A sort of gloom has descended across the Balearics. It´s as if the islands have been given a kick in the teeth by an old friend and they are not too sure why. The “old friend” is of course Britain which banned all non-essential travel to the islands late on Monday.
The Balearics simply don't understand why they have been placed on the hit list. The number of cases of the coronavirus here is low, compared to mainland Spain and Britain, and British tourists who have visited the islands say that they feel safer here than they do in Britain.
So why? Now, there are plenty of conspiracy theories doing the rounds from Brexit to Gibraltar; even the Balearic President Francina Armengol claimed that the travel ban had been introduced for political rather than health reasons. To be honest you can see their point.
The Balearics has worked long and hard to bring the coronavirus under control so that the all important holiday season could go ahead. In the end it has all ended in tears. The Brits will not be coming this summer. The economic repercussions of the move are enormous for the islands, you can't just brush the loss of two million tourists under the carpet. So what do we do now?
There isn't much we can do. Just sit and wait and hope that Britain has a change of heart and the restrictions are lifted. But the Balearics are hurting. Their summer friend is not coming this year and it is all rather sad.