Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
Entertainment
Rita Sobot & Milo Boyd & Aaron Morris

Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca to limit holidaymakers over summer months

Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza are all following Lanzarote in plotting how to prevent so many Brits visiting the popular tourist traps.

The Balearic Islands Government has announced that they will install an 'absolute ceiling' when it comes to future tourist numbers.

Last year alone, 16,475,579 holidaymakers landed on the Spanish islands' shores - a figure which will be the maximum come the future. The figure is just 397 fewer than 2019 - before the global coronavirus pandemic - and 76,000 fewer than 2018's all-time high.

Read more: Ryanair and easyJet passengers warned of flight cancellations and delays for holidays

The Mirror reports that tourist chiefs will try and reduce the impact of tourism by encouraging people to visit at the different times of the year and try out less popular areas. Spanish newspaper Ultimahora.es said the plan was to cut visitor numbers in the summer months, when 'the feeling of saturation has become suffocating for both residents and tourists'.

It comes hot off the heels of similar proposals announced last week by officials in Lanzarote, which declared itself 'saturated'. The Canary Island's tourism bosses want to limit tourists and get away from dependency on the Brits who currently represent 50 per cent of the market.

The island wants to attract less tourists who spend more, putting 'quality before quantity'. Iago Negueruela, minister of tourism for the Balearic Islands, said: “We believe that it is feasible to have more occupancy with fewer tourists.

"The number of visits reached this year is a maximum that should not be exceeded but should tend to decrease. There must be a clear trend towards the reduction of tourist places."

As with Lanzarote, however, precise details of how numbers will be controlled or limited have not yet been revealed. Tourist bed numbers in the Balearics are also likely to be cut and it has previously been suggested that lower standard hotels of one or two stars might be closed down.

Read next:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.