Jason MoorePalma13/07/2019 09:29
TW

In the end the local authorities will have little option but to put a cap on the number of cruise ships visiting the port of Palma during the peak months. But they should take some figures into account; 70 percent of all shop sales in Palma are to tourists; a big percentage of restaurant and bar takings are from tourists.

You can safely say that cruise ship passengers make up a sizeable part of these percentages. If a cap is set it will send out the wrong message; Palma no longer wants cruise ships will be the headline over the story. At the moment campaigners want a cap of 4,000 passengers per day set. This is almost impossible because in some cases there are more than this figure on a single ship. Is Palma overcrowded?

Well, yes on peak days. It is difficult to walk around because of the sheer volume of people and there are queues everywhere from cash machines to shops and there does appear to be a shortage of taxis. But at a time when the local tourist industry is suffering does Palma really want to go down this route and kiss goodbye to revenue? It is a difficult question but I sincerely hope that common sense will prevail.

Fewer ships but on more days is the answer and perhaps the excellent cruise ship terminal at Alcudia could be promoted. It has taken many years to build up the Majorcan tourist industry. It is unthinkable that anyone would have even considered sending tourists away 10 years ago. Times have changed but our economy is the same; tourism is needed.