I went to a traditional Mallorcan restaurant recently in a small village known for its pa amb oli. They are said to be the cheapest and best on the island. What struck me is that the clients were either Mallorcans, Germans or North African. Roughly speaking I would say that it was about a third each.
This is what I call the new Mallorca but what struck me is that there was little or no interaction between the three groups, even though they probably all lived in the same village. With the changing face of Mallorca efforts do need to be made to bring all nationalities together as one, not just a third of the population.
Village life has changed dramatically over the last decade with small areas welcoming an influx of North Africans, South Americans and Europeans, mostly Germans. They all call their new area home, but they need to be made more at home and brought into the community.
When I was a child growing up in Mallorca the population of most island villages were Mallorcan. There were some expats but not many. If you wanted a more international feel you had to head for the coast. All this has changed but I still think that it needs to change even more. It shouldn’t be a question of them and us.