In 2022, supply problems meant that there weren't enough boats to meet summer demand in Mallorca. The opposite is the case this year - supply has been restored, but demand has fallen.
Jaume Vaquer, president of the AENIB association of nautical businesses, attributes this lower demand to economic uncertainty in Europe, though he adds that there has been a return to "pre-pandemic normality". "This year we are paying for the uncertainty and inflation of last year. It was not normal that in the midst of the economic shock caused by the war in Ukraine there should be the euphoria that there was because of the sale of nautical products and services."
The pandemic is a factor in the fall in the demand. As happened with mountain activities, there was a boom in demand for recreational boating during the pandemic; it was a way of ensuring social distance and of avoiding contagion.
Carlos Petisco of the Escuela de Mar explains: "People who had never been interested in the possibility of renting a boat discovered the sea. Many realised that for a more than reasonable price, they could spend a day at sea with a boat and they took a liking to it. Now the demand has dropped. It's a natural cycle."
Even so, the Balearic Islands, as is generally the case, are the national leader in terms of boat registrations - 685 recreational boats were registered over the first six months of the year, a decrease of 4.7% compared with the same period of 2022. And for dry docks in Mallorca there are waiting lists.
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