Under the renewal of the memorandum of understanding signed by the Balearic Government, Palma Town Hall and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), there will be a maximum of three cruise ships per day and a reduction in the number of passengers in the main season. These will come down from 8,500 maximum per day to 7,500. The estimated monthly reduction is therefore around 30,000. Alfredo Serrano, is the CLIA’s director in Spain. He says it is too early to quantify what impact these measures
will have on cruise operators; they are effective from 2027 to 2029. “There are stopover requests that will need to be modified. The companies will have to adapt, but it’s not yet possible to measure the final effect.” A reason for this memorandum of understanding is the view that cruise ships exacerbate tourist overcrowding. To this, Serrano says “it is important to remember that we’re talking about voluntary self-regulation agreed upon with the authorities”. “When a passenger disembarks, they are just another tourist, and it’s
impossible to distinguish them from someone staying in a hotel. While cruise ship activity in Palma has fallen between 15 and 16% compared to before the pandemic, other tourism segments have continued to grow. If only one sector reduces its activity, residents will hardly perceive any decrease in tourist pressure.” As it is, the forecast for this year is that there will be fewer cruise passengers than in 2025, Serrano pointing out that there are approximately 1.4 million over the course of the year, “with
higher concentrations in spring and autumn”. The memorandum proposes distributing passengers to other municipalities in Mallorca. “The island offers much more than Palma’s historic centre, and many cruise passengers are already familiar with the city. There is a significant percentage, especially Germans and Italians, who could discover other parts of the island. We need to better understand their travel patterns and work together on promotion and mobility to facilitate this distribution. It’s an opportunity to diversify tourist spending and alleviate pressure on the most crowded
areas.” And what of spending? Serrano insists that the argument about low spending by cruise passengers is a myth. “The spending of someone who stays for a few hours obviously cannot be compared to that of someone who spends several days in a hotel. But during their time in the city, cruise passengers spend money in restaurants and shops and on transport and cultural activities.” He accepts that the CLIA doesn’t have updated studies on spending, while noting that the most recent in Mallorca was
by the university several years. “That gave expenditure of between 60 and 65 euros per person in 2013. Furthermore, there is a significant financial impact while ships are docked, which is often overlooked – provisioning, port services, maintenance, repairs, crew transport, and the many contracts that cruise lines have with local businesses.” There are certain new environmental requirements in the memorandum, such as limiting water supply in case of drought and prioritising the most sustainable ships. Serrano says the industry is not only prepared for
these but is ahead of the game. “98% of ships can produce potable water on board, recycling and waste treatment systems are very advanced, and nearly 40% of port calls in the western Mediterranean are by ships powered by liquefied natural gas. Most of the fleet can connect to the electricity grid if ports have the infrastructure.” Looking ahead five years, he would like to see Palma as a destination that has “consolidated governance based on dialogue, data, and better management of tourist flows”. “I
am confident that we will recover some of the lost activity, in agreement with the local community and by boosting the shoulder and off-seasons. Our goal is to continue being part of Mallorca’s future, incorporating the needs of residents and maintaining a firm commitment to the sustainability and economic development of the island.”
Palma, cruise ships, CLIA, Alfredo Serrano, Balearic Government, memorandum of understanding, Mallorca tourism, tourist overcrowding, passenger limits, 2027 2029, water supply drought, liquefied natural gas