The mayor of Majorca‘s capital city has called for a national plan to restrict cruise ship visitor numbers. Palma’s mayor, Jaime Martínez, called for a Spain-wide strategy so demand can be spread between ports across the country. The call comes after Pedro Homar, who manages Palma’s tourist board, said the city limiting cruises would only push cruise ships to Cartagena. He added: “As a country, we are only moving cruises from one port to another.”
Mr Martínez said a national strategy would address Spain’s cruise ship overtourism problem, arguing it isn’t enough for each destination to take measures on their own, according to an Express translation of comments published by the Spanish news outlet Ultima Hora on Tuesday (June 3).
The same publication reports that it has been a year since the same mayor announced a series of proposals to limit tourist numbers.
One of those was to charge cruise passengers taxes – one when they arrive and another just to get into Majorca’s capital city.
Mr Martínez recently told Javier Sanz, president of the ports authority Autoritat Portuària, that existing port fees for cruises should be raised.
But polticians voted against a raft of proposals aimed at curbing overtourism, including one put forward in April which reproduced the mayor’s ideas word for word.
The island authorities have limited powers to curb cruise ship numbers, with authority to do so resting with other administrations.
Undeterred, Palma increased the price of water supplied to cruise ships in a bid to influence the market.
Supporters of the measure argued that low prices were encouraging cruise ship companies to want to stop in Palma for refuelling.
Instead, the island wants to replace giant cruise ships with smaller vessels, which tend to be much more expensive so attracting wealtheir visitors with more purchasing power.
In May, seven ships carrying fewer than 500 passengers docked at Palma’s port, according to Ultima Hora.
These were Ilma (456 people), Europa (408), Club Med 2 (394), Evrima (298), Le Laperouse (184), Hebridean Sky (118), and Seadream I (113).
Travelling on some of these exclusive ships can cost up to £9,200 (11,000 euros) per person, according to the same publication.
Ilma and Evrima are from The Ritz-Carlton collection. These mega-yachts boast private suites, gourmet restaurants, spas and shops with luxury brands.
They use idyllic images of tranquil, solitary sunsets at sea and highlight a less-crowded journey as part of their attraction.
