PALMA DE MALLORCA (dpa) – Tourism in Mallorca has suffered a lot of negative headlines this year ranging from a coach drivers’ strike to stories about tourist taxes, environmental worries and cuts in package tourism.
So is the Balearic island’s bubble about to burst? The statistics suggest otherwise. More than 930,000 holidaymakers arrived at the airport in Mallorca in May alone this year, a 1.2-per-cent rise on May 2000.While tourism from Germany is 6 per cent down on last year, Germans still represent the largest proportion of visitors (38 per cent), followed by the British (34 per cent). The island is this year increasingly popular with holidaymakers from Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.Puerto Andratx, the town on the southwest of the island favoured by Germany’s rich and famous, is as lively as ever, even if bookings are not as high as last year’s record figures. Ubiquitous building sites and estate agents’ advertising billboards suggest demand is continuing.While filming on Mallorca recently, the German film director Dieter Wedel was forced to flee his penthouse in favour of a hotel because he was disturbed by the noise of a pneumatic drill nearby.In an interview, he appealed to the local authorities to give the natural environment a chance. “They are tearing down a whole mountain outside our front door,” he complained.Yet just three kilometres away, the fishing village of San Telmo remains an unspoilt idyll, showing that “real Mallorca” still exists. Yachts anchored here bob up and down in the crystal clear water.The only signs of package tourism are a hotel, a guest house and a few holiday apartments. The local bars are filled with as many locals as tourists, not least because the beer is cheap and the fish soup is excellent.Towns full of rowdy package tourists, where partying and heavy drinking are the norm, are still big in Mallorca and have contributed to its negative image. But Willi Kramme, a tour guide with German company LTU Touristik, says Mallorca still has very many positive sides.Balearic beaches have been awarded 57 blue flags from the Foundation for Environmental Education in Copenhagen for excellent water quality and beach services this year, he says.“What other holiday destination offers something for every taste? Peace and quiet or a rave-up, barren mountains and lush meadows, endless walks and blue sea, as well as a rich cultural programme, not just in the capital Palma de Mallorca?” Kramme asks.Many holidaymakers here believe the recent criticism of the island is a storm in a teacup.Hermann Anders, a German tourist, said he was pleased to be able to hire a car cheaply without having to wait in a long queue. His wife was happy that her favourite resort was not as crowded as last year. “I’d like it to stay this way,” she said.The Balearic government has now launched a publicity campaign to attract back the package tourists.Tourism minister Celesti Alomar recently told “Mallorca Magazin” he is considering establishing its own tourism office in Berlin, to open shortly before the International Tourism Fair in Berlin in March 2002.Many Mallorquins do not fear for the island’s future. A slight slump in package tourism must be seen against record numbers in recent years that were influenced by a collapse of tourism in Croatia, earthquakes in Turkey and terrorist attacks in Egypt.Carlos Vert, executive for a boating company, believes the government is right to concentrate on attracting higher-quality tourists. “There have always been highs and lows and mini crises. But in the end quality will prevail,” he said.Forty per cent of Mallorca is now protected as a nature reserve. This includes S’Albufera, Sa Dragonera and Mondrago nature reserves and Dragonera National Park. The Serra de Tramuntana, the mountain range that dominates the western part of the island, also enjoys environmental protection.
