Commercial tourism in ships and aircraft has not stopped growing since the first expeditions of the fifties. Tourism has been concentrated primarily in the Antarctic Peninsula region and travels aboard passenger ships from South America (Argentina and Chile).
The signatory countries of the Treaty and Protocol must stipulate an authorization regime for activities in Antarctica; eligible visitors must obtain in advance the authorizations issued by the respective competent authority of each part of the Antarctic Treaty. In Spain, the competent authority is the Spanish Polar Committee.
All expeditions that are organized or depart from Spanish territory and in which their vessels or nationals participate, whether governmental, non-governmental or tourism, must be authorized by the Spanish Polar Committee.
