Staff Reporter
AT a time in Spain when locals are increasingly uneasy about the effect of mass tourism on their country, one historic town has emerged with the dubious honour of having the worst case of ‘massification’.
Sant Llorenç des Cardassar is the town in question, and is a traditional Mallorcan pueblo from the 16th century located just a few kilometres from Manacor.
According to a report in online daily Cronica Balear, it counts on a shocking 73.1 tourists per inhabitant, thanks to 595,340 arrivals every year.
The report was compiled by rental website Holidu, and is based on the numbers of arrivals for the year 2023, cross referencing them with the population of each municipality.
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Visitors to Sant Llorenç des Cardassar are attracted by the natural beauty of the destination, with a total of 563,055 of the visitors coming from abroad.
Second in the ranking on the Holidu report is Sallent de Gallego, in the Aragon region, which counts on 51.8 tourists per inhabitant, while in third place is Peniscola, which receives 51.6 tourists per inhabitant.
Spain received more than 85 million international tourists in 2023, according to figures from the Bank of Spain.
That’s two million more than the previous record year of 2019.
But the popularity of the country as a destination is taking its toll on locals in much-visited areas such as the Canary and Balearic Islands, prompting a series of demonstrations this year so far calling for a new tourism model.
