A glum-faced mayor on Thursday. | Pere Bota

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At Thursday's council meeting in Palma, the governing Partido Popular's proposals for tackling tourist overcrowding were voted down through a combination of Vox, who the PP rely on for support, and the three opposition parties.

Vox objected to not having been consulted before the mayor, Jaime Martínez, announced the measures on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Ignacio Esteban said that some of these measures, which include a ban on mega-cruise ships, were contrary to Vox policies. He added: "We live from tourism. Without it the young people would emigrate. But before taking measures we must be democratic. There must be consensus or there may be many repercussions."

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As for the opposition parties (PSOE, Més, Podemos), they had tabled a series of proposals that Martínez asked to be withdrawn in favour of those that he had presented. The PP and Vox voted against these proposals.

Deputy mayor, Javier Bonet, attacked the opposition. The left had governed for twelve out of sixteen years from 2007. "They have to take some blame for this situation. Why didn't they take action sooner?"

Miquel Àngel Contreras of Més referred to Martínez's electoral campaign: "He said that he wanted Palma to be the world capital of tourism. It's clear that his battery of measures are a marketing strategy."

Martínez himself said: "We will continue fighting for the interests of citizens and for coexistence between residents and tourists. This is a global problem for Spain and we will decide how to solve this problem that you (the left) have created."