Conservation organisations such as the Platform Against Mega-Cruise Ships and the environmental group GOB have been fighting against mass tourism in the Balearics for years. Menys Turisme Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life) is the latest to join their demands. They are fighting against cruise ships not only because of the congestion they cause in the Balearic capital, but also because of their environmental impact due to their emissions and their energy and water consumption.
The cruise season in Palma has only just begun. If the forecasts of the Balearic Port Authority are correct, this May up to 65 cruise ships will dock in city, 4.84% more than in the same month last year. In 2021, the Balearic Government reached an agreement with shipping agents limiting stopovers from 2022 onwards. According to the document regulating this agreement, only one mega-cruise ship and two smaller vessels may be in Palma at the same time. Why, then, were there five ships full of cruise passengers in the Balearic capital on both 29 April and 2 May? The framework agreement has small print. Although it establishes a weekly limit of 8,500 cruise passengers per day, ships with fewer than 500 seats do not count towards the limit.
Seven of the ships that docked in the city last week had a capacity for 500 passengers. Four had more than 5,000 and eleven have between 501 and 4,999 passengers, according to data from the Balearic Port Authority. The largest to arrive was the Marella Explorer 2, with a capacity for 6,780 people, and the smallest was the Emerald Sakara, with a capacity for 100. Both the regional government and the association for cruise companies assure that they are complying scrupulously with the agreement.
The cruise ships that have docked in Palma in the last seven days had a capacity for 58,255 passengers. If we divide this figure by seven days, we get an average of 8,322 passengers, 178 people below the maximum limit. The truth is that the APB does not have a real-time count of the number of cruise passengers arriving at the port, so, in the absence of occupancy data from the shipping agents, the figures we have refer to the total passenger capacity of the ships.
If the APB’s forecasts for 2025 are met, cruise arrivals in Palma will grow by 4.84% this year. Between January and December 2025, 551 ships will arrive with a capacity for more than 1.8 million passengers. This is 47 ships and 41,085 cruise passengers more than in 2024. Although the number of stopovers is increasing exponentially, the truth is that pre-pandemic levels have not yet been recovered. The all-time high was recorded in 2019 when 592 cruise ships arrived in Palma.
It was then that the Platform against Megacruise Ships was created, calling for a limit on ships with more than 5,000 passengers. Two years later, the regional government announced what is considered a historic agreement, which came into force in January 2022 and is valid for five years, expiring in 2027. Given that companies plan their routes one to two years in advance, the document limiting cruise ships should be renewed shortly to prevent it from lapsing.
The Regional Minister for Tourism, Jaume Bauzà, recently stated that his intention is to renew the framework agreement before it expires, incorporating new sustainability and efficiency requirements. He argues that the agreement is currently being complied with. However, conservation groups accuse shipping companies of failing to comply with the current agreement and are calling for Palma to follow the model of Venice, which since August 2021 has banned ships over 180 metres in length and over 25,000 tonnes from sailing in its waters.
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Horrific!! These type of tourists pay for all inclusive packages on their super polluting, water guzzling ships. They rarely buy as much as an ice cream in Palma, but their impact is immense - swamping the streets in their thousands and driving away tourists and visitors, who might actually like to eat in a restaurant or shop. For God’s sake at least limit them - 3 a day is too many, but 5 spells the death of Palma. Venice and Amsterdam have learned the hard way. But at least they’ve banned them now. For some reason those in power here seem not to listen to even moderate voices when it comes to over tourism. This will end in disaster.
Marella Explorer 2 does not have a capacity of 6,780 passengers, its 1,814. Reporting on such a sensitive subject surely requires cursory fact checking before pouring fuel on the fire.
These ships bring millions in passenger spending to the islands. They don't just turn up, they book these visits well in advance. How about limiting the beggars who torment the holiday makers, always room for them
Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyYou are fully right. At best the cruise ship passengers by a coffee, or an ice cream, or some fridge magnets from the Africans - they don't even buy a lunch, because they dash back to the ship in time for a late buffet. They bring almost zero economic benefit to the island, but they do bring significant extra pedestrian congestion in the old town and on the roads if they board a bus for a brief excursion to some poor town like Valdemossa or Soller.
In PalmaRubbish. Try walking the streets of the old town on a day when there are 3-4 cruise ships in port. It is chaos.
In PalmaBecause Santorini allow this amount of ships to their island, it's totally ok for Mallorca to receive this amount of tourists? To me there is no reason to follow stupidity.
Alba ScotiaSo government wants to limit tourists and then allow 3 cruiseships to arrive at the same time! Or actually not seem to limit the ships at all. But happily talk about limiting flights to the island. People staying for a week or two, I believe add more to the local establishments but not that much, if any, to the government, more than thet tourist tax. I assume the ships pay a lot more into the coffer. Its not Mallorcas duty to cater for people just because they spend big money to cruise.
Some Greek islands (e g Santorini) receive daily number of cruise ship passengers close to the population size. If Palma received more than 300.000 cruise passengers per day, it would probably be crowded but only 10-20-000 daily is a minuscule number in comparison…
Alba ScotiaAlba has no idea of travel business in general.
'The truth is that the APB does not have a real-time count of the number of cruise passengers arriving at the port' Surely the cruise ships have to submit a passenger manifest in advance of arrival?? How can a ship dock with the authorities having no idea whether there are 500 or 5,000 passengers on board?