Mallorca tourism protests: Bauzá defends policy

Mallorca tourism policy is beginning to work, Tourism Minister Jaume Bauzá said in Palma on 9 September, as he responded to protests over overcrowding across the Balearics. He said he had “full respect” for those demonstrations. But he insisted visitor spending is rising faster than visitor numbers.

Bauzá faced questions in parliament from José María García of Unidas Podemos and Llorenç Pou of the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands. He urged critics to look at the figures before building what he called a “demagogic narrative”.

Opposition says growth has continued

García said the government’s plan to spread tourism beyond the summer was not working. In his view, it has brought growth both during summer and through the rest of the year.

He said tourism was driving people out, worsening jobs and draining resources in the Balearics. García also criticised the Policía Nacional over the arrests of activists linked to anti-touristification protests.

Bauzá replied that the demonstrations also challenged the policies of the previous government, in which Unidas Podemos took part. He pointed to 115,000 tourist places he said had previously been authorised, and to what he described as a failure to pursue illegal tourist accommodation.

Government points to tighter rules

Pou asked when the government would take what he called “brave measures”, saying protesters accused it of inaction. He compared the demonstrations to a possible “tourism TIL”, referring to earlier education protests against a reform under former regional president José Ramón Bauzá.

The minister said action was already under way. Any new tourist accommodation place must now be balanced by the removal of another. He also cited the ban on holiday lets in multi-family buildings and higher penalties for the most serious offences.

Pou accused Bauzá of failing to listen and said the government had allowed cases to lapse. He cited an agrotourism case involving former Transparency Director Jaume Porsell, and comments by Palma mayor Jaime Martínez about an increase in tourist places during his time in office. The protests, Pou said, were not aimed retrospectively at earlier governments.

Topics: Police · Protests · Housing · Sea & coast · Tourism · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com