Data from the National Statistics Institute's Frontur surveys of tourist movement indicate that the number of tourists who claim to be staying with family or friends has more than doubled over the past ten years.
In 2014 there were one million in the Balearics. In 2023 there were 2.2 million. The figures are open to question as they disguise the number of visitors who stay at illegal holiday lets. People say they are with family or friends when in reality they are not.
Wherever they are in fact staying, this category of visitor grew by more than 100% over a period when total tourist numbers rose by 32% from 13.5 million in 2014 to 17.8 million in 2023.
In addition, the number of people staying at their second homes on the islands increased from 780,451 in 2014 to 975,800 last year - a 25% increase.
These are figures that feed into the whole debate about overtourism, which led the Balearic government to launch its initiative for a social and political pact for sustainability in the spring.
A key feature of this initiative is a website for citizen consultation. Findings from this website will be used by a series of working parties examining different areas of sustainability. It is now live, the areas including (as examples) tourism strategy, transport and social sustainability.
In her introduction on the website, President Marga Prohens refers to "response to the complex challenges arising from climate change, resource scarcity and other global megatrends that affect the Balearic Islands and, especially, their tourism system".
The website's address is: https://pacteperlasostenibilitat.org
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They are staying in the illegal properties the Spanish operate.
That's the problem with foreigners. Once you let one in, the whole family and all their friends show up. And then they have the audacity to claim they're staying with "friends and family". There's an old saying, "you don't know how many friends you have until you have a house in Mallorca".
It's a disgrace that Mallorca is forcing some holidaymakers to lie about the status of their trips just to spend time on the island. The whole letting-to-tourists law needs reviewing.