Saturation or can’t cope?

Yes, as a city centre resident, it can be a pain having to dodge lost tourists and visitors gormlessly wandering around the capital like zombies with no particular objective whatsoever, but that’s what this island lives off, has done so very nicely since the '60s and will continue to - so we shouldn’t be complaining. Or should we? If things are not running smoothly, it’s the fault of the thousands of tourists and cruise passengers. Or is it?

On Friday evening, the wife and I decided to pop out for a snack and, living near the Paseo Mallorca, we’re never spoilt for choice. However, all the restaurants, inside and out were packed; not a table to be had in our restaurants of first choice, so we settled for one of the smaller eateries. Yes, it was busy as well, we know the staff well, were welcomed with open arms and all that.

But the evening ended in tears when, after an hour, we still had not been served. It was not a case of "saturation"; for me it was a case of poor management. The number of staff had not been increased to take into account the peak summer rush. In fact, the same number of staff were on as would be during the winter. I am sure we weren’t the only disappointed people, but I’m not blaming "saturation". I’d put it down to poor management and businesses trying to double their fast bucks.