Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

Christmas excitement grew and among other things this raised two questions - what would the weather be like and would we win the Christmas Lottery? Snow was never likely, but this didn't of course prevent suggestions that there might be snow. A bit breezy in areas, but otherwise Christmas Day was how we tend to know it in Mallorca. Sunny, around 17C but chilly overnight.

Mallorca missed out on the El Gordo (The Fat One) first prize and indeed on the somewhat trimmer second prize. But there were winners of the moderately overweight third prize and the almost undernourished fourth and fifth prizes. In accordance with tradition, lucky winners posed with the cava outside lottery offices, managers of which claimed it was one of the happiest days of their lives (not perhaps as much as the actual winners though), and the great majority of us were once more dumbfounded by the whole thing - how does the lottery actually work?

On the buses - free or not?

The festive season can cause a bit of disruption for policymakers, especially if policies need to be confirmed no later than a minute before midnight on New Year's Eve. And also if decisions on policies have been left as late as the festive season, when they could quite feasibly have been made several weeks before.

In this respect, step forward the Spanish Government and the transport ministry specifically. The government did actually announce approval of 'free' public transport in the Balearics in 2025 a few days earlier than it had managed to last year - that wasn't until December 27 - but approval for something seemingly straightforward was far from being so. Initially it was stated that this free transport would only be for six months. There was then a rapid change of mind as the PSOE main partner in government was under pressure from its Sumar junior partner to apply the measure to the whole year.

365 days it was then. But not necessarily for buses in Palma, where the town hall has consistently been complaining about the insufficiency of the government's subsidy - which means that the EMT bus company has to pay several millions of euros per annum - and the lateness of the payment. It was a similar story last year, when one suspected that the Partido Popular of the Balearic Government twisted the arms of the Partido Popular at the town hall into accepting the situation. At time of writing, the town hall had until a minute to midnight on the 31st to go along with the subsidy in 2025 or not.

The disproportionate traveller registration system

Mallorca's hoteliers and others in the tourism and travel sector were waiting for Christmas to pass to learn how Spain's interior ministry may or may not have reacted to a period of consultation that followed the December 2 introduction of the controversial new traveller registration system. A ministerial order was in the pipeline, the hoteliers and the island's travel agencies having made clear - as had their respective national confederations - that they would take the Spanish Government to court if it failed to water down data-collection requirements. The hoteliers, in essence, wanted these to be as they had been since the late 1950s, the ministry having argued these were out of date and not adequate for coping with threats posed by terrorism and organised crime.

Meanwhile, some political capital was being made of the registration system. The Partido Popular, the main opposition party at national level, announced that party representatives at different levels of public administration, e.g. town halls and island councils (in the Balearics and the Canaries) would be presenting motions demanding the immediate withdrawal of the registration system. The PP argued that the system caused legal uncertainty, represented a competitive disadvantage for Spain, was a violation of traveller privacy and entailed a disproportionate burden for businesses.

Reconsidering Mallorca?

Nothing to do with the registration system, but British holidaymakers were apparently being advised to reconsider whether they should go to Mallorca. Fodor's Travel, whose guides have existed since the 1930s and who are therefore highly reputable, had produced its 'No List' for 2025. Mallorca happened to be mentioned as one of the destinations where there is an issue with overtourism and where there have been protests. A point about this list was that it was principally aimed at a North American audience. If this audience pays any attention, it may just be that Mallorca's ambitions for this market will be impacted negatively. 'May' being the operative word.

As for British and other European travellers, they hardly need Fodor's to tell them about the overtourism and protests. It's not as if the media has ignored them.

Investing in water treatment

Water is one of the big concerns regarding overtourism, as is the treatment of water. Some of the island's infrastructure is obsolete and so treatment plants can barely cope with demands placed on them. This has been particularly evident in Palma, where there has been a long history of contaminated spills that have required beaches being red-flagged. The new Palma II treatment plant is scheduled to be fully completed by August 2026, and it is one of three projects in Mallorca in which almost 200 million euros are to be invested.

A second is a new submarine outfall that will be 5.3 kilometres out at sea and at a depth of 36 metres. The third is the new plant in Can Picafort, which has been the source of controversy ever since it was first mooted more than 20 years ago. The plant by the Albufera Nature Park was never designed to handle all the demand from two resorts - Can Picafort and Playa de Muro - but the town halls of Santa Margalida and Muro have consistently been at loggerheads over a new plant, the preferred location of which has been in Son Bauló (Can Picafort). The investment in place, all that requires is finally getting agreement between all the relevant parties.

'Megaproject' marina and a 'castle' of events

More than 50 million euros have been invested in the 'new' Club de Mar in Palma. Founded in 1972, the 'megaproject' for the club's redevelopment has involved a slight reduction in the number of moorings - from 575 to 543. The size of today's yachts have been a consideration. While the marina will now be able to accommodate vessels of up to 170 metres, which would be pretty unusual, sizes are generally greater than they were fifty years ago. One of the new restaurants will be for international cuisine and will come under an as yet unnamed "big name" in gastronomy. Club director, José Luis Arrom, says that work is due to be completed during the first quarter of 2025.

A different type of investment relates to the Son Ramonell estate in Marratxi. The property was built in 1891. The design for its redevelopment is the responsibility of Palma-based Private Hideaway Interior, who refer to the new project as 'Castillo Marratxi' (Castle Marratxi). The plan for Son Ramonell, which doesn't have listed status, is to turn it into a luxury 'castle' of events. With sixteen individually designed suites, it will be "the perfect setting for executive meetings, team building events, weddings and company parties".

Which all sounds fair enough. However, a local resident is calling on the town hall and the Council of Mallorca to review the licence (the town hall has issued a building licence) because Son Ramonell is in an area where local planning regulations only allow residential use.

There are not, or shouldn't be any planning issues in Es Capdellà, where Calvia Town Hall has acquired the old convent owned by the Hermanas Franciscanas Hijas de la Misericordia (Franciscan Sisters Daughters of Mercy). The price, 544,000 euros, is below market value, which the town hall says reflects the nuns' generosity in making the building available to the village. It is the wish of the nuns and of the town hall that the convent remains public. It will become a cultural and youth centre.

The Christmas roads

Coming back to the Christmas period and one of its sad aspects that is unfortunately too often repeated - road accident fatalities. Last Friday evening was particularly bleak. There were five accidents in the space of less than three hours that claimed two lives and resulted in serious injuries. These were between 6.45pm and 9.30pm. One was near Felanitx - a 72-year-old man who was walking by the side of the main Manacor road was hit by a car and killed. Other accidents were in Manacor and Inca as well as in Palma, where there were two. The second death was that of a 34-year-old motorcyclist who was involved in a head-on collision with a car close to the FAN Mallorca Shopping complex.