A Royal Navy ship has docked in the port of Palma, Majorca after being deployed in the Red Sea and the Middle East.
HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, was welcomed into the port on social media by UK Defence in Spain who issued a welcome in Spanish and English.
Writing on X/Twitter, they said: “Welcome to Palma, HMS Diamond, have a good break at the end of your Red Sea deployment.”
The arrival of a Royal Navy vessel into Majorca comes as the island faces a major tourism crisis that has been protests and debate in relation to whether too many people are visiting the popular holiday island.
In recent weeks, the island has become a hub of division after 15,000 people took to the streets of its capital Palma to call out the problems of overtourism.
At the time of the protest in May a spokesperson for the group Banc del Temps, who organised the protest, said: “This is just the start of things. If measures aren’t taken, we will continue taking to the streets until we see action.”
Fast forward to the end of June and divides continue some Majorcans have said they’re hoping Britons will return after they saw a drop off in customers. President of Majorca’s CAEB restaurant association Alfonso Robledo said business owners were beginning to see changes in their revenue as British tourists made the decision to go elsewhere.
He said: “Before there was no difference between Mondays and Saturdays. We were always full because people who are on holiday don’t take into account whether it is a working day or a public holiday.”
Mr Robledo added: “This year, however, customers are leaving their dinners or lunches for the weekends. We are missing the tourists with a medium-high purchasing power who used to visit the island before the massive arrival of travellers in July and August.”
The drop off in customers has been reflected in a survey by the Majorca Daily Bulletin which found that 44 percent of Britons were planning to go somewhere else other than Majorca this summer.
As a result, there are concerns that while Majorca may see fewer tourists this summer, that this could have a detrimental impact on an economy that benefits from the thousands of tourists who flock to the island every summer.