MÉS rejects the 50 million passengers that the new DORA forecasts for the Balearic Islands' airports

PalmaMÉS per Mallorca rejects the forecasts of the new Airport Regulation Document (DORA), which plans to increase the number of passengers at the three main airports of the Balearic Islands to nearly 50 million annually by 2031. The eco-sovereigntist deputy in Congress, Vicenç Vidal, believes that the Islands can no longer sustain more airport growth and questions whether the 1.03 billion euros of planned investment should be used to expand the facilities' capacity.

According to the DORA forecasts, Palma airport would go from the 34.27 million passengers expected for 2027 to 35.67 million in 2031. In Ibiza, the increase would be from 9.17 to 9.72 million, while in Menorca it would go from 4.28 to 4.45 million. Together, the three airports would reach 49.84 million annual passengers, 2.12 million more than the 47.72 million expected for 2027.

"The Balearic Islands cannot sustain more growth. We do not need to prepare the airports to receive two million more passengers. We need to set limits on a saturation that already has consequences on the territory, housing, mobility, and quality of life," denounced Vidal.

The MÉS deputy considers that the planned investment should not be allocated to generating more airport capacity. "The airports of the Balearic Islands do not need more expansions. They need decent public transport, emission reductions, and to minimize the impacts they generate," he argued. In this sense, he has opted for investments that guarantee "security, connectivity for residents, and quality of service," but not for continuing to increase the number of passengers.

Demands the co-management of the airports

In view of the DORA forecasts, Vidal has demanded that Congress debate as soon as possible the bill for airport co-management in the Balearic Islands that MÉS per Mallorca has recently registered in the Chamber.

The deputy has demanded that the PSOE allow the processing of the initiative and has announced that he will pressure for it to be debated. Vidal has specifically called for the intervention of Francina Armengol, as a representative of the Balearic PSOE in Congress.

"It makes no sense for Aena and the State government to be able to unilaterally decide the future of the islands' airports while a proposal to give real decision-making capacity to the Balearic Islands remains blocked in Congress," he stated.

"We have done our job and have put an airport co-management law on the table. Now it is up to the PSOE to make it possible for it to be discussed," he added.

Vidal also warned that the Balearic Islands cannot continue without decision-making capacity over infrastructures that, according to MÉS, directly condition the economic, territorial, and tourism model of the islands. "Co-management cannot be just an announcement or a promise: it must begin by being able to discuss a law that is already on the table," he remarked.

MÉS calls for the withdrawal of the DORA

MÉS demands, for this reason, the withdrawal of the DORA until a new airport governance model is agreed upon that gives real decision-making capacity to the institutions of the Islands.

"We will not accept that a new growth of our airports be planned from Madrid while the institutions of the Islands continue to be unable to decide on infrastructures that directly condition our territorial and economic model," warned Vidal.

The party also demands from the Spanish government a scheduled plan to reverse the privatization of Aena and recover public control of the airport network. Vidal considers that the current model contradicts the need to limit the tourist pressure on the Islands.

"The Islands need to reduce the pressure and set limits, while Aena's model turns every additional passenger into more business. We cannot subordinate the carrying capacity of Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza to the interests of the shareholders," he concluded.