The President of the Balearics, Marga Prohens, defended in the Regional Parliament on Tuesday ‘zero growth’ in tourist accommodation and a ban on new holiday flats in all municipalities as the cornerstones of her strategy to curb tourism, in response to a question from Més regarding overcrowding on the islands.
Prohens has attributed the current pressure from tourism to eight years of left-wing governments, during which, she emphasised, 115,000 new tourist beds were approved and tourist rentals in multi-family dwellings were permitted for the first time. In contrast, she argued, her administration has been working “since the start of the legislative term” on policies to curb tourism.
Among the measures cited, he highlighted the limitation of accommodation capacity through “zero growth”, the ban on new tourist flats in all municipalities, and the removal of illegal listings on platforms, which correspond to some 60,000 beds that were being marketed without control under the PSIB and Més governments.
She also recalled the agreement to reduce the number of monthly cruise passengers by 30,000 in July and August, as part of the strategy to ease tourist pressure during the high season. Furthermore, she criticised Més for its open support for the central PSOE government regarding the expansion of Ibiza airport, which will double its current capacity.
The spokesperson for Més per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, stated that the current regional government has not implemented a single measure in three years to tackle this crisis. The Balearics will reach 20 million visitors this year and 18,000 vehicles will be rented out every day again this year, he stated.
He warned that the increase in traffic is hampering residents’ daily mobility, with situations where “people cannot get home in towns such as Soller or Valldemossa, or even to the airport”, whilst the number of cars arriving by ferry is growing every day.
Apesteguia noted that the pressure from tourism is also reflected in the use of basic resources and public services, with incidents of water cuts in towns, public transport being “packed with tourists” and the closure of traditional restaurants and bars, to the detriment of residents. In his view, the current tourism model is driving people away and creating job insecurity, with no effective measures being taken to reverse this situation.