Foreign population

Jason MoorePalma05/07/2020 11:57

One in four residents of Palma are non-Spanish and overall one-in-five people living on the island were born away from these shores. Now, a few months ago I would have found this statistic rather amazing and hard to believe. One of the good things about Palma airport being closed (probably the only one!) is that you know that anyone you pass on the street actually lives here and are not tourists. So if you hear an English voice then you can actually assume that they are residents and not tourists. I have been quite amazed at how many foreign residents actually live on the island.

A few days ago I was in Pollensa and I was amazed at the large number of English voices I heard all around me which clearly shows that the British “population” of Pollensa continues to be a good shape. The latest figures show that the non-Spanish population on the island continues to grow. In the case of Palma, the majority of residents are from European Union countries.

Our capital has become a very cosmopolitan place which is great news. The Palma of today is a far cry from the one I remember as a child; the typical Majorcan bars have been replaced by pizza restaurants and fast food outlets. Major international stores have also moved in. But the biggest change has been the out-of-town shopping centres.

The increase im competition and fewer shoppers in the city centre has hit local shopkeepers hard and many have been forced to close. The three month lockdown and the lack of tourists will only add to this state of affairs. But overall I think you can safely say that our capital has never looked better.