Finally, we got to celebrate Easter as the tradition bids in Mallorca this year. We had some time off, we ate all what we wanted and the sun came back. It’s late this year and that has allowed many sleepy business owners a late start to the season. But now Mallorca is getting busy again! Sadly, many businesses lack staff and can’t keep up with the flow of tourists arriving to celebrate Easter this year. I spoke to several business owners who think the big challenge 2022 is not the number of tourists coming but the lack of service staff to keep the service level at the point where their clients expect it to be. There will be waiting and to be sure to get a table at your favourite place you will need to think ahead and book tables.
Never ever have I seen so many people out on the streets to celebrate and to see the processions in Palma and in all the villages. I took my 17-year-old for a walk in the centre of Palma the other day, and she kept repeating that she has never seen so many people around. That is not true but of course the buzz did amaze me too. Sun is out, people are off and this week also the masks are off. I believe we will have to do a small mask burning ceremony once the time is ready for it, now let’s see how long it will take to collect all the masks that lie around in our nature before we can forget all about them. It is really sad to see the amount of disposed masks lying around waiting for someone to collect and recycle them.
As many Nordics have arrived to the island it was interesting to see the announcement of an event of one of my teenager idols Alexander Bard who will be in the well-known restaurant Matias I Miguel next to the Son Llatzer hospital on May 12.
This time he is not here to sing, because in addition to music, he has been giving lectures and participating in debates since 1995. He has written five books together with Jan Söderqvist, including one on the digital revolution, and the pair published their first book, The Netocrats at the turn of the millennium. His German publisher Tom Amarque lives and works in Mallorca and even though Alexander does not live here he says some of his best friends do so and he really loves to visit the island. “I find Mallorca to have the perfect temperature in May and it is without a doubt the most beautiful month to come for a visit,” he says.
Bard has been a controversial figure for years in the Swedish media and he is well known for speaking his mind. He even claims to have worked as an (untrained) psychoanalyst.
From 2011 to 2015, Bard was a member of the jury for the TV show Idol. From 2017 until June, 13 2020 he was one of the jury members of the entertainment programme Talang on TV4. From 2008 to 2020, Bard was involved to a degrees in five different political parties.
Bard announced in September 2021 that he was running for Parliament for the Civic Alliance (MED partiet) in the next election.
During this meeting, philosopher, world traveller and aesthete, Alexander will talk about Sweden today and what we can expect in the future. He will point out the moments that the Swedish society is going wrong but also what we can do to reverse the trend. After the lecture there will be an opportunity to ask questions, as Alexander says he is very keen to hear the perspective of Mallorcan Swedes living abroad from their home country.