It was a week in which Majorca finally woke up to the depressing and rather astonishing news that the tourist season was effectively over. The travel warnings about the Balearics and the coronavirus from Britain and Germany effectively meant that it was a question of thank you and goodnight and see you next year.
The impact was almost instant. Hotels which had just opened were pondering closing down and there were fears that some parts of the island would effectively become ghosts towns. Majorca was in shock. The question now is how is the island going to survive over the winter without German or British tourists during the summer.
It is a big question because these two nationalities account for the bulk of all tourists who come to Majorca. Initially it was thought that it would be a short term move with the quarantine rules being relaxed in Britain and Germany but this hasn't been the case. There is no sign that the governments in London or Berlin are going to go back on their initial travel warning. So what can Majorca do? Well not a lot really just try and make the best out of a bad situation. Some criticism has been levelled at the Balearic government and to be honest they are not completely blameless but it is a worldwide problem.
When we first went into lockdown back in March I always thought that it was going to be a very difficult season despite upbeat comments from the industry. In the end the situation couldn’t be any worse, no tourists from Britain and Germany and no sign that they could come back any time soon. It is a question of things can only get better.