The president of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, has defended the need to set "limits" on tourism in the Balearic Islands and to provide from the islands "more value" and "less volume" to the sector. "We cannot continue to grow at this rate and with this model," she emphasized.
"We cannot continue measuring the success of tourist seasons by the fact that more tourists come every year; we need to talk about limits and manage them," Prohens stated this Thursday during the "Forbes Economic Summit 2026," in a debate panel where she shared the stage with the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, and which was moderated by the president of SpainMedia and editor and director of Forbes, Andrés Rodríguez.
The head of the Balearic Executive pointed out that the great challenge for the community is "the search for balance" in managing tourist "success." In this regard, she insisted that growth should be oriented "in value and not in volume." "This is the way," she insisted.
In line with this idea, she emphasized "quality over quantity," betting on "measuring success with non-numerical parameters" and doing things "slowly." She argued that "tourism is much more than hotel capacity, sun and beach, or managing visitor flows; it is innovation, artificial intelligence, digitalization, and new technologies."
Prohens also claimed that the islands offer Spain "business leadership," with vacation tourism as the "economic engine," and that they also contribute "sustainability," prioritizing "a higher quality of life" and the "well-being" of the resident population.
"We have leaderships, experiences that contribute a lot to Spain and that we want to continue contributing; we must take on the responsibility of how to continue exercising this leadership," concluded the Balearic president.
She believes that political stability in Spain "is strange"
In his speech, the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, highlighted the Galician "identity" and called to preserve "traditional Galicia," while also demanding to attract more labor from outside to enhance the natural resources that, in his opinion, "will sustain the green companies of the future."
The Galician leader has considered that the political stability in Spain "is strange" and has warned that "without it, it is very difficult to govern," given that "when there is no calm, nothing else exists." Nevertheless, he has urged the central Government to "act with justice" in order to "discuss among all" and "achieve the best results."
"I want the best for my community but I also want the best for my country, that is why this practice from the Government of bilateral discussions and that no one finds out what is being talked about is so dangerous," Rueda has emphasized.