The suitcase nightmare. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

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The past three summers in the centre of Palma have been relatively quiet, as one would expect in the peak of the summer when most residents flee the city and head to their holiday homes or yachts, but the rumble in the jungle is back - the wheeled suitcase brigade looking for their holiday rentals at all times of the day and night and it’s driving me nuts.

It’s bad enough trying to sleep during these tropical nights never mind been woken up by lost tourists trying to follow Google Maps to their accommodation while dragging their wheeled suitcases along the cobbled streets. As a rule I’m not into banning things but I think the mayor of Palma, if he is not going to seriously tackle holiday lets, should follow the example set by the mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, who last summer decided to ban wheeled suitcases due to the noise they make in the streets of the old city.

The building opposite me used to be rife with holiday lets, but the former administration appeared to have put a stop to it, now it’s a free for all. So the narrative about holiday lets being the root of all evil in the tourist industry appears to be just hot air, and there’s plenty of that about at the moment!
The Dubrovnik ruling means that all wheeled suitcases have to be carried not rolled in the city centre as part of the “Respect the City” programme, introduced by the Dubrovnik Tourist Office. Roll on Palma.