Tourism

Freeze sought on new licences for cruise ship docking

Cruise ships docked in Palma's port. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma25/02/2020 15:38

The Balearic government is to request that the Balearic Ports Authority, as a matter of urgency, applies a freeze on new licences for cruise ships to dock in Palma. This would take effect in 2022 and is with the expectation that an agreement can be reached with the Spanish government for regulating the number of cruise ships which dock in Palma.

The tourism and environment ministers, Iago Negueruela and Miquel Mir, explained on Tuesday that this suspension of licences would be within the framework of negotiations for regulating cruise ships. Mir noted that the Balearics would be the first region in Spain to adopt such a measure.

Negueruela observed that there have been high-level discussions with the cruise industry since last July. These have involved the two government ministries, Palma town hall, the ports authority and the Cruise Lines International Association. He added that he was sure that agreement will be reached with cruise operators, who have shown their "predisposition to protect the Balearics main sector and achieve a more sustainable tourism".

Mir said that there was a need for "effective and real staggering" of ships in Palma. Within the context of the climate emergency and given the particular vulnerability of the Balearics, the government is taking environmental measures, "one of which is the request to the ports authority for this moratorium".