Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

When a hotelier opines that the reason for overtourism is obvious and doesn't include hotels in the equation, it is understandable if he comes in for some criticism. Last weekend, Pep Cañellas, the founder and president of the Fergus Group, accepted that the hotel sector is often "demonised" and went on to reinforce this - in the eyes of some - by saying that holiday rentals, both legal and illegal, and second homes are the obvious reason for overtourism.

In respect of holiday rentals he wasn't saying anything that other hoteliers (and not only hoteliers) have stated. Where he differed from colleagues in the hotel sector was in specifying legal rentals as well as illegal. Those colleagues might well share his view, but they have avoided coming out with it as overtly as Cañellas did. They have also tended to gloss over second homes, which are an often overlooked factor in Mallorca's tourism.

Cañellas added that he was in favour of degrowth if applied to that part of tourism "we are least interested in preserving". Observing that the "real problem" lies with everyone wanting to "rent out granny's house" to a tourist, it was pretty clear what he meant.

Tourism rejection is "natural"

Lourdes Royo, a professor of architectural history at the University of Seville, was in Palma for a conference about tourism and historic cities. Her research into this relationship over twenty years has focused on Seville and Malaga but it is applicable to Palma. She said: "There are imbalances. Destinations have become objects of desire but are showing signs of fragility and exhaustion. And coexistence is suffering ... It is natural that there is a rejection by residents because there is conflict. The rights to housing and rest are being compromised."

Royo concluded that the model of tourism needs to be rethought, something which has been said by many others. The rejection, and not just in Palma of course, has resulted in the protests, more of which can be expected. The Menys Turisme, Més Vida platform perhaps surprisingly didn't use World Tourism Day last Friday to hold a demonstration, but they issued a press release saying it was a day when there are speeches that "deny, minimise or actively ignore the denunciation of social, environmental and climatic impacts".

Tourist tax to go up

Suggesting that there will be more actions during the autumn, the platform restated their demands, some of which have been echoed by news over the past few days. They want a ban on private jets, which Greenpeace have called for, and they want an increase in the tourist tax. Més in Mallorca, offering their support to the government in seeking an exemption from payment of the tax by Balearic residents, argued the case for a doubling of the rate. PSOE, also in opposition, offered qualified backing for an increase, former tourism minister Iago Negueruela suggesting that an increase might be specific rather than general, but without going into detail.

Negueruela pointed out that there haven't been exemptions for residents because of EU rules on non-discrimination. He was also of the opinion that the Partido Popular government will consider an increase, despite the PP having opposed the introduction of the tax back in 2016. The PP parliamentary spokesperson, Sebastiá Sagreras, intimated that an increase would be a matter for one of the social and political pact for sustainability working parties to consider. But lo and behold, President Prohens announced the following day that the tax will rise next year, but only for June to August. She didn't say by how much.

A new railway for Mallorca

Other working parties are taking account of studies into carrying capacities, such as for the islands' roads. These capacities reflected two other demands by Menys Turisme, Més Vida to do with improvements to public transport and limits on the number of vehicles. Both were very much centre stage during parliament's debate on the state of the regional community, an annual debate about policies and an opportunity for the government to announce major initiatives ahead of the annual budget bill.

The president didn't let us down by unveiling a government stellar project that will be out for public consultation later this month. In addressing both the need for public transport improvements and road congestion, Prohens promised a new railway from Palma to Llucmajor via the airport. Mobility studies, she explained, indicate that this would have 7.5 million passengers per year.

A question arising from this is where the investment will come from. An infrastructure project on this scale is normally something for state funding. The scheme for the tram, seemingly abandoned, cannot provide the funds, as the Spanish government sets aside investment for specific projects. If the money for the tram isn't used, there isn't any money.

Vehicle limits?

Prohens referred to the carrying capacity studies in stating that measures to tackle tourist overcrowding will be presented in February next year. With so much emphasis having been placed on the roads in the debate, a tentative conclusion is that there may well be moves to limit vehicle numbers. In which case this would mean fewer hire cars.

Menys Turisme, Més Vida and Pep Cañellas of Fergus both in a way could have drawn some satisfaction from another Prohens announcement. There is to be a ban on new apartments for holiday rental. The president specifically said that the ban will be on new tourist accommodation places in apartments, but it amounted to the same thing. The caveat with this is that this ban will follow a lifting of the current moratorium on the granting of places (beds) in all tourist accommodation. There are many who would prefer the moratorium to stay in place.

Having rather pre-empted certain potential conclusions of the working parties, Prohens also veered off the path understood to have been set by the draft budget for 2025. Always assuming that the PP can muster sufficient parliamentary support for the budget (a big if), there will be record spending next year. It will be above the 6,366 million euros in 2024, but it won't include, for instance, a revised estimated revenue from the tourist tax.

Limiting the population

Overcrowding clearly isn't just due to overtourism. The growth in the Balearic population is the highest, in relative terms, in the country. An opinion survey, admittedly in the context of all the discussion about the tourism model, has found that 70% of residents of Mallorca are in favour of setting limits on population growth.

The survey by the Homo Turisticus platform covered 45 of Mallorca's 53 municipalities. Joan Enric Capellà, who founded this quasi-think tank, said that tourism determines the model of population and that if this model is to be changed, then tourism needs to change. Capellà pointed out that "what people would like is one thing, what can be done is another". In other words, how could population limits be applied? Nevertheless, this was an interesting finding in that opinion had been sought about the resident population, which is a question not often asked.

Nearly 2,000 new homes for affordable rent

The population does of course have to be housed, and one of the government's initiatives for affordable homes appears to be bearing fruit. This is Build to Rent, which involves town halls ceding land for free for developers to build homes that will be rented out at 'limited prices' determined by the government; the developers will receive the rents for a maximum of 75 years.

Six town halls have signed up to this - Andratx, Calvia, Felanitx, Palma, Santanyi and Soller - and an estimated 1,800 homes will be built. It just so happens that these town halls are all run by the Partido Popular. Are town halls which aren't PP giving the scheme the cold shoulder? Not necessarily. The housing minister, José Luis Mateo, has identified Manacor as one with which the government is holding talks; Manacor has a Més mayor.

The bulk of these new homes, which won't start to be built until 2026, are in Palma (roughly two-thirds of the total). In Felanitx there are only five.

The need for more affordable homes has been highlighted by the growth in the renting out of rooms, especially in Palma. The API Association of Real Estate Agents has criticised some "bad practice" that circumvents obligations under the tenancy act. Whole properties are being rented out in this way. It isn't like taking in a lodger to help make ends meet, it is business that can make more than by just renting out an apartment or a house. "Totally unfair competition," says the association's former president, Natalia Bueno.