Mallorca: News
Things are not looking good for a walking holiday on Mallorca. Anyone seeking peace and quiet while hiking in Mallorca's mountains is more likely to be disappointed than delighted. As a result of the conflict situation in other countries, tourists are switching to the popular party island. According to Mallorca's island council, which manages the five walking peaks, these were almost continuously booked out. The mountain range of the popular Serra de Tramuntana, with its relatively high peaks, is no longer frequented mainly by locals.
The Serra de Tramuntana has held UNESCO World Heritage status since 2011. Its extraordinary landscape was the deciding factor. These days there is heavy congestion on the typical walking routes within the mountain world. This puts the landscape under considerable strain. The reasons for this lie partly in the island's political leadership and partly in the political situation of other countries. In total, the tourism ministry recorded 1.44 million foreign visitors in 2016 on and around Mallorca, which is 22 per cent more than the previous year. The responsible press officer Alicia Torrandel also speaks of 16,000 overnight guests for the period between January and May, which amounts to roughly a quarter more than in the same period the previous year. Even in high summer, which is usually too hot for hiking, reservations were said to be well above average. The accusation that politicians have for years stood idly by while rising visitor numbers overrun Mallorca's natural areas is already leading landowners to close off their properties entirely, so that they are no longer passable for walkers. Even the cycling practised on Mallorca is stretched to its limits. On top of the island's 10,000 available hire bikes come thousands of tourists who bring their own bikes. Responsible for the landscape suffering under the sheer number of tourists is not only politics at home but, in particular, the political and problematic situation in Turkey. Turkey had been a popular destination among cycling holidaymakers in particular, for extensive cycling tours.
Since, alongside the mountains, the coast has long been overrun by countless tourists too, the environment ministry is already working on various solutions for the mountain world and other protected areas. Project staff from a private environmental foundation, which cares for the reforesting and cleaning of the forests and walking trails above the municipality of Valldemossa, counted more than 45,000 people between October 2014 and 2015. As a result of the rise in tourist walkers, in future only members of a Mallorcan hiking association will be permitted to pass. Non-members can access the walking area with prior telephone registration.
As a consequence, increased bureaucracy is needed to organise the crowds sensibly. Against all expectations, there is understanding and respect for this on Mallorca.