To answer the headline, No!

tranq tranquerIt was Agriculture back then. That was the primary GDP here. I believe it may still be the majority, but Tourism has probably eclipsed it. In terms of tourism, you're probably referring to Palma, Magaluf and the southwest coast in general. Back then, there was no MA-15 to Manacor. Or the MA-19 to Campos. It took 1-2 hours to get to either of them from the airport. The eastern resorts were much more isolated. And in between was void of tourism. The quality of accommodation was overwhelmingly 3-starish.. But cheap as chips. Now, the east is brimming. Shiny new hotels, but also the interior has some of the loveliest 4 and 5* rated hotels around, and they're well booked year-round. Not to mention fincas and villas... complete with lots of new shops, supermarkets, everything. And the quality of restaurants (everywhere) is astronomical by comparison. You may also remember back in 2004 (when most of the world had at least 10mb internet) getting internet at all was iffy, and when you did it was ridiculously expensive (I paid 80/mo) and it maybe delivered a megabit. And didn't work when it rained. Now the standard all over, even in the tiniest village is fibre, at 600Mb for 39-, at upgrading to a gigabit (79-) can be had with the click of the mouse. And it's bang-on reliable. Infrastructure. We now have it. Last 20 years was when it happened.

Marvin Le MartianUnlike the UK right, which has had stagnated wages for about 20 years.

tranq tranquerOne thing you've missed is the change of law by Aznar's government in the early 2000s which has resulted in over 200,000, mainly South Americans, moving to Mallorca to work in the housing boom and tourism. That, and the massive increase in tourism, is the reason that a lot of Mallorca is now overcrowded. And due to no affordable housing being built in that time is the reason housing has become so expensive. The solution? A reduction in tourist numbers by maybe 10% - the people who work in tourism and have no particular ties to Mallorca will move elsewhere to look for work, which will reduce the housing demand and bring the prices down.

Morgan WilliamsSorry Morgan but your time line is way out You say " I was here 2 decades ago, and I can say with absolute confidence that it was very much living in the 1970's - limited infrastructure, tourism was there, but not the primary source of GDP. And the mindset was equally 1970's " All that is just plain wrong. By the mid 70's on this ' sleepy poor old island ' tourism was in full swing in the coastal resorts whilst the inland was only just starting to develop. Those of that time would say it was the start of the slippery slope. The end of La Isla de la Calma. Franco died at the end of 75, unions were legalised, the Autonomous communities started to control their own affairs. Seat 600 and 850 were everywhere but it took the roads two decades 80's and 90's to catch up. The inland towns got their own water and sewerage systems meaning rainwater was collected far less - definitely a negative. The locals abandoned their country fincas, opting for shiny apartments in the bright lights and it took another two decades as they realised what they had lost and came back to the countryside, now serviced by decent roads. The foreigners who bought fincas during those times ( me included) paid a fraction of todays prices. Two decades ago means you were here around the change of the century. I don't recall anything being very different to today. It was crowded, the roads were busy but slightly less traffic jams. To sum it up if you go 30 more years back in your timeline you are a lot closer to the truth. By the way if tourism was not the primary source of GDP around the year 2000 then what the heck was ?

BeachcomberWhich train are you talking about? The tourist train to Soller only or the normal train. The latter is both running late, is cheap and very effective. If you find the Soller train too expensive, there is an option to use the bus service instead which also is cheap.

The "problem" here is clearly that Mallorca is growing up. It's no longer the sleepy, poor old island that had limited infrastructure, poor housing standards, still living in the 1970's. That transition has been going on for decades, but has has been accelerated quite a bit in the past 10 years or so, due to lots of investment, both from the EU and private investment, and the resulting (and expectable) massive popularity in tourism. It's increasingly becoming more like its European cousins. Good infrastructure, higher standards, and increasingly worthy of investment. And highly desirable as a result. However, the difference from its European cousins is that there's only a handful of occupations here that are capable of paying a decent living wage, such as high tech, finance, medicine, IT, etc. The education system certainly isn't lacking, but those who obtain an education move to other places in Europe. There's certainly high skilled jobs here, but certainly not the majority, so we're largely left with those that have only a tourism skillset, because that's primarily what's employable here. The transition from 1970 to 2024 has been extremely uncomfortable for many, particularly the older generation, who've only known the 1970's. It's a very different world now. So, it's completely expectable that there's going to be plenty of "blame" tossed about for this discomfort as Mallorca grows up. And while that discomfort is not something you would consciously wish on anyone, it's really not all that different from anywhere else in the world, except for the fact that Mallorca has traditionally been ignored and therefore never had the advantage of the same gradual transition. It's largely happened in the past 2 decades here. I was here 2 decades ago, and I can say with absolute confidence that it was very much living in the 1970's - limited infrastructure, tourism was there, but not the primary source of GDP. And the mindset was equally 1970's. But that's very very different today (except maybe the mindset, which stubbornly continues in some cases, and might help explain some of the discomfort). And while there's likely to be plenty more discomfort, there's really no going back, no matter who you want to "blame" for it. So, better find a way to make it work, because that train has left the station now.

Crucially, however, the majority of wages here have barely moved over the last few years but everything has gone up in price. There’s a deeper dysfunctional problem in Mallorca (and Spain’s) economic model than just pointing a placard or a water pistol at tourists.

Chris GSo the essential take away facts are; Mallorcans are selling their property at increased prices. Mallorcan bar and restaurant owners are hiking their prices. Mallorcans are complaining and protesting about the prices. Yes, it’s Market forces, supply and demand and a lot of bandwagoning but the home truth is it’s all liberally smothered in greed and profiteering. By whom,,,?

OK , Hello I’ve been here for 40 years spent a lot of money love the people have many friends etc .so this Golden Egg called Mallorca is and has been a bit mismanaged but hey people Why is it that we have this Monster Airport ???? American Influence ? Killed Palma so you have a simple equation Airport , Politicians , Hotels it’s a no brainer this was the idea for the last 40 years and it worked Palma is screwed all family bussiness are gone people have great cars but can’t pay the insurance Mallorca has a huge drug problem , he we are , it’s not that simple to just call out the tourist the golden goose is dying and a lot of people are going to get hurt !