It is just as well that the Mallorca Hotel federation has today decided to try to repair the damage being done by anti-tourism extremists on the island and across the Balearics because the reputation of tourism in the Balearics has reached its lowest ever rating, with 4.1 points out of 10 in the second quarter of the year, due to tourist saturation, the impact on the housing market and problems with security and crime, according to a study by the consultancy firm Llorente y Cuenca.
These data are included in the latest edition of the company’s Tourism Perception Barometer, which measures social sentiment on tourism in Spain’s 17 autonomous communities on a quarterly basis.
In the case of the Balearics, the diagnosis is based on the analysis of 11,031 messages on social media, 39.5% of which were posted from other autonomous communities and 60.5% by residents of the islands.
Llorente y Cuenca has been monitoring this since the first quarter of 2022, when the reputation of tourism in the Balearics reached its highest score, with 7.4 out of 10. In 2023, scores remained between 6 and 7 in the first two quarters, but fell to 4.9 in the third. Although there was a slight recovery, 2024 was the worst year, with scores not exceeding 5 in the second and third quarters. The worst score was recorded in the second quarter with 4.2.
In 2025, the reputation fell from 5.2 in March to 4.1 in June, reaching the worst score recorded in the Balearics since the consulting firm first conducted this survey in March 2022, in a context in which 18.8% of the messages analysed refer to gentrification, 16.5% to overcrowding, 12% to tourismophobia, 9.5% to security, 7.2% to management issues and 6.2% to contribution.
The study details that tourism has not only been discussed in negative terms during the quarter, as there has been notable interest in cultural tourism, diversifying the tourist offer, a boom in adventure and eco-tourism, the revaluation of local cuisine and the promotion of sustainable tourism.
However, there are five issues that prevent the islands’ reputation from reaching a pass mark: residents’ concerns and protests about overcrowding, the impact of tourist rentals on housing, security incidents, conflicts over tourism management and the environment, and the debate on the equitable redistribution of the sector’s profits.
Llorente y Cuenca points out that during the second quarter of the year, there has been growing discontent among residents and protests about the burden on the islands and the need to control the flow of tourists. ‘The messages highlight the need to limit the entry of vehicles and to manage tourist resources more effectively,’ it says.
As for the impact of tourist rentals on housing, the consultancy firm points out that it has ‘reduced the availability of residential housing, which has led to an increase in rental prices and made it more difficult for local residents to access housing’. It also warns that ‘the economic perception of this issue is negative, as tourist rentals are considered to contribute to property speculation and gentrification.’
Another cause of the islands’ poor reputation is conflicts over environmental management, as ‘tourism is endangering the islands’ natural resources’, in addition to security and crime problems, although, according to the consultancy, ‘police presence has increased in the busiest areas’.