May and June are the months chosen by some lines to launch the new season, but all this depends on the Balearic Government.
The shipping companies Costa, Aida, TUI, MSC, Norwegian, Pullmantur and the rest of the companies have not operated in the Balearics since mid-March 2020.
Faced with this situation and the fact that vaccination campaigns in Europe will increase in the coming months, they are already putting pressure on the Government and the Balearic Port Authority (APB) announcing sailings for May, June and July.
Palma has made it clear that the ban on cruise ships in the Balearics “comes from Madrid, but has admitted that it is true that there is business concern about restarting cruises.
The Balearic Port Authority, chaired by former President of the Balearics, Francesc Antich, is proceeding with extreme caution, even more so with all the negotiations and monitoring closely how the cruise lines are to complying with all the health protocols imposed by the European Union. Antich said: “It is important to recover economic activity, but this has to be done with sustainable and environmental criteria considering the current situation.”
He confirmed that they have received requests to dock in Palma from cruise lines but, he explained, that they are suddenly cancelled due to a lack of booking.”
He is in constant contact with the cruise lines “so that all health protocols are complied with when de-escalation occurs.”
The contacts that the APB has maintained for months with the central government and the International Association of Cruise Lines CLIA “is continuous and all possible scenarios are being considered, but with sustainability the main issue.”
Antich said that one thing is clear, as far as the Balearic government is concerned, having six or seven cruise ships in the port of Palma at any one time during the pandemic will not be repeated - if ever.
The Balearic Port Authority is also well aware of the mixed local opinions about the impact of the cruise industry.
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@Mark Radoer. Mallorca (Palma) makes a fortune from cruise ships. Do you know how many people are employed managing their visits, or the berthing fees and taxes they're charged. What about the refuse collection, and re-vitualling they conduct while their here. Even if nobody ever even disembarked from the ships, they make millions.
It's funny: we have to drive 80km/hr on the Via Cintura and maybe soon all of Mallorca....to combat pollution, yet these fumes spitting monsters, that guzzle fuel, water and waste millions of tonnes of food a year just to entertain some holiday makers, that is all cool. Next to the ski slope in the middle of the desert in Dubai, Cruise ships are the most obscene inventions ever. What a weird world we live in.