Spain's Aena and Barcelona push back on tourism growth

Aena, the Spanish airport operator, rejected criticism from Balearic president Marga Prohens, stating that visitor numbers to the islands depend on the range of tourism services rather than airport capacity. The company highlighted more than €1 billion in recent airport investments, including a €600 million remodel of Palma airport and a further €400 million slated for Menorca and Ibiza, and emphasized that tourism policy is the competence of the regional government.

In Barcelona, officials announced a new policy to cap annual visitors at roughly 16 million, encapsulated in the slogan “Ni un turista más”. The city aims to keep tourist numbers at current levels to reduce pressure on housing, transport and local commerce, and to rebalance the visitor mix toward equal thirds of business, cultural and leisure travel. The change is accompanied by a rebranding from “Visit Barcelona” to “This Is Barcelona”.