Holidays sold out, Magalluf selfies and murder: the week in Majorca

By Friday, we were saying that bookings were at a "critical point". Supply was running short, we reiterated. But the football was not after all putting holidaymakers off booking until the last minute. An unnamed hotelier insisted that "most football fans would rather be watching the football in their shorts with a cold beer in their hands".

But was this all talk and hyping-up? There was also a report (Wednesday) about hotel occupancy in May. This is at record levels, according to three hoteliers' associations (Playa de Palma, Palmanova-Magalluf, Alcudia-Can Picafort). As one comment from a reader suggested, this level of activity was not matched by what businesses which aren't hotels are saying; that the season's start has been the worst ever. As we observed on Friday, somewhere between this sort of anecdotal comment and the statistics lies the reality.

Flights' news
There was some good news for residents (and tourists) who take flights to the other islands. Thursday highlighted the apparent acceptance by the national ministry of development of the Balearic case for flat-rate air tariffs. It will now present this to the European Commission. And on other flight news, tucked away at the foot of Friday's front page was more positive stuff for the winter. Ryanair had announced that there will be flights three times a week between Manchester and Palma: "a fresh victory in the battle for more low season flights".

Take your pick of Magalluf
Last week's Magalluf corner had to do with the Foreign Office's social media campaign - Take Your Pic - designed at keeping young Britons safe and out of trouble and encouraging them to have fun without the excess. Last year, which was when the campaign was started, this "helped" to reduce incidents involving young Brits at nine European resorts from 821 to 789. No specific number was available for Magalluf. Meanwhile, we learned that the bobbies will not be returning to the Magalluf beat. Was this a decision that had been taken because of British media criticism and lampooning? It seemed as if it may have been.

End of year or not? The convention centre
Palma's mayor, José Hila, was pictured looking out of a vast window at Palma's Palacio de Congresos convention centre on Tuesday. Both it and the hotel are expected to be open for business by the end of the year, noted the mayor. On Friday, we discovered that the company which will be operating them will not be known until November or December. What, therefore, were the chances of their opening by the end of the year? It would depend how quickly the winning bidder could react, it was said. Indeed it would. Bulletin readers have rarely been convinced by the Palacio, and Sean Dobson suggested that it won't make a profit for years to come.

Fourth murder this year
Yesterday, there was a round-up of what has been a bleak year for Majorca in terms of murders. There have been four thus far, though it should of course be noted that three of those accused have yet to stand trial. The fourth murderer will not go on trial. He shot himself after having shot dead his ex-wife's boyfriend at their Santa Ponsa home.