30/05/2016 00:00
We are heading for a record summer season which will mean that tourists will spend millions while on holiday here. Yes, it could be said that Palma is overcrowded during peak days when there are a large number of cruise ships in port and of course the day-to-day routine of some people is disrupted as a direct result during the summer months. This state of affairs has led to a small, and I say small, backlash against tourists which has resulted in anti-tourist graffiti being sprayed on some walls in the old part of the city.
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Crikey! I can't believe the naive and blinkered comments from people who cannot perceive that tourism brings at least 70% of Mallorca's true wealth. So, tell me this - if you shut all the hotels and rented villas, and close all the associated bars, restaurants, and entertainment facilities, forget all the general sales in the tourist areas, the coach travel, the car hire, the employment at the airport and with the taxis, the marinas' income, the conference facilities etc. etc. what do you have left? The answer is:- local education paid for by local taxation, shops and bars and restaurants for locals, the normal bus and train services minus tourists, and hardly any exporting industry whatsoever. Even the excellent local wine industry exports practically bog-all. What sort of world are many of you people living in - cloud cuckoo land? Go big on the thumbs-downs as I'm sure you will, but I'm only interested in reasoned logic from people who can prove me wrong. I'm waiting to hear from all of you who think you'd be ok without tourism - and why.
What a short sighted attitude when you say the anti tourist graffitti is a senseless act by some who should know better. Perhaps you should spend time with the ecologists and economists to find out who benefits in the long term as it's not really the locals, myself included, or the coming generations who will benefit in the long run. Mallorca is a small island and we have a wonderful opportunity to create a sustainable, ecological, long-term solution in many areas including tourism. Bringing in millions of tourists who stay in all-inclusive hotels benefit the hoteliers and there are some who claim that taxes on food in these same hotels are not even paid for in Mallorca. Staff in these same hotels are overworked for only some months of the year with more complaints going unheard - again, who benefits? We do enjoy a good quality of life here but we are in danger of Mallorca losing her Unique Selling Point as a place to relax and becoming just another England - over consumerism, late night opening and God forbid Sunday shopping!
Mick, are you implying that without tourism no-one would live on the island?! Of course it is by far the main source of revenue but not the only one. Both my husband and myself use all of the services you mention, plus several others, and neither of us has any connection whatsoever to tourism. We would still do what we do and earn what we earn without a single tourist here. That also goes for plenty of other local people. In addition to tourism there are other, albeit less important, industries that do not depend at all on tourism (need I list them?!). So no, it is not 100%!
Sara, it is 100% of persons employed on this island because of tourism. A lawyer has work because they buy properties. A mechanic has work because he services the cars of the waiters. The cashier at the supermarket has a job because people are on the island because of tourism. 100% of jobs are inter connected to tourism. Name me one that is not related !!!!
Once upon a time..(sigh)...: Així com hi hagis desembarcat t’entrarà una mitja son tan rítmica i tan melodiosa, unes ganes de no fer res tan segures i definitives i un ensonyament tan seguit que diràs “Aquesta és la terra que convenia al meu mal; una terra que, sense dormir, s’hi pot reposar i somniar-hi”. (“L’Illa de la Calma” Santiago Rusiñol)(And before someone says it, I wouldn't actually mind going back to riding on donkeys!)
A bit of exaggeration in the above Comment. Yes, the majority of jobs on the island are tourism related, but not ‘all’. If there was a sudden fall in tourism yes, a lot of people would suffer, but not ‘all’. Assuming by ‘all’ you mean 100%.“The more tourists the better, it’s as simple as that”. No it isn’t. Mallorca just doesn’t have the resources to support ever increasing numbers. There is already a water shortage this year after the dry winter. The roads are beginning to be gridlocked. In the end overcrowding will just turn the tourists themselves away.It’s a difficult balance but we should be focussing more on quality rather than quantity in order to continue to enjoy the revenue from tourism.Of course there is no place for anti-tourist graffiti and tourists should be made welcome (those that behave, that is!).