Balconing, the movie, seeks funding

Balconing in Mallorca - a film project will ridicule it

Miki Durán has sought support from island institutions. | Miquel À. Cañellas

Andrew EdePalma03/06/2022 07:51

Miki Durán is a Mallorcan filmmaker. He has a project for a short film with the title 'Ben'. It's about balconing, Durán explaining that this is treated as though it were a sport and one to be ridiculed. For tourists who are inclined to climb from balcony to balcony, the underlying message is addressed to them: "We want to make them feel ridiculous."

The film focuses on an element of youthful British tourism that comes to Magalluf every year, creating a form of sports documentary. Ben is the main protagonist, who prepares conscientiously for this sport. Durán says that "Mallorcans are sick of being associated with this". It's not that he wants to "laugh at the British"; he wants to "ridicule this practice".

He has sought support for the film from island institutions but has failed to get any. Calvia town hall, he notes, "didn't even reply to us, there was no interest". So he has set up a crowdfunding campaign in the hope of raising at least 10,000 euros. His aim is to be able to start filming at the end of the summer and then tour festivals with the short film.

In Magalluf, the hoteliers association has said that balconing has been eradicated, accepting, however, that it is impossible to prevent all incidents. This was in reference to the 34-year-old who fell from a seventh floor balcony and whose behaviour, as captured on video, was highly erratic.