The largest island of the Balearic Islands, Spain. - Palma's mayor aims to reduce mass tourism by prohibiting alcohol on party boats.
The mayor of Palma, located on the island of Mallorca, aims to control the negative impacts of mass tourism through strict measures. Jaime Martínez shared a list of these measures on Wednesday, which involve limiting the number of tourists, rental cars, cruise ships, and vacation rentals.
Many of his proposals, including some that pertain to the Ballermann area, cannot be initiated alone. He needs authorization from other entities, such as the island council, the government of the Balearic Islands, or even the central Spanish government in Madrid.
Mayor Martínez targets higher fees for cruise ship tourists and absolute alcohol bans
The conservative politician aims to roll out some of his initiatives tomorrow in a meeting with politicians and representatives from different interest groups. One of his plans is to ban additional guest beds in private vacation rentals or significantly increase fines for locals creating excessive pollution.
However, many of his other proposals and demands require support. These include restrictions or even bans on party boats and larger cruise ships, charging double fees for cruise ship tourists, limiting the number of tourists who can be led through the city in a group, restricting access to rental cars in the city center, a complete ban on alcohol consumption on the streets of the entire city, including the popular German tourist destination, Playa de Palma, and increased presence of both local and national police.
Protest in Palma against mass tourism
On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators participated in a rally in Palma under the banners "we've had enough!" and "Mallorca is not for sale!" against mass tourism. Organizers claimed that the rising number of visitors and vacation rentals has resulted in shortage of housing, damage to the island, traffic congestion, pollution, and crime.
The protest was sparked by the collapse of a restaurant at the Ballermann area on Thursday, resulting in the death of four people including two young German women. Martínez shared the news on Tuesday that the restaurant owners did not possess a business license for the balcony terrace believed to have caused the accident.
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- Despite the protest against mass tourism in Palma, Jaime Martínez continues to explore measures to reduce it, such as a potential alcohol ban on streets, including Playa de Palma.
- In his pursuit to control mass tourism, Jaime Martínez has also proposed to limit the number of party boats in Palma, requiring authorization from various entities, including Madrid's central Spanish government.
- As part of his strategy to combat the negative effects of mass tourism, Jaime Martínez plans to collaborate with Jaime Martínez from Madrid's government to tackle the issue of alcohol-fueled rowdiness coming from Majorca's popular tourist spots.
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