Under-development of tourism seems to be the only solution for Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands, which have recently been facing the effects of over-tourism, according to the conclusions of the Civil Society Conference presented yesterday. The voices of under-development are becoming increasingly vocal.
On 26 June, the Civil Society Forum in Mallorca held its first conference on tourism. While the forum was attended by bodies known for challenging the island’s tourism model (environmentalists GOB, the Palma XXI association, for example), participants also included the president of the Federation of Hotel Owners of Mallorca, Maria Frontera, the Spanish State Secretary for Tourism, Rosario Sánchez (who is from Mallorca), and the president of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens.
On Wednesday, the Forum presented the conclusions of the conference. Behind it all is something that politicians like Marga Prohens and businessmen like Maria Frontera will find hard to accept – underdevelopment.
Civil Society representative Jaume Garau said: “The public and business sectors are simply talking about limiting tourist arrivals, but this would not be sustainable at this stage. There is only one option, and that is degrowth.”
However, the underdevelopment of tourism must be done slowly so as not to lead to job losses.
Mr Garau and the forum’s president, Joana Maria Palou, stressed that measures such as those proposed in the conference conclusions should sooner or later be adopted in other parts of the world that suffer from the same problems as the Balearic Islands. “The problems we are facing are problems that other European destinations are also facing. Europe will one day have to say the same things,” they said.
Some of the measures are well known, such as the call for the conversion of obsolete hotels into residences, the cessation of tourism promotion and participation in international tourism fairs.
One of the first to talk about underdevelopment of tourism was Fernando Valladares, a professor at Spain’s National Research Council. He expressed the view that ‘there is much to be gained from under-development and two things are clear: that it is inevitable and that it will bring prosperity’. He insisted that “real prosperity is only possible through sub-growth”.
