The year when Mallorca moved to the right
A year of political change in Mallorca saw a move to the right and a return to government for the Partido Popular. Marga Prohens became the second woman to be president of the Balearics, succeeding Francina Armengol, whose eight years of office were to be rewarded by Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez; Armengol was appointed president (speaker) of Congress.
Prohens promised a liberation from impositions and the interventionism of the left. But she was to discover that imposition could be placed on her. Having 25 PP seats in parliament plus one from Formentera (which was to prove to be somewhat unreliable) had left her short of a majority. The PP were left with no other alternative than to enter into negotiations with Vox.
The far-right party didn't enter the government, but the government needed the eight Vox members of parliament in order to push legislation through. Vox have exploited their power, none more so than with the approval of the 2024 budget. Seven months on from the May elections in what was virtually the last political act of 2023, the first Prohens budget was finally approved, Vox having threatened non-approval unless certain demands were met.
Chief among these was an item of 20 million euros for so-called free choice of language - the teaching language in schools. The PP, fully aware that the anti-Catalan perception of their previous president, José Ramón Bauzá, had contributed to a disastrous result in the 2015 election, have been highly reluctant to go back down this particular route. A gun held to their head has exposed the inherent weakness of their administration. There may be trouble ahead.
The government has not looked wholly surefooted. In October, when Vox first made their intentions clear regarding language and linked this to the budget, the finance minister, vice-president and spokesperson, Antoni Costa, told Vox in parliament forlornly: "I thought we had an agreement."
The whiff of scandal
Worse was to follow for Costa. There was the whiff of scandal. He had appointed a friend from Ibiza to a senior position in the government and had done this in the full knowledge that the friend, Juan Antonio Serra, was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault. Towards the end of November, it became clear that the case would be going to trial. Costa dismissed Serra and apologised for the error he had made.
The opposition smelt blood, Prohens defended Costa, while he responded to the opposition by saying: "I will not accept any lesson about how to combat violence against women." This had all coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was marked by the signing of a manifesto calling for an end to gender violence "in all its expressions" by all the parties represented in parliament. All the parties except Vox, that is.
Back in January, Prohens had started to outline themes for the PP manifesto. One was the elimination of the wealth tax. Once in office, and with budget plans being drawn up, it was revealed that this elimination wouldn't be immediate. Vox ensured that it would be. Otherwise, the plan for a grand scheme for the first hundred days in office was being hatched. There would be a housing emergency decree, designed to address what was arguably the single most important issue at the election.
No solution to the housing problem
When it was fleshed out, this decree was found to contain a familiar aim - conversion of obsolete hotels. In addition, there was conversion of commercial premises, the creation of apartments in individual buildings, and the possibility of adding floors to the tops of buildings. The government called it 'limited-price housing', as prices would have limits, those set by the government for sale or for rent.
An initiative to generate greater availability of affordable housing, it received praise, but there were also doubts as to its effectiveness. Town halls were given the right to decide whether to implement it or not, and some vetoed the whole scheme, e.g. Manacor, principally citing the desire to preserve the commercial fabric. The property sector wasn't wholly convinced, especially with regard to adding floors to buildings where people were already living and the fact that prices would always be limited. The developers estimated that the scheme might produce 3,000 new homes. Something, but not nearly enough.
In August, we learned from the National Statistics Office that almost one-sixth of the total 652,000 dwellings in the Balearics were empty for one reason or another. In the municipality of Costitx a staggering 55% of properties were unoccupied. These were findings in a year when housing continued to dominate the agenda and in which (in May) the Spanish government finally passed its long-awaited housing bill.
The builders association in the Balearics warned in October that the Balearic decree "wasn't going to solve the housing problem". And in December, the API association of real estate agents in the Balearics stated that the Spanish government's law was having the precise opposite effect to that which had been intended in respect of rented accommodation - the number of properties for rent had fallen by between 20% and 30%. The College of Architects in the Balearics warned that urban planning was in "a mess". Despite the best of intentions, the same could be said for housing policy in general.
A foreign home-buying ban that wasn't
There was a hangover from 2022 in that there was still talk of restrictions on foreign home-buying in the Balearics. In February, a motion for the prohibition of non-resident home-buying was presented to parliament and passed. The reporting of this led to a wholly inaccurate impression. The Balearics hadn't banned anything and nor could the Balearics have banned anything. All the motion did was to urge the Balearic government to pursue restrictions. In this regard, an aim was to get Spain to raise some form of restriction during the country's period of EU presidency in the second half of 2023. Nothing came of it.
While the real-estate sector repeatedly suggested that threat of restrictions had led to a fall in foreign home-buying, this decline had to be considered within the context of an overall fall. Higher interest rates were largely to blame. In August, the College of Registrars announced a 7.5% fall in the second quarter. The foreign market represented 32% of all sales. The same percentage was recorded for the third quarter. Fewer actual sales perhaps, but the foreign market remained stable.
The radical youth group Arran took aim at foreign buying and at luxury properties by placing stickers on windows of Palma estate agents and upmarket shops in August. "Your luxury, our misery"; "This used to be a home". These were two slogans. While one could sympathise because of the lack of affordable housing, the luxury end of the market wasn't really the issue, even it was offending some, e.g. Arran.
When there's nowhere else to live
The lengths to which some people have to go in finding somewhere to live was highlighted by a strange case that emerged in November. A Palma police officer was renting out basement storage units that had been turned into illegal accommodation. There were 73 in all. Lacking certificates of habitability, it was the housing ministry which first drew attention to this case. The National Police became involved and the officer was arrested and later released on charges.
The police have continued to be all but powerless when it comes to squatting. The law makes it very difficult for the police to act, but when disorder is involved they will. This was the case with an incident in November at an apartment with squatters in Palma's Pere Garau district. The new owners of an apartment had shown up and were trying to get in and remove the squatters. Relatives of the squatters appeared with knives and clubs. The police had to exert force - the use of batons - and arrested nine of these relatives.
One of the more extraordinary squatting cases this year concerned a 21-year-old Spaniard who had moved into a three-million-euro property in upmarket Son Vida. The villa didn't have an alarm system, and so the squatter had one installed. He also hired a cleaner - a woman who was cleaning for some neighbours. The company which owns the villa was eventually able to have an eviction order served in November.
The Arran protest, meanwhile, was against a background of actions in Ibiza. Targeting the elite and the privileged, tourists were included. And tourism in 2023 provided much to consider.
A tourism record ... and by a considerable distance
In July, there were over three million tourists in the Balearics. This was the first time that the three million mark had been exceeded for any month, and it followed six consecutive months when the numbers of visitors were up. By October, the total for the Balearics was over 700,000 more than for the whole of the record year of 2018.
Tourist overcrowding had become more of an issue than ever. The new tourism minister, Jaume Bauzá, was asked in parliament in September whether he believed there was tourist saturation or not, the opposition claiming that there was a Partido Popular recipe of "more tourism and more uncontrolled growth".
There was saturation in certain places and at certain times, the minister admitted. But this certainly wasn't his fault. The blame lay with the last two governments, the first with a Més tourism minister and the second with a PSOE minister. The left-wing coalition was to blame for saturation, stated Bauzá: "115,000 tourist accommodation places were authorised over the eight years, almost 25% of the total."
Regardless of this, the government said that it would be ending the moratorium on new accommodation places that had been introduced in February 2022. There was contradiction and there was lack of clarity. The hoteliers spoke of growth but implied that this wouldn't mean more tourists. The Council of Mallorca's new tourism councillor, José Marcial Rodríguez, said in September that Mallorca hadn't reached its limit of growth but also that there wouldn't be an increase in the number of tourist accommodation places. Well, there would be because the moratorium was due to be eliminated.
Growth there was - over 700,000 more tourists' worth of growth by end-October - and it was therefore not what the outgoing government had wanted. In February, the ex-tourism minister, Iago Negueruela said: "There should be a clear trend towards the reduction of tourist accommodation places." The inference was that tourist numbers needed to come down. For Rodríguez and for the new government, this was indicative of "tourismphobic" messages that the former administration had been prone to.
Social sustainability and responsible tourism
Although the tourism messaging was to be moderated, there was no weakening of the tough words on illegal holiday lets. In May, Airbnb were fined 125,000 euros for having failed to remove 200 adverts for illegal tourist apartment lets in Palma. The new PP-led administrations - government, Council of Mallorca, Palma town hall - reckoned that action hadn't been tough enough, and they were to be boosted in their desire to tackle this illegality by a summit of EU tourism ministers in Palma at the start of November. With the 'social sustainability' of tourism now the buzz term, Spain's secretary-of-state for tourism, Rosana Morillo, said that new EU regulations will mean "a before and after" in the prosecution of illegal holiday rentals.
PP tourism policymakers discovered a buzz term of their own, one that had been around for many years. Responsible tourism was the new tourism big thing, and at London's World Travel Market in early November a responsible tourism pledge was launched. By then, Jaume Bauzá had been indicating for some months that the tourism of excesses law would be reformed as the responsible tourism law. The wording was important as excesses implied stigma. The revised legislation is expected before the start of the 2024 tourism season, but aspects of the change were made known.
One was that individuals will be held more accountable for anti-social behaviour. Another will be tackling apparent discrimination against businesses in the few zones where the law actually applies, such as part of Magalluf. In May, this claim of discrimination was made by the owner of the Stereo Temple club, which was temporarily sealed off and faced a potential Calvia town hall fine of up to 300,000 euros for the objectification of women. This referred to a dancer who could be seen from the street. The club's owner argued that precisely the same sort of dancing would go unpunished in that part of Magalluf to which the law's regulations didn't apply.
In an interview in the summer, José Marcial Rodríguez admitted that the excesses law had generally been well enforced by the now former administration at Calvia town hall. But the crackdown on booze offers, such as happy hours, wasn't meeting with everyone's approval. In June, the Daily Express quoted one tourist who had been going to Magalluf for over twenty years. She was of the view that there was now "zero attraction" because of all the "ridiculous" regulations. In early August, British tourists were apparently "fleeing" Magalluf because of the tourism of excesses law and a denial of booze promotions.
Disgust in Magalluf and Playa de Palma
Maybe, but the changing tourism culture of Magalluf was becoming ever more apparent. A new police chief was meanwhile setting up a plainclothes police unit to tackle crime. In August, we were informed that this unit had made 44 arrests in the space of only a few days. But not even this unit could have prevented the appalling events of mid-August, when eight men (mostly French) were arrested for a gang rape in Magalluf.
There had been a similar incident in Arenal, this one involving German men, just a short time before. A member of the security forces told a media outlet: "These offenders don't consider themselves perpetrators of anything, because they believe that abuse is part of the holiday package". Suddenly, the risk of sexual assault was another stick with which the foreign press could beat Mallorca.
These crimes apart, and unlike Magalluf, excesses in Playa de Palma seemed as bad as ever, if not worse. In July, a 25-year-old Dutch tourist defecated on the head of another tourist who was asleep on the beach wall. There was a video of this, replete with laughter, but he wasn't laughing when he started to receive death threats because of what he had done. He admitted to Dutch media that it was "disgusting, humiliating, terrible". He was "unbelievably sorry" and accepted full responsibility.
Hotel dreams come true
Away from the zones of excess, Richard Branson's Son Bunyola dream was finally realised. The Virgin Limited Edition hotel in Banyalbufar opened its doors for the first time in June. Sir Richard, who had once opened La Residencia in Deya, said that the challenge had been to create something as good if not better than La Residencia. He believed that "something magical" had been created.
A few days later, Rafa Nadal's Zel Mallorca Hotel in Palmanova was opened. A partnership with Meliá Hotels International, one based on "personal chemistry" between two Mallorcans - Nadal and Meliá CEO, Gabriel Escarrer - this was the start for a brand that will go all around the world over the next five years.
For Nadal, 2023 was a year spent mostly away from the tennis courts because of injury and surgery. He indicated that he expects 2024 to be his final year of tournament tennis, and if it is, then his home town of Manacor was already preparing its tribute. In February, the town hall announced that there was a sketch for a proposed statue of him. The following month, Nadal gave his approval for this.
Traffic queues and airport strife
If tourist overcrowding was once again a theme of the year, was this the cause of all the traffic problems? As early as March taxi drivers were saying that the number of tourists were causing "immense" queues at Palma Airport. But some days later, it was clear that it was mainly residents who were responsible for queues of traffic heading for the arrivals parking area. The problem was that drivers were avoiding having to park and were instead waiting on the road into the airport in order to pick up family or friends. Traffic was therefore backing up on the road heading to the airport.
The outside lane on the access road was blocked off, but this didn't help as the hard shoulder was used instead. The airports authority and Palma town hall had a spat over this, the latter insisting that dealing with traffic in the airport grounds wasn't a matter for Palma police.
This all seemed to settle down, but the taxi drivers meanwhile found themselves in confrontations with so-called pirate operators. This wasn't anything new, but the presence of these pirates was now "massive". Clashes lasted for some weeks until a compromise was found in late May. The pirates, mainly minibus businesses, would be able to pick up so long as they had no fewer than five passengers.
No sooner was there this agreement than the taxi drivers faced another problem. Uber were to say of their arrival in Mallorca in the first week of June that it was purely coincidental. It had nothing to do with the results of the elections. The taxi drivers for sure didn't believe that.
Uber cars were confined to four municipalities in the south and southwest of the island. The tariffs were higher than those for taxis, and they were bound by a rule requiring a minimum thirty-minute advance booking. The taxi drivers accused Uber of flouting this rule. Uber drivers complained of harassment, even violence. If Uber had expected the incoming government to open the floodgates, they were wrong. By the end of the year, the PP appeared minded to maintain the thirty-minute rule but were waiting for a Constitutional Court judgement as to its legality.
The PP had made election pledges to raise the speed limit on Palma's Via Cintura and to eliminate the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane from the airport. Once in office at the Council of Mallorca, they were true to their word with the Via Cintura - the limit was raised from 80 to 100 in December. As to the HOV lane, there continue to be arguments with the traffic directorate, which by December was of the view that it should stay but only be operable during rush hours.
A tragic case and drugs at sea
On the roads, it was a particularly black July. There were nine fatalities in Mallorca. The police were among the emergency services left to pick up the pieces. Otherwise for police forces, there was a tragic case in Porto Cristo in November. A baby was dumped in a rubbish container. We still await analysis of the organs to know whether the baby had been born alive or dead. Three people, including the mother, were arrested.
In April, the Guardia Civil were involved in a high-speed chase at sea. They were after drugs traffickers. Three occupants of a semi-rigid boat got out at Cala Gran beach in Cala d'Or and ran off. Guardia and local police were now in pursuit on land. The three were eventually tracked down and arrested.
Towards the end of October, bundles of hashish were found at the small Es Caló d'en Pellicer beach in Santa Ponsa. They had seemingly fallen from a boat during stormy weather. More bundles started to appear, some had floated as far away as Deya. No arrests have yet been made in respect of what was an aborted landing with a drugs consignment, but certain individuals who had helped themselves to the odd bundle were detained. The Guardia had issued a clear enough warning to anyone with ideas of taking bundles and selling the drugs.
Photo: Jaime Mora
The chaos of Storm Juliette
The emergency services were stretched by a severe storm that hit Mallorca at the end of February. Storm Juliette caused chaos. High winds and weight of snow brought down hundreds of trees in the Tramuntana; it was said that it will take years for the trees to recover. One group of hikers who had found a refuge near Lluc Sanctuary told rescuers that they didn't want to be rescued. They were more than happy to stay put and enjoy the snow.
There were power cuts and road closures with forty centimetres of snow falling over 24-hour periods. It was the heaviest snow in Mallorca for forty years. At the military base on Puig Major, the depth of snow was up to three metres. Such was the impact of Storm Juliette that it was rather forgotten that there had been snow at the end of January, when the depth on Puig Major was around forty centimetres.
In late August there was a sudden and violent storm, essentially a squall caused by the coming-together of two storms that was accompanied by intense rain and thunderstorms. In Palma the P&O Cruises Britannia broke loose and collided with an oil tanker. There were more than 300 incidents that required the help of the emergency services. While it was a serious weather event, the British media did rather over-exaggerate matters by insisting that terrified British holidaymakers (no other holidaymakers seemingly affected) had been running for their lives.
The storm did though claim two lives. A German father and son had set sail for Mallorca from Minorca. Contact with them was lost at 10am on that Sunday morning. A week later their bodies were found in the sea off Manacor. Cala d'Or had been their intended destination.
And then there was of course the big heat of summer. Three heat waves were registered in Mallorca - two in July and one in August - and the all-time record high came close to being broken. In Sa Pobla, the maximum for the summer was on July 18 - 43.9C. The record, 44.5C in Montuiri in August 2022, was safe. But for how much longer?