No cruise ship docked in Mallorca for 15 months. Last Thursday, after the pandemic break, Mein Schiff 2 anchored off Palma. More than 20 more ships are to follow by the end of August. But not all Spaniards are impressed by the long-awaited return of the cruise ships, which are now docking again on the Spanish mainland. Several hundred demonstrators protested on Saturday with the slogan "Stop the cruise ships" in six ports: not only in Palma, but also in Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Tarragona, A Coruña and Vigo. The environmental protection organization “Ecologistas en Acción” calls on the Spanish government to reinstate the previous restrictions on cruise ships and to stop the expansion of the ports.Spain is the European country with the second highest greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the one with the highest pollution from cruise ships, the organization criticizes.

Hans-Christian Rößler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, based in Madrid.

  • Follow I follow

    In 2019, 11 million passengers on board 4236 ships arrived in Spain.

    Since June 7th, they have been allowed to land in Spain again.

    Resistance is also growing in Palma, where at times up to six of these huge ships docked in the small port.

    "If the pandemic has not taught us that our economic dependence on tourism is driving us to ruin, then we have learned nothing," said Neus Truyol, city councilor of the left-wing coalition partner Més, the Mallorca-Zeitung.

    Most of the passengers stay ashore for a short time.

    Because of the pandemic, their freedom of movement is still restricted, and they are only allowed to go through Palma as a group and only visit selected restaurants and shops.

    More and more Germans are coming for long-term stays

    However, more and more Germans are staying longer in the Balearic Islands.

    There were almost 400,000 in May.

    The demand is growing.

    When the summer holidays begin, Lufthansa will even use jumbo jets on the route from Frankfurt to Palma.

    From this Monday onwards, entry will be even easier for most Germans.

    Citizens from 14 federal states no longer need to provide evidence of vaccination, recovery or a negative antigen or PCR test.

    With the exception of Baden-Württemberg and Saarland, the Spanish government removed all German federal states from the Spanish list of risk areas because of their low infection rates. This regulation is checked weekly and is initially valid until June 27th at midnight. Registration in the state “Spain Travel Health” portal remains mandatory for all newcomers. The corresponding QR code must then be presented upon entry. All over Spain, tourists and locals alike can take off their masks from next Saturday: Then, according to the will of the government in Madrid, the mask requirement will end in the open.