Spain’s Balearic Islands port of Palma de Mallorca will see fewer cruise visitors starting next year in a deal negotiated with an association representing 95% of the world’s ocean cruise lines.
Under the deal with the Cruise Lines International Association, 518 ships a year will be allowed to stop at Palma each year, down from the 594 that arrived in 2019. Key to the agreement is not only the total but the distribution: no more than three ships a day, and only one can be in the 5,000-passenger-and-up megaship category.
Majorca’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, but most of it comes in the form of vacationers spending a week or two on the islands, staying in hotels and using other local facilities. There has been growing pushback against the large ships that flood the area for a day and then depart, leaving on average far less money than the stay-for-a-week crowd.
