Majorca was once a relative industrial and agricultural powerhouse. Inca was the shoe capital of the island; Manacor was famous for its furniture; Soller was the orange capital. Over the years the local economy has become focused almost completely on tourism as these industries declined.
Majorca prospered as the visitor numbers continued to rise and more and more people left the more traditional industries in favour of a job in a hotel. But then 2020, the tourist industry goes into deep recession because of the coronavirus and there are those who say that things will never be the same again.
So the lesson that Majorca is learning the hard way is that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. So can the more traditional industries be revived? Well, it will be very difficult because many went to the wall for a variety of reasons in the first place, mostly as a result of cheap competition from the Far East. But, something must be done and soon.
The Balearic government needs to find ways to diversify the local economy whether it be high technology or low technology. Farming could be a source of income. Also, these jobs would provide year-around employment . It is an enormous task because for years we have just concentrated on tourism. But it can be done. It is amazing how things can change in a mater of months. This time last year we were talking about the need for more winter tourism now we are talking about new industries.