Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

Two days of mourning were declared to mark the passing of Francesc Antich, who died on Thursday last week aged 66. Twice the president of the Balearics, he had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022, yet his death came as a shock. He had been active and visible right up to the time of his passing.

In 1999 he became the first socialist president of the Balearics. His PSOE-led coalition brought to an end sixteen years of government under the Partido Popular (Alianza Popular up to 1989), regional autonomous government having been introduced in 1983. Following his death, tributes were paid to the way in which he had shown how it was possible to form coalitions in Spain through a process of dialogue and negotiation.

For all this, the second coalition from 2007 to 2011 failed to survive the four years intact. This was due to the flood of corruption allegations involving one of the coalition partners, Unió Mallorquina. Antich eventually ejected the UM from the coalition in 2010. That period was also marked by the financial crisis. In 2011 the PP returned to power. Antich resigned as party leader and was succeeded by Francina Armengol. He went to the Senate, where he was a staunch defender of Balearic interests, and was president of the Balearic Ports Authority for a brief time before his health led him to step down.

He lived in Algaida, where he had been mayor in the 1990s. His passing was felt most acutely there but his loss was deeply felt across Mallorca and the Balearics. At a vigil at government headquarters, the other presidents of the Balearics, with the exception of the disgraced Jaume Matas, were in attendance. Party politics were put aside in honouring a thoroughly decent man.

Time for the January sales

Something of a shadow was cast over the festivities, though there was fine weather for the Three Kings' parades. The January sales got under way on Tuesday, clothing retailers hoping for some colder weather to boost business that retailers' associations nevertheless anticipated would be good. The associations have observed that the last summer season and the Christmas campaign were both positive, with spending having exceeded pre-pandemic levels. They were therefore optimistic that the spending would continue with the sales.

Unlike Mallorca's restaurants, who pointed to lower turnover last summer because of less tourist spending, the retailers viewed this spending far more positively. Higher prices for flights and accommodation were blamed by the restaurants for the dip in spending, even if the retailers didn't feel this impact as much.

Tourism demand and prices

Prices, as ever, are under consideration when assessing the prospects for tourism in 2025. The Mallorca Hoteliers Federation and the Aviba travel agencies' association are two sources who believe tourism demand in 2025 will be at least on a par with 2024. In terms of numbers of tourists, the figures up to November were published and showed that the annual total in the Balearics had already exceeded 2023's record by almost 600,000. The expectation is that 2024 will have closed with a total around 18.75 million - 900,000 more than in 2023.

So the federation and the association suggest that the volume of tourists will be over two million greater in 2025 than before the pandemic. We will see if this proves to be the case. An additional price factor for 2025 is the cost of sustainable aviation fuel. This fuel is to be gradually introduced and 2025 will be the first year in Spain. Airlines estimate it will cost them 234 million euros. This additional cost could well end up being passed on.

The travel agencies' president, Pedro Fiol, is wondering how long there will be capacity to continue applying the type of prices now being charged for travel and accommodation. He is of the view that 2025 will be "the last year with this approach (of ever higher prices) to tourism supply".

Road congestion and tourism

The growth in tourist numbers in 2024 was reflected in figures for rural tourism. Up to November there was a 17% increase in the number of guests at rural tourism establishments in the Balearics; the actual number was 529,405. The president of the Balearic Association of Agrotourism and Inland Tourism, Miquel Artigues, says that 2024 was "an extraordinary year".

But with more tourists making for the interior, does this put extra strain on the roads because of hire-car use? Possibly, but it does rather depend on where. Road congestion, a major issue that is being considered by the government's sustainability pact, is clearly most obviously a factor in and around Palma. In this regard, results of a July 2023 study didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know or could have guessed at. Nor did a finding that 81% of an average 1.3 million main road journeys over a week in July were by residents and that 19% were by tourists.

Tourism and hire cars have been blamed for the island's road congestion, but this blame has never been particularly attached to many of the points with the greatest volume, such as roads accessing or within Palma (except on cloudy days in summer). Where blame has been apportioned has been in specific areas of Mallorca. So an aspect of the study, which was commissioned by the Council of Mallorca, was to examine traffic in each municipality. This led to a finding that six of the ten municipalities with most tourist traffic are in the Tramuntana Mountains, e.g. Deya. The others are on the coasts - places with popular beaches, such as Muro.

One imagines that the study has been made available to the sustainability pact's working party for land transport. A principle of the pact's deliberations is the use of data, and so this study should prove to be of immense value.

Traffic and pollution

The volume of traffic is linked to pollution levels. The low emission zone now in force in Palma, it was instructive to learn from Ecologists in Action that Palma is one of fifteen Spanish cities to have exceeded the new limit of nitrogen dioxide particles established by the EU at the start of last year. They stated that NO2 pollution is mainly caused by motorised traffic. In Soller, meanwhile, a project to measure atmospheric pollution revealed that, on fourteen days in December, levels of particles prejudicial to health as established by the World Health Organization were exceeded. This pollution, it's fair to say, had little or nothing to do with tourism. It was partly because of settled and calm weather conditions and also because of farming chemicals and boilers. Traffic was also mentioned.

Illegal lets and substandard living

On a tourism theme and the recurring issue of illegal holiday rentals, an indication of how tough authorities can be has come from Ibiza. In the municipality of Ibiza, the town hall is processing four cases of illegal letting that could result in fines totalling 2,230,215 euros. Two of these, which amount to a potential 919,000 euros, are the result of inspections in August, both having been reported to the town hall via its Linea Verde (Green Line) app. Tourists were found to be staying in properties that hadn't been registered as holiday lets and had been advertised on Airbnb.

In Arenal, the president of the residents association, Alain Carbonell, has drawn attention to "whole apartment blocks that are rented out as illegal holiday lets on Airbnb". "So many homes are being lost for workers," he lamented in highlighting the existence of basement units converted into living accommodation. With barely any natural light, lacking ventilation and adequate sanitation, these units can fetch a typical 650 euros a month. A woman who works as a chambermaid at a nearby five-star hotel pays this; she has an eleven-year-old daughter.

On the land registry as units for parking or storage, Carbonell explains that the buildings with these basements were constructed in the 60s and 70s. Back then there wasn't housing for seasonal workers and so the units were used as living accommodation. They ceased to be by the 1990s. Now, they have been reconverted because there isn't sufficient housing, full stop.

Shanties in Inca

In Inca, the town hall is said to be in a state of denial, not accepting that there are two shanties in the town. Normally only to be found in Palma, the town hall maintains these are squats. The local police are among those who say otherwise.

Town halls are responsible for families' social care. They offer assistance through social services and inform the Council of Mallorca's IMAS social affairs institute of cases where people require shelter and other resources they are unable to provide. IMAS says it has no record of homeless cases in Inca. "No settlements, no people living on the streets, the town hall has not communicated anything to us."