Your weekly news catch up in Mallorca

When a school is not a place of safety

It was a shocking case. Schools should be places of safety for children, but sadly this isn't always so, as an incident at a school in Can Pastilla demonstrated.

There had been a fight between two twelve-year-old boys. The background to that fight hasn't been explained, but the consequence was that one of the boys, who had suffered a cut lip, informed relatives. Some moments later, five members of his family arrived at the school. The other boy was located. They beat him up, including kicking him in the head.

Teachers intervened and ended the attack. The five then attempted to leave the school, only to find that the doors were now locked. The school's intention had been to keep them inside the school until the police arrived. But staff were threatened, and the doors were unlocked.

There was no shortage of witnesses - staff and pupils. There was also security camera footage. The five were arrested. They were all charged with a public order offence, while three were charged with having caused injury. They appeared in court and were released on charges. The boy who was attacked needed hospital treatment for minor injuries. He didn't immediately return to school. Following the incident, the education ministry arranged private security for the school.

Homicide charge after bar attack

In Cala Millor, the Guardia Civil charged a 31-year-old man with homicide after a 55-year-old died in Son Espases Hospital. He had previously been arrested and charged after the older man was admitted to hospital in a very serious condition following an attack in a Cala Millor bar. Seemingly for no reason, he was punched several times in the face and collapsed to the floor. At the time, he told medics and police that he was fine and didn't wish to press charges. The next day he was found unconscious.

Back in Palma, the Cala Gamba area specifically, there was another robbery of a valuable watch. A 70-year-old doctor at a Palma private clinic was taking a walk before the start of his working day. This was shortly after 6am. Two men approached him from behind and put him in a chokehold. A Rolex worth 15,000 euros and a gold chain valued at around 1,500 euros were stolen.

A chokehold can often render a victim unconscious. This wasn't the case with this incident. The doctor was able to see the attackers and to then give police an idea as to where they went after the attack. When they were arrested, one was wearing the watch. A court remanded them in custody.

British tourists in another rape case

Over the summer there were two highly publicised cases of gang rape - one in Arenal, the other in Magalluf. The perpetrators were young men on holiday. But an incident in Calas de Mallorca proves that rape isn't only an offence against women or one carried out by males in their late teens or early twenties.

A British man had made contact with two other British males via the Grinder dating app; they were both 36. He agreed to meet them at their hotel. They spent an afternoon by the pool and he was then invited up to their room. In the initial contact he had made clear that he didn't wish to engage in penetrative sex. He reminded them of this. But to no avail.

After he had managed to get away and return to his own hotel, he was bleeding and in an increasing amount of pain. He went to Manacor Hospital, where he required treatment. The National Police were informed and the two men were arrested. They were released on charges.

Traffic cops being kept busy

The Guardia Civil's traffic police were able to identify a BMW and its driver from traffic cameras. On the Palma-Valldemossa road, the BMW driver cut up a taxi in the outside lane. He then braked and caused the taxi to crash into the wall on the central reservation before bouncing across the road and ending up on the hard shoulder. The BMW didn't stop.

The taxi driver suffered a serious injury. The BMW driver faces charges of reckless driving and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.

Less straightforward was the case of the driver of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. A video emerged on social media of the driver doing up to 300 kilometres per hour on the MA-19 motorway. To give this some context, a typical top speed of an F1 car is around 350 km/h.

Investigations into possible frauds

The police were called in to investigate an alleged fraud in respect of an organised trip to the Dominican Republic. This was for a seven-day dance festival in Punta Cana that started on Tuesday. Members of a dance academy in Palma had booked the trip with a company in Madrid - the price was 1,050 euros. A few days before they were due to fly, they received an email saying that the festival had been cancelled. They have sought refunds but have been told by the company that there aren't the funds. The company has added that it will try to pay the money back "bit by bit", but those affected maintain that the company hadn't booked flights or hotels. "There was nothing."

Some fifty people in Mallorca have been affected. There are around 250 in all; these include people from the UK and Italy as well as elsewhere in Spain.

Police are also involved in what was a major data security breach at Air Europa; hackers accessed credit card details of customers. The airline announced the cyberattack on Tuesday, saying that it didn't appear as if any fraud had been committed. Customers were nevertheless urgently advised to cancel their cards. There were fears that the details could have been made available on the dark web.

First New York, now Miami flights to Palma

A different airline, American Airlines, is understood to be planning a direct route from Miami to Palma. There are as yet no details, other than that it is being said that the service will initially operate with one return flight per week.

There seems little doubt that American has been encouraged by the success of the United Airlines New York-Palma service, which is believed to be the company's most profitable European route. Launched in 2022, this summer's service, which ended in September, registered a 30% increase in bookings.

The prospect of an airship flying tourists between Mallorca and the mainland seems somewhat bizarre. But the regional airline Air Nostrum would beg to differ. It has doubled its order of the British-made Airlander 10 from ten to twenty. Not that there are any airships just yet. The company behind the project, Hybrid Air Vehicles, plans to have the first one off the production line in 2026. Ok, but will travellers wish to fly on one? Air Nostrum obviously thinks they will.

On Magalluf beach in midwinter

It's been said that these airships could fly tourists straight to the beach, which almost certainly would not prove to be the case. But were it to be, then an airship might conceivably land on the beach in Magalluf in midwinter. This wouldn't be because the beach is empty, albeit this might be preferable for the purposes of landing an airship, but because Calvia town hall is keeping the beach open all winter.

Magalluf wouldn't be the only beach, if the mayor has his way. He has again been speaking about ambitious plans for all-year tourism in the municipality. It wouldn't just be the beaches that are open with services such as sunloungers. Hotels would be as well, and bars and restaurants.

Ah but, sceptics will ask, what about the weather. What about it indeed. There has been excellent autumn weather, but this is now due to break, there having been three weeks of an Indian summer when there is normally just the one - which is more a folk tradition than a meteorological fact.

More certain, of course, is the summer weather. But is it now getting too unbearable at times? Spain's Sustainability Observatory has reported that the number of 'torrid nights' in the Balearics this year has increased more than anywhere else in Spain. There have been thirteen more when temperature hasn't dipped below 25C. However, it could be worse. The Observatory hasn't mentioned the Balearics with regard to an increase in 'infernal nights' - no lower than 30 degrees.