Biel Rosales of the association of tour guides says bookings have fallen this summer in Mallorca. Whereas last year there were groups of 40 to 45, this summer they are down to 25 or 30. He believes that anti-tourism actions are at least partly to blame.
"The anti-tourist demonstrations have done a lot of damage, especially in Palma, and the vandalism that was done to damage the Almudaina Palace in May gave very bad publicity. People are thinking twice about booking.
"If you add the road works on two of Palma's main avenues, the Paseo Marítimo and Joan Miró, along with the fact that we are one of the most expensive destinations in the Mediterranean, everything together causes a drop in bookings.
"The overall count has dropped. Germans and British are the majority among our clients, but we've noticed a significant drop in Americans, who last year were a very emerging market. Trump's tariff policies may have influenced travel decisions. On the other hand, there are higher numbers of Canadians and French."
Rosales wonders why the town hall doesn't carry out road works in the winter. "It would be better for the workers who have to deal with high temperatures and also for tourism. We don't understand why it's being done during the peak season."
He welcomes the fact, though, that the town hall has delayed implementation of the new civic ordinance for limiting the number of people in tour groups. "Reducing the number with the season already under way would have been harmful, because many excursions were already sold out. At first, they wanted to limit us to 19 people per guide, which is a ridiculous number, but now it seems it will be 35, a more logical number."
A loss of cruise ships is also blamed for a downturn in business. The tour guides association has always been against reducing the maximum number of cruises per day. And looking ahead to next year, he is concerned that facilities for caring for migrants in the port could lead to a further fall in bookings. "The image of the humanitarian drama of the small boats could have consequences. We know they need to be cared for, but given the size of the port of Palma, we don't think it's the most appropriate thing to serve them at the cruise ship arrival terminal."