Welcoming the Balearic government's recent statements and measures, Frontera insisted that decisions must be made "based on objective data and not certain ideologies". When there was a change of government last year, the hoteliers asked for "a clear picture" of the situation in the whole of the Balearics with data to indicate carrying capacities in each municipality.
She added that current problems are not new and that the hoteliers have been calling for "a transformation process" for several years. "Seeking a balance of coexistence between residents and visitors has long been an issue on these islands."
"We all saw it and we have asked that it be managed better. But governments tend to be more reactive than preventive." Hotelier proposals have included "diverting tourist flows" and better public transport in order to improve mobility.
Frontera accepted that it will be difficult to find remedies "in the short term", given the level of "saturation" that already exists and the forecasts for the high season.
In the Balearic parliament, meanwhile, President Marga Prohens said that she has "always" defended the limitation of tourism growth and that her government's programme advocates a transformation of the tourism model so that it grows in value, not in volume.
She accused the previous government of having done "absolutely nothing" to tackle the illegal supply of tourist accommodation. "I am proud to be the president of a tourist region and precisely because of this, I believe in tourism and the economic model. The time has come to set the limits that you (the opposition) did not set."
Former tourism minister, Iago Negueruela of PSOE, said that Prohens had changed her position over the course of less than a year by now continuing the moratorium on tourist accommodation places and maintaining the limits on cruise ships in Palma. Her government "is maintaining practically all the policies of Francina Armengol's government because they (the Partido Popular) do not know how to do anything new."
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Absolutely. The tourist capacity of a few illegal rentals, particularly if the authorities simply check ETV numbers and fine the offenders (since the fines are huge) are minimal. I believe a recent story in MDB quoted around 8000. Compare that to the hundreds of thousands of hotel beds and it’s a drop in the ocean. Each of these giant hotels can house thousands. Multiply that number and you are talking serious numbers of tourists - and cash for the hotel owners. Hotel owners wanting limits??? That’s like turkeys voting for Christmas. If the government want to really tackle over tourism, they need to tackle the hotels. Now that would be radical - and make an actual difference.
The hoteliers federation are all in favour of 'tackling tourist overcrowding' if it means reducing holiday flat rentals. But are not so keen if it means less hotels. Basically they're in favour of anything that puts more money in their pockets.