Humphrey CarterPalma11/05/2018 00:00
TW
2

Proposals put forward by ecologists and residential groups to restrict the number of cruise ships in the Port of Palma to two at a time make sense to me. A number of popular ports around the Mediterranean have, and are, taking similar steps to ease the human and environmental footprint the cruise industry has.

I have always been somewhat sceptical about how much money cruise passengers spend while they are in Palma. According to friends of mine who own shops and eateries, it's very little. Only the other day I was told how passengers are shepherded around Palma by a tour guide brandishing a 'follow me sign', clogging up the quaint little back streets of the old part of the city and given no time to stop, investigate the shops and perhaps make a purchase.

The big money makers are the state and a handful of companies which service and supply the cruise ships. The Balearic government, which on the quiet would like to see cruise ship ports of call spread out more in order to avoid having six liners on one day and 20,000 passengers yomping around the capital, unfortunately has little direct say in the matter. The decisions are made by central government in Madrid.

The regional government can exert pressure and lobby the political skippers but can do little else to reduce port traffic and pollution. It can, however, hike the tourist tax on cruise passengers.