Lads get scammed but....

Now Magalluf and boring are two words you don’t see together that often, so there’s the intrigue. You would be forgiven for thinking that this was a survey carried out by someone in the travel industry on thousands of holiday makers who’d visited our well known resort. Well actually no, step forward holidaymaker Sarah Stewart, 45, from Holywood in Northern Ireland, who has been holidaying in Magalluf for 22 years with a group of travellers now aged between 40 and 70.

Ms Stewart said: ‘I’m not sure we’ll return. To be frank, there is zero attraction. The beaches, bars and restaurants are empty. There’s no music, no atmosphere and the regulations are ridiculous.’
So they’ve picked one group of travellers who obviously didn’t enjoy their holiday and tried to turn it into a full news story. I tweeted the girl who wrote it, her name was Hanisha Sethi. Her bio says she’s a freelance digital reporter. She’d asked for peoples opinions on whether Magalluf had become boring. I’m still waiting for a reply. Now my bet is these people came out of season and Hanisha has never actually been to Magalluf.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Magalluf has one of the best beaches on the island. All the beach clubs, restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels have invested huge amounts of money to upgrade their premises and turn the resort around. Having lived here for over 30 years I don’t think I’ve seen it looking so vibrant. The one thing I would change and once again I’ve said this before is the ‘zona de excessivos’. Whilst I agree with what it’s trying to do, how can you have one half of the resort able to do things that the other half can’t? There’s a great saying in Spanish which says ‘todos Moros o todos Cristianos’ which basically means everyone should receive the same or be held by the same. I hope the new Mayor of Calvia, Juan Antonio Amengual, who was sworn in this week looks at this and either makes it a law for all or remove it all together.

Playa de Palma and Ibiza

I read that in Playa de Palma things hadn’t improved and the Germans were still doing what they were doing before the zone was put in place. I asked my good friend Martin Makepeace who lives in Ibiza whether the ‘zona de excessivos’ had changed San Antonio. Martin like me here in Mallorca has lived in Ibiza for over 30 years and there’s not much he doesn’t know about the White Isle. He said ‘The West End is a lot quieter these days. Also the youngsters seem more discerning, wanting beach clubs and boats. He thinks the new Government led by the PP will look to change how the ‘Zone’ works but not straight away.

Lads get scammed!

Now the newspapers love to bash Magalluf but I have a story that whilst it started off bad, had a good ending. Thirteen lads, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, believed they had paid £12,500 to a third party travel representative who made a booking through Blue Sea Holidays for their flights and 10 nights all inclusive at a hotel here in Mallorca. But Blue Sea Holidays were forced to cancel the accommodation on the day they were due to travel after only receiving a deposit for the holiday, with £9,000 outstanding. With their flights paid, the group flew to the Spain but faced a scramble to find and pay for new accommodation. They were supposed to be in Magalluf but ended up in Santa Ponsa. Andy from Blue Seas Holidays who is a friend of mine contacted me and asked is there anything we could do.

We decided to invite them to a VIP night at Gringos. I met them at Pirates and they were a lovely bunch of young guys who were really grateful. So much so that one of them sent me an Instagram message after the night out which read ‘Thank you for what you have done for us all we appreciate it massively.’ A few days later I got this message on my messenger account. ‘Hi, I am one of the parents of the young lads that were scammed. I just wanted to thank you personally for such a kind gesture. Your kindness and that of others has given me hope that there is still goodness in the World. Thanks very much again.’

Now those messages alone made it all worthwhile and I hope those boys remember Magalluf in a more positive way now. I should also add that Andy and Blue Sea Holidays were totally blameless in all of this. Andy even organised a free transfer back to the airport for the boys.

I mentioned earlier that lots is being done in Magalluf to upgrade the resort. As you know I’m the Managing Director of Pirates and along with Catherine the owner we are constantly looking at ways of bettering and improving our three shows of Pirates Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Our new terrace bar ‘Jacques’ named after our founder and Catherine’s father Jacques Sasson has more than enhanced our pre-show offering. New to Reloaded this year are our celebrity DJs who are playing before the show. Woody Cook, Charlie Sloth and Billy Clements have played so far. The Irish DJ Marty Guilfoyle is playing this Sunday June 25th, followed by Ben Rainey next Friday June 30th. Not forgetting the legend Judge Jules who is playing on Sunday July 9th. There are more DJs coming through the months of July and August It has added a totally new dimension to our Reloaded offering meaning you get to see a DJ and a truly amazing show. Book your tickets early at Reloaded.com

Enjoy your weekend!