Mallorca - can’t pay or won’t pay?
Is Mallorca’s once-thriving tourism scene starting to decline?
A few years ago a leading restaurant owner told me that he could not care less how many millions of people flooded through Palma airport because they were not going to his restaurant and already this year the restaurant sector is complaining that takings have fallen by as much as 20 percent in some of the island’s key destinations normally awash with money.
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We often used to stop off for a late Sunday afternoon lunch. Paella from €12, roast lamb around €15. Now that it's closer to €25-30, it's easier to buy a leg of lamb from the butcher, a few sprigs of rosemary and lemons from the garden and pop it in a low oven before taking our Sunday walk in the mountains, then home early for a jug of tinto verano on the terrace. And restaraunteurs wonder what the problem is? They have lost their home customers!
I don’t quite see restaurants as a first line of defence, more like first casualty. They are in the bottom tier of the income food chain. Flights, hotels/accommodation, Govt taxes, hire car, excursions, all preceded them, then it’s food and drink. And if it’s all-inclusive to save on the cash then they are not even in the chain. A precarious business at the best of times.
You have been hoping for that for years. If there's any downturn, it more likely is a result of economic and political uncertainty. Better be careful with your money. We don't know how far this will descend into the abyss yet. Although I haven't be yet seen much evidence that tourism is in decline. I'll hold judgement until next year.