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mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

  • CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Mass tourism has troubled Mallorca for decades. Can it change?

As the Spanish island begins to welcome travelers after pandemic lockdowns, some locals are looking for more sustainable paths.

Mallorca’s picturesque Ca los Camps beach lies near a forest sheltering Bronze Age megaliths called talaiots— and far from infamous megaresort areas such as Magaluf. With the current reduction in tourists, “the beauty of Mallorca is now in front of us,” says photographer Pep Bonet, who used infrared imagery to highlight the ethereal quality of the island in its present state.

The first days of June dawned in a Spain hushed by the coronavirus pandemic. By then, more than 27,000 Spaniards had died of COVID-19, and the country was midway through a 10-day mourning period honoring their lives. Flags flickered at half mast. Families, faces covered, grieved beside newly built tombs.

On Mallorca, the largest of Spain ’s Balearic Islands, whitewashed hotels stood empty in the spring sunshine. Since the middle of March, when the archipelago’s airports snapped shut, the nearby beaches had been devoid of tourists. The economic downturn has deepened the pandemic’s toll.

“We have about 200,000 jobs that depend on tourism,” says Rosana Morillo, the director general of tourism in the Balearic Islands. Roughly 25 percent of the islands’ economy comes directly from tourism, Morillo estimates; add the indirect impact, and the number is closer to 35 percent.

The pandemic has meant a devastating loss of income on the archipelago, and for some, ushering back visitors has been a top priority. But visitation cuts both ways in the Balearic Islands, where high-rise resorts cater to crowds looking for sun-splashed beaches and free-flowing drinks. To many locals, tourism is an economic boon that’s become a crushing burden.

Long before overtourism became a pressing concern from Barcelona to Venice , the Balearic Islands were a byword for a travel industry run amok. When tourism researchers refer to out-of-control development that values short-term profit over sustainability, they call it balearización.

Suddenly, amid the pandemic’s heartbreak and loss, islanders got an unexpected glimpse of a different life.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

The cove of Sa Calobra is one of the few ways to access the sea from the Serra de Tramuntana, a mountain range designated a UNESCO World Heritage site under the Cultural Landscape category for its centuries-old terraced farming in steep terrain.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

Located on the slopes of Puig Major and Morro de Cúber, the reservoir of Cúber—along with the Gorg Blau reservoir—supplies water to the city of Palma de Mallorca and the surrounding area.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

An aerial view of Es Llombards, near Mallorca’s south coast, shows a quiet village in an area normally filled with tourists. The slowdown caused by the pandemic “will support a more sustainable island,” says photographer Pep Bonet.

A time of quiet

It was a few weeks after the tourists left Mallorca when Pere Tomas walked out on his apartment terrace and saw the massive dark wings of a cinereous vulture wheeling high above. Tomas, a local guide who leads nature tours , made a note of it. Locked down and out of work, he was tracking resurgent wildlife on an island hushed by the pandemic.

“We could see very rare species that before we had only seen very far in the countryside,” he says. “There was less disturbance everywhere.”

When strict lockdowns lifted in early June, islanders emerged from their homes to find a sun-washed coastline that—seemingly for the first time in memory—was empty of tourists in the high season.

With the drone of sightseeing boats silenced, fishermen reeled nets from gin-clear bays to the sound of wind and waves. On the island’s northern edge, photographer Pep Bonet hiked mountain pathways where, instead of German and English, he heard the shushed consonants of the archipelago’s own Mallorquín dialect.

“Walking the beaches was incredible,” recalls professor Julio Batle, who reveled in pristine sand free of the partying crowds that this Mediterranean island is known for. “Even when I was a kid, there were too many tourists, so it was a new situation,” says Batle, who studies sustainable tourism and economics at the Universitat de les Illes Balears . “It was strange, and beautiful.”

mallorca in 2019

In recent years, cruise ships have swarmed the harbor at Palma de Mallorca, shown here in 1929.

mallorca in july 2019

Near Palma de Mallorca, El Arenal beach drew crowds of hard-partying holiday makers in August 2019. These booze-fueled trips are “almost a rite of passage for many Brits and Germans,” says photographer Pep Bonet.

( Discover the dazzling Spanish national park in Catalonia .)

It’s also a stark contrast from the usual scene on Mallorca, where the sheer scale of pre-pandemic tourism was overwhelming. Some 11.8 million visitors flooded Mallorca in 2019, dwarfing the local population of under a million. The cost of living has skyrocketed, a trend aggravated by the conversion of family homes into vacation rentals .

Environmental impacts have been grave. Tourism pushed water usage to the brink. Developments chewed into fragile hillsides, and planes plus vast fleets of rental cars generated air pollution that left some locals in masks long before the pandemic began.

On a hot July day in 2017, planes passed through Mallorca’s Son Sant Joan airport at a record-breaking rate of one every 90 seconds. It’s no surprise the cinereous vultures stayed away.

How tourism devoured the island

An observer, taking in Mallorca’s ivory-colored beaches and turquoise coves, might easily see the island’s double-edged tourism industry as inevitable, the simple arithmetic of sun, sand, and sea. But the scale of tourism here isn’t haphazard: It’s the product of intentional development.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

In the 1950s, Spain’s fascist regime saw tourism as a sorely needed source of revenue; the isolated government was hungry for foreign currency. Officials loosened the borders and encouraged beach development.

In Mallorca, hotels ballooned in size, eventually leaving Palma—the island’s capital—fenced in by high-rises built to attract budget travelers in the largest possible numbers. Cruise tourism has followed the same steep growth curve, with some 500 ships carrying 2 million passengers arriving in Palma each year.

But in recent years, many locals have pointed out that if mass tourism was a choice, it’s not too late to choose something else.

The local government seems to agree, expressing interest in a more sustainable model. In 2016, a tourist tax was introduced to raise funds for environmental restoration. Resort towns have cracked down on the tourist misbehavior that most wearies islanders, hoping to trade partiers for families interested in local culture.

Can the future be different?

For now, Mallorca has largely escaped the worst of the virus, with under 2,300 confirmed cases as of July 17. And despite the terrible toll of the pandemic on both lives and livelihoods globally, some residents are wondering if it might also present a chance to remake tourism on a smaller scale that favors meaningful encounters over the masses.

“I ask locals ‘how many of you have had the chance to spend quality time with tourists?’” explains Batle, the researcher. He says that few people he meets have had those authentic, one-on-one interactions. It’s a problem of scale, and one that Batle believes the pandemic could help upend. “The window is open for changes.”

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

Marine biologists and Cleanwave founder Philipp Baier have created a floating laboratory aboard a classic 1965 yacht, Falcao Uno. Along with citizen scientists, they investigate invasive species and microplastic pollution, a new way to engage Mallorca’s tourists in conservation of the Mediterranean Sea.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

Jaume Catany is a farmer working at Circle Carbon Labs, a research and development facility that regenerates soil with waste from agriculture and sequesters carbon through a circular economy model.

mallorca during and after covid in july 2020

A fisherman since the age of 13, Gori Maiol now captains a llaüt (traditional Mallorcan boat) and works with Vincent Colom. They use sustainable fishing practices like casting nets with bigger holes so small fish can escape and tossing small lobsters back into the sea.

“I think the pandemic is going to change all of our lives,” agrees Morillo, the director general of tourism. Nightclubs and boozy beach parties already seem like relics in a world grappling with infection. And it’s clear that the scale of tourism will be sharply reduced for the foreseeable future. Even the most optimistic observers think that just 50 percent of Palma hotels will open by the end of July.

( Related: In Florence, a centuries-old tradition fights for survival .)

As travelers start returning to the islands, Morillo hopes they’ll seek out natural landscapes and local culture, swapping coastal megaresorts for cycling through the mountains, stargazing, and sampling the gastronomy scene.

Or birdwatching. After months of lockdown, naturalist Pere Tomas finally left his apartment to lead a birdwatching tour in early June, guiding a British couple deep into the Albufera wetlands, where they saw endangered red-knobbed coots and a rare squacco heron.

Pandemic or not, thousands of migratory birds will return to these wetlands in the fall. Tourists have come back even sooner; the first planeloads of German vacationers touched down in mid-June. To try to avoid any virus outbreaks, the Balearics made masks mandatory in public places (but not the beach), as of July 13. And after a few recent incidents with drunken tourists, authorities shut down Palma’s main party strip . With clubs and discos closed, there’s an opening to discover a different side of island life.

Even after decades of intense tourism, many locals agree that it is Mallorca’s wildness that retains the power to astonish visitors—at least those willing to go beyond the most densely developed parts of the coast. “They get here and they see that actually there are big open spaces,” says longtime resident Timothy Pennell.

He runs La Serranía retreat in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana mountains of northern Mallorca, a steep landscape shaped by thousands of years of small-scale farming. Stone-walled terraces cascade down hillsides knit together by olive groves and fruit orchards.

Speaking from his home in the middle of June, Pennell panned his camera phone across a landscape gone lush with spring. Heat hazed the view, and a mountain breeze stirred the leaves. Sheep grazed in the background.

“It’s quiet,” he said. Many here hope that a little of that quiet will remain.

Related Topics

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • CULTURAL TOURISM
  • ADVENTURE TRAVEL
  • OVERTOURISM
  • SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

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Mass tourism has troubled Mallorca for decades. Can it change?

As the spanish island begins to welcome travellers after pandemic lockdowns, some locals are looking for more sustainable paths..

The cove of Sa Calobra is one of the few ways to access the sea from ...

The cove of Sa Calobra is one of the few ways to access the sea from the Serra de Tramuntana, a mountain range designated a UNESCO World Heritage site under the Cultural Landscape category for its centuries-old terraced farming in steep terrain.

The first days of June dawned in a Spain hushed by the coronavirus pandemic. By then, more than 27,000 Spaniards had died of COVID-19, and the country was midway through a 10-day mourning period honouring their lives. Flags flickered at half mast. Families, faces covered, grieved beside newly built tombs.

On Mallorca, the largest of Spain ’s Balearic Islands, whitewashed hotels stood empty in the spring sunshine. Since the middle of March, when the archipelago’s airports snapped shut, the nearby beaches had been devoid of tourists. The economic downturn has deepened the pandemic’s toll.

“We have about 200,000 jobs that depend on tourism,” says Rosana Morillo, the director general of tourism in the Balearic Islands. Roughly 25 percent of the islands’ economy comes directly from tourism, Morillo estimates; add the indirect impact, and the number is closer to 35 percent.

The pandemic has meant a devastating loss of income on the archipelago, and for some, ushering back visitors has been a top priority. But visitation cuts both ways in the Balearic Islands, where high-rise resorts cater to crowds looking for sun-splashed beaches and free-flowing drinks. To many locals, tourism is an economic boon that’s become a crushing burden.

Long before overtourism became a pressing concern from Barcelona to Venice , the Balearic Islands were a byword for a travel industry run amok. When tourism researchers refer to out-of-control development that values short-term profit over sustainability, they call it balearización.

Suddenly, amid the pandemic’s heartbreak and loss, islanders got an unexpected glimpse of a different life.

A time of quiet

It was a few weeks after the tourists left Mallorca when Pere Tomas walked out on his apartment terrace and saw the massive dark wings of a cinereous vulture wheeling high above. Tomas, a local guide who leads nature tours , made a note of it. Locked down and out of work, he was tracking resurgent wildlife on an island hushed by the pandemic.

A fisherman since the age of 13, Gori Maiol now captains a llaüt (traditional Mallorcan boat) ...

A fisherman since the age of 13, Gori Maiol now captains a llaüt (traditional Mallorcan boat) and works with Vincent Colom. They use sustainable fishing practices like casting nets with bigger holes so small fish can escape and tossing small lobsters back into the sea.

“We could see very rare species that before we had only seen very far in the countryside,” he says. “There was less disturbance everywhere.”

When strict lockdowns lifted in early June, islanders emerged from their homes to find a sun-washed coastline that—seemingly for the first time in memory—was empty of tourists in the high season.

With the drone of sightseeing boats silenced, fishermen reeled nets from gin-clear bays to the sound of wind and waves. On the island’s northern edge, photographer Pep Bonet hiked mountain pathways where, instead of German and English, he heard the shushed consonants of the archipelago’s own Mallorquín dialect.

“Walking the beaches was incredible,” recalls professor Julio Batle, who reveled in pristine sand free of the partying crowds that this Mediterranean island is known for. “Even when I was a kid, there were too many tourists, so it was a new situation,” says Batle, who studies sustainable tourism and economics at the Universitat de les Illes Balears . “It was strange, and beautiful.”

( Discover the dazzling Spanish national park in Catalonia .)

It’s also a stark contrast from the usual scene on Mallorca, where the sheer scale of pre-pandemic tourism was overwhelming. Some 11.8 million visitors flooded Mallorca in 2019, dwarfing the local population of under a million. The cost of living has skyrocketed, a trend aggravated by the conversion of family homes into vacation rentals .

Environmental impacts have been grave. Tourism pushed water usage to the brink. Developments chewed into fragile hillsides, and planes plus vast fleets of rental cars generated air pollution that left some locals in masks long before the pandemic began.

On a hot July day in 2017, planes passed through Mallorca’s Son Sant Joan airport at a record-breaking rate of one every 90 seconds. It’s no surprise the cinereous vultures stayed away.

How tourism devoured the island

An observer, taking in Mallorca’s ivory-colored beaches and turquoise coves, might easily see the island’s double-edged tourism industry as inevitable, the simple arithmetic of sun, sand, and sea. But the scale of tourism here isn’t haphazard: It’s the product of intentional development.

At Son Serra de Marina, locals enjoy a quiet day at the beach just before Mallorca ...

In the 1950s, Spain’s fascist regime saw tourism as a sorely needed source of revenue; the isolated government was hungry for foreign currency. Officials loosened the borders and encouraged beach development.

In Mallorca, hotels ballooned in size, eventually leaving Palma—the island’s capital—fenced in by high-rises built to attract budget travelers in the largest possible numbers. Cruise tourism has followed the same steep growth curve, with some 500 ships carrying 2 million passengers arriving in Palma each year.

But in recent years, many locals have pointed out that if mass tourism was a choice, it’s not too late to choose something else.

The local government seems to agree, expressing interest in a more sustainable model. In 2016, a tourist tax was introduced to raise funds for environmental restoration. Resort towns have cracked down on the tourist misbehavior that most wearies islanders, hoping to trade partiers for families interested in local culture.

Can the future be different?

For now, Mallorca has largely escaped the worst of the virus, with under 2,300 confirmed cases as of July 17. And despite the terrible toll of the pandemic on both lives and livelihoods globally, some residents are wondering if it might also present a chance to remake tourism on a smaller scale that favors meaningful encounters over the masses.

“I ask locals ‘how many of you have had the chance to spend quality time with tourists?’” explains Batle, the researcher. He says that few people he meets have had those authentic, one-on-one interactions. It’s a problem of scale, and one that Batle believes the pandemic could help upend. “The window is open for changes.”

Marine biologists and Cleanwave founder Philipp Baier have created a floating laboratory aboard a classic 1965 ...

Marine biologists and Cleanwave founder Philipp Baier have created a floating laboratory aboard a classic 1965 yacht, Falcao Uno. Along with citizen scientists, they investigate invasive species and microplastic pollution, a new way to engage Mallorca’s tourists in conservation of the Mediterranean Sea.

“I think the pandemic is going to change all of our lives,” agrees Morillo, the director general of tourism. Nightclubs and boozy beach parties already seem like relics in a world grappling with infection. And it’s clear that the scale of tourism will be sharply reduced for the foreseeable future. Even the most optimistic observers think that just 50 percent of Palma hotels will open by the end of July.

( Related: In Florence, a centuries-old tradition fights for survival .)

As travelers start returning to the islands, Morillo hopes they’ll seek out natural landscapes and local culture, swapping coastal megaresorts for cycling through the mountains, stargazing, and sampling the gastronomy scene.

Or birdwatching. After months of lockdown, naturalist Pere Tomas finally left his apartment to lead a birdwatching tour in early June, guiding a British couple deep into the Albufera wetlands, where they saw endangered red-knobbed coots and a rare squacco heron.

Pandemic or not, thousands of migratory birds will return to these wetlands in the fall. Tourists have come back even sooner; the first planeloads of German vacationers touched down in mid-June. To try to avoid any virus outbreaks, the Balearics made masks mandatory in public places (but not the beach), as of July 13. And after a few recent incidents with drunken tourists, authorities shut down Palma’s main party strip . With clubs and discos closed, there’s an opening to discover a different side of island life.

Even after decades of intense tourism, many locals agree that it is Mallorca’s wildness that retains the power to astonish visitors—at least those willing to go beyond the most densely developed parts of the coast. “They get here and they see that actually there are big open spaces,” says longtime resident Timothy Pennell.

He runs La Serranía retreat in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana mountains of northern Mallorca, a steep landscape shaped by thousands of years of small-scale farming. Stone-walled terraces cascade down hillsides knit together by olive groves and fruit orchards.

Speaking from his home in the middle of June, Pennell panned his camera phone across a landscape gone lush with spring. Heat hazed the view, and a mountain breeze stirred the leaves. Sheep grazed in the background.

“It’s quiet,” he said. Many here hope that a little of that quiet will remain.

Editor’s Note: For some images in this story, the photographer used infrared technology, which records wavelengths longer than those visible by the human eye. This kind of photography requires infrared film or a fully converted digital camera, in this case a Nikon Z7 mirrorless.
Based in Vermont, Jen Rose Smith has written travel articles for Fodor’s, CNN, and Outside. In 2018 she lived in Catalonia for three months. Follow her on Instagram .
Award-winning filmmaker and photographer Pep Bonet has documented stories around the world. Recently he’s been quarantined in Mallorca, where he grew up and now lives. Follow him on Instagram .
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Spain | Balearic Islands Economic Outlook 2022

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Published on Wednesday, May 11, 2022

The GDP of the Balearic Islands would have grown by 10.5% in 2021. The sanctions imposed on Russia and the increase in fuel prices reduce growth expectations. Even so, Balearic GDP could increase by 7.1% in 2022 and 5.0% in 2023, making the Balearic Islands the most dynamic region in the three-year period 2021-2023.

  • Key points:
  • GDP growth in 2021 was boosted by the recovery in tourism, spending by Balearic households and companies, as well as the impact of public policies, both from the central and regional governments.
  • Although the increase in activity will continue to be high in these two years, the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine will weigh on the recovery. In any case, GDP in the Balearic Islands could reach 7.1% in 2022 and 5.0% in 2023, which would make the island economy the fastest growing in Spain over the three-year period.
  • Several factors suggest that tourist numbers and spending levels during the peak season will be similar to or higher than those observed before the pandemic. These include reduced health uncertainty, the use of savings accumulated during confinement, and the attraction of visitors seeking destinations that provide security.
  • The Balearic economy has already recovered pre-crisis employment levels, while the unemployment rate will fall below 10% in 2023. In any case, GDP will only recover to pre-crisis levels by the end of next year.
  • Public policies will be key to minimising the effects of the war. The fall in electricity prices will be important. In the absence of a rent pact, the uneven impact of inflation may increase social unrest. Uncertainty persists about investment linked to the NGEU and spending could leak into higher imports in the face of supply constraints.

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

Mallorca Joins UNWTO’s Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories

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Mallorca Joins UNWTO’s Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories

  • All Regions, Europe

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has welcomed Mallorca’s Sustainable Tourism Observatory into its International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO).

Mallorca, one of Europe’s top destinations for more than 70 years, welcoming millions of visitors every year, becomes the latest member of UNWTO’s global INSTO network. The Mallorca Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO) is a key new element of the island’s strategy to preserve the destination and assess how the sector affects the natural environment, economy, and residents.

The Observatory will systematically monitor the environmental, social and economic impact of tourism and so facilitate evidence-based decision making. Key objectives for the island’s tourism sector include promoting a circular economy within hospitality, reducing the overall carbon footprint, and promoting local gastronomy to enhance Mallorca’s reputation and increases its appeal.

As a mature destination, the Observatory’s work will generate more and better evidence of the economic, environmental and social impacts that tourism has on the destination

Commenting, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “We warmly welcome the Mallorca Sustainable Tourism Observatory into our global network of observatories. As a mature destination, the Observatory’s work will generate more and better evidence of the economic, environmental and social impacts that tourism has on the destination. This will further facilitate the decision-making process and ensure that tourism can continue to be a tool for sustainable development.”

Catalina Cladera Crespí, President of the Consell de Mallorca said “The Mallorca Sustainable Tourism Observatory will play a fundamental role in monitoring and dealing with issues like job creation and sustainable production and consumption, public health and safety and security, human rights, quality education and inequalities. Being part of UNWTO’s global network of observatories will help Mallorca become a more dynamic, attractive and sustainable destination.”

The Mallorca Sustainable Tourism Observatory is managed by the Fundación Mallorca Turismo, part of Mallorca´s Island Council and is supported by the local and national Spanish public and private sector. This is the third Observatory in Spain, following on from the inclusion of the Navarre and Canary Islands Tourism Observatory into INSTO, and brings the worldwide total to 31.

About INSTO

The UNWTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) was created in 2004 with the main objectives of supporting the continuous improvement of sustainability and resilience in the tourism sector through systematic, timely and regular monitoring of tourism performance and to connect dedicated destinations, helping them to exchange and improve knowledge and understanding about destination-wide resource use and the responsible management of tourism.

Mallorca Joins UNWTO’s Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories

Relevant links

  • Download the news release in PDF
  • The UNWTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories
  • Mallorca Sustainable Tourism Observatory
  • 2020 UNWTO Global INSTO Meeting

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Mallorca’s approach to mass tourism could be a blueprint for meaningful change in sustainable travel

The balaeric island is looking to take the lead in environmentally friendly tourism. sophie lam pays a visit to test out its green credentials.

Iberostar Alcudia Park opens onto the Blue Flag Playa de Muro

In 2019, the year of tourism’s boom before Covid’s bust, more than 1.4bn tourists roamed the globe, around 300m of them arriving in southern and Mediterranean Europe. Spain – the world’s second most popular tourist destination behind France – has long been the favoured choice of British holidaymakers, with Mallorca a prime target.

But with popularity comes pressure, and movements in the mass tourism sphere are under way. In recent years, the Balearic Islands government has levied a sustainable tourism tax of up to €4 per day on visitors. Last month, it passed a law that requires all tourist businesses on the islands to set out circular economy measures to tackle waste, as well as workers’ rights.

With just under 14m tourist arrivals on Mallorca alone in 2019, and numbers recovering by almost 50 per cent last year, the goal is to have a framework in place to ensure responsible and sustainable growth after Covid-19.

A long history of tourism

The island has been at the vanguard of Spanish tourism, with a tourist office in operation since 1905 and the first package holidaymakers arriving in the Fifties. Some of the world’s biggest hotel brands were founded in Mallorca – Barcelo, Melia, Riu and Iberostar – and are still headquartered in the capital, Palma.

The week before COP26 got under way last October, I visited Mallorca to see how the family-run Iberostar group was adapting to meet environmental demands. With more than 100 hotels in 16 countries – some sleeping up to 1,000 guests – the group has set its own 2030 Agenda to progress towards a circular economy, eliminate single-use plastics, improve coastal health and source seafood responsibly.

Iberostar is part of the bedrock of package holidays such as those sold by easyJet Holidays. Six months ago, the operator launched a strategy to ensure its holidays directly support sustainable practices by the end of 2025. As a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), easyJet Holidays is encouraging its hotel partners to achieve certification by a GSTC-accredited body, which will be clearly labelled for customers. It says it is “committed to supporting hotel partners in meeting these criteria”.

More on Sustainable Travel

I rode one of the world's longest, heaviest trains across the desert - for free

EasyJet Holidays has also partnered with Oxford University to establish a Sustainable Development Goals Impact Lab, recruiting 20 graduates to identify challenges and opportunities for sustainable tourism. The UK’s biggest tour operator, Tui, has launched a similar pilot project focused on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Ultimately, the goal is for mass tourism to become sustainable – no easy feat, but one which could have a far greater impact than smaller-scale, higher-end initiatives aimed at customers who can afford to pay for conservation. A significant challenge will be to avoid passing on associated costs to price-sensitive holidaymakers.

Ambitions of scale

However, Justin Francis , CEO of Responsible Travel, sees the potential: “There is no reason why mainstream tourism cannot be as sustainable as niche tourism – in fact in some ways it could be more so. Densely planned accommodation in resorts can be more efficient in terms of waste, water and energy while limiting the impacts of overtourism. Buying power could be used to support local food producers and encourage nature-friendly farming.”

Cala St Vincenc on the north coast of Mallorca (Photo: Andrew Fox / Getty Images)

The scale of the Iberostar Alcudia Park hotel, on the north-east coast of Mallorca, does not scream low impact, but certainly conforms to dense planning. Inside the horseshoe-shaped complex are 366 rooms, hugging two pools that creep up to the turquoise water of Playa de Muro, a Blue Flag beach and one of the longest on the island.

Under the guidance of vice-chairman and chief sustainability officer Gloria Fluxa – named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2018 – Iberostar signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action on Tourism at COP26 . Each signatory has committed to delivering a climate action plan this year that will tackle decarbonisation and regeneration. The objective is to secure meaningful actions to reach net zero “as soon as possible” before 2050.

When single-use plastics were working their way back into daily life via Covid PPE and packaging, Iberostar eliminated all single-use plastics from its resorts. Combined with other efforts as part of its Wave of Change programme, the group was awarded Germany’s Eco Trophea 2021.

At its four-star Alcudia Park, hotel rooms each have a glass decanter and water stations are plugged into each corridor that tally the number of plastic bottles saved by refills. Large containers of organic toiletries are provided in the bathrooms and colour-coded recycling stations are positioned around the resort. Less encouragingly, I saw tourist shops opposite the hotel filled with sun-bleached, end-of-season lilos, buckets, spades and cheap souvenirs – a repository of desolate plastic.

My October half-term stay at the hotel came at the tail end of the summer season. Free ice creams were handed out in the afternoon and the pool water was decidedly chilly. One rainy day, I enquired about local activities at the front desk and was disappointed to receive only recommendations of a cinema and shopping mall, having hoped to hear more about local businesses that would surely welcome the trade.

Had the weather been more favourable, I’d have hopped on one of the hotel’s fleet of bicycles – stationed beneath its impressive marine mural by Mallorquin artist Joan Aguiló – to explore. Instead, I took a cab to the deserted medieval old town to wander its pretty, cobbled streets and ramparts.

Alcudia old town (Photo: Laszlo Szirtesi/Getty Images)

With most of the local restaurants closed for winter, I ate almost entirely at the hotel’s restaurant. Iberostar now sources 70 per cent of its seafood responsibly across the chain and supports local fisheries; I enjoyed their catch in an excellent paella.

Mallorquin dishes were part of the extensive buffet offering each evening, such as smoky sobrasada sausage and sweet ensaimada bread. Guests weren’t piling their plates high, but uneaten dishes were regularly scraped from serving platters into bins mid-service. However, Iberostar is working with tech company Winnow Solutions, which helps kitchens tackle food waste, and improvements should follow this season.

As the masses begin to trickle back to Mallorca, there’s potential for meaningful change. It won’t be easy or straightforward, but the results could be significant. And while not all visitors will demand sustainable practices, with major players getting to work behind the scenes, those mindsets could change fast. As Justin Francis says: “Unless mainstream tourism truly delivers on sustainability, we won’t deliver the change that is needed.”

Getting there EasyJet Holidays offers a week’s half board at the Iberostar Alcudia Park in Mallorca from £411pp including flights from Gatwick, 23kg of luggage per person, and transfers. More information All over-18s must provide proof of vaccination to enter Spain . Those aged 12-17 can provide a negative PCR test, while under-12s are exempt. illesbalears.travel

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open access

Mass Tourism vs. Sustainable Tourism in the Balearic Islands. Measuring Social and Environmental Impact in Mallorca

Christopher J Moon *

Senior Lecturer in Eco-Entrepreneurship Management, Leadership & Organisations, Business School, Middlesex University, UK

* Corresponding author: Christopher J Moon , Senior Lecturer in Eco-Entrepreneurship Management, Leadership & Organisations, Business School, Middlesex University, UK. Tel: +4402084115409; Email: [email protected]

Received Date: 30 July, 2018; Accepted Date: 23 August, 2018; Published Date: 03 September, 2018 

Citation: Moon CJ (2018) Mass Tourism vs. Sustainable Tourism in the Balearic Islands. Measuring Social and Environmental Impact in Mallorca. Tourism Hospit Ope Acc: THOA-118. DOI:10.29011/THOA-118.100018

1.                    Abstract

Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and enjoys significant economic benefits of tourism estimated at over €8bn per year [1]. However, this needs to be balanced with concern for social, economic and environmental sustainability [1] the impacts of which are largely undetermined. Recent Balearic government reports and statistics tend to focus on the economic impact of tourism [2]. This paper reviews the latest concerns about the environmental and social impacts of tourism on Mallorca and identifies gaps between the WTTC (2014) [3] recommended ESG framework and indicators referred to in the Govern de les Illes Balears Tourism Yearbook (GOB, 2015) [2]. The paper recommends ways in which these gaps can be bridged including which data can be gathered to better inform decisions. The focus of the research is Calvia municipality as this area has been criticised for its development policies in the past; and set a pioneering trend for using sustainable development indicators in 1995 though adopting Local Authority 21 indicators (LA21) based on the UN ‘Earth Summit’ convened in Rio de Janeiro.

2.                    Keywords : ESG Indicators; Mallorca; Social and Environmental Indicators; Sustainable Tourism

1.                    Introduction

Sustainable Tourism in Mallorca is under scrutiny due to the increasing numbers of tourists placing greater strain on local resources including energy and water; and acute problems over waste and pollution. The focus of this paper is thus on the measurement of social and environmental impacts and the need for sound indicators. Academics such as Royle (2009) [4] have used Richard Butler’s (1980, 2003) [5, 6] tourist area cycle of evolution as a basis for recognising the impact of mass tourism on the environment, culture and heritage of Mallorca. According to Royle, the emphasis on eco-tourism on Mallorca has had the bonus of attracting a different market sector; more interested in trips to forests, wildlife, walking, and golf and cycling. Plus, an added bonus might have been an increased spends per head from more affluent eco tourists.

For example, total annual income to the Balearic Islands from golf tourists rose from €198m to €234m between 2003 and 2008; and income from cycle tourists increased from €71m to €92m for the same period [7]. In fact, there has been a €187m turnaround campaign by the Government of the Balearic Islands (GOB) to change the face of parts of the island. However, one reporter for Reuters argues there is still little to suggest that resorts such as Magaluf are changing from ‘alchohol-fueled fleshpots’ [8]. What is clear is that the government needs to measure the impact of its policy; as Barcelo [2] starkly identifies above: there is an absence of reliable data to make decisions.

This paper identifies which indicators of sustainability have been used on the island thus far; and presents recommendations for new indicators as the GOB moves away from LA21 indicators (over 1,000) to Calvia 2020 objectives and beyond [9]. The paper provides implications for all islands grappling with the issues of mass tourism; and provides a basis for improved planning towards achieving 2030 goals [10]. The paper alsorecognises the significance of enterprise and entrepreneurship to building and maintaining a culture of innovation; including for responsible/sustainable tourism [11].  For an earlier review of Sustainable Tourism in Calvia see Dodds (2007) [12].

2.                    Background

The Balearic Islands, the most western archipelago in the Mediterranean, are made up of four main islands, Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera, as well as some one hundred other small islets. The island region boasts a diverse geography, with unique landscapes of vast beauty where seaside cliffs come together with beaches and white-sand coves.The Balearic Islands are the second most popular tourism destination in Spain, with over 11.6 million international tourists in 2015 [2]. The Islands are a leading cultural haven thanks to their rich architecture and heritage, which gives them a special personality and charm. This explains the innovative spirit that permeates the Balearic society and positions it as a benchmark for international culture. Mallorca is famed as a summer holiday destination but also unfortunately for ‘hordes of boozing Brits’. More intrepid visitors might be cyclists or hikers. Some visitors will know the names of famous celebrities that have homes on the Island such as tennis ace, Rafael Nadal, model Claudia Schiffer, or film actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

More recently Mallorca was the location for The Night Manager TV series based on the book by John Le Carré (2013) [13]. However, very few visitors are likely to know about the history or cultural heritage of the Island or to have read Winter in Majorca by George Sand (1855) [14] or know about the Chopin museum or where Valldemossa is located. Indeed, very few visitors are likely to be familiar with the Islands detailed geography, maritime and trading relations, occupation by the Romans, the siege of Palma and the building of the Cathedral; or know how to find the ethnographic or archaeological museums, nor prehistoric sites.

3.                    Tourism industry

The tourism sector is the most important business sector in the Balearic Islands. Despite its limited surface area, the island boasts noteworthy climatic differences due to its relief and its location, leading to vastly diverse ecosystems and very different landscapes. This variety is manifest in three clearly distinguished areas. The first of these areas is the Serra de Tramuntana, an elevated mountain range that shapes the northern coast of the island. This area includes the highest peak in the entire archipelago, known as the Puig Major, which towers at a height of 1445m, as well as countless caves carved out of the rock, creating magnificent shapes sculpted by the wind, sun and water. In June 2011, the cultural landscape of the mountain was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (figure 1.)

The next area is known as the Serres de Llevant, with small rounded hills that mark the landscape, creating white-sand coves and green pine forests. The third area is the Pla, or flatland, located between the two mountain ranges, with its own distinct morphological features, where the island’s rural charm has remained virtually intact.

The ecological wealth of the archipelago is the main economic asset of the Balearic Islands. The environment is the subject of various protection policies as the promotion of the rational use and saving of resources and the use of advanced treatment systems and waste disposal (figure 2).

In recent years, the Balearic Islands have been confronted with the challenge of sustainable and diversified growth. The objective of such challenge is to complement the ‘sun and sea’ supply [16] with new modes of tourism, so as to create a new demand for quality that still contributes to increasing tourist expenditure. The ultimate aim is to enhance the Balearic competitive edge by making use of innovative management methods and improving the professional training of the sector’s workforce.

The Balearic Islands were pioneers in the application of environmental management systems to the tourism sector, by introducing the EMAS system (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme). Among other initiatives, the EMAS system has implemented waste treatment by staff and clients, which entails the separation of hazardous waste for its transfer to specialised companies; water and energy conservation; the use of more environmentally friendly products, the use of biodegradable products; and bulk purchasing to reduce packaging. This campaign has also led to the installation of double glass in rooms and the shutdown of heating systems when guests are not in the rooms. Though, there is now a need to look beyond such tick box schemes [11].

One example of benchmark sustainable tourism management is the ‘Balearic Sustainable Hotel Network’, a non-profit organization made up of hotel sector companies that have made the commitment to protect the environment and that wish to promote the exchange of environmental experiences and contribute to sustainable development. For example, Garden Hotel is a family owned chain that has been awarded ‘Travelife Gold’ and has adopted a Zero km sourcing policy.

3.1.               Rural tourism

Rural tourism has enjoyed remarkable growth since the mid-1990s. In 2015 rural accommodations opened are 222 and with the number of people estimated to be 4,327, the occupancy rate is 51, 43%, 35 points above the national average. In the Balearic Islands, this new form of tourism offers great potential, thanks to a number of qualities including: a good climate all year round; a qualified workforce; and a high daily expenditure.

3.2.               Agri tourism

Unlike rural tourism, agritourism is based on a home with a limited number of beds, located in the countryside and at an agricultural farm, a livestock farm or a forest estate. These types of stays are generally longer and, therefore, generate greater revenues for the businesses. Moreover, this type of tourism affords guests the option of combining business with pleasure. Agritourism guests usually return for another holiday, and 60% of the time, they make their arrangements without going through intermediary agents.

The Balearic Islands have 248 agritourism establishments, and in 2014, the lodging capacity came to 3,886 beds (11.2% and 13.4% respectively from the previous year) (Figure 3).

The people of the Balearic Islands have an enterprising and innovative spirit. The Balearic Islands are the third autonomous region in Spain with the largest number of businesses per 1,000 inhabitants.

They are the headquarters of internationally renowned fashion and design firms that use quality production systems equipped with innovative, environmentally friendly technologies. The Balearics are home to powerful educational centres. In this sector, the role played by the Balearic Islands University [17] is essential, as it offers a wide variety of professional degrees to satisfy the needs for specialists in all areas of business and industry. Business Administration and Management, Economics, & Tourism have the largest number of students with 2,335 in 2015.  One of the primary underpinnings of the Islands’ outreach to the knowledge society is the Balearic Technological Innovation Park [18]. The natural setting of the park is a privileged backdrop for R&D&i, which account for much of the park’s activity. The park also houses a technology business incubator, which serves professors, researchers and entrepreneurs with projects, offering them the opportunity to generate technology-based spin-offs.

Turistec (2018) [19] is a group of companies and institutions that produce and implement technological solutions for the tourism sector. This cluster brings together a knowhow equivalent to over seven hundred years of experience in the development and improvement of tourism destinations, and it is backed by an extensive portfolio of clients that includes leading companies in the hotel, air transport and maritime transport industries, tourism, leisure and culture, complementary services, travel agencies and virtually the industry’s entire chain of value. Headquartered in the Balearic Islands, this cluster is made up of 67 members, many of which are companies located in the Parc Bit. The bulk of the Balearic Islands’ companies are individual entrepreneurs (49% in 2015), followed by private limited companies (37%), while other business models account for the small remaining percentage. They are large international hotel chains, including Sol Meliá, Riu, Barceló and Iberostar, among others, are clear examples of the Balearic work model in the tourism sector.

3.3.               Eco-entrepreneurship

The use of renewable energies is currently being promoted, with the aim of improving energy efficiency and introducing new sources of energy that enable the use of cleaner fuels. In the specific case of the Balearic Islands, the renewable energy technology with the greatest potential for development is photovoltaic’s followed by wind power. Biomass, due to its low energy output for the generation of electricity, has a potential for development in thermal applications. The aim is that in the long-term electricity production in the Balearic Islands comes from 100% renewable sources. Therefore, the attainment of environmentally sustainable transport would require the gradual replacement of liquid petroleum products with other environmentally sustainable fuels such as green tariff electricity, CNG and/or LNG and LPG. For this to be attained three courses of action can be taken into consideration.

• General use of electric vehicles for private road transport; the Balearic Islands are an ideal location for the development of this type of vehicle due to their geographical peculiarity and short distances.

• General use of industrial vehicles using natural gas or LPG/hybrid/electric vehicles for haulage.

• Research into the use of natural gas as an alternative to liquid petroleum products as fuel in the maritime sector, especially the commercial sector.

All of the above requires the development of a comprehensive infrastructure for recharging electric vehicles, the extension of the natural gas network throughout the region and an increase in the number of CNG, LNG and LPG filling stations. The application of the international and European regulations to climate change and the ensuing effects on the environment entail the implementation of initiatives that target compliance with the international and EC obligations regarding information, the commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, a control of atmospheric pollution and air quality, the steadfast commitment to more environmentally friendly energy sources and public transport. In this sense, according to the calculations of the European Union, the environmental sector is generating more jobs than the automobile and pharmaceutical industries. The global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from US$1,370 billion per year at    present to US$2,740 billion by 2020  [20].

3.4.               Current tourism economic data

In 2015 some 68 million tourists visited Spain and figures were expected to exceed 70 million in 2016. The Balearic Islands are the overall top choice of tourist destination (22% of Spain’s total in 2015) with 8.3 million registered overnight stays, principally from Germany (38%) followed by UK (28.1%).

This places pressure on the Balearic Island government (GOB) to support the building of more holiday accommodation. Yet, Palma is set to be the first city in Spain to ban rental of flats to tourists due to over-tourism concerns [21].The latest available official statistics [2] from The Institute for Tourism Studies (IET), the Statistical Institute of the Balearic Islands (IBESTAT) and the Balearic Ministry for Innovation, Research and Tourism, through the Spanish National Tourism Survey (Frontur) for tourist arrivals data and the Tourism Expenditure Survey (Egatur) indicate that tourists to Mallorca expended €8.124.448 of a total of €11.420.745 i.e. 92% for the Balearic Islands as a whole.

Such is the concentration of expenditure on Mallorca this also places pressure on the Balearic tourism authorities to ensure that the economic benefits of tourism are put to good use; providing jobs to local people, funds for infrastructure projects, conserving heritage, and supporting community projects. This is an economic issue as local people could be left unemployed and or priced out of owning their own property. However, this is also a sustainability issue as tourism in the long term relies on maintaining its image as a destination of choice for its unspoiled beauty. Thus, tourism needs to be ‘responsibly’ managed to ensure that the environment is not damaged and is protected for future generations. And decisions on tourism will increasingly need social and environmental data to be fully informed and impact evaluated.

Gabriel Barceló iMilta, Govern de les IllesBalears (GOB, 2015) [2] recognises the government has a commitment to promoting the development of socio-environmental statistics in this regard as an essential tool for strategic planning across the region. The aim would be to integrate this information into the operation of public administration and use it as a key element in developing and evaluating public policies, enabling tourism in the islands to be transformed into sustainable tourism.

3.5.               Responsibility to generate and analyse socio-economic and environmental data

The first issue is whose responsibility is it to generate the data on sustainable tourism and manage tourism responsibly? Is it the tourist? Is it the tour operator? Is it the owners of holiday properties? Is it the local or national government? Is it the indigenous population? In one sense the responsibility is shared by all these parties. However, ensuring that this responsibility is acted upon can be fraught with difficulty. Many tourists might be just interested in having a good holiday away from the pressure and strains of everyday life, enjoying the sunshine and wanting to relax on the beach or in the hotel pool [16]. The availability of affordable hotels, food, restaurants, cafes and bars might be a prime consideration in their choice of holiday destination rather than answering questions on their social and environmental habits.Tour operators and the owners of holiday properties might simply be responding to this demand. Local citizens might blame the tourists or the government for the negative consequences of mass tourism [22]. The local and national government has an obligation to care for the environment (through environmental protection legislation) but what about the social and cultural environment? Do they have a duty towards sustainable tourism? Should this duty be codified and action towards meeting sustainability targets be measured and accounted for? What guidance is available to do this?

3.6.               The problem with economic indicators

At a global level The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC, 2016) [1] is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel & Tourism. WTTC promotes sustainable growth for the sector, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity. Nevertheless, despite gathering data on Travel and Tourism for 25 years their reports are still dominated by data on economic impact (see Figure 4).

According to WTTC, the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is calculated to be consistent with the output, as expressed in National Accounting, of tourism-characteristic sectors such as hotels, airlines, airports, travel agents and leisure and recreation services that deal directly with tourists. The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is calculated from total internal spending by ‘netting out’ the purchases made by the different tourism industries. This measure is considered by WTTC to be consistent with the definition of Tourism GDP, specified in the 2008 Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework [23].

4.                    Results for Spain 2016

The basic message of the WTTC report cited above is that ‘Money Travels’ and ‘Travel Pays’. However, by focusing solely on economic indicators this overlooks key data on social and environmental impact. One of the key contentions of this paper is therefore that the WTTC should integrate economic impact with social and environmental impact producing annual triple bottom line reports from which governments and tourism agencies can make more informed decisions.  Further, that by providing such data on a global level will allow national governments and local and regional governments a consistent methodology for comparing practices; and recognising the increasing significance of performance in this regard (Figure 5).

4.1.               Social and environmental impact indicators

During 1995, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism, the Calvia Town Council introduced the Calvià: Local Agenda 21, based on the ‘Rio 92 Summit’, aimed at defining a new integral long-term policy to reorganise tourist and local development on a sustainable basis (see appendix 1.).

Appendix 1 : Calvià: Local Agenda 21: A sustainable strategy for a tourism destination In the South West of the Mediterranean is placed Mallorca. On the western coast of the Island of Mallorca, is situated the Municipality of Calvià. Calvià has a surface of 145 sq. Km and 56 Km of coast.

80% of the Municipality are natural areas. Its coastline with 5 lineal Km of sandy beaches and numerous cliffs has an important environmental value. As tourism municipality Calvià is a privileged area in terms of facilities and infrastructure with many sport resorts, 5 marines, maritime promenades, 4 golf courses and leisure centres. Calvià has 40.000 inhabitants and more than 1.6million visitors each year.

The tourist development of Calvià, the most important in the Balearic Islands, began with the first boom of international tourism in Spain at the sixties. Since then, especially in the first two decades, the model of tourism development has been based on short-term interests, unlimited building out oftune with local conditions, and an unsustainable exploitation of exceptional natural resources.

It was only at the end of the eighties that the effects of this inharmonious development became apparent. The [impact] of sun and beach type, the keystones of an activity that helped to finance the development of the Island, are degraded, the demand is falling off, and more significantly, the quality, not only in terms of tourism spending, is in decline. Calvià grew from 3.000 to 40.000 inhabitants. In the eighties the Town Council of Calvià adopts a double policy: on one hand it has made an exceptional effort of investment to reduce the debt carried over from the earlier years, and on the other, it implemented a policy of town planning designed to uphold new tourist operations in the hope of modernising, improving and diversifying the local tourist industry. At the same time, the effect become evident: the deterioration of the environment and of the landscape, gross overcrowding of the tourist zone, the difficulties of bringing the installations to update, a steady decline of the allure of the region and the threat to local development which is heavily dependent on the tourist sector.

In the nineties, the town hall of Calvià launched a series of programmes designed to improve the environment, reorganise the flow of visitors, reclaim the coastal area and clear out the huddled town centre, even demolishing hotels that were offensive to the environment. This plan was called “Calvià for Excellence”. And at the beginning of 95 in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and tourism, the Town Council decided to unify the tasks in hand, freezing the approval of new urban-plans, and introduced the Calvià: Local Agenda 21, based on the Rio 92 Summit, aimed at defining a new integral long-term policy to reorganise tourist and local development on a sustainable basis , and in which the key factor for future projects is the environment.

A key factor of the local agenda has been to bring together the viewpoints, right from the start, of the different sectors with interests in the zone. Several channels of participation have been envisaged for this purpose: for general matters, The Forum of Citizens; for thematic affairs, Special Commissions; and even on subjects of general interest, polls and consultations of the public. The most important aspect for the final strategy of the Local Agenda 21 is that it counts on the widest possible voluntary support of the population. The method used by the experts is the one known in the planning sphere as “methodology of alternative scenarios”, widely used in long term planning because of its descriptive capacity and for the possibilities which it offers to compare possible future alternative situations, to which can be reached through the application of different policies.

In this way, three alternative scenarios emerged from each one of the key topic areas: the present one, and two future scenarios; the tendency one and the one known as integral rehabilitation scenario, which emerge is the correction of the undesirable tendencies by the introduction of suitable decisions. For each one of the areas the same methodology has been applied in order to get an identical result.

Using more than 1000 indicators, this methodology has allowed us to identify which sectors are in a balance situation and which ones in an unbalanced situation.

10 Strategic Action Lines

1.             To Contain the Human Pressure, Limit the Growth and Help Integral Rehabilitation of the Territory and Its Coastline.

2.             To Support the Integration and the Quality of Life of the Resident Population.

3.             To Preserve the Natural and Marine Heritage.

4.             To Recover the Cultural- Historical Heritage.

5.             The Integral Rehabilitation of the Urban Areas.

6.             To Increase the Quality of Calvia as A Tourism Destination: To Substitute the Growth for Sustainable Development and Look for the Increase of the Tourism Expenditure.

7.             To Improve The Quality of the Public Transport and to Promote Cycling and Walking.

8.             A Sustainable Management of the Environmental Key Factors: Water, Energy and Waste.

9.             To Invest in Knowledge Resources, to Dinamise and Diversify ahe Economic System.

10.          Innovation of the Municipal Government and the Widening Of Joint Public-Private Capacity of Investment.

From the 40 initiatives the Forum of Citizens agreed to begin with 15 initiatives they considered urgent.

1-                     To ensure sustainability of the Municipality through the main Urban Plan.

2-                    Stabilizing in 10 years the drinking water consumption to 1997 levels.

3-                    Elaboration of a local plan to save energy.

4-                    Impulse to save up, recycle and reuse of solid waste; fixing aims to separate waste at short, medium and long term.

5-                    Set up of a pilot project for rehabilitation of quarries due to the closing of the Dumping site for rubble; and separation, recuperation and recycling of material before March 1999.

6-                    Begin public actions to transform the situation of public transport before December 1998-07-16.

7-                    A Moratorium for 5 years of important works on the coastline as well as road infrastructures of high impact.

8-                    Conclusion of the “Calvià Walk Way” in 5 years.

9-                    Housing Plan “To live in Calvià” Construction and/or funding 150 homes/year.

10-                Pilot action to conserve the beaches in a natural way before June 1999.

11-                Creation of a helpline to start business before 31 December 1998 and widening the stimulation measures to small and medium size enterprises.

12-                To start a working plan to dynamise the rural world and constitute an award and a call for proposals “Rural initiatives in Calvià”.

13-                Environmental audit of the Municipal building before 31 December and engagement of future facilities “eco-responsible”.

14-                Creation of the archaeological site “Puig de Sa Morisca”. Start before 31.12.1998.

15-                Creation of an office in Calvià: Local Agenda 21; to assess the citizen’s promotion and awareness in the saving up of resources.

The Observatory for the Local agenda 21 proposed to collect and offer summarised, periodical and easily understandable information on the evolution of Calvià at social, economic and environmental level, taking as a reference the sustainability of development and local quality of life. Comparing to 1997, in 2000 the indicators and the initiatives that have been again measured, the results indicates that Calvià on the one hand has improved in the Areas of Cultural heritage, Economy and Tourism, and in Local town planning system, but on the other hand still have the Areas of Natural and rural land and marine systems, and key environmental sectors (transport, water, energy, and waste), which need to be improved. But in general the global evaluation has improved.

As a mature tourism resort in the Mediterranean all parts of the project could be applied in the Mediterranean region, from the methodology used to the environmental decision taken. We believe our case could serve as an example for emerging tourism municipalities and also for mature ones, on how not to repeat unsustainable practices and how to integrate local population in the process.

Comparing1997 to 2000, results indicated that Calvià on the one hand had improved in the areas of cultural heritage, economy and tourism, and in the local town planning system; but, on the other hand, still had the areas of natural and rural land and marine systems, and key environmental sectors (transport, water, energy, and waste), needing to be improved. Since then there has been much debate on how to evolve the system of reporting and which new indictors should be used. The authors of this paper thus look to more broadly used indicators in the travel and tourism industry.

WTTC (2014) [3] report on trends, outlook and guidance for Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting (ESG) indicating that transparent public reporting on material environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, opportunities and performance is now both a common practice within, and even an expectation of, companies across all sectors, including those in travel & tourism. Nevertheless, although WTTC (2015) [24] shows that reporting in general has increased within travel and tourism, in number of actual reports published, this indicates quantity rather than quality.

Govern de les Illes Balears, (2015) [2] do provide an annual report of tourism.  This Tourism Yearbook is produced by the Regional Ministry of Innovation, Research and Tourism as a compilation of the main indicators for tourism in the Balearic Islands. Indicators include: rural tourist accommodation not just hotels and apartments; golf courses not just bars and restaurants; passenger arrivals by sea not just by air; flight origin not just destination.

For example, the distribution of accommodation in (figure 6) reveals that, although hotels H account for 53%, other types of accommodation include: hotel apartments HA; tourist apartments A; hostel residence HSR; holiday villages CV; hostel HS; rural hotel HR; and city hotel HC. This distribution is also broken down by municipalities which aid an understanding of the spread of different types of accommodation across the Island.

Nevertheless, such aggregate statistics do not provide the necessary level of detail to fully inform decisions. For example, from the above figures agro-tourism AG, guesthouses CH, campsites TC, holiday villages CV, Fonda F, and inland tourism TI (in pre-1940 properties) are not adequately represented. Thus, other than aggregate statistics there is a need for more depth of understanding of social and environmental impact to inform practice.

Another perspective is to field information from sustainability narrative generated from events and interviews across the Island. For example, “Dreaming Mallorca” took place Oct 16-18 [25], near Selva, the ancient capital of Mallorca in the middle of the country.

Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence Magazine, and Vandana Shiva, Indian environmental activist, invited a group of international visionaries to brainstorm with a group of 100 or so Mallorcans from all walks of life on the question of how to achieve a sustainable Mallorca. The group included various NGO’s, farmers, business people, including the tourist industry, foreigners having settled on the island, filmmakers, journalists from Eco-habitat and Namaste, two eco-magazines-a famous Mallorcan comedian and clown, and even a deep-sea diver wanting to build an ecovillage on the bottom of the sea.

The visionaries included Susan George from Attac France, Herbert Girardet, leading UK ecocity designer, José Bové, peasant leader from France, and Ross Jackson, Denmark, one of the leaders of the global ecovillage movement. The group considered a series of problems:

•              An economy 85% total dependent on tourism, with entry through the enormous Palma airport (ca. 12 million per year).

•              High energy dependence on gasoline and coal coming from distant places by ship. Mallorca has the highest number of cars per person in the world.

•              99% of the food is imported. Traditional agriculture and fishing are disappearing.

•              Most wastewater is dumped directly into the ocean.

•              Land is very expensive; and ownership is concentrated, with many absentee landlords.

Various ideas were generated to tackle the above problems such as: land reform along the lines of what Denmark has, where owners have a residential obligation and must cultivate the land following perm culture principles.

An airport tax and donations, with the money used to make Mallorca greener and cleaner, for example with improved waste water treatment. To introduce more wind and solar energy, and micro hydro systems in the mountains, to provide electricity for households and electric cars; and thereafter for drip irrigation in the plains and valleys. That tourism could be focused on longer stays, retreats for seniors, health tourism and bicycle tourism. Also, some hotels might be transformed into eco villages with pools, village centres, etc.

However, whilst such events can galvanise the human spirit and inspire various stakeholder actions, they do not provide the scientific basis or statistical platform upon which to base governmental decisions on tourism sustainability in general. Interestingly the group even felt that certain data was being repressed. From a methodological point of view, such a phenomenological approach can be highly illuminative for brainstorming creative approaches to tackling social and environmental issues but lack the level of assurance needed on which to base national or regional decisions. What is needed is a model for transforming from mass tourism to sustainable tourism such as that provided by the author in (figure 7).

Appendix 2. Data needs for sustainable tourism to 2020 and 2030, author table.

5.                    Conclusions

Mass tourism is alive and well in Mallorca. And the main driver of tourism policy still appears to be economic impact. However, there are signs that particular localised initiatives are having an impact in changing policy and action in regard to social and environmental concerns. Calvia municipality is a good example of how concerns over the poor image of Magaluf in the press, and a refocus on improving the local environment can have an effect on the quality of tourism experience provided [9].

Nevertheless, apart from LA21 and other such initiatives there is little direct evidence of the use of social and environmental indicators influencing Balearic government policy on tourism as a whole. For example, eco and sustainable tourism is still considered a marginal rather than mainstream activity across the Island.

If social and environmental indicators were more widely adopted then this would encourage more tour companies, accommodation providers and activity leaders to endorse these values and promote more proactive changes in lifestyle.

6.                    Recommendations

The main recommendation of this paper is to improve the quality of data capture on social and environmental impact across the Island. This would include more active collection of statistics on energy consumption, water consumption, the reduction of waste, and recycling. However, there needs to be an improved system to report and recognise such performance in order that tourist businesses across the Island regard this as more than window dressing. Island Sustainability indicators can be developed attuned to the most critical issues affecting the Island. Large and small businesses can thus integrate the indicators into policy and practice. And the best performers and those demonstrating new and creative ways to improve can be recognised in Island events and publications.

By adopting a consistent metric across the Island and including baseline and improvement statistics in the annual yearbook of tourism this will help to stimulate change. Yes, the Island needs to attract tourists for a longer season, even all year round, but sustainability means much more than increasing numbers of tourists and per capita spend. The sustainability agenda means developing new ways to convince tourists to take a more responsible approach to their entire holiday. This is likely to include more walking, hiking and cycling, and spending more time visiting nature and cultural attractions than drinking by the pool, but also needs to include a much higher regard for reducing energy, water and waste. Some suggestions for indicators are:

How many charging points are there on the Island for electric vehicles?

How many eco-friendly cars are being booked on the island and what CO 2 is being saved?

How many tourist accommodations have solar panels or other renewable energy systems?

What water saving measures is being adopted by tourist accommodations?

What incentives are provided by Balearic government and municipalities to encourage cycling across the Island, hiking, and use of public transport to and from the airports and during vacations?

What measures are taken to reduce waste packaging, litter and graffiti?

What is the increased uptake in alternatives to mass tourism such as visits to museums, galleries, cathedrals, villages, farms, etc?

What alternative tourist destinations are being taken up and why? How many are attending retreats, craft and art classes, music and other festivals, in or out of the city?

What new and smart measures are being taken across the Island to raise awareness of social and environmental impact; and how many new smart ideas are being implemented to improve sustainability e.g. education, ICT, etc?

The Balearic government can also set an example as a role model for sustainability by collecting data on its own performance including: number of employee journeys undertaken by car share, number of eco-friendly government vehicles being purchased, procurement of local organic produce for staff restaurants, office recycling rates, energy savings in buildings or CO 2 targets met. KPIs can even be integrated into official and officer performance plans and appraisals; and updated made available to the public.

7.                    Acknowledgement

Removed for anonymity

8.                    Biographies

9.                    Prizes awarded

• “Sustainable European Cities Award 97”. Brussels, November ´97. Awarded by the European Commission (DG of Environment) and the “Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaigns”.

• “Good practice for improving the quality of town life”. Dubai ´98. Selected by the United Nations.

• “Green Globe Award”. London, World Travel Market, November ´98. Awarded by the ”World Travel and Tourism Council” –WTTC.

• “Award for the best initiative, work and municipal effort in support of the environment”. Barcelona, March ´99 Awarded by Arthur Andersen and Expansion.

• “World project, Expo 2000 Hannover”. Hannover, March 2000.

Figure 1 : 3D image of Mallorca, Google images, 2018.

Figure 2: Protected natural areas in the Balearic Islands [15].

Figure 3: Growth in agritourism establishments. Ibestat, 2014 [15].

Figure 4 : Model of Travel & Tourism contributions, WTTC, 2016 [1].

Figure 5: 2016 Annual Research: Key Facts, Spain, WTTC, 2016 [1].

Figure 6 : Distribution of accommodation capacity according to type of establishment in Majorca, Govern de les IllesBalears, 2015 [2].

Figure 7: Transformational model of sustainable tourism, author figure (Appendix 2 ).

1.                    World Travel & Tourism Council (2016) Economic Impact. Spain.

2.                    GOB (2015) Anuari, El Turisme a les IllesBalears, Govern de les IllesBalears.

3.                    World Travel & Tourism Council (2014) Environmental, Social & Governance Reporting in Travel & Tourism: Trends, Outlook and Guidance.

4.                    Royle SA (2009) Tourism Changes on a Mediterranean Island: Experiences from Mallorca, Island Studies Journal 4: 225-240.

5.                    Butler RW (1980) ‘the Concept of a Tourist Area Cycle of Evolution: Implications for Management of Resources’, Canadian Geographer 24: 5-12.

6.                    Butler RW (2003) ‘Modelling Tourism Development: Evolution, Growth and Decline’ in S. Williams (ed), Tourism: Development and Sustainability, Volume 3 of Tourism: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences, London, Routledge, 124-140.

7.                    CITTIB (2008) El Turisme a les IllesBalears: DadesInformatives 2008, Palma, Conselleria de Turisme.

8.                    Dowsett S (2016) Spain looks beyond record visitor numbers to boost tourist spend.

9.                    Calvià City Council (n.d.) Calvià Local Agenda 21: Best Practices Database,Calvià, Spain, Calvià City Council.

10.                 UN (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

11.                 Batle J, Orfila-Sintesa F & Moon CJ (2018) Environmental management best practices: Towards social innovation, International Journal of Hospitality Management 69: 14-20.

12.                 Dodds R (2007) Sustainable Tourism and PolicyImplementation: Lessons from the Case of Calvia, Spain, Current Issues in Tourism 10.

13.                 Le Carre J (2013) the Night Manager, Penguin Books Ltd.

14.                 Sand, G. (1855/1998) winter in Majorca, forward and translation by R. Graves, Palma de Mallorca, CollecciónForadada.

15.                 IBESTAT (2014) Les IllesBalearsenXifres, Institute d’Estadística de les IllesBalears, Palma, IBESTAT.

16.                 Aguiló E, Alegre J & Sard M (2002) The Analysis of Tourist Demand as a Criteria in Destination Positioning. The Persistence of the Sun and Beach Tourist Model in the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Universitat de IllesBalears Dept de Economia I Empresa.

17.                 UIB (2018) Universitat de les IllesBalears.   

18.                 ParcBit (2018) http://www.parcbit.es/wparcbitfront/

19.                 Turistec (2018) http://turistec.org/

20.                 Coldwell W (2018) Palma de Mallorca to ban residents renting apartments to tourists.

21.                 ILO (2008) Green jobs Facts and Figures, International Labour Organisation.

22.                 Pack SD (2006) Tourism and Dictatorship: Europe’s Peaceful Invasion of Franco’s Spain, Basingstoke, and Palgrave Macmillan.

23.                 UN (2008) Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008.

24.                 World Travel & Tourism Council (2015) Travel & Tourism 2015 connecting global climate action.

25.                 Jackson H & Jackson R (2008) Dreaming Mallorca.

© by the Authors & Gavin Publishers. This is an Open Access Journal Article Published Under Attribution-Share Alike CC BY-SA : Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. With this license, readers can share, distribute, download, even commercially, as long as the original source is properly cited. Read More .

Tourism & Hospitality: An Open Access

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mallorca tourism gdp

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book: Mallorca and Tourism

Mallorca and Tourism

History, economy and environment.

  • R. J. Buswell

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Channel View Publications
  • Copyright year: 2011
  • Audience: College/higher education;
  • Main content: 232
  • Keywords: mass tourism ; tourism development ; tourism management ; sustainable tourism ; tourism diversification ; Mediterranean tourism ; Mallorca ; tourism industry ; environmental impact ; tourism planning ; tourism policy
  • Published: June 23, 2011
  • ISBN: 9781845411817

Cafébabel is evolving!

Our story is being written elsewhere, notre histoire s’écrit ailleurs, la nostra storia viene scritta altrove.

mallorca tourism gdp

Mass tourism in Mallorca: Trouble in paradise

Published on October 31, 2017

Mallorca is not all about sea, sun and sex. The island’s population, which makes up less than 1 million residents, is starting to feel the weight of the 2 million tourists that arrive each summer. Locals have had enough of rent prices rising and public spaces disappearing. During a protest last month they finally faced the music and said what had to be said: “it has come to this.” 

As the tourism industry in Mallorca continues to grow with yet another record-breaking summer of arrivals, locals are taking to the streets to voice their concerns. On Saturday the 23rd of September, a demonstration was organised by several activist groups under the banner “ Fins aquí hem arribat ”, which loosely translates to “it has come to this”. Locals are trying everything to raise awareness of the negative consequences of unregulated tourism and to send a message to the local government. This counter-movement has been growing over the last few years, with organisations tirelessly trying to counter mass tourism.

The reasons for protest are endless: the environmental impact on beaches and green spaces, air and noise pollution, gentrification of urban neighbourhoods, overcrowding, unavailability of long-term rental apartments, precarious working conditions for locals and the destruction of the traditional economic model and way of life. And Mallorca is no exception; the same kinds of protests busied the streets of Barcelona and other popular tourist cities in Europe over the last few years. The protest signs read: “Without limits, there is no future”. While it can seem strange to those who have always believed tourism only brings benefits through economic gains for the region, the reality of this relentless influx of holidaymakers, low-cost airlines and cheap accommodation options is clearly not what the locals had in mind.

When tourists double an island’s population

For Northern Europeans, Mallorca has always been seen as a sun-kissed holiday destination, a perfect escape from dreary London weather and the daily grind in Paris ( metro, boulot, dodo ). Tourism was first encouraged towards the end of the 19th Century, when local businessmen and politicians wanted to show off the island’s beauty and culture to the wider world.

By 1973, the new airport was welcoming over 7 million passengers annually. This enormous influx provoked radical changes in the socio-economic structure of the island, bringing unprecedented levels of immigration from the peninsula and changing the geographical distribution of the population and the economic activity on the island.

Today, certain areas of the island have become known as party destinations. Almost a rite of passage for many Brits and Germans, booze-fuelled trips to the island have become commonplace amongst young people looking for sun, sea and sex. Resorts like Magaluf and the Arenal have successfully managed to rebrand themselves and, while families and honeymooners used to spend their summer getaways there, they now welcome 18-30 year old revellers throughout an increasing long high season.

If that doesn’t illustrate the gravity of the situation, these numbers surely will... The last few summers have seen a surge in the numbers of visitors to the island. Over 13 million passengers arrived by plane to Mallorca in 2016, up from around 11 million in 2015. Mallorca has a population of less than 1 million and almost 2 million passengers arrive by plane per month over the summer months. This means that the amount of people on the island roughly doubles over these months, not including arrivals by boat.

The strain on infrastructure is something that often goes unnoticed by travellers but has a very real impact on permanent residents. Medical professionals complain of overcrowding in hospitals during the summer months, and the confusion of adding foreign languages to the mix complicates an already difficult situation.

Goodbye cheap housing, goodbye public spaces

According to a recent study published in a local newspaper, Diario de Mallorca , whilst the national average inflation in the housing market has been approximately 1.25% so far in 2017, Palma has experienced a rise of 7.2%. This has made renting increasingly difficult for young professionals and students. Many young Majorcans continue to live with their parents well into their thirties.

Walking around the city centre of Palma, it is hard to miss the yellow and black of Ciutat per qui l’habita posters stuck to windows and hanging from balconies. Originating from a collection of residents’ organisations, they have made it their mission to stand up for the wellbeing of local residents. Ciutat per qui l’habita raises awareness on mass tourism and sends strong messages to authorities that something must be done. One of their goals is to draw attention to the insane amounts of uninhabited properties in Palma. Because of digital platforms like AirBnB, many urban properties have been bought for the sole purpose of short-term holiday rentals.

mallorca tourism gdp

Ciutat per qui l’habita also fights for a right to public spaces, which have been taken over by terraces from restaurants and hotels. Marc explains how they recently organised an event where a large group of people gathered to eat together in a public square. It wasn’t a cosy dinner. The local police attempted to move them and threatened them with heavy fines, claiming they were “disrupting the free movement of pedestrians.”

“Businesses can rent out these spaces for advertising campaigns and yet people cannot gather to eat together in a supposedly public space… the new law prevents us from being a population who can freely criticise.” Marc is referring to the controversial “ Ley Mordaza ”, which regulates protests (including peaceful sit-ins) and prohibits those that haven't been given permission.

Feliciano is feliç

Not all Majorcans agree with Marc. Feliciano , the owner of the small bar called Merendero Minyones near the highly touristic Passeig del Born , explains how even jobs that seem unrelated to tourism have benefited from the boost in economic activity in the city. He revealed that, although very few of his customers are actually tourists, his daily customers are made up of an eclectic mix of construction workers, high street vendors, mechanics, tour operators and waiters and waitresses whose livelihoods depend on tourism. “This city depends on tourism. None of us would have jobs without it. It is impossible to talk about Mallorca without tourism.” Feliciano was also quick to point out the increasingly cosmopolitan make up of his neighbourhood: “Where once there was a very narrow cultural and social profile of residents in his area, I now have neighbours of all nationalities, races, sexual orientations and ages.” Feliciano sees the increased diversity in his neighbourhood as the positive footprint that tourism has left upon his city.

However, what people often forget when supporting the economic gains argument is to ask who really benefits from these economic gains. It’s evident that mass tourism in Mallorca generates enormous sums of money, but are these riches felt by the majority of the island’s population?

“It has come to this”

An organisation that has been attempting to debunk the popular myth that tourism equals economic prosperity is Front comú en defensa del territori . At a fundraising event for a documentary they hope to release in 2018, one of their members explained the origins and objectives of their movement: “We wanted to show people the real effects of tourism on people who live in Mallorca. We are always told how beneficial tourism is to our economy but the reality that we experience is different. It is true that we now depend on tourism but is this relationship really healthy and sustainable? We have banked it all on the tourism model but what happens if the bubble bursts? What happens if there is a boom in petrol prices and the cost of travel goes up? We urgently need to establish a healthier relationship with tourism. Over the last few years, the numbers have risen and risen. We are at world record levels and the island is at saturation point.”

During the protest on the 23rd of September, testimonies from evicted tenants and underpaid hotel workers were read out amid vocal boos and cheers from the crowds. Suddenly it was clear to see that the supposed benefits from mass tourism clashed violently with the reality experienced by locals. Organisers spoke of reclaiming lost elements of Majorcan life that were stolen by an economy overly dependent on tourism. The protest took place on the Passeig del Born, where Feliciano’s bar is located, home to luxury designer retailers and upmarket eateries. The Passeig dissects the centre of Palma, and comes to an end alongside the Royal Gardens and the Cathedral – both extremely popular locations for tourists. The surrounding neighbourhoods neatly demonstrate the kind of gentrification Ciutat per qui l’habita want to avoid.

mallorca tourism gdp

“We used to have secret beaches where we could go, and we knew it wouldn't be full of tourists,” a saddened Angels explains. “But now, thanks to the Internet, it’s easy for tourists to rent a car and search for the nicest hidden beaches and coves. Historical sites in the mountains and picturesque towns we have always gone to are now full of tourists and prices have gone up everywhere.”

Tourism has helped make Mallorca one of the richest regions in Spain , but it’s clear to see that young people are finding it more and more difficult to enter the housing market and find stable employment. Digital platforms and tourists’ desire for an authentic experience have had a significant impact on the island’s residents. Rising rent prices and crowded public spaces means that Majorcans constantly come into contact with tourists and the aftershocks of mass tourism. But today, residents are facing the music by saying enough is enough, “it has come to this”. 

mallorca tourism gdp

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Sign up to our newsletter, things to do, majorca, spain » city info » economy.

The tourism industry is the main contributor to the economy of Majorca (or Mallorca). Since the 1950s, Majorca has become a well-known tourist destination. In 2001, the island received millions of tourists, and the boom in the tourism industry resulted in significant growth in the economy of Majorca. With more than half of the population is working in the tourism industry, a vast amount, approximately 80%, is contributed to Majorca's GDP.

The agriculture sector occupies the second position. The island has good fertile land, and a variety of crops are cultivated here. The agriculture sector includes the production and export of almonds, oranges, lemons, olives, grapes, wine, and excellent cheeses. The towns of Binnisalem and Felantix are famous for their wine and locally produced brandy and liquors. The island is gifted with a wide range of natural resources. It also has copper, lead, and marble mines. The mining and fishing industries also generate some revenue for Majorca.

In the urban area, some of the people are into the traditional craft business. These forms of craftsmanship include blown glasswork, pieces of pottery, work on traditional Majorcan fabric for curtains, bedspreads, tablecloths, and the production of baskets with leaves. The footwear and leather industries are situated in Inca and surrounding villages. The production industries of artificial pearls and jewellery at Manacor are among the island's important industrial sectors.

In the 21st century, immigrant workers from outside the European Union, especially from Africa and South America, got attracted by urban redevelopment plans and the considerable growth in the economy of Majorca Island. The industrial sector is represented by nearly 30% of the working population. However, more importantly, the construction sector has evolved drastically, leading to thousands of job opportunities, and significantly plays a role within the tourism industry itself.

Today, the tourism industry has remained the primary industry of Majorca's economy. Its rapid growth has made Majorca Island very wealthy compared to the rest of Spain.

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COVID-19 Economic Impacts on Mallorca

By vanessa kulick.

25 March 2020

Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

COVID-19 has already impacted Mallorquin businesses and individuals. And yet, the human spirit and ingenuity remains inspiring. Cancelled events , closed schools, hotels, restaurants, bars… Dwindling supplies on shelves. A general standstill has settled across Mallorca. COVID-19 has come to our Island.

Adèle Chrétien

Impacts: Economy #

Before the global pandemic hit, we lost Flybe, Thomas Cook and WOW airlines serving the island which meant fewer seats for passengers. Winter schedules had reduced flights further but we were all gearing up for the upcoming season. Then, COVID-19 struck the island. We've had it better than the mainland. However, major events have been cancelled and postponed, such as the Rally Clasico Isla Mallorca and Princess Sofia Iberostar Regatta Sailing Competition , with financial losses likely be in the millions of euros for the hosts and all the local business supporting the events. Some hotels have decided not to open until June, if at all. Major hotel chains are laying workers off and reducing pay for others. Fortunately, the Spanish Government has created financial supports with access to low interest loans and grants for companies and independent workers.

It’s hard to calculate the exact toll COVID-19 will take on Mallorca’s economy and our residents’ physical, mental and emotional health. Tourism is the 'nervous system' of our economy with tourist activities accounting for more than 44% of regional GDP in the Balearic Islands and generates almost 31% of total direct employment on the islands (employing currently more than 130.000 people), that is three out of ten jobs.

Smaller businesses that rely on event tourism for a spike in sales/attendance, such as wine tastings , bike tours, or special brunches are at serious risk. Not to mention, brick and mortar businesses such as restaurants, hotels, shops, museums, who all depend on seasonal upticks in tourism to earn their keep for the year. Then there are the businesses that more specifically cater to local – gyms, coffee shops – that are suddenly witnessing a downtick as people work remotely and avoid public spaces.

Save the Med v2 728 x 90

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness and vulnerabilities. The virus respects no borderBys. Combatting this pandemic calls for a transparent, robust, co-ordinated, large-scale and science-based global response in the spirit of solidarity. We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat. - G20 Summit Statement.

Mallorca is not alone. Businesses across the world are experiencing this brutal COVID-19 economic shock. The March 9th collapse of the stock market and drop in oil prices threaten to escalate into a much deeper economic crisis. What does this mean? Disruptions to supply chains, travel restrictions, and fear contagion could grow and far outpace this first phase of economic standstill. Latest projections forecast growth at .08-1.1%% in 2020, down from 2.9% in November, while noting that a continued COVID-19 outbreak could further reduce growth because of the spillover effects.

It sounds all doom and gloom because, in many ways, it will be in the near-term. Countries and tourist destinations with COVID-19 outbreaks will likely carry a stigma until the spread of infection tampers down. However, international and national authorities have an opportunity to swoop in and stave-off complete economic downturn if they act fast. Discounted loans, waived fees (particularly for late payments), and tax cuts could help convince the global market to stabilize. A petition on Change.org, for instance, is circulating to push the government to reduce or eliminate autonomo fees for the next six months.

Silver Lining #1: Economic Ingenuity #

Mallorca is not the first or last country to experience an economic shock to its tourism industry. Of course, COVID-19 – it’s scale and alarming impact is unique and will likely manifest differently than previous isolated or international economic shocks. However, we have already seen major businesses, such as Facebook, AirBnB, EasyJet alter policies and suggest alternatives for vendors and consumers to avoid incurring fees and/or promote additional sources of income.

Here are a couple suggestions that could help your business develop flexible, creative solutions for new revenue streams and/or stay afloat with current ones:

  • Online : Transition your events, product availability (been meaning to update your website to add online shopping? Here’s your chance.), communication capacity, etc. to online. Everyone is sitting at home glued to their electronic devices. Come up with a plan for your business to tap into this online vacuum.
  • Discounts : Offer gift certificates, discounts, or other rewards to your consumers for whenever they might be able to use your product/service. Run an online campaign (see above) to promote this new offer.
  • Communicate : Write that newsletter you have been putting off, update email lists, build your social media community, and engage, engage, engage. This is a time of extreme vulnerability across the world. Share your story, listen to your customers and move through this together while being honest about how COVID-19 will affect your business. Be specific. Tell customers how they can help.

Case in point: Affordable Mallorca’s Advertising Team is able to tailor a marketing program to your budget, pushing your business updates to a local and global audience through digital marketing. Please sign-up to be in our COVID19 DIRECTORY Mallorca Home Deliveries and Services . To be added, fill out this form . Once received, we'll put your business online for free.

Our differentiator? We have always focused on the largest market segment of native born, frequent visitors and expats: those who are conscious of the practicalities of living on Mallorca.

Silver Lining #2: Human Resilience #

COVID-19 has illustrated our connectedness as a human species with an integrated, global economy. While not every country has recorded cases of COVID-19, most domestic economies will not go unscathed. Against this reality, Mallorquin residents and expats have already illustrated a critical element of human nature that will help us handle this virus – resilience of the human spirit. We have heard of restaurant owners offering to orderBy wholesale meat for families in need.

Mallorca-centric Facebook groups are popping up to provide a safe space for support sharing. Strangers are offering to turn over their extra toilet paper to those without. Since grocery shelves are emptying as fast as they can be stocked, a local restaurant is offering to orderBy fresh and locally sourced meats from their distributor . This is the best of our community and why living here offers a great quality of life .

Much will be written in the coming months about resilience. We're seeing our own brand of resilience on the island with the hundreds of social media accounts set up to support each other while remaining quarantined. One such group gathered 1,300 followers in one week. One of their strengths is a schedule of events so that people can 'check in' and meet together online to play music, paint, cook and take a yoga class. Other groups have members who are translating and posting the updates by the government for expats.

What we need is a way forward. Since we are gathering in our small groups, we need to find ways to continue to stay connected and committed to one another. Since large groups may have a problem gathering for sometime, look for social media - Facebook, Zoom and other video conferencing services to become an even bigger venue for large groups to meet. No one need feel alone after this latest crisis.

Silver Lining #3: EU Community and Semana Santa #

Many borderBys are closed within the Schengen Area 25 years to the day the common market opened on March 25th, 1995.

mallorca tourism gdp

Mallorca has always been a destination and the season begins in Spring with Easter. " Semana Santa " is normally a vibrant time on the island for locals and tourists. While this season will not be celebrated with its normal processionals, look online for reminders that we are celebrating this important holiday in our homes. Churches are finding ways to connect. Instead of this holiday launching the Booze Tourism season, people will be offered a time to reflect on the real purpose of rituals. The "reason for the season."

We will keep you informed via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook about happenings for the upcoming holiday season. Even in quarantine, rituals must be honored. Affordable Mallorca will be here to help support you during this important season.

From Pope Francis:

“ The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announces that, because of the current global public health emergency, all the Liturgical Celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful,” reads the statement that was originally posted only in Italian, but later, also in English.

This means that the Palm Sunday Mass; the Chrism Mass on Thursday; the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday, which Pope Francis has always held in detention centers or with asylum seekers; Good Friday’s commemoration of the Lord’s Passion; and the Easter Vigil on Saturday, will all be celebrated by the Argentine pontiff without the faithful.

The notice also says that, at least until Sunday, April 12 - Easter Sunday - all of Pope Francis’ Wednesday general audiences and the Sunday Angelus prayer will be streamed online, with no faithful present in the square, as has been the case in recent weeks. "

Silver Lining #4: A Cleaner Environment #

Many of us have noticed the cruise ship and power plant emissions, the trash, graffiti, lack of sanitation in Palma and other effects of a crowded island. While tourism is important to paying for the improvements we've enjoyed - safer highways and roads with better sewer treatment in towns and cities, the reduction in activity will support a more sustainable island. For more on Sustainability, please read ULTIMATE GUIDE Sustainable Living . Our water reserves will not be as depleted during the annual droughts and will be cleaner .

Our Editor offered an in-depth perspective here >> COVID-19 A New Beginning

For more on this and to read about the island initiatives that support healthy seas , reduction in plastics and more, please check out our Insights . Search for a topic. If we haven't covered it, let us know and we'll put that on our editorial calendar.

Long-term Good News #

In the face of adversity, Mallorquins have drawn on their ancient roots and festive spirits to ride through waves of uncertainty. Following historical conquests and devastating civil war, Mallorca was able to transform itself into a bastion of tourism, new-found wealth and cosmopolitanism in the 1990s.

From El Pais: "Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday afternoon announced a relief package of €200 billion to fight the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis. The amount of this package, which comprises public and private funds, is the equivalent of 20% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP). “These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary measures ,” said Sánchez, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), after the Cabinet meeting that greenlighted the financial assistance against the effects of the new coronavirus, which has already infected more than 11,000 people in Spain and caused close to 500 deaths.

Of the €200 billion fund, half of the money is tied to a public guarantee scheme to ensure liquidity for struggling businesses. Another €17 billion is being earmarked to support the groups most likely to suffer from the effects of the pandemic. “The rest will be private resources. It will be the greatest mobilization of resources in Spain’s entire democratic history,” said the Spanish leader."

Our ability to transcend challenging Island-wide circumstances into an economic advantage is proven. We must come together again to weather this very scary pandemic and patch our economy with the innovation and verve characteristic of the land.

Please share any stories of businesses, individuals, families and friends who are paving the way for Mallorca to manoeuvre through COVID-19 with grace, responsibility and originality. Follow-us on Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter for our up-to-date information to stay connected.

Don't forget to check out our Events Calendar for changes and updates. As we all navigate through this time, let's remember to help each other.

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The degree of tourism seasonality can be measured by tourist arrivals by month and nationality and by the Gini coefficient which indicates the degree of seasonality of the island.

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How Spanish islands like Ibiza and Mallorca aim to become a model of sustainable tourism

Isabella Noble

Feb 23, 2023 • 5 min read

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The Balearics wants to become the "world's first circular destination" © Getty Images

Loved for their shimmering beaches, sunny year-round climate and seductive hotels, the four wildly beautiful Balearic Islands make up one of Europe's most sought-after destinations, just off Spain's east coast. 

But whether it's the party crowd flocking to Ibiza and Mallorca or summer sun-seekers descending on Formentera and Menorca , overtourism on these blissful Spanish islands has grown into a major concern in recent years. As a result, the Balearic authorities have taken a pioneering role in Spain by introducing a raft of new responsible tourism measures to become 'the world's first circular destination.' The goal is to achieve a more balanced and sustainable tourism model that also protects the islands' natural environment and the needs of the local population.

Calo des Moro beach in Mallorca.jpg

In 2022, the Balearics received about 16.5 million visitors, around the same number as pre-pandemic in 2019. For context, the whole of Andalucía, for example, welcomed about 30.7 million tourists in 2022, while Spain's eight Canary Islands had around 14.5 million tourists. Now, reducing summer visitor numbers, encouraging off-season travel and boosting in-depth cultural visits that benefit the islands' communities are all part of the Balearics' long-term plans. 

Discovering the off-season beauty of Spain’s Balearic Islands

"Sustainability and the circular economy are at the very core of the Balearic Islands' tourism strategy. It is crucial that we protect the natural environment and cultural heritage of our islands, for both residents and future visitors to enjoy for years to come," Iago Negueruela, tourism minister of the Balearic Islands, tells Lonely Planet. "Our islands have so much more to offer than sun and beach, and we encourage tourists to visit outside of high season to experience our cultural, gastronomic and active offerings, thus spreading the flow of tourism throughout the year."

Buidlings of Deia, Mallorca.jpg

Staying overnight? You have to pay a tourism tax

Following in the footsteps of its mainland neighbor Catalonia , the Balearics became Spain's second region to introduce a tourism tax back in 2016. The Impuesto del Turismo Sostenible (ITS; Sustainable Tourism Tax) or ecotasa means a charge of €1 to €4 per person per night in tourist accommodation, which is channeled back into local conservation efforts, such as the preservation of the oxygen-producing posidonia seagrass that gives the Balearic Sea its famous turquoise sparkle and the restoration of various mountain lodges in Mallorca's rugged Serra de Tramuntana. It's a growingly popular approach – the Valencia region has just approved a tourist tax due to come into force in 2024, and several other popular Spanish destinations are rumored to be considering it, including San Sebastián, Málaga, Granada, Seville and Santiago de Compostela. 

The 10 best beaches in Spain

Ban on new hotels and other tourist accommodations

Then in 2022, the islands brought in a ban on creating new hotels and other tourist accommodations (apartment rentals included) until at least 2026. Existing accommodation can now only extend or refresh its current buildings by 15% and always with the condition of reducing the number of beds by 5%. In Mallorca's capital Palma , Airbnb-style tourist apartments have been banned since 2018, amid growing concerns that rising rents have been pushing out local residents. Another key element is the protection of local workers in the tourist sector, with initiatives including a recent ruling that all four- and five-star hotels must have lift-up beds to help reduce injuries and overexertion among housekeeping staff. 

Outdoor bar on the beach of Ibiza. Balearic Island

Less pollution, less noise and alcohol limits

In a bid to preserve its natural spaces, Formentera (the go-slow Balearic sister still only accessible by ferry, off Ibiza's southeast coast) has been limiting vehicle access during high season since 2019. From mid-June to mid-September, non-Balearic visitors who want to drive a car or motorbike here must apply in advance for a permit and, if approved, pay a daily tax of €3 (minimum €15 total) or €1.50 (minimum €7.50 total) respectively; electric vehicles are excluded, while hybrids get a 50% discount. Menorca is now also considering a similar scheme that could begin as early as this summer, as part of the new Menorca Reserva de la Biosfera law approved in January 2023. 

16 of the best things to do in Ibiza: fall under the island's spell

Elsewhere, to explore the Balearics' bird-rich sole national park, the Parc Nacional Marítim-Terrestre de l'Arxipèlag de Cabrera in Mallorca, visitors must also pre-book permits; just 200 to 300 people a day are allowed access and only to the main Illa de Cabrera, from Easter to October. In the party-loving hubs of Ibiza and Mallorca, limits on the number of alcoholic drinks that can be served at all-inclusive resorts have been in force since 2020. The islands are also actively increasing transport links outside summer, such as a recently launched year-round Vueling flight between London and Menorca. Meanwhile, some local hotels are already taking the plunge and staying open throughout the low season. 

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How you can contribute responsibly

For anyone traveling to the Balearics, there are plenty of ways to contribute responsibly. How about taking advantage of the islands' reliable ferry links with mainland Spain and skipping the flight? Or dining at independent restaurants celebrating Balearic cuisine and fresh on-the-doorstep ingredients? You can also shop at local farmers' markets and artisans' shops; choose low-impact activities such as hiking, cycling or horse-riding, ideally with an expert local guide; and learn about the islands' many unique traditions, from cheese-making to foraging botanicals for Ibiza's beloved hierbas tipple.

Tourist accommodation is a major part of the picture – seek out a responsible base that is genuinely committed to more sustainable tourism, which might include lovely rural agroturismes keeping local traditions alive or stylish boutique hotels reviving historic buildings while prioritizing eco-friendly initiatives. 

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Sustainable initiatives for the tourism sector in Mallorca

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  • Local Balearic Government introduces new law to reduce environmental pressure and boost sustainability

Palma de Mallorca, July 2022 – Post pandemic the Balearic Region has become Spain’s most successful tourist area.  Palma de Mallorca International Airport alone registered 5.823 million visitors in the first six months of 2022 (source: Spanish Airports Authority, AENA) representing a recovery of 92.5% of the passenger movements for the same period in 2019.  However, the last two years also brought home the fact that sustainability is a pure necessity in this region for the future growth of tourism. As a result, the local government passed new legislation in May 2022 with the mission of making the region’s tourism industry environmentally friendly and to create a sustainable and regenerative tourism model for the Balearic Islands.

Balearic Tourism Law

The new law obliges hotel establishments to eliminate fuel oil or diesel boilers and to replace them with thermal systems that reduce CO2 emissions; and control temperatures to avoid excessive use. They also must install water-saving devices in bathrooms and are prohibited from offering amenities with single-use plastics to their clients.

All establishments must draw up a strategic circular plan for energy, waste, water, land use, food, and mobility, with the support of competent administrations in these areas and with the aim of promoting the primary sector in the region. Now tourist establishments must offer at least 3% of local produce, livestock, or fishing products; in the case of 4- and 5-star hotels, the percentage rises to 4% and in rural agrotourism establishments they must offer at least 5% local produce.

The new law also includes a moratorium on any new tourist accommodation for the next four years (currently the Balearic Islands has more than 600,000 tourist beds).  The law permits hotels to grow by 15% in volume in exchange for a 5% reduction in the number of beds. It also authorises a change of use for obsolete hotels, which can be converted into housing.

17 sustainable development goals

The Balearic Islands Region has adopted 17 goals to help transform our world, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nationals Member States.  These goals include the End of Poverty; improved Health and Wellbeing; Clean Water and Sanitation; Affordable and Clean Energy; Responsible Consumption and Production; Climate Action; protection and regeneration of marine life.

In Mallorca there are increasing number of companies and initiatives aware of the need to work to ensure a sustainable future both for the island and for tourism that remains the island’s most important source of income.  As part of an ongoing series, we will highlight examples of these initiatives on the island:

Island based company Nauta Morgau builds boats in the traditional Mallorcan style with electric motors and all the materials used in the production are derived from 100% recyclable materials such as wood and natural fibres – no plastics nor fibre glass are used in production: www.nautamorgau.com .  These boats are also for hire from 250 € per day: https://www.eboats.es/en/boats

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This Mallorquin hotel chain with eight hotels in the Balearics has worked for many years to make its hotels more sustainable.  Their objective is to establish a circular economy; all organic waste from the kitchens is taken to a composting plant to provide organic matter to the farmers that supply their hotels with organic produce. The company is committed to local Km0 products where possible and to growing organic vegetables in market gardens located in some of their hotels: www.gardennotcommon.com

Sustainable km0 home-grown produce

Garden Hotels buys produce from the Sa Teulera estate, located between Manacor and Petra. This farm produces the typical seasonal vegetables and fruits. The farm animals are reared to live in freedom and produce milk for various dairy products, meat for sausages and eggs. The farm also produces bread, savoury and sweet products using flour from traditional indigenous wheat varieties grown on the farm. https://ecosateulera.com

mallorca tourism gdp

Island-only organic produce

Terracor is a local cooperative of fruit and vegetable producers that manage over 305 hectares and are dedicated to an integrated production system and organic farming. All the produce grown is only sold on the island to reduce the company’s carbon footprint with a packaging-return-system to avoid single-use packaging.  The Terracor Produce Calendar provides information on what produce is grown according to the season: https://terracor.es

Earth to table visits by Terragust

Enjoy a real insight into Mallorquin agriculture with Terragust that offers visitors guided visits into the countryside, explaining what seasonal produce is being grown, tastings in the field, pick fruit/vegetables to take home followed by a 4-course tasting menu made with local seasonal produce in an idyllic outdoor setting.  The tours, that include the tasting menu, start at 75€ per person or 45€ per person for the tasting menu only: https://terragust.com

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Coming up: Eco Retreats

www.newsmallorca.com

Further press information/images: Dominique Carroll/Toni Gomez, Fomento del Turismo de Mallorca. Tel: + 34 971 725 396 (Mobile: + 34 669 49 77 22) email: [email protected]

Background: The Fomento del Turismo (known as the Mallorca Tourist Board) was founded in 1905 and is the longest established tourist board in Spain and possibly in the world.  It was established with the objective of creating awareness of Mallorca as a destination and to study and implement how to promote the island to potential visitors. This institution, located in the centre of Palma, remains a private, independent and non-profit making entity that is supported by members from throughout the island’s tourism sector. www.fomentmallorca.org

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Visitor arrivals in Mallorca 2022, by place of residence

Summer: the favorite season for tourism in the balearics, tourism is key both for the islands and for the country, number of tourist arrivals in the balearic island of mallorca, spain in 2022, by country of residence (in 1,000s).

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¹Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. ²Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Numbers were rounded.

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An insider’s guide to Mallorca

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Interview by Louis Wise . Photography by Anthony Perez

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

I was introduced to Mallorca a few years ago, when I started working for Camper (I’m creative director of both Camper and CamperLab, and just started my own-name label too). The company has its HQ here. At the outset, I only knew the airport, the hotel and the headquarters – that was it. The rest of the time I lived in Paris. But a couple of years ago, I found a place right in the middle of the island, and I’ve been here since. It’s amazing – so quiet. It sounds cheesy, but being here has made me more relaxed and brought some peace. It’s almost the pleasure of missing out. 

If you were to spend the day with me, I have a few favourite scenarios (you can drive across the island quite easily). In the morning, we’d play tennis. At La Residencia hotel in Deià, the court is on a mountain by the sea, so you have an amazing view. It’s one of the most beautiful courts I’ve ever seen. There’s also one at Son Brull , which is in a valley – very different but still fantastic. You have to go early, because later it can get too warm to play. Since both those places are hotels, I’d also opt for a spa treatment , or have a little swim; maybe some de-puffing from the night before. And they have excellent restaurants, so normally I’d have lunch there too.

The tennis court at La Residencia

If it’s a Sunday, there’s the flea market at Consell. It sells so many weird antiques – I’ve found some absolutely stupid things there. I love it. The more stupid, the better! Then there are some amazing ceramics stores in nearby Santa Maria del Camí, where I bought all my flower pots. In the afternoon, I would go see an exhibition at La Bibi , a gallery on the outskirts of Palma, for which I’m in discussions to curate a show this year. I’ll showcase artists from Spain and Finland, where I’m from. I grew up in Lapland, so it was really cold growing up: you’d be lucky to get 15ºC, whereas that’s usually the coldest it gets here. But the people are quite similar: everyone minds their own business. If I try to tell them what I do for a living, they’re like, “So you draw…?”

At the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation

You can’t miss Palma’s cathedral, La Seu , because it’s gigantic. It’s so austere and opulent at the same time. The Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation is super-nice, and tends to have a good arts programme. I saw a play by [the actress] Rossy de Palma there once. It was really entertaining, although I didn’t understand a thing.

In the sculpture garden at the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation

Deià is still my favourite , but off-season, because in summer it gets really packed. There are several lovely towns on the north coast you could visit: Valldemossa or Sóller, or Port de Pollença on the north-east tip. But the must-see for me is Sa Calobra, a serpentine hiking and cycling route that eventually opens onto the sea. The view is amazing – very alien. You think, “Did I land on Mars?”

Caló des Moro on the south coast is the best beach, but if that gets too busy there’s Cala Llombards along the coast. A lot of friends go for a swim and then head for lunch at Casa Manolo , in nearby Ses Salines, on Sunday. If you like seafood, it’s really worth it. I’m vegetarian, which is tricky in Mallorca, but some restaurants, like the excellent Ca na Toneta in Caimari, can adapt their menu.

The Moneo Building at the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation

For evening drinks, I like fancy things, but I also like where the truck drivers go. Sometimes it’s nice to just go to a random small town with a bar on the main square, because then you see the locals. If I want a cocktail, I’ll head to Palma: Clandestino and Door 13 are nice, but the place I like most there is Can Bordoy . It’s the best hotel in the city: small and boutique, quite sexy, dimly lit with tables far apart. It also has a great garden, with a pool. 

Beside the rooftop pool at Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden

I never used to have many sunglasses, but now I live in Mallorca I buy a few pairs a month: I don’t leave the house without some. And you’ll also need good swimwear – you could spend the whole week in it. April and May are great times to visit, but September and early October are the very best. Otherwise it’s just so damned hot you don’t want to do much, except drink by the water. Not drink water – drink by the water. 

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Low salaries, high cost of living - the Balearics paradox

The fifth lowest average salary in the country.

Market in Mallorca

A special economic regime for the Balearics has never properly been addressed. | Efe

The most recent figures from the National Statistics Institute for average gross salaries relate to 2020. They didn't make very good reading. In the Balearics, the average was 1,844.85 euros, the fifth lowest in the country, above Murcia (1,843.41), Andalusia (1,837.33), the Canaries (1,775.71) and Extremadura (1,760.52). The national average was 2,038.59 euros.

But while the average salary is low, the standard of living is high. Housing, to buy or rent, is among the most expensive in Spain. The cost of fuel is the highest. Palma has recently been shown to be the most expensive city in the country for the average "shopping basket".

Joan Mayans of the association of service stations in the Balearics draws attention to an issue that has simply never been addressed properly. "We have been asking for years that, once and for all, the famous Balearic special economic regime be approved in order to put us on equal terms with businesses and consumers on the mainland."

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Celestí Alomar, the Balearic tourism minister responsible for the 2002 ecotax.

"It is essential that the GDP weight of tourism decreases"

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The comparative level of income hasn't always been like this. In the 1990s, the Balearics could boast being in the top two regions of the country in terms of the ratio of per capita income to GDP. The islands have slipped down the rankings in part because of the great increase in population - far higher in relative terms than the rest of Spain. But then there are also the salaries.

The Confederation of Balearic Business Associations attributes the paradox of low salaries and high cost of living "to the fact that our economic structure and specialisation , although it has allowed us to achieve high levels of well-being, has not been able to evolve and become more sophisticated in order to increase the generation of income, salaries included".

Pau Monserrat, an economics professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, says that the problem lies with the economic model. "It is eminently touristic, requires workers with limited training and offers them jobs with relatively low pay and without contributing all year round. In order to change this, the model will have to be changed. There have to be new ways of managing companies, of attracting tourists with greater purchasing power, who demand quality services offered by trained professionals. On the other hand, we must make progress in improving our economic model , away from one that is essentially based on hosting and entertaining tourists."

Luis García Langa, director of Corredordefondos.com, says that in the Balearics "we have a problem with salaries, which are below the average, as is per capita income". "The standard of living shouldn't therefore be as high, but a little lower than the national average. However, tourism , sometimes with stronger per capita incomes and currencies, and new foreign residents , who come from countries with much higher living standards, cause some prices to skyrocket, especially that of certain products, such as housing."

  • Balearic economy
  • Mallorca prices
  • Mallorca salaries
  • Mallorca tourism

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It’s not just those in the tourist industry who suffer poor wages. Professionals on the island, for example teachers, have ridiculously low pay. Most shocking - some even saw a pay drop this year. Yet they are the people teaching and preparing the next generation. It’s appalling.

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