Airlines in a storm
Following last week's storms, it took until Saturday for normality to be restored to flights to and from Palma. But while meteorological storms had passed, there was one of a metaphorical variety that involved airlines on the one hand (Ryanair in particular) and the Spanish government and air-traffic controllers on the other.
The main beef that Ryanair had was with the extent of flight diversions. The airline insisted that conditions hadn't warranted the level of intervention by air traffic control that there was. The government and the controllers begged to differ; safety could not be compromised. This particular storm rumbled on, airlines indignant at the fact that if (when) there are claims, they will be the ones expected to pay.
The airlines and the airport, meantime, need to ensure things run as smoothly as possibly for managing the sheer number of passengers. The latest monthly report, this one for July, indicated that foreign passenger numbers were up 5.5% - around 100,000 more passengers (arriving and departing).
If the weather was poor in Mallorca last week, Menorca outdid the larger island in terms of volume of rain. Spain's minister for ecological transition, Teresa Ribera, went to Menorca to take a look for herself, the island's council saying it will be requesting that the government declares much of the island a disaster area. Such a declaration means there can be special aid to pay for losses and for the repair of infrastructure.
Heat can kill
The storms had brought the third heat wave of the summer to an end. Although there have been the same number of heat waves as 2023, they haven't been as long and the maximum temperature has been more than two degrees below last year's (43.9C). Not as hot as 2023 or 2022, but heat can still claim lives, a medical question being how many. There have been reported cases of death from heat stroke in Mallorca this summer - a kitchen worker, a gardener, a hiker - but it can be very difficult for the medical profession to certify heat as the cause of death.
Researchers are trying to get a more accurate picture, and they reckon that some 190 people have died so far this summer in the Balearics because of heat. They imply that both the health ministry and the met agency set the threshold too high for issuing heat alerts. In the case of Aemet, a yellow alert kicks in at 36C, but the researchers suggest that anything above 28C should be taken into consideration.
Low risk from mpox
A different public health concern is mpox. Spain has been the European country most affected by the infectious disease since 2022. In the Balearics there were ten cases last month. There were meetings at European and national level earlier this week, the upshot having been that there was no recommendation for control of borders. Nor was there recommendation for widespread vaccination. Spain's health ministry said that there was only a "low risk" to the European population.
Medics were unable to save the life of a 28-year-old British tourist who was found lying face down on the ground at the Reverence Mare Hotel in Palmanova last Saturday morning. He had fallen five metres, but this wasn't a case of balconing, as he had apparently fallen accidentally over a wall. Reports said that he had been drinking, but there is a world of difference between having had a drink and being drunk, some comments having assumed the latter to have been the case. The Bulletin didn't mention anything about drink. There should be some sensitivity with such incidents; there are families and other loved ones to think of.
Brutal aggro at an agrotourism
Son Llàtzer Hospital in Palma had to treat a 70-year-old taxi driver after he had been beaten up on Tuesday morning. He had picked up four German tourists in Arenal and when it came to paying, one of the four said he had lost his phone. An argument broke out and he was subjected to a brutal assault that resulted in two fractured ribs, a broken wrist and a blood clot on his head. When the Guardia Civil went to the scene, only one of the four was there. He offered to pay the driver and also attempted to bribe the officers so that they wouldn't take the matter further. He was arrested, and the other three were arrested some time later.
Something notable about this was where the assault occurred. This was at the four tourists' destination, the Son Burgues agrotourism establishment in Petra. Rural agrotourism is associated with so-called quality tourism. It does all depend on one's definition when there is behaviour of this kind that one would simply never expect from guests at an agrotourism.
Illegal lets and the protests
Appalling conduct having spread from the usual trouble spots, there is evidence of a different type of tourism spread in Palma - where tourists are staying and the type of accommodation they are staying in. Away from the centre of the city as well as from the resort parts, there are hardly any hotels in Palma, yet the number of tourists is increasing in districts such as Arxiduc and Pere Garau.
InsideAirbnb, which analyses Airbnb, reports the presence of a good number of rentals in districts away from the centre. For the most part these are apartments. The renting of apartments to tourists is prohibited in Palma. Jaume Garau of the Palma XXI association says: "All the legal places are full, so they (tourists) are going elsewhere - to illegal accommodation."
The CEO of TUI, Sebastian Ebel, was meanwhile saying that he could understand the protests against mass tourism and that these protests should be taken seriously. "We would feel the same way," he observed in referring to problems with housing and to the volume of traffic.
The small protest in Alcudia last Sunday was partly motivated by the amount of traffic on Sundays in summer. Alcudia has two weekly markets, one of these is on Sunday, and the local assembly of Menys Turisme Més Vida drew attention to the number of coaches that now take tourists to the Sunday market.
Illegal parties and more traffic congestion
Still in Alcudia, the Barcares and Morer Vermell area on the Bay of Pollensa has never been particularly touristy. There are two hotels in Morer Vermell but these have nothing to do with complaints about the ever-increasing number of boats that are anchored illegally off Es Clot beach and about parties without any sort of permission that are held on a sort of esplanade. One recent party attracted around one hundred people with tables and chairs; it even had an entertainer.
The town hall is urging residents to report these parties, but residents as well as regular visitors over many years are critical of the town hall. "It doesn't maintain the area properly."
Sebastian Ebel mentioned it, Menys Turisme Més Vida in Alcudia alluded to it, and residents of Soller have once more complained about it. Traffic congestion in Soller and on roads leading to Soller was important in prompting the Balearic government to establish its sustainability pact for seeking consensual solutions to overcrowding. The congestion doesn't occur all the time, but on cloudy days - as was the case last Monday - it tends to. Long an issue in Palma if the sun doesn't shine, Soller is experiencing the same: all the hire cars with people looking for an alternative to the beaches and the hotel pools.
A luxury home attraction
Another attraction for a cloudy day, or even a sunny one, is a Mallorcan luxury home - one that is up for sale. Property website Idealista says that going to view such a home has become "a common pastime" among Spaniards, even if the property is way beyond their financial reach. One villa in Calvia, valued at 2.75 million euros, is the most visited luxury home in the Balearics this summer.
Idealista comes up with all sorts of studies and reports. One does have to bear in mind that these will tend to reflect what the website has or has had for sale. This week, Idealista has informed us that apartments with pools in Palma are 40% more expensive than apartments without pools. This 40% is lower than the national average of 65%. Spokesperson Francisco Iñareta suggests that a reason for this lower mark-up could be the fact that Palma is a coastal city. Proximity to the beach would not make a pool so necessary.
However, the greatest difference, the website explains, is 108% in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which does perhaps rather contradict the Palma reason, as also - it could be said - does the fact that in Madrid there is only a three per cent price difference. In Seville the difference is one per cent. As Seville and Madrid are well away from any sea, one might anticipate a very significant price difference. Or does it all boil down to the properties that happen to be on the website?