Samantha Mythen
MORE THAN 1900 cruise ship passengers spent the first day of May exploring Cádiz, amid growing concerns of over tourism in the bustling port city.
The southern Spanish city has become a major cruise hub, with more than 300 calls last year, bringing in almost 700,000 passengers, a 2% increase in traffic compared to 2023.
It’s predicted this summer season will see even more tourists spilling out into the city’s streets.
With just 100,000 permanent residents living in Cádiz, there have been growing concerns each year that the town’s infrastructure will buckle under the pressure from tourists.
More than 13,000 cruise passengers swarmed the old town in August last year, when three cruise ships docked into the port.
Fiery protests erupted, including a march of 2000 locals led by group Cadiz Resiste, who claimed the tourists are ‘stealing out city, our neighbourboods, and businesses, the very possibility of making a life in Cádiz.’
The group wants Cadiz to ‘return to the locals.’
Although tourism brings income to the local economy, with the passengers dining at eateries, enjoying a crisp cerveza and purchasing souvenirs, the latest Junta de Andalucía study on cruise tourism found the average expenditure per passenger per day in the region was only around €40.
The cruise industry sails all over the world, but some ports have already begun to respond to fears of over tourism. Measures have been implemented such as charging tourist fees, placing limits on how many ships can dock at a time, or even banning cruise ships altogether.
Europe’s biggest cruise port Barcelona, pushed ships out of its city center in October 2023, closing its North terminal port to cruises. The tourist transporters have since had to dock at the Moll d’Adossat pier, away from the city’s residential areas.
Authorities in Santorini attempted to control cruise over tourism to the Greek island by placing daily limits on the number of ships allowed to dock.
Mallorca also had set a limit of three cruise ships entering its Palma port each day, aiming to balance tourism with locals’ day to day quality of life. However, this agreement between the Balearic government and cruise companies ended this year.
But with more than 1.8 million passengers forecasted to arrive, local councillors are calling for even tighter cruise ship restrictions.
“We cannot allow Palma to be an express stop for cruise passengers while residents suffer the consequences of this overcrowding,” MÉS per Palma councillor Miquel Àngel Contreras said.
“We cannot continue to accept gridlock streets, our city is polluted and our natural resources are put at risk while the only benefit goes to the big shipping companies.”
Cruise ships weighing more than 25000 tonnes were completely barred from entering Venice in August 2021. However, to get around this, ships will dock in nearby ports and bus passengers over to the UNESCO World Heritage town.
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