Balearics airport plan: €12.888bn sparks climate warning
A €12.888 billion airport programme has drawn a sharp warning from civil groups over more flights and tourist pressure in the Balearics. Spain’s Council of Ministers approved DORA III, its airport regulation plan for 2027 to 2031, in Madrid on Tuesday 16 September. Mallorca is named in a separate warning over air pollution linked to aviation.
The plan sets out capacity increases at a dozen airport facilities across mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearics. It includes €9.991 billion in regulated investment. The announcement does not specify an expansion at an airport on Mallorca.
Environmental, trade union, transport and environmental campaign groups want the capacity plans suspended while their social, climate and environmental effects are assessed. They say extra air traffic would add to tourist pressure, with possible consequences for housing costs, public services and the use of public spaces.
Emissions concern
The groups argue that strengthening air travel clashes with Spain’s climate commitments. Spain has pledged to cut transport greenhouse-gas emissions by 42% by 2030 against 2005 levels, they said. Transport accounted for 34.2% of the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions in 2025.
They put aviation emissions in Spain at 22.6 million tonnes of CO2 in 2024, or 8.4% of the national total when domestic and international flights are included. Across the European Union, aviation emissions rose by 30% between 2005 and 2025, according to the organisations.
Sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF, accounted for just 0.6% of aviation fuel supplied in the EU in 2024, they added. The groups say added airport capacity could mean greater fossil-fuel consumption and want investment switched to transport used by more people and to sustainable mobility.
Palma appears in pollution study
The statement also points to air and noise pollution from flights. It cites a Transport & Environment study covering airports in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Palma de Mallorca, around which more than 8 million people live.
The study links ultrafine particles from aviation to 52,205 cases of high blood pressure, 64,918 cases of diabetes and 5,340 cases of dementia.
More on this topic: Traffic on Mallorca
Topics: Housing · Environment · Tourism · Traffic · Politics · Palma
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com