The Majorca Daily Bulletin reports that “Under the renewal of the memorandum of understanding signed by the Balearic Government, Palma Town Hall and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), there will be a maximum of three cruise ships per day and a reduction in the number of passengers in the main season. These will come down from 8,500 maximum per day to 7,500. The estimated monthly reduction is therefore around 30,000.
Alfredo Serrano (pictured), is the CLIA’s director in Spain. He says it is too early to quantify what impact these measures will have on cruise operators; they are effective from 2027 to 2029. “There are stopover requests that will need to be modified. The companies will have to adapt, but it’s not yet possible to measure the final effect.”
A reason for this memorandum of understanding is the view that cruise ships exacerbate tourist overcrowding. To this, Serrano says “it is important to remember that we’re talking about voluntary self-regulation agreed upon with the authorities”. “When a passenger disembarks, they are just another tourist, and it’s impossible to distinguish them from someone staying in a hotel. While cruise ship activity in Palma has fallen between 15 and 16% compared to before the pandemic, other tourism segments have continued to grow. If only one sector reduces its activity, residents will hardly perceive any decrease in tourist pressure.”
As it is, the forecast for this year is that there will be fewer cruise passengers than in 2025, Serrano pointing out that there are approximately 1.4 million over the course of the year, “with higher concentrations in spring and autumn”.
