Mallorca and Ibiza hope to end alcohol tourism and improve their image
As the BBC notes, such changes had been discussed for a long time, even before the pandemic, but now an opportunity has opened up to reduce the number of tourists while increasing revenues for the economy. Revenue from international tourism accounts for 12% of Spain's GDP. In the Balearic Islands, this share reaches 35%.
If not for the epidemic, Mallorca, Ibiza and other islands of the archipelago would have been already overcrowded with foreign tourists in June. In 2019, the Balearic Islands were visited by more than 16 million people, most of them from abroad.
This year, the tourist season began with only five thousand guests from Germany, who were given special permission to visit Palma de Mallorca as part of a test of the effectiveness of measures to combat Covid-19 adopted by the country's authorities regarding the tourism industry.
“We are very pleased with the results of this experiment, and our clients have been able to see that tourist trips can be safe,” says Juan Miguel Ferrer, manager of Palma Beach. “People wear masks, wipe their hands with gel when entering a restaurant, and the taps in the toilets are equipped with sensors, so you don't have to touch them.”
“The peace and quiet here is truly amazing,” says German tourist Martin Bröker. He was pleased that the airport checked the temperature of every passenger and that hotels and restaurants introduced additional safety measures.
Mallorca is not the only place in Spain where the fight against coronavirus is taken very seriously. The authorities of Barcelona have ordered the mandatory wearing of masks in public places.
The number of flights arriving in Mallorca is expected to reach 30-40% of the usual level, but the atmosphere on the island will apparently remain much more peaceful than in previous years. Juan Ferrer agrees that due to quarantine restrictions, tourists will have to moderate their thirst for nightlife, shifting the emphasis towards daytime leisure options.
The administration of the Balearic Islands has announced that no night-time excesses will be allowed this summer. Bars, pubs and clubs in Mallorca and Ibiza have been given strict restrictions on opening hours, and nightlife venues in the most popular resorts of the islands will remain completely closed, as the authorities do not want a revival of the so-called alcohol tourism.
“Mass tourism of this kind will no longer happen, because these establishments will not reopen – that is for sure,” says Iago Negueruela, Minister of Economy, Employment and Tourism of the Balearic Islands. “We have already started this process, and it cannot be reversed. This year, pubs will not open. We will no longer tolerate such tourists who pose a danger, both to themselves and to others.”
The Balearic minister believes that the era of mass tourism, when people came to get drunk to the point of almost unconsciousness, is over. According to him, hotels even before the pandemic began to prefer wealthier tourists, and more and more five-star hotels with good restaurants and easy access to clean beaches began to open. Hotel representatives say they understand that as a result of the pandemic, the era of mass tourism has most likely come to an end.
“Some changes may be temporary, such as wearing masks,” says Andreu Serra, head of the Mallorca Tourism Board. But, according to him, this is also an opportunity to improve the quality of service and limit crowding both on beaches and on streets using modern technology.
Not everyone in Mallorca and other islands is happy with the presence of tourists. Environmentalists say that the invasion of foreigners has a negative impact on the environment, and also note that most people working with tourists receive low wages – and only during certain times of the year. Meanwhile, housing prices are constantly rising, and many workers in the industry are unable to rent even a separate room.
From the point of view of Antoni Palser Mateu, a member of the organization Tot Inclòs, all residents of Mallorca have become hostages of the tourism sector, which is extremely unstable. “Tourism benefits tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, the middle class in Mallorca who can rent out rooms via Airbnb. But the working class and small businesses see less and less benefit from it. Mass tourism can lead to serious problems, if not collapse, in the social and environmental spheres,” he believes.
During the tourist season, the population of the Balearic Islands doubles: one million tourists for one million residents. Now, during the pandemic, unemployment has risen sharply – to 75,000 people.
“We are completely dependent on tourism, and it will take at least 15 years to find an alternative,” says Juan Ferrer, noting that all other sectors of the local economy cover only 15% of the islands' GDP. “Yes, it is fashionable to criticize tourism now, but it is tourism that pays the salaries,” he adds.