The historic centre of Palma is undergoing significant socio-urban change due to tourism-real estate speculation—an issue that is constantly highlighted in debates on tourism gentrification. This revaluation of the historic centre as a place for investment coincided with a serious economic crisis and an increase in urban inequality throughout the city. Tourism gentrification is spreading throughout neighbourhoods in the old town, most notably in areas with high heritage value. Our aim herein is to examine tourism gentrification in the historic centre of Palma through the increase in luxury hotels and short-stay holiday home rentals, particularly those listed on Airbnb, as the two most recent agents of gentrification. The advent of social resistance to this phenomenon can be tied to the socio-urban impacts that have stemmed from this tourism speculation: financial (real estate speculation and rising property prices), social (evictions), and functional and scenic (symbolic and commercial transformation). The strongest political response has come in the recent Tourism Act (August 2017) introducing certain regulatory measures: firstly, the focus on the illegal nature of renting holiday accommodation and, secondly, tourism zoning which, in Palma, has led to a complete ban on holiday rentals in residential apartment blocks. Palma is the first city in Spain to opt for this solution.

In the early 1980s, suburbanization and periurbanization processes became widespread in major cities within Spain. An interesting stage of returning to city centers commenced that materialized in the start of rehabilitation policies within historic centers. These processes coincided with weak population growth, an acute industrial economic crisis, and new democratic policies in municipal councils. Three decades later, we may be witnessing similar processes, although with different origins. The consequences of a construction-based economic model have been disastrous in Spain, from both an economic as well as an environmental point of view. The artificial land boom was significant throughout the country, but was especially prominent within the Mediterranean areas that specialize in tourism and real estate (second homes). The burst of the real estate bubble has shown the irrationality of the economic model and the serious social and environmental consequences that the model has entailed. Within this context, some of the territorial transformation processes that occurred in Spain during the real estate boom period are being studied for the first time. Additionally, changes in land policies (urban renewal of centers and urban renewal in general) within the current economic and real estate crisis are analyzed. An urban rehabilitation that gradually includes new spaces for intervention and for introducing new sustainable methods for recovering degraded spaces, such as the Master Plan for Platja de Palma, a mature tourism destination that seeks a final ‘0 CO2 balance’ scenario, among other objectives.

The urban and territorial changes caused by tourism are well-studied topics in contemporary scientific literature. This article uses an integrative approach that lies between the scientific traditions in urban geography and the geography of tourism to present a case study of a socialist city. Tourism is a strategic economic activity in Cuba, and the country’s most popular sun and sand tourist destination is Varadero. At first consideration, its tourism model is not very different from those of other areas in the region (Dominican Republic, Riviera Maya, etc.), but the uniqueness of the Cuban government and emphasis on planning introduce several distinguishing features. The combined analysis of the development of tourism in the city and the recent history of territorial planning leads to conclusions regarding the role of tourism in urban development, which has resulted in the creation of a dual-city model, and the role land planning is playing.

This work analyses the main Spanish legislative and urban planning instruments, highlighting some of the most important structural problems of the current Spanish urban realities. The survey on legislation runs from the first Land Use Act of 1956 to the decentralization of the administration and the culmination of the transfer processes to the respective Spanish regions. Later, we study the complete well-structured hierarchy of urban planning instruments in use at present. Finally, we analyse how these and other factors have an influence on the capacity to control housing prices and on a lack of sustainability characterized by the excessive urbanizing use of the land.

Austerity policies and the bankruptcy of the welfare state in Spain since the crisis of 2008 have mobilized the population to demand new models of urban governance, an improvement of basic services (work, health, education and housing) and the right to the city in a context of democratic deepening. The emergence of new leftist parties, a result of the Indignados social movement, is perceived as an alternative to the economic and social consequences of the neoliberal economic model implemented in Spain from the mid-1980s to 2008. Confronting the situation of economic, social and residential vulnerability in which society is immersed requires collaborative, multilevel and network governance. This paper examines the new urban governance models, reflecting on their objectives and challenges. The cases of Madrid and Barcelona, where mayors of leftist parties are carrying out a new plan of city government, are analyzed with a particular focus on supporting the most vulnerable and promoting more collaborative governance. In the medium term, it remains to be seen whether this new model is sustainable or is simply a post-crisis reaction.

La crisis consecuencia de la pandemia de la COVID-19 está poniendo de manifiesto las débiles estructuras en las que sustentaba la supuesta recuperación económica y las fuertes desigualdades socio-urbanas sobre las que se fundamenta esta recuperación. La enfermedad es un indicador de desigualdad pero, en el contexto de la COVID-19, también lo son las medidas para su contención. El objetivo de este artículo es estudiar la desigualdad urbana en Palma, focalizando la investigación en uno de los barrios más empobrecidos y vulnerables de la ciudad, son Gotleu, durante la etapa del confinamiento de la COVID-19. La metodología combina dos tipos de análisis, uno a escala de ciudad y otro de barrio. Para esto, primero elaboramos un mapa social de la desigualdad de Palma a partir de un Análisis de Componentes Principales. Segundo, realizamos una encuesta sobre la calidad de vida durante el confinamiento a residentes de son Gotleu. El trabajo concluye manifestando, por un lado, la existencia de importantes brechas sociales y económicas en Palma. Por otro, las débiles condiciones sociales, económicas y de vivienda a las que se enfrenta son Gotleu para hacer frente a una crisis (sanitaria y económica) de esta envergadura.