“Really Bock” – Mallorca is hoping for a record season

Corona numbers are falling rapidly in Mallorca at the moment. Hopes are high that foreign tourists will return en masse as temperatures rise. There is a lot of optimism.

Palma – The anticipation on Mallorca for the upcoming season is huge. “I’m really in the mood. It will be almost impossible to prevent a return to normal life,” says Ron Büttner.

The landlord runs the Kölsch Pub 4711 on Playa de Palma on the Spanish holiday island. “It’s already the same in many pubs in the area as it used to be.” However, a new tourism law and the war in Ukraine are causing concerns.

Binges should be stopped

The preparations in the German holiday stronghold are currently in full swing. Even the Megapark, which has been closed since the pandemic began, is working on reopening. The operators are already busy looking for employees for the season. As the “Mallorca Zeitung” reports, the huge dance temple is scheduled to open its doors on April 7th – but that’s not official yet.

The politicians have already taken precautions and included the street adjacent to the party complex in the area to combat binge drinking. From April to the end of September, eating and consuming alcohol on the open street is prohibited. This is to prevent crowds from gathering.

It is still unclear what the rules for the parties will look like in detail. Dancing was banned last season. Hospitality was only available on site. Masks were compulsory when going to the toilet. This created a beer garden atmosphere at Ballermann. The 3G rule to enter the bars has now been abolished. Fidgeting in the discotheques is allowed again, but the mask must be worn. However, compliance and control of the rule has greatly diminished.

First almond blossom, then go dancing

Masks are only mandatory on the street if the minimum distance of one and a half meters cannot be maintained. In other words, if you don’t cover your mouth and nose on a busy shopping street, you risk a ticket of 100 euros. The same applies to interiors. “In that case, the pandemic will probably accompany us for a while,” Büttner suspects. A so-called Freedom Day, on which the pandemic is declared over, does not yet exist in Spain. Little by little, however, Corona is to be regarded as an endemic disease. This is also supported by the high vaccination rate. 85 percent of the population on Mallorca has a complete basic immunization, half is boosted.

The tourist Jennifer Petsch is on the island for the second time and enjoys the sunshine in Palma. “I finally wanted to get out of the bad weather in Germany and just sit outside again,” says the Paderborn native. She doesn’t see herself as a typical Ballermann vacationer. “I’d like to see it, but then in the summer when something’s going on. Now I’m looking forward to the almond blossom and going dancing in Palma.” After all, it’s still difficult at home with discotheques.

In a few weeks it should be really crowded again on the island. The airlines have announced a capacity of more than 31 million seats from April to October with the Spanish airline association AECFA. This corresponds to an increase of around twelve percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019 – and is a record. The hotel association FEHM, to which most of the hotels on the island belong, expects that 84 percent of the inns on Mallorca will be open in April. A year ago it was just 17 percent. “We are very optimistic,” agrees Ian Livesey, Division Manager for the Balearic Islands of the Tui travel group.

Meanwhile, the Balearic government wants to put a stop to mass tourism. A recently published law froze the number of guest beds. No new applications will be accepted for the next four years. Hoteliers initially welcomed the law, but sentiment quickly changed.

A clause had not been agreed during the negotiations with the politicians, it said. Hotels are allowed to extend their houses by 15 percent when renovating, but only if they sacrifice five percent of the guest beds. Another thorn in the side is the new rule that in future all beds must be height-adjustable to make the chambermaid’s job easier.

The situation in Eastern Europe now also caused a setback. However, it is still difficult to predict whether the war in Ukraine and its consequences will reduce Germans’ desire to travel. dpa