Looking around Mallorca’s old town, the half-empty discos and the bored-looking waiters serving nobody paella, you may be forgiven that the siesta had been extended.
But after fiery anti-tourism protests drove holidaymakers to divert to Croatia and other European hotspots, Spanish restaurants and bars are pleading for tourists to return.
Tourism-related firms, including beach bars, parasol rental and activity organisers, saw a 20 per cent drop in custom in July compared to the previous year.
Along with several other popular Spanish destinations, the island’s usually bustling summer season was blighted by anti-tourist protests, making visitors feel unwelcome as demonstrators took to the streets with ‘go home’ placards.
The Association of Temporary Services Concessions and Operations in the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain of Mallorca (ADOPUMA) has blamed ‘irresponsible messages against tourism’ for the sharp downturn.
It has called on the government to take action to reverse the trend by helping to tone down the anti-visitor sentiment and keep Majorca affordable for mid-range travellers.
The Daily Mail reported that hotel occupation rates stayed low even during August, with boutique establishments suffering the hardest.
Anti-tourism protesters took to the streets of Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Majorca, demanding holidaymakers leave.
To add to the chaos, handling staff for Ryanair are striking several times a week for the rest of 2025.
Workers at the Irish carrier’s Azul Handling are walking out at 12 Spanish airports between 5am and 9am on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
A Ryanair spokesperson told the Mallorca Daily Bulletin that its operations would not be adversely affected given minimum service level legislation in Spain.
The nightlife industry has also taken a hit. Miguel Pérez-Marsá, president of the Belearic Leisure and Entertainment Association said that discos had seen a 15 per cent drop in customers.
He told Diario AS that tourists who would normally choose the Belearic islands for their holidays were opting for other cheaper destinations like Croatia.
Some industry leaders remain optimistic about growth, however, pointing to the difficulty in bettering last year’s record increase in visitors.
Others insist that it’s about value and profit, rather than raw volume.
One business owner told Diario de Mallorca that hoteliers were taking a different strategy in prioritising extracting a larger profit out of a smaller number of visitors.
‘It’s preferred to be at 85 per cent [capacity] and to extract more profitability. Before it was a tragedy if you didn’t reach 100 per cent in August’, he said.
According to the Belearic Institute of Statistics, despite lower numbers, the average spend per visitor had increased by 1 per cent, to €1,403 in Majorca.
Nonetheless, the drop has been stark in some sectors, with restaurants facing an average 15 per cent slump in takings, partly attributed to an increase in self-catering.
Juanmi Ferrer, the president of the Confederation of Business Associations of the Balearic Islands’ restaurant division, said that tourists were being ‘scared away’ by the aggressive messaging displayed by protesters.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
