With Palma set to witness the first anti-mass tourism and tourism policy protest of the season this Sunday evening, a new report from BookRetreats.com reveals that Spain is home to Europe’s most overcrowded islands - but also to one of its most peaceful. As anti-tourism protests spread across Spain’s islands this summer, new research from BookRetreats.com confirms just how intense the pressure has become.
Using the latest data from the European Commission, the retreat booking site ranked Europe’s islands by tourist density - measured in overnight stays per square kilometre (km²). According to the analysts, this spatial metric reveals how physically saturated some destinations have become, especially on islands where land, housing, and infrastructure are limited.
Malta came out on top with the highest density of any island in Europe - more than 38,700 overnight stays per km² - but with 4 of the top 5 most tourist-dense islands on the continent, Spain leads in island overcrowding overall.
Across these islands, tourism levels have reached the densities of most major cities. Entire neighbourhoods have shifted from long-term housing to holiday rentals, while local infrastructure struggles to keep up with the influx of visitors. Protests are growing, and governments are now weighing tighter restrictions to manage the pressure. In Ibiza and Formentera, officials have responded with new Tourism Containment Measures. The reforms ban new short-term lets in apartment buildings and step up enforcement against unlicensed holiday rentals in a bid to ease the strain.
Elsewhere in Spain, governments have pushed back even further on holiday lets, including a crackdown on 65,000 Airbnb listings. In the Canaries, a new Vacation Rental Law could also ban newly built properties from being used by tourists for 10 years after construction. While the rest of Spain's islands grapple with overtourism, El Hierro stands apart. Its population remains under 11,000, and tourism is intentionally kept low.
There are no direct international flights to El Hierro, which naturally limits arrivals compared to neighbours like Tenerife. Guest capacity hovers around 1,000 bed - many of them in rural homes and small inns. Even the largest hotel in El Hierro has fewer than 50 rooms. The island is known for volcanic cliffs, natural pools, pine forests, and terraced highlands, much of it protected under a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Instead of chasing volume, El Hierro has invested in sustainability. The island aims to cut emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Renewable energy, reforestation, and support for small-scale farming remain at the heart of its strategy. Today, El Hierro is responsible for 98% of all pineapples grown in the Canaries. Nearby islands like La Palma and La Gomera also show signs of resisting mass tourism - but the challenge is growing.
“El Hierro proves that it’s possible to grow tourism without losing what makes a place special,” says Sean Kelly, co-founder of BookRetreats.com. “While other islands are being overwhelmed, this one is preserving its quiet and culture, and it’s working.”
In the meantime, Balearic environmental group GOB has called on the general public to take part in the demonstration organised for Sunday by the “Menys turisme més vida” (Less tourism, more life) platform against tourist overcrowding and in defence of the territory.
The demonstration, which has already been endorsed by more than 90 organisations and groups, will start at 6pm from Plaza de España in Palma and aims to be a collective response to the housing crisis, environmental collapse and loss of quality of life suffered by the islands.
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