Majorca’s Palma Airport could be heading for a major change in order to make the incredibly popular holiday destination more environmentally friendly.
Greenpeace has called for a complete ban on private jets at the airport, citing statistics that they produce 10 times more CO2 per passenger per kilometre than an average commercial plane.
Palma is also up there with one of the busiest airports in Europe for private jets, competing with Ibiza and Malaga, making Spain the second most popular European holiday destination for private jets.
Another study revealed that the majority of the private jets arriving are for holidays rather than business trips, and their arrivals increased by 106 percent during the summer season at 41 of the 46 airports surveyed.
As well as the ban on private jets, Greenpeace wants to tax paraffin and spend the money on public transport, housing, and healthy food.
Cristina Arjona, head of Greenpeace’s Mobility campaign, said: “It is bad news that Spanish airports are at the top of this polluting ranking.
“We see how these flights reach their peak in Mediterranean airports during the summer, which means that we are facing an unsustainable form of tourism that only benefits a few people to the detriment of the majority of society who suffer the consequences of this waste.
“These private flights represent a disproportionate share of aviation emissions, which accelerates the climate emergency.
“This luxury not only exacerbates environmental damage, but we all pay for it and deepens inequality. The rich jetting around in their jets must be held accountable for the damage to society.”
Majorca is an extremely popular holiday destination for tourists around the world, prompting backlash from locals who have protested against overcrowding and the rise of Airbnbs.
Last week, the “Less tourism, more life” protest group issued a statement announcing plans to stage more anti-tourism demonstrations in the autumn.
The statement on World Tourism Day read: “It’s a day on which we hear speeches that deny, minimise or actively ignore the denunciation of the social, environmental and climatic impacts that affect the territories.”
