Tourism in Mallorca

Abstract

Tourism has contributed to rampant urbanization, as seen in this case of Palma (Mallorca, photograph taken in August 2023 by Macià Blázquez Salom). Growthism, in Jason Hickle's apt definition, perpetuates this model as a solution to the contradictions inherent in capitalism, which are expressed in the form of crises such as those we are suffering as a result of the speculative financialization of the hotel industry (the Blackstone investment fund is now the largest hotel owner in Spain), the climate emergency or the worsening of social inequality. But regrowth is not the only solution to overtourism or undertourism. Appropriate forms of development promote resilience in a more holistic way to address systemic contradictions, leaving growth behind and transforming the social and economic system from the roots to include tourism in emancipatory projects. Geography can help inform this political debate on the transformation of the system of production, consumption and social relations oriented towards a necessary contraction and convergence of the metabolic flow per capita, for the improvement of human welfare and by redistributive, egalitarian and consensual methods.