The airport is expected to be busier than it was in December 2019. | Juan Luis Ruiz Collado

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The tourism sector in Mallorca is looking forward to an "excellent" December, with flight occupancy to Palma currently at an average of 70%.

While there is foreign demand, especially from Germany, the principal source of tourists in December will be the national market. As well as Christmas, there are two public holidays early in the month - Constitution Day (December 6, a Tuesday) and Immaculate Conception (December 8).

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Hoteliers are forecasting that the bridge period for Constitution Day and Christmas will produce occupancy of 60% and 80% respectively. In Playa de Palma, the president of the hoteliers association, Elizabeth Vidal, says that there will be seventeen hotels open during December, five more than in pre-pandemic 2019. Javier Vich of the Palma-Cala Major association adds that hotels are "still waiting for last-minute sales, which are expected to be above forecasts".

As far as hotels in the coastal resorts away from Palma are concerned, there will be very modest levels of activity. Even so, Iberostar and Hipotels in Cala Millor are pointing to 80% occupancy at Christmas. In addition, it can't be overlooked that a good deal of accommodation in the interior, e.g. rural hotels, remains open.

Forecasts from the airports authority Aena suggest that a combination of Spanish and European flights will result in over one million passengers in Palma (arrivals and departures) compared with 950,000 in December 2019 in the same month. There will be more than the 8,506 flights that there were three years ago.