The platform warns that the Balearic Port Authority’s forecasts for cruise ships in Palma in 2025 indicate that 47 more ships and over 41,000 more cruise passengers will arrive than last year, close to the all-time record of 592 stopovers set in 2019, before the pandemic. They warn that this type of tourism, “often falsely associated with the image of a prosperous economic sector and engine of growth, hides a hidden face that cannot be ignored” because of its impact, which is a problem shared by Palma with many European cities and organisations in Barcelona, Venice or Marseille.
“We affirm that a mega-cruise ship can never be sustainable,” says the organisation, which warns of the high energy demand of these ships, “incompatible with the objectives of electrification of ports, even more so in an island territory like the Balearics.” They explain that when a cruise ship is moored in port, it continues to “burn fuel, releasing pollutants that are very harmful to the city, and has a water consumption that compromises the use that the resident population can make of it”.
They add that the “massive influx of cruise passengers’ also alters the city’s business fabric, increasing the prices of housing and services, ‘touristifying’ the centre and leaving little benefit to local businesses, generally in the form of quick purchases and limited services ‘not very compatible with the life of the residents”. They point out that, according to the latest data provided by Ibestat, the average spend of a cruise passenger in transit in Palma is only around 35 euros.
The platform has also expressed its concern about the end of the agreement between the shipping companies and the government, which until now has limited the arrival at the port to three consecutive cruises, and at most one of them with a capacity of more than 5,000 passengers (a mega-cruise).
They warn that this year, in which a decision on this agreement must be made, “will be key for the future of the city”, and they claim that Palma needs “fewer and smaller cruise ships”. They insist that in order to preserve the environment and quality of life in tourist destinations “it is essential to rethink the current model of cruise ship tourism” and the future of the sector must involve “sustainability, respect for the environment and consideration for the needs of local communities”.
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Nice have banned large cruise ships. They’re ok with small upmarket cruise ships and clientele. But not large low quality ships and passengers in their premium city.