Viewpoint: Mallorca’s short burst

This year it fell during the last week of May, while I was on holiday at one of the few hotels which are open. The hotel was very busy, it had only opened two days before we checked in, along with far more Germans, French, Austrians and even Americans than the hotel had been braced for.

But, for the most part, it was all handled extremely professionally - plus most of the guests were keen cyclists, so they only appeared at breakfast and dinner.
However, rather like the start of the Easter holidays, Mallorca experienced a sudden influx of tourists, great stuff.

The only problem is that they have gone home and back to work and now outside of Palma, in the north of the island where I was, it seems to have all gone rather quiet again.
Driving from the outskirts of Puerto Pollensa to the very centre of Palma in just 40 minutes on a Monday evening says it all - there were no coaches, no hire cars, just local commuters coming home from work.

Flight numbers may be increasing but are they full? And, until the UK gives the Balearics the green light and the Britons start flooding in, I fear it could be a while yet before we see the summer get out of first gear.