The Spanish Government has responded to a charge made by the Balearic Government that it copied tourism containment measures adopted in the Balearics.
According to the secretary of state for tourism's office, the entire containment programme outlined in the Spanish Government's Sustainable Tourism Strategy 2030 document was drafted in October 2022, several months before the Partido Popular won the elections in the Balearics. The secretary of state is Mallorcan Rosario Sánchez, who held senior government positions when Francina Armengol of PSOE was Balearic president.
The PP president, Marga Prohens, has made positive references to tourism containment in recent weeks, but Sánchez's office points out that no contributions to the 2030 strategy were received from the Balearics when they were asked for last year. All of Spain's regions were invited to contribute.
The eight key areas of the Spanish Government's strategy include social and environmental sustainability, digitalisation, improved tourist mobility and differentiated tourist destinations (mature, established, emerging).
Both President Prohens and the Balearic tourism minister, Jaume Bauzá, recently pointed to a lower Human Pressure Index in August as evidence of containment. While peak HPI in the Balearics was down slightly for the Balearics as a whole, it increased in Mallorca.