From coffee to Calvia’s transformation

When it came to the elections in May 2023, the PP increased their vote share to win 3 more seats than they did previously, and they then entered into a coalition with Vox to gain overall control of Calvia by just one seat. When you go back over the numbers you see that of the 52,458 population, 31,549 (60%) were registered to vote. Of that number that were registered to vote, only 17,384 (55%) actually did. When you look at the number of people registered to vote against the overall population, just a third (33%) of the population actually bothered. Which in all honesty and despite the push to vote, the overall turnout was poor. Of those figures, I don’t know how many were from the non-Spanish voters.

Last week, I interviewed Juan Antonio to look back on his first 18 months in power. One thing I admire about him is he gets himself around. There isn’t an event in the municipality that he misses, judging by the pictures on social media. He tells me that he seriously hasn’t had a holiday in those 18 months, plus the 6 months of campaigning, and he is looking forward to a break at Christmas. But he is rightfully proud of his team and the pushing out of their manifesto pledges. He stresses his most important project is to extend the season and I noticed a quote this week from the outgoing President of the Hoteliers Association Maria Frontera, who said that “Public authorities are content with having services open for six or seven months”. Not in Calvia says Juan Antonio, he is looking to extend the season for as long as it’s possible. The message they gave at the World Travel Market was ‘one Tourist, one friend’ and that despite the tourism protests in the summer, tourists are definitely welcome in Calvia all year round. The first phase of the new promenade in Magalluf has started at a cost of €5 million and the second phase funding has just been secured for the winter of 2025/26.

There is an amazing opportunity to showcase all that is happening in Calvia and especially Magalluf when the ABTA conference comes to town in October next year. The Travel Convention is attended by decision makers, influencers and opinion formers spanning the full breadth of the mainstream and specialist travel sector; from tour operators and cruise lines, to hotels, airlines and all types of travel retailer. It is also attended by travel industry specialists, from accountants and lawyers to technology providers and marketing experts. Approximately 75% of the attendees are ABTA Members or Partners.

The event attracts more leading journalists from the UK national, consumer and travel trade press than any other UK travel industry event held overseas, creating significant coverage of the event.
Delegate numbers for The Travel Convention are capped at around 600, to provide delegates with a high quality event and networking experience. So as you can see it’s a perfect opportunity for Mallorca, Calvia and Magalluf to promote themselves and that is not lost on Juan Antonio.
At the end of the interview, he encourages everyone to attend the many fiestas that are happening through the holidays. Details of which can be found on the council’s website https://www.calvia.com.The full interview with Juan Antonio can be found at https://www.facebook.com/RadioOneMallorca

He wishes everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. As this is my last column before Christmas and the New Year, I would also like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.