Palma Airport continues to fatten the high season: 63% of growth is concentrated between May and July

PalmaAlthough public discourse advocates for distributing tourists during winter and reducing arrivals or, at least, preventing an increase in summer, reality is stubborn: in July 2026, and throughout the high season, Palma airport has broken records. With 19.6 million passengers achieved by July, Son Sant Joan confirms that the increase is not stopping and that, moreover, it is concentrated between May and July, awaiting what may happen during August.

The 19.6 million passengers registered between January and July this year at Palma airport represent 2.8 million more than during the same period in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic and which was then already considered a year of tourist record. This represents an increase of 16.7% in just seven years.

But the most significant data appears when observing which months this growth has occurred in. Almost two out of every three additional passengers have been concentrated only between May, June, and July. In these three months, the airport has gained 1.76 million passengers compared to 2019, 63% of the total accumulated increase this year.

May is probably the most striking example. Son Sant Joan registered 4,009,687 passengers this May, compared to 3,181,577 in the same month of 2019. In just seven years —discounting the disruption caused by the pandemic— traffic in the month that traditionally marked the start of the high season has increased by 828,110 passengers, 26%. And the phenomenon does not disappear when the heart of summer is reached. June has gone from 3.85 million passengers in 2019 to 4.30 million this 2026, 11.5% more.

The evolution of July is even more significant, a month in which it is difficult to speak of de-seasonalization, because Mallorca is already in full high season. Son Sant Joan registered 4,696,690 passengers this July, almost half a million more than the 4,207,218 in July 2019. The increase is 11.6%.

According to the analyzed series, this July has become the second month with the most traffic in the history of Son Sant Joan, only slightly behind August 2025, when 4.70 million passengers were reached.

The low season does not replace the high season

Summer growth does not prevent more passengers from arriving during the winter months, but to a lesser extent. The data confirm an extension of the tourist season. March 2026 exceeds that of 2019 by 22.5% and April by almost 23%. It is therefore evident that Mallorca has achieved more tourist activity in the months that traditionally remained on the fringes of summer. The problem is that this growth has not replaced that of the high season, but has been added to it.

The comparison with 2025 confirms this again. This year, traffic began with declines of 3% in both January and February compared to the previous year. But with the arrival of the tourist season, the trend reversed: March and April grew again, and May grew by almost 5% in just one year. June added another 1.6% and July 2.2%, despite already starting from historic highs.

Thus, between May, June, and July alone, Son Sant Joan has incorporated 355,000 more passengers this year than during the same months of 2025. The result presents a contradiction amid the debate about the limits of tourism. Mallorca manages to extend the season and increase activity in the spring, but at the same time continues to break or approach records during the months when roads, beaches, infrastructure, and services bear the maximum pressure.

De-seasonality, at least according to airport data, does not decongest the summer; rather, the increase in travelers is constant. The season is extended, but this does not prevent the number of passengers from increasing during the high season as well. It should be remembered that these figures are for passengers and therefore also include the movements of residents, which have also not stopped increasing in number.