Mass tourism is as soon as once more testing the bounds of Europe’s most visited locations – and islands are among the many hardest hit.
With restricted land and fragile infrastructure, document customer numbers have pushed up housing prices and stretched native companies past breaking level.
In recent times, protests have erupted throughout archipelagos as residents name on native governments to start out placing them first.
A brand new evaluation from BookRetreats.com has delved into which islands are most overloaded and which have been quietly modelling a extra sustainable strategy.
Overtourism is especially damaging in small areas
“Tourism has remodeled a lot of Europe’s islands, however the tempo and scale are not sustainable,” says Sean Kelly, co-founder of BookRetreats.com.
“When native techniques are stretched and communities are pushed out, it is a signal one thing wants to vary. That is why it is so vital we have a look at the information, perceive the place the strain is highest, and begin selecting locations that may really profit from our presence.”
The reserving retreat web site analysed the most recent information from the European Fee, specializing in what number of in a single day stays in vacationer lodging there have been per sq. kilometre (km2), a key measure of tourism density.
This metric reveals how concentrated tourism turns into in small areas, notably impactful on islands the place infrastructure, land, and pure assets are restricted.
Malta is essentially the most tourist-dense island in Europe
Mallorca could also be Europe’s most visited island, however no vacation spot packs extra tourism into such a small house as Malta.
At simply 316 km2, Malta is sufficiently small to suit into London 5 instances over, but it sees greater than 38,700 in a single day stays per km2.
The strain is seen throughout the archipelago, particularly at vacationer hotspots like Comino’s Blue Lagoon, which attracts as much as 12,000 guests a day in summer time.
As a result of intense strain these numbers place on the native atmosphere and infrastructure, officers not too long ago launched a each day cap of 4,000 guests on the web site, and reserving is now required.
Regardless of these clear issues, the federal government has introduced plans to boost complete arrivals to 4.5 million by 2034.
Canary Islands are feeling the pressure of overtourism
Predictably, after Malta within the rating comes a sequence of Spanish islands.
Recognized for its golden seashores, volcanic trails, and year-round sunshine, Lanzarote has lengthy been a magnet for holidaymakers. The info reveals this island now sees greater than 21,600 in a single day stays per km2.
Tenerife information 16,873 in a single day stays, adopted intently by Gran Canaria with 16,709. Even Fuerteventura, usually marketed as a quieter choice, ranks twelfth among the many continent’s most saturated islands.
Though tourism accounts for round 35 per cent of the Canary Islands‘ GDP, many residents say the price of mass tourism outweighs the advantages.
As summer time approaches, protests have unfold throughout the islands, with 1000’s taking to the streets to name for caps on customer numbers, stricter controls on short-term leases, and safety of Canarian tradition.
Spain’s Balearic Islands really feel the steadiness has tipped too far
For many years, Ibiza and Formentera have drawn travellers with their turquoise waters and legendary nightlife. However for the 170,000 individuals who name these islands residence, the dimensions of tourism has additionally change into overwhelming.
Final 12 months introduced a document 3.7 million guests, together with one other season of rising rents, clogged roads, and crowded seashores. With over 17,000 in a single day stays per km2, Ibiza and Formentera are essentially the most overcrowded of the Balearic islands.
Whereas locals agree tourism is important, many say the steadiness has tipped too far, pushing up residing prices and making housing unaffordable.
In April 2025, the regional authorities accredited a brand new set of Tourism Containment Measures to curb the impression. Amongst them, stricter enforcement of licenses for tourism leases and a ban on creating new vacationer lodging in multi-family residential buildings.
Go to these northern European islands practising sustainable tourism
Regardless of the glum outlook for a lot of of Europe’s islands, dozens stay examples of locations the place sustainable tourism advantages residents.
For travellers keen to enterprise north, Svalbard gives real serenity in Europe. With simply 2.4 in a single day stays per km2, the Arctic archipelago is the least crowded island vacation spot on the continent.
Accessible from mainland Norway, Svalbard looks like a real frontier. In summer time, the midnight
solar stretches throughout silent glaciers and huge fjords, making it one of many few locations in Europe the place you’ll be able to hike, kayak, or just sit with out seeing a soul.
What makes Svalbard particularly distinctive is its strategy to tourism.
Over two-thirds of the archipelago is protected by nationwide parks and nature reserves. Polar bears, Arctic foxes, and reindeer roam freely, whereas strict environmental guidelines dictate the place guests can go and the way they journey.
Lodging is proscribed, largely conventional inns and small hostels round Longyearbyen, with minimal new developments within the pipeline.
Cruise tourism, as soon as on the rise right here, is now being rethought. As Norway tightens environmental rules, the longer term factors towards smaller, low-impact expedition cruises as an alternative of enormous ships.
Åland in Finland and Sweden’s Gotland additionally rank amongst Europe’s least overcrowded islands, all providing slower, extra adventurous alternate options removed from the standard crowds.
A Greek island that has averted overtourism
Regardless of being the fifth-largest island in Greece, Chios stays remarkably underneath the radar.
It is roughly the identical dimension as Lanzarote, however sees round 21,000 fewer in a single day stays per km2.
That is partly by design. Chios has lengthy been economically self-sufficient, due to its uncommon mastic bushes, which develop in just a few locations on the planet.
With out strain to develop large-scale tourism, the island has taken a extra sustainable strategy, focusing as an alternative on small, family-run pensions, transformed stone homes, and preserving its cultural heritage.
Villages like Pyrgi and Mesta really feel untouched by time, and the seashores, whereas stunning, stay blissfully uncrowded. Nature is revered right here, not packaged, and the result’s a sort of tourism that matches the place, fairly than reshaping it.
Different Greek islands that rank amongst Europe’s least crowded embrace Euboea, Lesvos, Limnos, Ikaria, and Samos.
If you wish to go to a Canary Island, go for El Hierro
On the western fringe of the Canaries, El Hierro feels worlds away from the area’s busiest resort hubs. With simply 610 in a single day stays per km2, it’s Spain’s least crowded island vacation spot.
Fewer than 11,000 folks dwell on the island, and tourism stays deliberately small-scale.
There aren’t any direct flights to El Hierro, which suggests it receives a handful of tourists in comparison with neighbouring Tenerife. There are round 1,000 visitor beds, largely in modest pensions and rural houses, and even the island’s largest resort has underneath 50 rooms.
The panorama is uncooked and hanging: volcanic cliffs, pure swimming swimming pools, historic forests, and highland farms all sit inside a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve.
Guests come to hike, dive, and disconnect, but additionally to expertise a slower, extra rooted model of island life.
Since tourism first started to develop on El Hierro, the island has prioritised a sustainable strategy.
Fairly than pursue quantity, it has targeted on environmental safety, self-sufficiency, and renewable power, with the purpose to scale back emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and obtain zero emissions by 2050.
Tourism in El Hierro additionally helps, fairly than replaces, conventional industries like agriculture, which produces 98 per cent of all pineapples grown within the Canary Islands.
Elsewhere within the Canaries, islands like La Palma and La Gomera seem like avoiding the worst of mass tourism, however with customer numbers rising throughout the archipelago, the window for sustaining that steadiness could also be narrowing.