A group of German tourists are just in time to buy a bottle before the small grocery store on the tourist beach closes.
In Majorca and Ibiza, in the areas worst affected by drunken tourists, sales end at 9:30 p.m., and after that, alcoholic beverages may not be consumed in public places. Bars and terraces continue as usual.
Platja de Palma, the tourist area on the southeast side of the city of Palma, is primarily populated by Germans and Brits, who can get to Majorca on low-cost airline tickets that cost a few tens at best. Even the week’s travel packages only cost a few hundreds.
The group of idiots from Dortmund is dressed in football shirts and says that they have come to have fun.
Apparently they like it that way: by the time the trade is closed, they have a solid sidekick. They eagerly follow women dressed as fairies carrying an inflatable giant penis.
The evening is still young, but Carrer del Pare Bartomeu Salvà, the party street on the beach, is already in full swing.
Quality tourism instead of the masses?
Port de Sóller, located on the northwest coast of Mallorca, about 30 kilometers from Palma, is like another world. The coastal boulevard is mainly populated by grown-up and wealthy people who eat in the restaurants of this former fishing village.
You can also see a lot of cyclists on the streets of Sóller. Mallorca is perfect for cycling because the island is not big and there are both mountains and plains. In addition, the weather is suitable for fitness all year round.
A native of Bristol Ian says that he comes to Mallorca almost every year at the beginning of the season. Flights to the island are cheap, so he can invest a little more in a good place to stay.
Mallorca’s tourism authorities have made it clear that they want to reduce cheap tourism and focus more on wealthy customers. The alcohol ban on the beaches of Bailaus is precisely related to this – in addition to the fact that it already reduces the worst brawls.
Something should be done – but what?
About 35 percent of Mallorca’s economy is directly or indirectly related to tourism. On the other hand, about 65 percent do not join, and this group has to suffer more and more from the mild effects of tourism.
In the suburbs of Palma, they are waiting for their daughter from school Jorge and Elena all agree that there are too many tourists.
– Moving around in Palma is difficult when there are so many people. There are tourists everywhere in the city and more and more all the time.
About 12 million tourists visit the island of Mallorca every year. The number has returned to the level before the corona pandemic and will probably be even more this year. When the nearby Ibiza is included in the calculation, there are more than 16 million tourists a year.
Around 500 cruise ships visit the port of Palma every year, bringing two million passengers for a quick visit to the streets of Palma. At the airport, the plane takes off or lands every one and a half minutes.
– Something should be done to curb the number of tourists, Jorge says, but he can’t say what.
Tourism brings a lot of work and wealth to the island, but now the measure of the residents is starting to fill up. The liquor ban is therefore only the beginning: some also propose an entrance fee, like in Venice.
Demonstration against tourism next week
Majorca is not alone, as there have been large protests against tourists across Spain. Palma is now planning something like this for next week Saturday, May 25.
The demonstration is organized by a movement called Banc del temps Sencelles. It is an organization that promotes community activities, mutual services for residents and grassroots activism.
A representative of the organization tells that they are not bothered by tourism as such, but on this scale it suppresses the activities of the original people and undermines the local culture.
Apartment prices throughout the island, but especially in Palma, have skyrocketed when they are converted into short-term rental vacation homes. Residential buildings are converted into small boutique hotels.
The island’s desire to select wealthy tourists further exacerbates this: if the locals are already struggling to pay for housing, what will the situation be when tourists are even more able to pay?
Pioneer of mass tourism
The largest member of the Balearic island group has been a popular travel destination since the 1950s, when chartered planes began ferrying vacationers there.
Vacation flights from Finland started already in 1956, when Karair made the first flights with its DC-3 planes to Mallorca. Since then, the island has become very familiar to Finns, especially when Kalevi Keihänen began to transport a crowd of people “one mark to Mallorca, two to the Canary Islands”.
Other parts of Spain also invested in tourism. Dictator Francisco Franco saw this as a good way to make money and, above all, a way to get currency. Large hotel complexes were built on sunny beaches, and so even the beautiful center of Palma in Mallorca was squeezed in the middle of white beach hotels.
In the 1970s, there were already more than three million tourists a year, and 10 million broke in the mid-2010s.
A large part of the tourists are not interested in the local culture, hotels produce waste, airplanes cause noise and so on – the adverse effects of tourism first came to the fore in Mallorca, and therefore often “harm tourism” is now called “balearization” after Mallorca and Ibiza.
Although resentment towards tourists has been increasing for a long time, only the corona pandemic brought a change. It was a big financial blow to the island, but at the same time it reminded what the island could be like without tourists. Since then, efforts have been made to curb tourism, and small steps have been taken.
But still: although tourists are not wanted, their money is welcome.
What is the fate of mass tourism? Wednesday 15.5. In the A-studio, the CEO of the Finnish Tourism Industry Association Heli Mäki-Fränti and PhD researcher Vilhelmiina Vainikka from the University of Tampere, who has a thesis on mass tourism, will discuss the topic. Hosted by Annika Damström. The broadcast can be watched on TV1 and Areena from 21:05.