Mallorca at limit: groups demand action

Mallorca has reached its limit and cannot keep growing, according to island council president Llorenç Galmés. But after meeting GOB and Terraferida in Palma, Mallorca, on Thursday, the two environmental groups said the Consell de Mallorca’s response still falls far short. They warn that young Mallorcans may find it increasingly difficult — or impossible — to build a life on the island.

Europa Press

GOB president Joan Moranta said Galmés agreed with that diagnosis. The dispute is over what follows: the groups want firmer limits on tourism, roads, building and waste, while the island authority says its existing measures are already tackling the pressure.

Tourism places and new roads

GOB and Terraferida are particularly concerned that the tourism-area intervention plan, known as PIAT, will not be revised during this term. They say leaving the island’s main tourism-planning tool untouched throws away a chance to set binding limits on tourism pressure.

They also want tourist accommodation places removed from the market to stay removed. A place that disappears, they argue, should reduce capacity rather than sit ready to return.

The groups oppose any expansion of Mallorca’s road network, especially Palma’s proposed second ring road linking the Inca and Llucmajor motorways. The Consell de Mallorca says the scheme would ease traffic on the existing ring road and improve access into Palma. GOB and Terraferida say extra road capacity would instead encourage more private-car journeys and reshape travel habits.

Rural building and waste brought from Eivissa

The organisations also called for a halt to new homes on rural land, alongside a ban on new detached houses and private built swimming pools there. They say protecting this land safeguards fertile soil, food production, biodiversity and the water cycle, while helping Mallorca adapt to climate change.

They criticised the transfer of waste from Eivissa to Son Reus on Mallorca for treatment. In their view, a policy meant to avoid landfill has shifted towards burning as much waste as possible, while people in Son Sardina and around Son Reus cannot carry the impact indefinitely. Their proposed order is to prevent waste, cut it, reuse it and recycle it before treatment becomes the final option.

Galmés pointed to the vehicle-limitation law, plans for civic routes and park-and-ride sites, lower limits on tourist places and action against illegal holiday lets. He also cited a plot handed to Palma for public housing, the removal of 10,000 hectares from potential rural solar-park development and €35 million for water networks and leak prevention.

Mallorca hits its limit as green groups demand action

Tourism places and new roads

Rural building and waste brought from Eivissa