Majorca is set to implement a cap on rental cars and limit air passenger arrivals in peak season amid its latest anti-tourist crackdown.
The popular holiday island is due to follow in Ibiza’s footsteps in a rental car crackdown as the hotspots aim to limit the number of tourists on the road.
‘The Consell de Majorca is following in Ibiza’s regulatory footsteps and is rigorously analysing what measures it could replicate to limit vehicles from the summer of 2026,’ reported Spanish newspaper Ultima Hora.
The proposals will be sent to Parliament in the coming weeks with local residents pointing the finger at tourists for the congestion, saying visitors who rent a car during their holidays are adding to the clogged-up roads.
They say that drastic measures should be taken, including banning all tourists from renting a car and introducing a mobility eco-tax.
To curb the increasing tourism numbers, Balearic Vice-President Antoni Costa confirmed that the regional government has formally asked Spain‘s central government and Aena – the national airport operator – to cap the number of flights arriving during the summer.
Costa said: ‘We are at the maximum limit. Increasing airport capacity during the high season is not advisable. We have to prioritise sustainability over short-term gain.’
The Minister of Economy, Finance, and Innovation agreed with Costa, saying: ‘Perhaps we should consider whether the number of slots at Balearic airports is more than sufficient during the peak season’.
The popular holiday island is due to follow in Ibiza’s footsteps in a rental car crackdown as the hotspots aim to limit the number of tourists on the road
If fewer flights depart from Majorca, costs for holidaymakers are likely to rise as a result
To curb the increasing tourism numbers, Balearic Vice-President Antoni Costa confirmed that the regional government has formally asked Spain ‘s central government and Aena – the national airport operator – to cap the number of flights arriving during the summer. Pictured: Eurowings Airbus A320 airplane at Palma de Mallorca Airport in Spain
‘Just as the Government is limiting the supply of tourist accommodation,’ he added, ‘perhaps it should be said, and I will say it, that the increase in the number of slots in the summer, during peak season, at the Balearic airports has come to an end. We have reached the maximum limit.’
When asked about the maximum number of these slots, Costa didn’t specify a specific figure, but did say that the ‘maximum’ is the volume reached last year.
‘It’s not desirable to increase that number during the peak season,’ he said.
The Balearic government is also asking for shared management authority over the islands’ airports, so they can play a more active role in determining how many flights operate and when.
During Easter week, around 11,240 takeoffs and landings were recorded in the Balearic Islands, marking a 46 per cent increase from 2024.
Costa emphasised that these figures were unsustainable and is urging Aena not to add additional flight slots during peak seasons as Mallorca is already having to limit the number of overnight accommodations on the island.
If fewer flights depart from Majorca, costs for holidaymakers are likely to rise as a result. This is in addition to restrictions on accommodation, plans on an increase in the overnight tax and a ban on tourists renting cars, which have already been announced.
The council have also said that it would also clamp down on vehicles that aren’t registered in the Balearics.
People with properties whose vehicle is registered outside the Balearics are only allowed to have only one vehicle per property. This is intended to reduce the number of foreign-registered cars.
The island’s council is considering the new plans to impose a limit on vehicles, with approval expected this year and implementation slated for 2026.
A multidisciplinary group of island officials is currently examining the regulations to formulate the future law, according to reports.
The Balearic Parliament has already given the green light to a groundbreaking law aimed at curbing the number of rental cars and caravans entering Ibiza.
From June 2025, the island will roll out strategies to manage the influx of vehicles, with an eye on harmonising tourism and the well-being of locals.
Vicent Mari, President of the Ibiza council, has voiced his support for the legislation, highlighting its role in tackling the social and environmental issues created by the island’s booming tourist trade.
The council have also said that it would also clamp down on vehicles that aren’t registered in the Balearics
From June 2025, the island will roll out strategies to manage the influx of vehicles, with an eye on harmonising tourism and the well-being of locals
‘We face new challenges that demand we work towards an essential balance between tourism and residents’ quality of life,’ Marí remarked.
The new rules provide a legal framework to cap the number of rental cars, caravans, and motorhomes arriving on the island.
In a statement, the Ibiza council announced: ‘This summer, the island of Ibiza is taking another step forward in its commitment to sustainability and coexistence between the tourism sector and residents and will implement, for the first time, a regulation that will control the influx of vehicles.
‘The Island Council has already approved the maximum quota of 20,168 cars, which, in addition to those with tax residence on the island of Ibiza, will be allowed to circulate on the island between June 1 and September 30.
‘Of these, 16,000 will be rental cars and 4,108 will be for tourists who want to disembark with their cars in Ibiza from the ports of Barcelona, Denia, Valencia, or Palma.
‘This first year of operation will serve, in addition to evaluating the actual effects of this measure, to obtain for the first time all the data that shipping companies, city councils, and the DGT (Directorate General of Traffic) will provide to the Island Council of Ibiza, the island’s highest authority, on the number of cars circulating on the island.
‘To this end, the Island Council of Ibiza has launched the ibizacircular.es platform, which, upon payment of a fee of 1 euro per day, will allow you to reserve the quota necessary to enjoy your vacation.
‘The goal is none other than to ensure that those who reside and visit our island can do so with the highest possible quality of life, while safeguarding natural environments that are affected by overcrowding.’
The crackdowns on flights and vehicles comes after anti-tourism activists promised to wreck havoc across Spain this summer as they ramp up their campaign against holidaymakers.
Activists blocked beauty spots and torched hire cars ahead of a planned international summit to discuss protest tactics in March.
Graffiti reading ‘kill a tourist’ was spotted on a wall in Tenerife amid Spain’s anti-protest movement
Some 6,500 people take part in a demonstration organised by a platform reflecting the growing discontent among locals with the current tourism model in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain on October 20, 2024
More than 3,000 people demonstrated against the tourist overcrowding suffered by the city of Barcelona and in favor of tourism reduction policies in July
Demonstrators put symbolic cordon on a bar-restaurant window during a protest against mass tourism on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas alley, on July 6, 2024
Visitors to the party paradise of Ibiza were left disappointed in February after a popular viewing point was dramatically blocked off with boulders in a sign of growing local resentment towards mass tourism.
The famous Es Vedra viewpoint, where thousands gather to watch the sun sink behind the mountainous island each evening, was off-limits after frustrated landowners declared they’d had enough of being overrun by crowds.
A blunt sign warned visitors: ‘Private Property. Restricted Access.’
But the blocked roadway was seemingly tame compared to the violence and chaos that erupted in Tenerife in March, where furious activists reportedly torched and smashed a fleet of hire cars in a shocking act of protest.
Disturbing footage circulating online shows masked vandals dousing around 20 rental vehicles with flammable liquid before setting them alight in the popular Costa Adeje resort – a favourite among British holidaymakers.
Angry demonstrators targeted visitors last year, blaming them for soaring rents and a cost of living crisis that’s driving locals out of their homes.
Some campaigners have even threatened to take their protests to the next level by blocking airports.
The anti-tourism movement is gaining momentum across southern Europe with at least 15 activist groups from holiday hotspots in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France set to meet in Barcelona next month to plot their next steps.
The recent vow for more protests follows a summer of major demonstrations across Spain’s popular resorts, with anger particularly mounting over mass tourism.
In January shocking graffiti reading ‘kill a tourist’ appeared in Tenerife amid the holiday hotspot’s ongoing protests against holidaymakers.
The frightening slogan was spotted on a house in the south of the Spanish island by a concerned resident who admitted to being worried that the mass protest movement against overcrowding was going too far.
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