The frog inside the water bath
The Fitur tourism fair, Spain's main tourism trade fair, traditionally serves as a platform for the island authorities to present the season's results and boast about their achievements. This year's figures are particularly triumphant, if by triumph we mean having received more tourists than ever before—some 19 million, a new record. Congratulations! You can read the exact figures in the... Chronicle by Maria Llull for ARA Baleares.
Antoni Costa (the economic vice president who argued that Catalan should be removed from public healthcare because, according to him, it discourages healthcare professionals from coming to the Balearic Islands, a claim that has been proven false) presented the report at Fitur. Economic situation in tourism 2025 and outlook 2026And he filled his mouth with the usual catchphrases in this situation: 'mature market', 'powerful impact', 'deseasonalization' (the number of tourists coming in winter has grown more than those coming in summer), 'peak spending per tourist', etc.
In reality, what we're talking about is the same old thing: an economic model based on dependence on mass tourism (an extractive activity with little to no added value), with a series of negative consequences for society as a whole that far outweigh the benefits a few reap. Among these consequences, the most notable are the direct impact of mass tourism on the overpopulation of the Balearic Islands (it creates a pull factor that draws thousands of people seeking work in the sector), and the impact this has on the very serious housing problem faced by Balearic residents, a problem that Costa and Prohens assured us would worsen by the minute. It will continue to do so as long as the Balearic Islands remain overcrowded and overexploited by tourism, because that only inflates the bubble of rental and housing prices. One only needs to look at the phenomenon, widespread mainly in Mallorca and Ibiza, of foreigners buying homes, often to then use them for tourist rentals.
The almost unchecked speculation and construction legislated by the Balearic government are a definitive step towards the very real possibility of the Taiwanization, or Acapulcoization, of the Balearic Islands: that is, limited territories (islands) being ravaged by a tourist tsunami that disfigures them to the point where only the local culture and way of life remain. On the surface, only large tourist, residential, and commercial complexes are visible, connected by highways with detours to coastal areas, also conveniently urbanized and equipped with the necessary complementary services: a strong presence of international drug trafficking and prostitution networks. For the rest of the population, there is impoverishment, extreme inequality between rich and poor, a high dropout rate among young people, and extremely low investment in research and development.
It is not an exaggerated description, but rather a neutral and aseptic one, of the effects of mass tourism in the territories where it becomes "healthy "Our most important industry," as the obedient President Prohens never tires of repeating. Is it pleasant for some? Sure: it's the well-known effect of frogs placed in a container of boiling water. They gradually fall asleep and then simply die.