Jason MoorePalma27/04/2020 17:55
TW
2

It was a rather surreal moment on Sunday. After almost six weeks my daughter was allowed out. She was obviously overjoyed and it got me thinking about how much our lives have changed in the space of six weeks. A short walk is now a luxury. We took a stroll along the sea-front in the Playa de Palma.Under normal circumstances it would have been packed, on Sunday it was empty; infact I spotted a grand total of eight people; six police officers and my daughter and I.

This time last year I wrote in this space that certain sections of the Playa de Palma were becoming far too overcrowded, rowdy behaviour was evident everywhere and there was a not a police officer in sight. This year, there isn´t a tourist in sight and there are police everywhere. My daughter obviously enjoyed the occasion even getting a friendly wave from a police officer. But looking down the long and empty promenade in the Playa de Palma got me thinking about the fate of the hundreds of businesses which rely on tourism in this area.

This giant multi-million holiday resort was eerily quiet. Some are saying that the tourist season will never start this year; even the Balearic government has said that the season will not start until August. The tourist industry is looking to the mainland as their saviour with Spanish tourists wanted because not many foreign tourists are expected. I hope that the Playa de Palma returns to normal but I will say that it would be nice if the police patrols remained.