Is Spain Becoming Too Popular With Tourists?
Spain is seeing another great summer in terms of tourism.
It’s getting so good, in fact, we have to ask if Spain is becoming a little too
popular.
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| Spain is so popular with tourists |
Spain just isn’t Spain if the restaurants and bars aren’t packed, if the night clubs aren’t pounding out music, and if the roads are
crammed. This is, oddly enough, one of the big appeals of Spain. It’s a week or
two of fun with a backdrop that seems to almost never stops. All this actually
serves to show how Spain is able to handle all of these tourists and continue
to work perfectly even when full.
It’s beginning to sound like things are getting a little too
bad though and Spain could be experiencing tourism fatigue. It’s been suggested
that Spain could literally sell out and that more people than ever will be
flocking to the country this year. Majorca and Barcelona may become so packed
it becomes a risk to the eco-system and historical sites. Spain really is
becoming just a little too popular.
This year will definitely be a big year for Spain. People
looking for fun in the sun will usually spread themselves across the entire
Mediterranean but not this year. Now there is too much danger in countries such
as Tunisia, Egypt, and Turkey. Spain is getting most of the tourists that would
otherwise have gone to these countries.
It’s expected that 28% more people will be visiting Ibiza on
a cruise ship this year. In Spain it looks like 20% more people could visit in
2016. Palma airport, a major airport in Majorca, has worked hard to increase
their capacity and can now handle 100 flights a day. Last year they were able
to handle 66 flights a day.
The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has agreed that large
groups of tourists should be banned from entering the La Boqueria market during
certain times in the day. He has also said that no more licenses for tourist
accommodation will be handed out. He’s spreading the very clear message that the
city is full.
This news is bound to be welcomed by local businesses that
rely on tourism. Other people feel that the problems are starting to mount
though. Majorca is already trying to stop this popularity from being their
downfall. They’ve got stated by introducing a €2 a day eco tax. This Spanish tax comes
into effect on the first of June and the money will be used for environmental
conservation.
The president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, has
expressed concern that the amount of money waiters are bound to make could
discourage people from trying to get into a more professional field.
There is no denying that these concerns are legitimate, and
there are some countries that would welcome these kind of “problems”, but there
is a good reason that Spain is popular. It’s about balance. That balance could
very well be tipped this summer.
