It took scenes of traffic congestion in early spring for the Balearic government (Partido Popular) to realise that measures were required to tackle tourist overcrowding in Mallorca and the rest of the Balearics. The scenes were primarily in and around Soller, a municipality with a PP town hall administration, and where residents were to protest against the overcrowding.
Soller was a microcosm of malaise spoken about more broadly. To traffic could be added creaking and inadequate infrastructure, gentrification, pressures on housing. These were not unfamiliar concerns for what is firmly a tourism municipality. But not long after those scenes of jams came a video produced in a municipality that is off the tourism beaten track - Sencelles.
The Banc de Temps collective in Sencelles highlighted issues just as relevant as in Soller, but their video carried messages that were stronger. People felt they were being driven out of their homes, out of their village, even off Mallorca. In the case of Sencelles, the growth of holiday rental properties was a key issue.
The collective organised the protest in Palma in May - some 10,000 took part. Last Sunday, twice that number protested (five times as many if one accepts the organisers' claim).
Soller and Sencelles happened against a background of what had occurred in 2023 and was continuing in 2024. Last year the total number of tourists in the Balearics rose by a staggering 1.3 million to 17.8 million, an unprecedented leap. There had been protests before when numbers were lower, but now there was talk of an even greater rise - a possible 20 million in 2024.
The number of tourists for June won't be known for another week or so when the monthly Frontur figures are published. But the number will undoubtedly be up, as it has been for the whole year so far. Earlier this month the airports authority Aena released its June figures. There were 4.16 million passengers at Palma Airport (arriving and departing), a year-on-year rise of 9.2%. For the six months to June the percentage increase was almost identical - 9.1%.
It has been said that Mallorca is quieter this season. Perhaps it is in some areas, but certainly not all. The passenger figures don't lie. Maybe the restaurants are less busy - 20% drop in June turnover, it was reckoned. But if so, this owed nothing to protests, the restaurants pointing instead to a fall in spending by comparison with the post-Covid boom summers of 2022 and 2023.
The government's response to Soller and Sencelles was the launch of its pact for sustainability. Around 140 entities, including critical organisations like the environmentalists GOB, were invited to participate. Twelve working parties to address a variety of issues are now meeting. The aim is to reformulate tourism strategy going forward.
The government and the coordinator of the working parties, Professor Antoni Riera, have stressed the importance of objective data. On Tuesday, President Prohens, referring to Sunday's protest, stated that "serious and rigorous diagnosis is needed to take measures against the situation of tourist overcrowding on the islands, which the government is aware generates unrest among citizens".
A problem for the government is that critical entities are wholly unconvinced that there will be meaningful change, while there is also demand for more immediate action (whatever this might actually be). Riera and the government have said that the process will take time, but there is a lack of patience allied to the lack of confidence in the government.
So, what - if anything - has been done? The answer is very little. Exercises for objective data include a pilot project for monitoring three crowded beaches during the high season: Es Trenc in Mallorca, Ses Salines in Ibiza, and Cala en Turqueta in Menorca. A similar scheme is planned for beauty spots such as the Foradada mirador in Deia. But in a sense, the whole debate has gone beyond beach overcrowding. And what, in any event, will be done once these objective data are gathered and analysed?
Meantime, the Council of Mallorca has announced that it will be reducing its attendance at international tourism fairs to just eleven, a reduction of close to 70%. Last month the Council announced a beefed-up inspection plan for illegal holiday lets, there having already been a doubling over the first five months of 2024.
Palma town hall has said there will be a ban on any new holiday rentals in the city (there has been a ban on apartments for some years). Mayor Jaime Martínez wants an extension to limits on cruise ships.
That's about it. Actions obviously do take time to formulate, but increasingly there is a sensation that Mallorca is running out of time.
Some of the demands presented by protesters aren't a million miles away from political thinking. 'A freeze on all new tourist places both in hotels and apartments.' There is a moratorium in place, one that the PP inherited from the last government and said it would lift. It would be most unwise to now do so. Ideally, the protesters would like a reduction in the number of places. There are voices, especially some leading hoteliers, who are of this opinion.
'No more promotion of tourism. No more tourist fairs.' The Council has said it will attend fewer fairs, but then there has been, for instance, the promotion of the four islands on Real Mallorca players' shorts.
'Limit the entry of vehicles and set a maximum number of rental vehicles in circulation.' This is certainly up for discussion and it takes us back to where this all started - traffic congestion in Soller.