Majorca slammed for 'living on another planet' over new change for UK tourists

There is widespread condemnation in Majorca - amid plans to try and attract MORE tourists after weeks of protests in the European Union holiday hotspot. PSOE, the opposition party at Palma City Council, has claimed that the city’s budget for tourism promotion will increase by 16 per cent next year.

The spokesperson for PSOE, Xisco Ducrós, said that the deputy mayor was "living on another planet" and ignoring locals’ protests against overtourism. He added that despite the mayor, Jaime Martínez, giving a speech on tourist oversaturation, "the first decision to have been taken is to increase the budget for tourism promotion".

Bonet insisted on Friday that there had been no increase. "I haven't come across it and I would like to be told where it comes from," he said. He added that funds for all tourism policies in 2025 would in fact be 2,500 euros lower than in 2024.

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"But the left believes that an increase has been masked through other items," he said. He accepted that there had been an increase to the budget for the Palma 365 Tourism Foundation - 295,000 euros on top of an existing 1.3 million.

However, this was primarily to cover salaries and office maintenance. "Obviously there is some money for promotion, but it can be done in many ways. "Promotion is not only about attracting more tourists. It also serves to select the type of tourist that is wanted. The Foundation was created precisely for this purpose and not to undertake general promotion as had been done previously," he said.

The increased budget for the Foundation will come from municipal budget surpluses. It will be used, for instance, to finance a sponsorship deal for Palma Futsal, a campaign for the American market and extra funds for the Cycling Challenge, too, it has been reported.