Traffic jam in Formentor, Mallorca

Formentor restrictions only apply from June to September. | MDB

Andrew EdePalma11/05/2024 12:08
TW
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Overtourism, overcrowding, roads congested, beauty spots overrun. Talk of all this is never-ending, and yet in the midst of all the agonising there are reports gladly presented in the media that reinforce the image of a wonderful island paradise with attractions just waiting to be discovered. Like Mallorca's lighthouses. One in particular; the Formentor lighthouse. Yes, the lighthouse at the end of the road highlighted for its congestion and which is subject to traffic restrictions from June to September.

According to one report, the Formentor lighthouse is one of the twenty most spectacular in Spain. Who says? Jetcost. And what is Jetcost? A price comparison website for flights ... and for hire cars.

The Balearic government and Council of Mallorca can talk till they're blue in the face about restrictive measures, but they can't stop the internet, social media and the Instagramming of Mallorca. Tourism promotion (or the lack thereof) is irrelevant when it is done in a far more intense manner than official sources could ever imagine.

But what are these restrictive measures? What are these apparently "brave" decisions that the government and Council of Mallorca so boldly announced on Friday? They are not in the least bit restrictive but, bizarrely enough, still smack of the type of 'tourismphobic' policies that the current right-wing government accused the previous left-wing government of.

Does the government hope that its right-wing credentials will play better with the public (and foreign media) than those of a bunch of lefties the Partido Popular was only too willing to excoriate when it was in opposition?

Or is the government running scared of negative publicity akin to that of the Canaries? Will a few cosmetic legislative amendments nip protest in the bud? Nope. Ibiza will have a demo on May 24; Mallorca a day later. Not, in truth, that protests make any difference. In the Canaries, bookings have risen.

There has to be more meaningful intervention. The traffic restrictions in Formentor could have been brought forward to April. Pollensa town hall had wanted this; it was ignored.