Mallorca tourism: green groups demand a new course

Water use is rising, rubbish keeps mounting and buying a home is slipping beyond many people’s reach, environmental groups warned in Palma on Tuesday. GOB and Terraferida told Balearic president Marga Prohens that Mallorca and the wider islands need a different tourism model. The groups say the government is treating the symptoms of tourism growth rather than changing course.

GOB president Joan Moranta, vice-president Tonina Siquier and Terraferida representative Maria Orts met Prohens and other government representatives, but emerged with sharply different views. Orts said the Balearic public needs a model that brings residents more prosperity instead of putting economic growth first.

Water, waste and homes under pressure

Terraferida said its environmental data show the islands continuing to grow. Its human-pressure index is increasing, water consumption is up and groundwater reserves are worsening, the group said. Waste generation is also still rising.

The groups asked the government to declare the Balearics a pressured housing market, a move the Govern rejected, according to GOB. Siquier said Mallorca society was tired of studies, plans and round tables, while young people could struggle to buy a home or build a future on the island as people with greater spending power arrive.

Moranta also challenged the government’s focus on the territory’s carrying capacity. He said that measure could be altered too easily: if water runs short, more desalination plants can be built; if energy is lacking, new electricity links to the Spanish mainland can follow.

GOB says the government will not discuss ecological limits or ecological security. Orts said those limits had already been crossed and argued that making the current situation more efficient was not enough.

Government points to tourism curbs

The Govern said Prohens had expressed respect for this summer’s social protests and understood the anger linked to the effects of tourism growth over the past two decades.

It pointed to measures introduced over the past three years: limits on tourist accommodation places, a ban on new holiday flats, action against illegal rentals and a lower ceiling for cruise passengers. Laws are also being processed to restrict the entry of vehicles and hire cars on Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

Prohens said she would continue pursuing tourism restraint and invited GOB and Terraferida back to the Balearic Pact for Social, Economic and Environmental Sustainability. The organisations refused, saying they would not return because they believe the ecological limits have already been exceeded.

Topics: Housing · Environment · Tourism · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com