This weekend, two associations of motorhome and caravan owners will gather in Sa Pobla. Their intention is to address the attitudes of town halls in Mallorca and the Balearics and to call for proper facilities.
Miquel Caldentey, the president of one of the associations, says that town halls seem to have the view that owners are like "a bunch of hippies" who create mess and cause problems. There is a stigma, and the associations want to get rid of it. They are instead a type of tourism - "spending money, supporting and respecting the environment".
There have been previous gatherings like the one that has been organised for this weekend. On this occasion, around one hundred vehicles will spend two and a half days based at the industrial estate to coincide with the Sa Pobla Rice Fair. Activities will include a lunch on Sunday. On the menu will be arròs brut pobler, the gastronomic highlight of the fair.
The associations believe that town halls act in a discriminatory manner, the latest blow having come from Santa Margalida. It is to ban motorhomes and similar from spending the night on any street in Can Picafort and Son Serra de Marina. Other town halls which have created obstacles include Alcudia, Felanitx and Ses Salines.
The president of the other association, Miquel Antoni Vidal, says that there are groups who call themselves associations but are the ones who cause the bad reputation. "We want to be associated with family tourism. The problem is that there are groups who engage in bad practices and do not comply with regulations; camping where they should not, for example. The consequence is that town halls then deny space to the rest of us."