Palma, the ideal sustainable destination
8 February, 2023Nowadays, sustainability has become a tourist attraction and Palma relies on it. Just as it is a friendly city and open to international tourism, with a great cultural, leisure, gastronomic, historic offering and, what’s more, with an excellent climate throughout the year, it is also designed so that there is a balance between the tourist development (which in the case of the Balearic capital perfectly represents economic development) and the whole environment. This not only guarantees a clean environment that is continually regenerated, but also the future of tourism. Therefore, Palma is and will be an increasingly sustainable destination, the ideal sustainable destination.
The Palma 365 Tourism Foundation works to publicise the fact that Palma is every day a little more sustainable, with actions, initiatives and projects which seek to reduce the ecological footprint. Some actions undertaken by the City Council which have a direct impact on the improvement of the city, its inhabitants and the tourists who visit it every year. The following stand out: new LED lighting which drastically reduces electricity consumption and emissions, the planting of 10,000 trees and the project for the new wastewater treatment plant, whose works will begin this year.
Sustainable mobility
Palma now has more pedestrian areas and promotes a different type of mobility based on public transport. It has a bus fleet which was completely renewed at the beginning of 2023, equipped with electric, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles. And although it is still a project, trams will join this sustainable network, a new element which will transform mobility in the Balearic capital. It is an exciting project which is already crystallising.
Tourist flow
As an example of the city of Palma’s commitment to sustainability and innovation, actions have been designed to relieve certain entry points to the municipality, thus staggering the arrivals of tourists to the city centre. The “Reorganisation of the flow of tourists through the centre of Palma” initiative contributes significantly to improving Palma’s sustainability.
Welcome Palma App
Developed alongside the University of the Balearic Islands, it is aimed at providing personalised information to cruise tourists who disembark in the Balearic capital, as well as improving visitor satisfaction and infrastructure management. The application is nourished by the information obtained through the Wi-Fi network of the port and the city of Palma, which allows it to know the flow of visitors in real time. In this way, the information obtained makes it possible to guide cruise passengers in a personalised way, thus improving their experience, seeking satisfaction and contributing to a more homogeneous distribution of tourists in these points of interest.
Beach App
This is a project which seeks to improve safety on the beaches of Palma. This App allows beach-goers to be informed of the new social distancing measures included in the transition plan to the new normality. In addition, users can find out in real time how busy the beaches are, the occupation of accessible areas, the status of alert flags and collaborate by registering their stay on the beach voluntarily and anonymously.
Palma for everyone
The initiative aims to provide tourists with reduced mobility with a tool to discover and visit the city, with reliable and practical information. A total of 5 routes have been developed, as follows: Palma Alta, Palma Baja, Santa Catalina, Cala Mayor and the Tourist Bus Route. Each route has a detailed description of the level of physical and sensory accessibility of the routes’ roads and also of the points of interest that they include. In this way each person, depending on their abilities, can decide if they can access a location or not or whether they need to be accompanied.
Guide to accessible beaches
In line with the previous project and for the same device to include as much tourist information possible which may be of interest to people with reduced mobility, they can download the city of Palma’s Guide to Accessible Beaches.