October 2007: More cruise ships make Menorca their destination
More and more people are making their way to Menorca by cruise ship, with numbers expected to continue growing over the next few years.
In the first six months of 2007 alone, the capital city Mahon has had a staggering 57 per cent increase in passenger numbers.
Port operator Ports de Balears has just released its figures for January to June. 57 ships called into port, carrying 36,656 passengers.
In total this year, the operator expects 121 cruise ships to stop in the city.
The island is benefiting from a general increase in cruises across Europe. It's thought that up to half of all the cruise ships currently being built will be deployed around the continent. The main operators are also said to be moving their best ships to operate in the area.
For Menorca, the last planned call this year is on 23rd November.
But next year is booking up fast. 119 ship calls have been reserved so far, with the first one booked for Saturday 2nd February 2008.
And since reservations can be made any time between now and the middle of December, it's likely that another record will be set next year.
Amazingly, a reservation has already been made for 2009!
On Friday 2nd January 2009 the new ship AIDAcara will call en-route from Malta to Palma.
The port operator hopes off-season calls will catch on and attract more tourism to Menorca in the winter months.
One problem those cruise ships won't have is finding somewhere to moor.
That's not the case for anyone with a private leisure boat in the island, where mooring space is becoming increasingly rare.
The island's authorities have started to look at plans to develop the ports creating more space for moorings, and encouraging more tourist use of coastlines - including activities such as pedalo and kayak hire.