The first deputy mayor of Alcúdia, Juan Luis González, participated in the Mallorca eForum 2026 defending a tourism model based on territorial planning and limiting urban growth.
The first deputy mayor of Alcúdia, Juan Luis González, spoke this Thursday at the Mallorca eForum 2026, a forum held in Palma that brought together experts and institutional representatives to discuss the challenges of tourism in the Balearics. In the round table titled "The future of tourism: managing impact, preserving the environment," González presented the experience of the municipality in northern Mallorca as an example of territorial management.
González explained that Alcúdia has been applying a model of limited urban growth for decades, which has helped contain land consumption. However, this strategy has also generated new problems, especially regarding the availability of land for housing, a topic that increasingly concerns residents.
The municipal representative highlighted the unique characteristics of Alcúdia's hotel plant, developed mainly in the 1970s and 1980s with urban planning criteria that required more open spaces and lower building density. This configuration has facilitated many establishments currently opting for modernisation and quality improvement, increasing categories and services without the need to raise the number of places.
"The challenges we face require a long-term vision. We need broad agreements that allow us to make strategic decisions and maintain them over time, beyond political changes, if we want to guarantee the future of our municipalities," González stated during his speech.
The first deputy mayor also focused on the role of local councils as the administration closest to the citizens. He called for regulations and public policies to take into account the specific realities of each municipality and pointed out the difficulties many local administrations face in having the necessary economic, human, and administrative resources to respond to new challenges.
Among the specific examples he mentioned, he highlighted the need to update basic infrastructures such as sewage networks. González reminded that many of the current problems are a consequence of investments that were not executed for years and now require significant actions to ensure future sustainability.
The Mallorca eForum 2026, which is held annually in Palma, has established itself as a debate space on the main challenges facing the Balearic Islands. In this edition, the tourism panel brought together speakers from different fields to analyse how to balance tourism development with environmental preservation.
González's intervention is part of the Alcúdia City Council's strategy to position the municipality as a benchmark in sustainable tourism management. The council has promoted measures in recent years such as limiting new hotel places and focusing on the rehabilitation of existing establishments.
For the residents of Alcúdia, González's statements represent a message of continuity in the urban policies that have marked the municipality's development. The lack of land for housing is one of the main concerns of the population, especially among young people, who find it difficult to access a home in their own locality.
The first deputy mayor concluded his speech advocating for broad political and institutional agreements that allow for a stable strategy in tourism, water resources, infrastructure, and sustainability. "We need a long-term vision and agreements that transcend electoral cycles," he insisted.
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