Gillian Keller
PROTESTERS gathered as the largest cruise ship in the world, the Symphony of the Seas, arrived in Palma on its maiden voyage.
The Royal Caribbean ship was met by 200 activists, who demanded less tourists and more refugees be admitted to the island.
The huge ship can accommodate around 9,000 tourists – a number the protesters claim is ‘far too big’ for a city like Palma.
The protest was supported by political party GOB, which highlighted that the ship uses as much energy in three days as the town of Sant Joan does in a whole year – burning through 15 tons of fuel an hour.
Not long after the protest, the president of the Balearic Port Authority (APB) Joan Gual de Torrella sent a letter to the GOB, requesting their environmental studies of tourist cruises.
The APB intends to take advantage of data collected by the GOB to improve the environmental impact of Balearic ports, and the ships using them.
