Jesús M. González, professor of geography at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), says that Palma is part of a "metropolitan crown" of European cities that attracts northern European second home owners.
He draws a comparison between Palma and Madrid. "The mountains have become the second home of the people of Madrid." A couple of hours from the capital, house prices have been influenced and there have been changes among the residents. The local economy has also been altered because of the presence of people from the city.
Palma's proximity to large European cities is similar. "Germans come here because there is a two-hour flight. The same dynamics are generated. They come here to spend the weekends, which affects the land, the housing, the type of buildings. The restaurants and a proliferation of art galleries are indications of a transformation." Palma and the whole of Mallorca have become a "metropolitan crown".
The availability of flights in the low season highlights why there is a German presence in particular. For Palma in January there are 740 flights from German airports. There are 187 from the UK, 75 from Austria, 63 from Italy, 50 from France and 20 from Sweden. González notes that at the airport there are countless estate agency advertisements that welcome travellers.
The president of the API estate agencies association, José Miguel Artieda, highlights the sales of properties to foreigners - "36 per cent of the total". "Buyers are no longer looking for hyper-luxury or for places by the coast. Since Covid, the trend has changed and now foreigners from northern Europe come to work here remotely and return to their home countries to complement their working hours."
The difference compared to previous years is that those who buy are often part of the working population. These people have "semi-residence". Artieda reckons that many come to live "an experience". "They like coming here but they don’t integrate. They want to live like a resident. For them this is a paradise similar to Tuscany. They seek tranquillity and good weather, but they don’t mix."
Pedro Fiol, president of the Aviba travel agencies association, says: "Many people come to spend the weekend. There are shops on offer, there is good weather. The connections with Germany and Austria are very good, also with the UK. We are connected to the whole of Europe, more and more so because of low-cost airlines." So Palma and Mallorca have, in effect, become like a metropolitan area of Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt and London.
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Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyI suspect that if Brits were the dominant nationality in this article, it would be void of any comments, since we'd have won the "turnyment" again. But we lost this time to some far-flung bloody foreigners. So, rotten tomatoes to them. I seriously doubt those daft foreigners even know or care though.
Can anyone explain the downside of Germans or any other nationalities spending their time and their cash in Mallorca? Buying homes, shopping, eating out, using private medical care, hiring local tradespeople, supporting small businesses......and taking nothing from the economy. Yes I experience some Germans and British whose manners leave a lot to be desired but they're probably also bolshie and arrogant at home so they don't know any better. One of Palma's great attractions is that it's very cosmopolitan and international in its profile and that in turn is attractive to the moneyed. But lose that aspect and Palma just becomes one of many also-ran Spanish cities. If I was Mayor I'd be thanking my lucky stars that I have a city that can compete with the best of Madrid, Monaco, Milan for its visitors. It's time for people to big-up Palma and stop knocking it down.
In 1993, MP Dionys Jobst launched the proposal for a Majorcan “17th Bundesland”, which was formalised the following year by ‘Der Spiegel’ by institutionalising “the German island region” Now this was a joke but it made plenty of headlines at the time. Of course it was never formalised but there are plenty of ways to skin a sausage. Drip drip drip under the radar, softly softly catchee monkey, and here we are today. In this forum we are all residents, expats, immigrants etc however long we may have resided and this "problem" lies squarely at the feet of Mallorquins as the owners and long term occupiers of this little piece of paradise in the western med. How they deal with it will be interesting to see. Look at the UK. Twenty years ago many areas were already demographically changed forever yet relatively little was said and those that spoke out were shouted down. Now, and partially thanks to the rape gangs as well as another two decades of mass migration the subject of how our country should look and should " the English" be in charge of their own country is finally front and center of debate, especially via social media. So will it take a rapidly approaching tipping point for the Mallorquins to decide they must take charge of their own futures or will distractions, greed and plain disinterest lead to a sort of Welsh situation, where Mallorquin language and customs exist in a few inland rural centers whilst most of the island is an international playground reading Der Spiegel ?
Morgan , Im not angry actually about anything but if you read the post here are specific comment´s about the number of German flight´s to Mallorca and I presume there are German´s on those planes ? I'm not German but the tone of this none news article is negative foreigner news and your right I don´t like that !
JackyIt's not clear what you're angry about but I haven't found anything in this article complaining about northern Europeans. Or is it that it rather implies that Brits aren't the dominating nationality here? Is that what bothers you? One thing that's contrary to my experience is the "don't integrate" bit. I am literally surrounded (and socialise with) Mallorquins and Germans and other northern Europeans, and frankly, most of the northern Europeans living here that I know are pretty fluent in Castellano, less so in Mallorquí, but one German in my neighborhood has adopted Spanish and Mallorquí as his mother tongues, and even forgets some German words and phrases. But he's been here for 40 years and is very integrated in the community. There's another side to this as well. Mallorquins aren't particularly good at "integration" either. Many, particularly the older generation, quite obviously keep a distance from "extranjeros". They're friendly enough, and don't seem to dislike foreigners, but generally won't closely socialise with them. It's not easy to get close to them. So, it works 2 ways. But otherwise, what's wrong with this article exactly?
Not sure how it was decided how to make this Article into News unless the dislike articles for German´s and other forighner´s has been to low over the Christmas period but this is full of Double Morale mentality complaining about the people who fly to Mallorca for a weekend in the winter and all the bussiness´s they support and not integrating and circular economy really what are you talking about I don't know where you find these people .STOP COMPLAINING and be HAPPY .