Tourist blues

The warnings were there, but the majority of the local population thought it was the tour operators crying wolf. They had made warnings before and Majorca had enjoyed record seasons. Earlier this week I was in beautiful Puerto Pollensa and I was amazed how quiet it appeared. It is a similar story in Magalluf. So should the local authorities be worried? Should they be taking action?

Well, to be honest there is little or nothing they can do, bar a late promotion drive to save the tail-end of the season. But apart from that it is a question of waiting and hoping for the best. There is no one around either, because local politicians are either being sworn in after the local elections or have gone on holiday. The problem is that there doesn't appear to be an opposition party which is holding the recently formed local government to account. It might be an idea if the tourist tax was curtailed but no one is saying anything.

The only thing which is being talked about is a possible curb on cruise ships in the Port of Palma. We shouldn't be talking about curtailing cruise ships when the industry is suffering. Majorca needs to send a message out to the world that this is one of the best places to holiday in the world. We can forget all this nonsense about too many tourists because we have too few at the moment.