Over the summer months there have been nightly police operations involving up to a dozen officers. They have been targeting the sale of drugs - predominantly cocaine and marijuana but also some ecstasy. The police, as with residents and those who run bars and other establishments as well as those who work at them, are fully aware that many street sellers are engaged in drug dealing.
As well as the drugs, there are the robberies. There can be up to as many as fifty per night. Tourists, mostly British and under the influence of drink or drugs or both, are easy targets for the gangs that operate in Magalluf. These gangs include the Nigerian women who masquerade as prostitutes. Peak times for their activities are between four and five in the morning.
Despite the level of criminality, it is said that a stronger police presence has cut the number of crimes. Some local businesspeople take a positive view of the great efforts made by the police. But for all this, the crimes continue, with others arguing that the police don't do enough, while there are many - as there have been for numerous summers - who simply cannot understand how some of these criminals can be on the streets.
The season is winding down, quicker than it might have done because of Thomas Cook. The crime will come to a halt because there's no one to rob or sell drugs to. But despite all the talk of cleaning-up Magalluf, of a shift in tourist profile, of greater "quality", when next season comes around the criminals will return.
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