Humphrey CarterMallorca-International10/11/2020 09:52
TW
1

WHAT a difference a year makes. This time last year, we were coming to the end of yet another bonanza summer tourist season and gearing up for winter holiday makers and the influx of out-of-season home owners. And, all this against a back drop of yet another hot summer of protests, vandalism and antisocial behaviour as part of the growing, well it was, anti-tourism movement, fueled by a left-wing pro independence body called Arran which is based in Barcelona. Ironically, and one has to admit through no fault of their own, due to this pandemic, Arran and its supporters got what they have been campaigning for - hardly any tourists, not a cruise ship in site, not even on the near horizon, and just a handful of hotels prepared to take a massive gamble and stay open.

Now, they may have spent the summer lounging around some of Majorca’s numerous beauty spots relishing in the fact that there was not a tourist in sight or they may have painfully endured endless hours wondering how they are going to get a job and make some money - live in times of dire crisis.

Some of the protesters at the time said they were simply having a laugh. I doubt the clients of a top end restaurant in Palma thought that when the establishment was stormed by slogan waving, hooter honking and paint spraying hooligans. I wonder if they are still laughing now.