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GUIDE ON PAGES 24 - 28 ISSUE NO. 1780
15 - 21 August 2019
MALLORCA
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By Ben Mulvey A STAGGERING 60,000 people are expected to spill from cruise ships onto the streets of Palma this week. The majority of the passengers will arrive on Friday when four large ships with a capacity for 16,243 visitors will dock in the port; followed by Saturday, as Palma will host another four cruises with up to 14,236 passengers in total. On Monday more than 13,000 cruise passengers arrived in the port and the rest of the week has seen numbers around 10,000 with the same expected until tomorrow (Friday), according to data from the Port Authority. The number of passengers is 5 per cent higher than in the same period of 2018 which is
adding fuel to the growing disdain that many local residents have towards the cruise ships. In recent weeks there have been protests and petitions from residents who believe that the cruise ships bring unsustainable tourism to the island and cause overcrowding in the city. Environmental groups are also concerned about the levels of pollution that the cruise ships generate and are pleading with the government to limit the number of
ships that are allowed to enter the port. Another concern is that the island’s infrastructure cannot handle the sheer volume of people that visit the capital with limited water supplies in the summer months. Business owners in the city reportedly claim the tourists spend very little during their visit as they are fully catered for on board the ship and therefore bring little to the economy.
Credit: EWN
Cruise ship numbers soar Up to 60,000 cruise ship passengers are due to arrive in Palma this week.