Three more Spanish holiday hotspots are to enforce limits of how many Brits can visit this summer.
Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza, will have an "absolute ceiling" of tourist numbers, according to the Balearic Islands government. Instead, tourists chiefs will work to encourage visitors to come throughout the year and to stay in less saturated areas.
The future maximum number of holidaymakers will be 16,475,579, the same amount that arrived on the islands in 2022. This figure is just 397 less seen in the pre-Covid year 2019, and 76,000 fewer than in 2018 which had a record high number of tourists.
Spanish newspaper Ultimahora.es reports that visitor numbers will be reduced during the high summer months when "the feeling of saturation has become suffocating for both residents and tourists".
The news comes as similar proposals announced last week by authorities in Lanzarote, who described the island as "saturated", reports the Mirror. 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.
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