Iago Negueruela, tourism minister and government spokesperson (Archive image). | Miquel À. Cañellas

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Balearic tourism minister and government spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, conceded on Monday that there is a "feeling of saturation in July and August".

Last week, the minister had not commented on this saturation, preferring to focus on the positive employment figures (he is also the employment minister). At this Monday's post-cabinet meeting press conference, he did make reference, adding that the government has adopted measures designed to address this, such as the moratorium on new tourist accommodation places.

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"We knew that this season would be good, and it is understandable that debates from 2019 are restarted. It is the case that there has been a large influx of tourists, almost like in 2019, but we have adopted measures agreed with our partners. We are the first destination in Europe where there will be no more tourist places. We have regulated cruise tourism and we continue to take steps for a seasonal adjustment of tourism."

Negueruela went on: "We must let the measures take a few years, but we are firm in saying that we must not have more tourist places. And a large part of the business community also says this." However, he recognised that the maximum number of accommodation places means that there will be a heavy concentration of tourists in July and August.

In line with what he said last week, the minister concluded that a good tourist season "is very important for the working class of these islands and for their jobs."