Arenal straddles two municipalities - Palma and Llucmajor. In the Palma part, the Arenal provides the most notorious area of Playa de Palma, the resort marketing invention of hoteliers from the 1960s.
Heavily German, as it has been for decades, streets have German nicknames - Bierstrasse, Schinkenstrasse. Any summer, and plenty of German football shirts are worn. 2026 is World Cup summer. The illegal sellers, who convert streets into peculiar bazaars, do a good trade in football shirts. The sellers are out on the streets more or less around the clock, as are the pundits.
By 10am in the morning, Arenal is buzzing. If it's not holidaymakers emerging from supermarkets with selections of drink, then it's holidaymakers heading for the bars. By 11am, there is barely a seat to be had.
For residents, there is mounting concern about the ever earlier start to the day's partying. There seem to be no set hours anymore. There is a greater intensity. And with this come greater worries about anti-social behaviour and security. The current town hall administration has made much of its determination to tackle insecurity and come down heavily on the street sellers. As have administrations in the past. But Arenal appears to remain a law unto itself - and it is now more or less 24 hours a day.
Over the municipal border in Llucmajor, the Arenal story is one of some success in addressing the annual problems created by the June influx of Spanish students.
The president of the Amics de S’Arenal residents' association says these student holidays used to be "a nightmare". In recent years, though, they have ceased to be uncontrolled. Greater police presence has helped in ensuring improved "coexistence".
The Llucmajor Police and Guardia Civil have established checkpoints and monitor students during their stay. The police say that organisers have cooperated and have increased the activities programmed for students with the aim of reducing unsupervised leisure time.
Some establishments are now far better in controlling underage drinking. "The last two or three years have been very good." Last summer the number of incidents was practically negligible. The association is therefore hopeful that the positive trend will continue this summer.