Less appetite for Palma food fair

THE XXII Mostra de la Cuina Mallorquina food Fair in Palma has, for the first time in its history, recorded a slight drop in visitors.
It was expected that, when it shut its doors last night, 65'000 people would have visited the fair.
This is a drop of 1'500 from last year.
The organisers said yesterday that they expected that the final figure would be 65'000 visitors because they had increased the available space to 125 square metres. Because of this increase in space there was room for more tables for diners in the fair area.
The organisers attributed the drop in the number of diners as much to the ban on smoking in the fair as to the higher level of breath testing for alcohol. They said that they had noticed a drop in the number of groups of young people who habitually visit the fair, especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Among the approximate figures for food used in the 22nd edition of the fair are: 2'640 kilos of olives; 1'700 litres of soft drinks; 35'000 glasses of liqueurs; 88'000 portions of ice cream; 12'000 litres of water; 1'800 litres of dairy products; 28'000 litres of beer; 35'000 coffees; 2'995 kilos of bread; and 1'500 litres of orange juice. However, despite the fall in visitors, most exhibitors intend to take part next year.