Panic in Spain as major city 'abandoned' by tourists

Tourism experts have said that tour guide bookings in a major Spanish city have fallen this summer, and they claim that it is as a result of anti-tourism campaigns that have been taken place across the destination.

According to tour guides, Majorca has seen groups of 25 to 30 people, in comparison to the larger ones of 40 to 45 last year. While the shift has impacted Majorca as a whole, significant damage has been done to the tourism industry in Palma because of anti-tourist demonstrations.

Biel Rosales of the association of tour guides, said: "The anti-tourist demonstrations have done a lot of damage, especially in Palma, and the vandalism that was done to damage the Almudaina Palace in May gave very bad publicity. People are thinking twice about booking.

"If you add the road works on two of Palma's main avenues, the Paseo Maritimo and Joan Miro, along with the fact that we are one of the most expensive destinations in the Mediterranean, everything together causes a drop in bookings."

The tour guide representative says that while UK and German holidaymakers make up the majority of clients, the industry has also seen a "significant drop" in US clients, which is likely down to Trump's tariff policies, reports Majorca Daily Bulletin

He also suggests that it would be better for the council to carry out road works during the winter, as it is another thing that causes distruption during tourism season.

Biel added: "It would be better for the workers who have to deal with high temperatures and also for tourism. We don't understand why it's being done during the peak season."

Palma's town hall had also planned to implement a limit on the number of people in tour groups. However, the regulation has since been delayed, which Biel explained has prevented more damage from happening.

The inital plan was to limit tour guides to 19 people per group, which Biel described as "ridiculous", but it is likely that it will be boosted to 35 people, "a more logical number," he says.

The popular destination has also seen a loss in cruise ships. The tour guides association are against reducing the daily maximum number of ships, and Biel is concerned that migrant facilities in the port could lead to a further decrease in bookings.

He said: "The image of humanitarian drama of the small boats could have consequences. We know they need to be cared for, but given the size of the port of Palma, we don't think it's the most appropriate thing to serve them at the cruise ship arrival terminal."