Magalluf and the "motor of change" - Culture and literature
Culture is a motor of change and so a motor of transformation
1 de 2 | Tomeu Canyelles and Biel Vives on the guided tour in Magalluf. | MICHELS
2 de 2 | An encounter with books and their authors in a Magalluf that looks beyond the sun and beach. The evening featured a concert by Luis Albert Segura, alma mater of the band L.A.. | N. Jiménez
In Magalluf last autumn, visitors were able to go on guided tours. In Spanish one evening, in English the next, these weren't any old guided tours.
Tomeu Canyelles is a foremost authority on Mallorca's contemporary history - its popular history, if you like, as much of his work has had to do with music. Biel Vives is a historian whose research is of a similar nature. In 2020, a book they had been working on together was published. Its title in Catalan was 'Magaluf, mes enlla del mite'; in English, 'Magalluf, Beyond the Myth'.
Historians Tomeu Canyelles and Gabriel Vives analyse the development of Magalluf's tourist brand in a book.
The publisher's blurb went: "For different generations, young tourists - mainly British - have turned Magalluf into an almost initiatory place of pilgrimage where anything is possible. Lauded by some, attacked by others, this place on the Mallorcan coast has become ... a brand known around the world.
"Magalluf would emerge as a kind of laboratory in which to experiment with the limits of the sun-and-beach tourism model. Therefore, its economic development became associated with party boats, bar crawls, balconing, mamading, happy hours and hooligan violence - representations of the failures of a profitable model and questioned for decades."
Canyelles and Vives offered a critical reflection of Magalluf and the phenomena which had made it what it was. This was a case study of how media sensationalism and value judgements can condition the reality in favour of a mythical vision.
These authors, focused on the island's popular contemporary history, were the perfect writers for this reflection. And it was they who conducted the guided tours of Magalluf on Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1.
Festival Literature Expandida Magaluf.
People on these tours were at the Festival Literatura Expandida Magaluf. The second festival, it was held, as was the first in 2021, at Meliá's INNSiDE Calvia Beach Hotel. An "expanded" literature festival, co-organisers the Rata Corner book store in Palma explained that they believed in culture as a "motor of change" and that they wished to expand this culture "beyond its limits".
Wasn't Magalluf a somewhat unusual choice of venue for a literature festival? Yes, but this was the very reason for choosing it. Culture is a motor of change and so a motor of transformation. Magalluf is undergoing transformation, so what better than to make culture central to Magalluf, a culture very different to the "laboratory" that had given rise to the sensationalism examined by Tomeu Canyelles and Biel Vives.
Contemporary is a feel and a description of this remarkable initiative, one that has already proved to be a huge success. Art, children's areas, workshops, interviews, presentations, discussions, live music and tours all form part of the mix. And these tours include ones on boats. They aren't party boats. They invite people to enjoy the spectacular scenery of the coastline.
Author Caitlin Moran.
The invited authors reflect this contemporary culture. Irving Walsh, author of 'Trainspotting', was one of the most celebrated names at the 2021 festival. Rata Corner have looked for authors who challenge conventions. Walsh has been one. In 2022, Caitlin Moran was another. Known for, among other things, her satirical Celebrity Watch column in 'The Times', her upbringing was, to say the least, unconventional.
Challenging convention might be said to define the moves to transform Magalluf - to challenge the convention of what it has been - while expansion beyond its limits speaks to a desire to remove constraints imposed by that "mythical vision" and indeed to rid Magalluf of what had been taken to the limit.
