Tourism chiefs in the Balearic Islands could ban cars from the smaller islands during the summer months as the region braces for a record number of visitors.
The islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, which have a population of 1.1 million, are expecting 13.5 million visitors this year.
Officials in Ibiza and Formentera say they may have to stop tourists arriving in cars to avoid gridlock, following the example of the Italian resort island of Capri. In peak season there are as many as 20,000 cars on Formentera, which is 19km long.
Last year 65 million people visited Spain, 20 million more than the number of inhabitants. Numbers are already up on 2015 as terrorist attacks in Tunisia and Egypt have driven tourists back to European destinations.
Traffic jams are not the only problem. Local officials and environmentalists say the islands are close to the point where they will have neither the water nor the energy resources to meet demand.
Menorca, for example, was declared a biosphere reserve in 1993 and environmentalists say it cannot sustain more than 200,000 visitors on any one day, in addition to its 86,000 permanent residents. However, it exceeded that number on more than one occasion last year.
Cruise ships are adding to the pressure. On a single day last week, 22,000 passengers disembarked from cruise ships in Palma, the Mallorcan capital.
Over 500 cruises are expected to dock in Palma this year, carrying 1.5 million passengers.
Biel Barceló, vice-president of the Balearics tourism ministry, said: “We are encouraging cruise operators to take passengers on excursions to other parts of the island to avoid overcrowding the old town of Palma.”
Mallorca airport is also struggling to cope. Designed to deal with a maximum of 66 flights an hour, officials say in the high season this may rise to as many as 100.
Joan Gual de Torrella, president of the Balearic port authority, agreed that pressure needed to be taken off Palma, but added: “It would be a mistake to think that we would benefit from limiting the number of tourists.”
Tourism is by far the biggest industry in the Balearics, accounting for nine out of every €10 of GDP, and any attempt to curb it comes into conflict with powerful forces in the hotel and travel industry, as the Barcelona mayor, Ada Colau, discovered when she attempted to impose a moratorium on new hotels in the city. Schemes for new hotels were pushed though and contracts signed before her election.
With 9 million tourists last year, Barcelona is also reaching saturation point, especially as tourism is concentrated in only a small part of the city. Its airport is also the point of entry for the 18 million visitors who are expected in Catalonia this year.
Barceló said that taking in more and more tourists doesn’t necessarily bring economic benefits. “In the 1980s, when the Balearics had 6 million visitors, it was the region with the highest per capita income in Spain. Now, with 13 million, it has dropped to seventh place,” he said.
Meanwhile, Spain continues to lead the world as a seaside resort destination, with 586 beaches awarded blue flag status, nine more than last year.
