Majorca has seen tourist numbers rise ahad of the summer season, despite it being low season and recent talks of protests — but it is not due to British travellers
A Spanish island has seen tourist numbers rocket and it is not because of British visitors.
Figures from the National Statistics Institute’s Frontur survey of tourist movements show there was an 8.15 per cent rise in the number of tourists who visited Majorca in February of this year, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. In total, 322,033 tourists made it to the popular sunny destination.
The Balearics as a whole experienced a 4.4 per cent rise compared with February last year. Majorca’s tourism is usually dependent on German and Spanish visitors during the low season. In total, 137,826 people from Germany visited in February, which is a year-on-year increase of almost 13 percent. The total rise of German visitors thorough the entirety of 2024 was 10.2 per cent.
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The number of Spanish tourists fell by 2.6 per cent, while the UK tourist total equalled 18,874, down 7.7 per cent. In January, UK tourism in Majorca also dropped by almost 30 per cent. The new stats follow recent reports of price hikes in Majorca, causing Brits to ‘abandon’ the destination. Increasing marina costs have also hit the multi-million pound yacht industry, one industry leader claimed.
Alex Casares said that the smaller yacht operators were mostly struggling to pay the rising costs, while the larger vessels “have no economic problems”.
“Yachts are leaving Majorca because of the high price of marinas,” the president of the Association for the Nautical Development of Businesses and the Self-Employed. “This especially affects boats between 15 and 30 metres in length.”
His comments follow a wave of protests on the island over concerns about the impact of overtourism. Thousands took to the streets in Palma, the island’s capital, in July to demonstrate about the impact of mass tourism. One political party even urged officials to slash the number of beds available for tourists by 40 percent and introduce a cap on annual visitor numbers.
Also in Majorca, more than 180,000 hotel, restaurant, bar and nightlife venue workers are poised to hit the streets and potentially strike in May.
Two unions in Majorca, UGT, and CCOO, are planning to hold a large May Day rally and to take further action, which could involve strikes if talks do not progress, following two months of negotiations about salary increases, shorter working hours, and flexible work conditions.
According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, negotiations for the revised hospitality industry collective bargaining agreement have caused employers and unions to become more distanced than ever, with the unions claiming that employers’ proposals are a step backwards and “are pushing us toward conflict”.
