Majorca and Ibiza demand no more flights during high season in blow for tourists

Officials say Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca "can't take any more" and the slots for planes have to be curtailed.

They want the Spanish government to exercise its powers and to tell the airport authority AENA that "enough is enough" and not to implement any more increases.

Minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation, Antoni Costa said that, despite the fact that the Government is not in favour of degrowth but of tourist containment, "perhaps we have to consider that in high season the number of slots at the airports of the Balearic Islands are already more than enough."

"In the same way that the Government limits the supply of accommodation, perhaps it must be said, and I say this, that the increase in the number of slots in summer, in high season, at the airports of the Balearic Islands is over. We have reached the maximum limit," he stressed at a Spanish press conference.

Asked what the maximum number of the aforementioned slots would be, Costa did not specify a specific figure, but he did say that the "maximum" is the volumes reached last year. "It is not desirable to increase that number in high season," he said.

The co-management of the airports of the Balearic Islands between the State and the Autonomous Community, he acknowledged, was one of the issues that the regional president, Marga Prohens, raised with the leader of the central executive, Pedro Sánchez, in the last meeting they held.

"We will keep trying, because we have not achieved the objective," he lamented. "We are in favour of those who have to make decisions, which at the moment is not the Government, although we would like to be, to make them", he added.

Just last week, Mr. Costa Antoni Costa conceded that the Balearic Islands have "reached their limit" and firm action would be taken.

"Is there saturation in the Balearic Islands? Yes, there is saturation in the Balearic Islands. Have we reached the limit? Yes, we have reached the limit. The Government is working to try to tackle a real problem for the resident population. In fact, the tourism decree goes in this direction: containment, limits, it's over, there are no more places," he said.

In the face of criticism from the opposition and entities such as the Fòrum de la Societat Civil, claiming that "nothing is being done about tourist saturation", Mr Costa reiterated that "the position of the Government has not changed one iota" from the first moment.

"The president has been very clear: these islands have reached a limit, saturation phenomena are a reality and therefore they are acting according to this reality."

He insisted that Balearic president Margo Prohens has never defended the idea of degrowth but that of containment. "I reiterate that the Government's position in relation to tourism has not changed."

Mallorca is one of the leading Spanish holiday islands which has this year seen repeated protests over tourist saturation and its impact on local people and the environment, including roads, beaches, beauty spots and housing prices.