Solutions needed to avoid a summer of tourism problems

IS THERE such a thing as “over tourism”? People living in some Mediterranean holiday hotspots like Majorca and Ibiza certainly seem to think there is, and now residents of some North Wales villages are complaining that they are victims of the area's popularity with visitors.

- Judith Phillips

Last year, I visited Majorca for a few days to catch up with long-standing Majorcan friends who live in the island's capital, Palma. Before my trip I was aware that there was growing unrest among citizens with the increasingly large annual influx of passengers from cruise ships who dock in the harbour.

They add to the many thousands who also visit the city to view its magnificent centuries-old cathedral and picturesque old town.

It made me a little anxious about what my daughter and I would encounter while we were there as the previous week there had been a mass demonstration by people asking for tourist numbers to be curbed.

As it happened we didn’t experience any animosity from the populace, although we did get some strange looks when we travelled on local buses, but we heard from our friends how traffic is now often gridlocked leading to one of them giving up driving as it had become too pressurised.