FOREIGN SIGNINGS

THE other day I was talking to an ardent Real Mallorca fan who said that one of the great things about the local club was that it was in Majorcan hands. He is right but it is also good news that a German and British investor will also be taking stakes in the club. One of the problems with Real Mallorca, is that some people consider it to be too Majorcan, and it is difficult to buy match tickets and discover the fixture list if you are un-Majorcan.

Now, I don´t know if this is true because there is a ticket office at the ground and the fixtures are readily available on the internet, but it is not the first time I have heard this criticism. For Mallorca to move forward it must tap into the lucrative tourist market. Seven million tourists come here every year and only a handful ever go and see a match. Hopefully with a Briton and a German sitting on the board of directors, this will become a thing of the past and the Iberostar stadium will become another tourist attraction. At the moment Mallorca gets less than 12'000 supporters every home match, this is a terrible state of affairs. The club wants visiting tourists and the foreign community to get involved with Mallorca and perhaps the influx of foreign capital will lead to an international approach.