On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, a demonstration was held in front of Maritime Station 2 at the Port of Palma in support of cruise tourism. The event was organized by the Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of Mallorca (PIMEM), and several associations from the Balearic Islands' restaurant, retail, and business sectors joined the call, highlighting the important role of cruise ships in the social and economic life of Palma's business community.
The study on the economic impact of cruises in the Balearic Islands carried out in 2015 by the University of the Balearic Islands, the Chamber of Commerce of Mallorca and the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands revealed that this activity generates more than 256 million euros and 5,733 jobs in the Balearic Islands.
This demonstration was preceded by political statements against cruise tourism in the Balearic Islands and the delivery of 10,316 signatures collected by the Platform against Megacruises to the Consolat del Mar, in which they requested a limit of one megacruise per day and a maximum of 4,000 cruise passengers per day.
For their part, business owners and merchants advocate for an "orderly and phased" management of cruise ships to try to prevent the arrival of more than three mega-ships on the same day, and for a study of their environmental impact, funded by the controversial Sustainable Tourism Tax, to avoid unproductive debates lacking verified data. Finally, they point out that cruise passengers do not cause problems, require few resources since they only represent 8% of tourism in Mallorca, and that measures to control their flow, such as establishing multiple disembarkation points, can be implemented.
