Daily Mail article continued: "The comments came weeks after the director of tourism for Spain's Balearic island of Majorca, Lucia Escribano, declared her industry chiefs 'are not interested in having budget tourists from the UK' - as the island attempts to rebrand itself from a destination for cheap drinks and beach parties by limiting the number of UK tourists..."
But in Palma this morning tourism bosses said that British tourists were more than welcome and that they were looking forward to seeing a record number of British holidaymakers coming to our shores this summer. Lucia Escribano said that she had been misquoted in a UK newspaper article and said that all British tourists would receive a warm welcome when they visited the island.
British tourism is key to the Balearics and it is the second biggest tourism market.
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DAVID GRAHAMGood on you, David. Everybody gets what they want. You get to continue in the comfort of yesterday's 3* cheapness while Mallorca continues to refine and upgrade to attract today's more desirable tourist profiles. Everybody wins. And obviously it's working, as you've attested to here.
Morgan WilliamsActually Mr. Big Gob Williams…… my euros are going to Greece next year rather than to your overpriced island all three months of them
Yes, the DM like to have a go at anything ‘foreign’ but it does seem that Spain is more rigid in its treatment of non-EU citizens than other EU countries, and one wonders why. While one can see why too many tourist rentals impact badly on the housing situation (the same thing happens in the UK’s small fishing ports and villages with second homes) the solution of banning rentals outright while attracting wealthy Americans is a bit short-sighted. They will stay in hotels like Branson’s or the re-vamped Formentor with their spas, pools and Fosh-style restaurants. While these places will coin it in this will not help the locals. The Americans will not spend their time wandering around Palma or other places, stopping for lunch and dinner in the small restaurants like the average tourist family, who now have to shell out more to stay in a modest hotel for a couple of nights than an apartment for 5 days would have cost a few years back. I love Mallorca, but do get the feeling that this is not reciprocated by the powers that be, who seem to have a policy of catering for the rich few rather than the average many. If that’s the case then one has to wonder who will ultimately benefit.
Hopefully this means Daily Mail readers aren't coming!
FylAbsolutely correct
Actually, virtually all the tabloids printed (more or less) this same story. Telegraph, Sun, Express, et al. The Balearics are moving away from the outdated cheap overindulgence model. Nationality has little to do with that, aside from Brits being famously the world champs (which may explain why it's presumed to be "all about Britain" ...again). Nonetheless, it doesn't matter what your nationality, if you're seeking cheap drunken overindulgence, you may find Mallorca less and less attractive. Still, it makes for good "poor abused Brits" fodder, even if it's a complete misrepresentation.
It's the Daily Wail, therefore it's not researched and therefore rubbish