TW
4

There has always been a degree of rather misplaced optimism in the Balearics. The perception was that as soon as the lockdown ended tourists would be boarding flights in their millions and heading to our shores. This has obviously not happened and isn´t going to happen, either. What is true is that this summer season will go down as the worst ever in recent history.

I have noticed over recent weeks that this optimism is starting to disappear, because hotels are not hiring and bars and restaurants are firing. Take Magalluf; probably the best known holiday resort on the island. Its main nightclub is closed and will not be opening this year as a result of government COVID legislation, its main party street has suffered the same fate and there are scores of other businesses in the same boat. Magalluf at the moment rather sums up the state of the local tourist industry. The time has come really, to forget this season and concentrate on summer 2021 when things should be better. To be fair to the local government they always said that it would be a modest season. However, the question has to be asked; how is Majorca going to survive the winter after a holiday season which never really got underway? The local government should start thinking of ways how they can help local businesses get through these hard times. Perhaps, also, the local government could look at ways of diversifying the local economy so that it is not so depèndent on tourism.