The show just goes on!

If you put “Martyn Smith” into Google, you don’t have to look too far to find him listed in the British Gymnastics website, he was a former British, European and World champion gymnast, before becoming a professional performer, and then a show director and now the managing director at Son Amar, and a successful business owner in his own right with his own restaurant, and club. I first met Martyn when he was onstage at Pirates Adventure, and now he’s in charge at Son Amar which is owned by long term island resident Margaret Whittaker OBE. The nice thing about Martyn is that he is the same guy as was before he took on this role, he’s interesting to talk to, honest, and fun which is why I think I can get away with my planned portrait of him to go with this interview…

We’re in the auditorium of the theatre at Son Amar and the company of performers are rehearsing onstage. “Can you still do a handstand?” I turn to ask Martyn out of the blue, he looks at me, and laughs, and then realises I am serious. “In this outfit?” he shakes his head. “Well, what can we do?” I reply, I don’t want to do a boring photo I explain. After all, he does have “Professional Gymnast” on his CV. He rises to the challenge, and after a quick exchange with Michal, his acrobatic director, Martyn sits on one of the iconic red sofas in VIP and Edward Upcott, a cast member, balances on the skull of his boss. With that, the photo is done and it’s time for a chat.

Q.— Vicki McLeod: So, how do you think business in Mallorca is going this year?
A. — Martyn Smith: All the hoteliers are saying occupancies are up, and that Mallorca is rammed, but I think there is definitely a change in spending this year. Everywhere I am going and everyone I am speaking to is saying the same, there’s a definite caution. We’ve got a cost of living crisis, which is another way to say a recession just rebranded.

Q.— What do you think Mallorca should be focusing on for its future?
A. —I think Mallorca has actually fallen behind. We don’t have these brands that Ibiza has, and we don’t seem to be appealing to these brands. I don’t know why, because the infrastructure is very good here. Why don’t we have Hard Rock hotels? Why don’t we have the Mandarin Oriental or a Hilton in Palma? Why isn’t that? We have beautiful boutique hotels, yes, but we need these big names as well. I wouldn’t say there was too much wrong with Mallorca. But they don’t sell “the good” enough. We’ve screamed and shouted about what is bad and what we don’t want, but we never seem to scream and shout about what is good, you know? We need to be making much more about the amazing visitors we have here, like Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, the Kardashians. It’s the “go-to” destination of the moment. I like to describe Palma as a mini Barcelona, it has some amazing restaurants, shopping, architecture. We need to make more about that.

Q.— You have a restaurant in Palma don’t you?
A. —Yes, we’re just rebranding it and remodelling. We’re planning to reopen in August.

Q.— What are you going to do with it?
A. —It’s going to be a bit more elevated, with Mediterranean cuisine. It’s going to be really nice.

Q.— Tell me the name.
A. —No (with a twinkle in his eye).

Q.— How is Son Amar doing? Are there any new plans?
A. — Son Amar is a listed building and we have a roof restoration project underway. It needs to be done in a particular way with a particular wood. You need to conserve a certain percentage of the original roof tiles. Obviously, the new roof tiles have to be the same size, same everything. So it’s a restoration project more than a building project, but quite a big one.

Q.— We need to talk about the forced demolition of Social, your club on the Paseo Maritimo.
A. —Do we need to? Yeah, we need to (with a twinkle in my eye).

For any readers who don’t know about the situation, Social was a very popular and successful nightclub which Martyn owned with his business partner, Dom Miles. It was situated in the middle of the Paseo Maritimo and it has recently been demolished against their will as part of the redevelopment of that area.

Q.— How did you first find out that this was going to happen?
A. —Okay then, the first thing we should get clear is that it is not the townhall of Palma who are involved, it was the Port Authority, and the main government in Madrid. The initial announcement of the project was on a billboard, I think it was outside of The Auditorium. There was this “Before and After” picture with Social there in the “Before” image and then in the “After” image which was an artist’s impression the club wasn’t there! We were sent a photo of that and that’s how we found out! We found out everything through the press, so if there was a government announcement we would hear about it when a journalist would call us up for a comment. We only knew as much as everyone else, and we were certainly not the first to know anything. In the four or five years that it all unfolded,we met with the Port Authority three times.

Q.— It must have been hard to operate a business like that.
A. —Yes, it’s hard to plan when you keep being told by the newspapers that your business is about to be closed. To run a successful nightclub you have to be able to plan in advance, to book DJs and create goodwill, a buzz, and the marketing. So you really need to plan at a minimum of six months, but better eight to ten months ahead.

Q.— You stayed open whilst all around you the Paseo was being redeveloped. It affected so many businesses.
A. —I think it’s been really tough for many people. During the whole construction, SOcial did amazingly well. Considering that they had erected fences around the whole venue we had two good years. Looking across the road at some other businesses I could see them really suffering, I felt sorry for them. I know of businesses who would lock the door on Saturday evening, come back on Monday morning and the entrance to their premises had been fenced off without any notice, and no compensation. It’s not fair, and it’s not normal to do that.

Q.— What’s happened with all the people that you were employing?
A. —In the height of the summer we employed up to 75 people. We have had to let everybody go which is a huge cost. For a newer or less successful business that could potentially have taken them under. How would a business person then move on into another business when they’ve had all of their cash flow and investment ripped away from them and left them in a load of debt?

Q.— So now you have to sue the Port Authority, any idea of how long until it is settled?
A. —No, only that a claim for compensation from a governing body can take a very long time.

Q.— What was it like on the last night before you had to close?
A. —The closing day was unbelievable, which was nice.

Q.— Is there a plan for Social 2?
A. —Yeah, it’s definitely on the agenda, but, It has to be the right place, the right size and in the right location.

Q.— Do your children understand what you do, or what you’ve done in your career to now? Do you think they will be inspired by you?
A. —I think they’re too young for that. But I think people have to be aspirational, don’t they, in the right way, not in the way that they see people on social media. When I was growing up, everybody wanted to be a footballer, but you’d be out actually playing football. Now everybody wants to be a reality tv star.

Q.— Let’s talk about “downtime”, what’s your favourite beach.
A. —We like Muro, we go up there with a picnic, it’s big enough I’m not going to bump into anyone!

Q.— Your favourite places to eat.
A. —As a family, we love My True Burger in Port Adriano. And I really enjoy Fera. I think it’s one of the best restaurants in the world.

Q.— And your favourite place to be.
A. —It’s cheesy, but I just love being at Son Amar. I eat in the restaurant a lot. I watch 90% of the shows. I still love to watch them, and to be there.

Q.— How has the closure of Social changed your life? Are you still working every day?
A. —I’ve just started to kind of get into a new routine now that I’m not doing nightlife. But Son Amar is open ten months of the year, and we are already planning the Christmas festival and Oktoberfest. It doesn’t stop, the show just goes on!