As I ran along empty C’an Repic beach in Port Soller early yesterday morning, I stopped to admire the clarity of the glass-like water. Graceful ducks and seabirds glided along with a backdrop of craggy cliffs, the old Soller lighthouse and a never-ending bale of silky blue sea. There wasn’t a yacht or human in sight and boy, did I relish the peace. This is wintertime in Mallorca and all the visitors have left. Finally, nature, local residents and the exhausted hospitality sector have time to catch their collective breath and bask in the knowledge that for four precious months, we will be able to reclaim our valley once more.
I’m not decrying tourists, far from it. Tourism is the lifeblood of Mallorca whether some like it or not, but it’s got horribly out of hand to the extent that even tourists in overrun areas are turning their backs. So when people bring up the old chestnut of winter tourism on the island, I groan inwardly and say no, no, no! Just stop.
We don’t need winter tourism, and we don’t want the additional intrusion. The summer season here used to last four months, possibly five. Now it runs from March through to early November. And frankly, enough is enough.
More than anything, nature needs to recover from the noise, chaos, pollution, endless traffic and overuse of precious water supplies before the next season kicks off. This summer in Soller the water was contaminated, visitors complained online of rashes and sickness and signs were erected prohibiting swimming on certain beaches. This is why I would never swim in our port during the tourist season. I’d rather get in the car and head off to some secret coves I know where the water is squeaky clean and there isn’t a chiringuito, lounger or parasol in sight. Yes, they do still exist but I’m keeping shtum, or locals will crucify me.
Let’s quietly close the chapter on winter tourism and relegate it to an ill-thought through idea that has no place on an island that, frankly, is bursting at the seams for much of the year. Nature needs space and time to recharge its batteries and we, the local residents, need time to recover from the summer madness. Those who were born here want their island back for a few precious months, and we have no right whatsoever to withhold it from them.