the protectionist association in a statement, in the case of the Balearics, in recent years the historical records of air passengers prior to the covid pandemic have been surpassed, which has resulted in an increase in investment to increase airport capacity.
At Palma airport, one of the most profitable in the Aena network, which generates 20 % of its revenue, work is under way to add eight new gates and handle 15 % more flights, some 4 million more tourists, say the environmentalists.
The government, which considers that the institutional leaders “have shirked their responsibilities” in the face of this growth, also accuses them of encouraging it by supporting with their promotional policies the creation of new air connections with Palma.
“The opening of new routes not only has consequences in the increase of tourist overcrowding, but we have also seen the increase in the real estate sector, the promotion of a model of tourism with high purchasing power that hinders the problem of access to housing for residents,” says the environmental organisation.
For this reason, its demands also include regulating the purchase of homes by non-residents, as has been done in New York, Berlin, Paris and Andorra, among other places.
It also advocates a ban on private jets, a highly polluting segment of the airline industry in which Palma is among the top ten airports in Europe.