The PP welcomes the "change in trend" in tourism, despite the increase in visitors

PalmThe Balearic PP has praised the tourism containment and deseasonalization strategy, which has achieved "a change in trend" regarding tourist arrivals to the Islands. PP deputy María Salomé Cabrera highlighted that tourist arrivals increased by 0.7% in peak season, while in the mid and low seasons they increased by 7.1%. However, Cabrera failed to mention that the Islands have once again shattered the visitor record in 2025, with almost 19 million tourists – the total for 2024 was reached in November. "The policies promoted by the PP government, with zero growth in hotel capacity and the positioning of the Islands as a cultural tourism destination, are succeeding in containing the influx during the summer months, redirecting peak periods towards the mid and low season months, and lengthening and deseasonalizing the season," Cabrera emphasized. "Faced with those who spoke of degrowth but authorized 115,000 new tourist accommodation places and allowed the illegal supply to grow unchecked, the Government has changed the course of tourism to our islands towards restraint, reducing seasonality, and a more sustainable tourism model that respects residents," he added.

Seven out of ten hotels in the Balearic Islands will open in March

The peak number of visitors during high season is still increasing, while months that were traditionally low season are now registering a surge in tourists. According to Javier Vich, president of the Majorca Hotel Business Federation (FEHM), speaking at Fitur on Wednesday, seven out of ten hotels will open in March, a figure that confirms the lengthening of the season—16% more than in 2015. "The start of the tourist season has shifted." In February, four out of ten hotels will open, double the number from last year, and by April, nine out of ten will be open. In this situation, Vich pointed out that the challenge for tourism businesses is to ensure the profitability of this earlier start. Furthermore, the FEHM president emphasized that the growth in visitors is also being channeled into illegal accommodations and stressed that, while passenger numbers increased by 1.5%, overnight stays in hotels only increased by 0.9%. Vich specified that one in five tourists resorts to illegal offerings, which causes "serious problems" in terms of control, taxation, the sustainability of public services, and puts pressure on the local population. "It destabilizes the model based on legality, quality, and formal employment," he said.

Requirements

Vich also emphasized that the new tourism calendar requires public services and complementary offerings to begin operations this year. "Not waiting for the peak season allows us to professionalize services, generate added value, and retain talent," he added, also highlighting that this earlier start has direct consequences for creating more stable employment, for companies' workforce and resource planning, and for the roadmap that public administrations must follow, as well as ensuring services and infrastructure.

Large hotel chains that continue to invest outside the Balearic Islands

Like any tourism fair, Fitur is also a platform for forging business agreements. This is the case for Melià, which, like other major hotel chains in the Balearic Islands—Iberostar, Río, and Barceló—will continue investing resources outside the islands. Melià and the Puntacana Group will open a newly built luxury resort in the Dominican Republic called Paradius Miches. This will be the company's eleventh property in the Caribbean country. In fact, the hotel chain's president, Gabriel Escarrer, has expressed his intention to expand the company's presence in the Dominican Republic.