A Spanish island, which is a popular hotspot for Brits, is set to limit visitor numbers during the summer months.

Under a new agreement, the beautiful city of Palma in Mallorca will reduce the number of daily cruise ship berths from 8,500 to 7,500 between June and September. This means that fewer passengers will be arriving to explore the Spanish city when it comes into effect from 2027 to 2029.

The ship berths will remain at 8,500 outside the summer months, but a drop of 1,000 during one of the busiest times of the year is set to impact holidaymakers visiting Palma via a cruise. More than 19 million Brits visited Spain alone last year, while Mallorca is estimated to have welcomed more than 2 million UK travellers.

The summer limits in Palma will end in 2029, although the agreement with the Balearic Government, Palma City Council and 20 cruise lines is in place until 2031. The agreement is aimed at “regulating cruise activity and protecting the interests of the city, particularly in the historic centre”, as reported by local news publication Majorca Daily Bulletin.

There will be a cap of three cruise ships able to dock in the Port of Palma each day, with only one vessel per day allowed to carry more than 5,000 passengers. The new agreement comes following an issue of overtourism in the area, which could also see a fresh wave of protests from locals this summer.

Thousands of Spanish residents have protested in previous years and could march the streets again due to the alleged failure of the Balearic Government’s sustainability pact and inability to control overcrowding on the islands. In a statement shared earlier this year, ahead of a protest meeting, it read: “The constant increase in overtourism in Mallorca can only be confronted through grassroots organisation”.

Speaking to Majorca Daily News, Margalida Ramis of the environmental group GOB (Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa) claimed that the government “has not done anything and will not do anything” to address overtourism in the region.

Holidaymakers to the Balearic Islands have continued to grow, with 18.7 million visitors in 2024 and more than 19 million the following year. The population is around 1.2 million, including an estimated 18,000 British expats.

In a bid to combat overtourism, the opposition party, PSOE, presented a motion in the Balearic parliament, calling for tourist numbers to be capped at 17.8 million a year. However, the motion was rejected earlier this year.

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