A major backlash has erupted after it emerged that up to 541 cruise liners carrying nearly two million people are set to arrive on the Spanish island of Majorca this year.
A new forecast for 2025 predicts a mass influx of tourists will arrive on cruise ships docking in Palma – the island’s main port city.
Palma is one of the top cruise ship ports in the Mediterranean, attracting millions of passengers each year, including some of the biggest cruise ships in the world.
This year, at least 47 more vessels and over 47,000 more passengers are expected to flock to the sunny island compared to last year, according to a forecast by the Balearic Port Authority’s forecast.
This has sparked fury among local campaigners who have lashed out at the swarm of extra tourists set to arrive on the polluting vessels.
One group, The Platform against Mega-Cruise Ships, has warned a “massive influx of cruise passengers” risks “touristifying” the city centre.
The organisation claims this offers little benefit to local businesses and threatens to send house prices soaring.
It warned the influx would create a culture that is “not very compatible with the life of the residents”, adding that cruise ship tourism is “often falsely associated with the image of a prosperous economic sector and engine of growth, hides a hidden face that cannot be ignored”.
The group also blasted the environmental impact of mega cruises as the ships “burn fuel, releasing pollutants that are very harmful to the city, and has a water consumption that compromises the use that the resident population can make of it”.
However, this comes as Majorcan officials consider restrictions to reduce the number of cruise ships arriving in Palma’s port.
Overtourism has become a serious concern for officials on the island, with a growing local backlash against holidaymakers.
In 2021, the Balearic Government agreed with cruise operators to cut the number of ships arriving to three per day until 2026 with only one being allowed to carry more than 5,000 passengers and a weekly limit was established.
This agreement was valid for five years and will soon expire, prompting the parliamentary commission for tourism to urge the government to resume negotiations for a renewal of the agreement which could possibily see harsher limits.
It was agreed that on average 2,500 passengers would arrive per day. The agreement which was intended to reduce the number of “mega” cruise ships intended to stagger ship arrivals.
