The Balearic Islands limits the maximum of those that can dock in Palma to three daily cruises

Three daily cruises and only one of them may be a 'mega cruise' with more than 5,000 passengers: this is the new limit for the port of Palma, approved by the Balearic Government, the State and the shipping companies. The Balearic capital thus becomes the first national destination (and the second European) to limit the number of cruise ships. In 2022 the city will receive 14.5% fewer stopovers than in 2019.

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The Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, has signed the agreement this Thursday together with the Balearic president, Francina Armengol and with businessmen from the sector.

Negotiations have been going on for two years and the agreement ratified today was reached last December in the German city of Hamburg, after meetings with large shipping companies such as Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises and TUI Cruises, among others.

The agreement means that next year only a total of three cruise ships will arrive in Palma on the same day, and only one of them can have a capacity of more than 5,000 passengers. In other words, in 2022 only one mega cruise ship and two other smaller ships will meet in Palma on the same day.

In addition, in no case may the 8,500 daily cruise passengers be exceeded in a weekly calculation in Palma, so arrivals must always be less than this amount.

Days with more than three cruises

The agreement, which will be valid for the next five years, establishes days on which four cruises may exceptionally coincide. In the case of 2022 it is 18 days. These exceptions are due to the reserves that the shipping companies had committed.

In 2023 there will no longer be "exceptional" days, so the maximum number of agreed cruises per day cannot be exceeded.