Majorca

[socks1107]

We are due to go to Majorca, the north of the island in September.
I have been reading news reports and am wandering should be thinking about changing our destination?
Our plan would be hire a car and explore and relax but I am a bit concerned tbh

What is the issue in Majorca? Sorry - I haven't seen anything in the news!

What news reports? Concerned about what?

following as booked to go in September

It will be fine. The locals are friendly, they just want affordable housing for local people. Majorca is wonderful, enjoy.

It’s all newspaper hype. Yes, there has been a small protest in Palma but no issues elsewhere particularly the north of the island. It’s similar to the Cornwall / Devon issue over lack of affordable housing caused by air bnb etc and non adherence to rental licence requirements. Most residents of the island are aware their livelihoods rely on tourism and are sad that over the top reporting is affecting them with the false narrative that tourists are hated.

a couple of months ago it was all doom and gloom about the Carnaries hating tourists

^ what @Sue152 said.

Mallorca is the second most expensive place in Spain to buy property, second to Madrid. Prices have rocketed in the last 10 years. My cousin is Mallorquin, living in Palma. His parents died suddenly within a year of each other, and he wasn’t able to take on their tenancy. Since then he’s been sofa surfing and relying on the generosity of friends as housing is completely unaffordable. That’s the main issue for protesters. Sure there is a minority that wants an end to mass tourism (because they see that as the cause of driving up costs, and they are right- a huge number of properties in Mallorca are owned as second homes and holiday lets) but you will get minority pockets with any protest. Most people are looking for a middle ground where everyone can be happy.

I’m off there myself in a few weeks and not worried in the slightest.

Thank you everyone. We will go as planned, the newspapers know how to worry people! Don't know why I read them..

Lordy, we're at the airport waiting to board for Majorca and I hopped on to get some recommendatoions......

It's being reported that locals are protesting in and around mainly palma I think.
I'm less nervous now others have said it's fine and am sure your holiday will be lovely

One protest took place on May 25th, about 10k people. Sounds a lot, and I bet it was impressive to see. It’s relatively small though. For comparison, Manchester Arena holds 21000. Mallorca has a population of about a million, with almost half living in Palma (C.409k). That’s a lot of people who weren’t protesting. Stop worrying.

We were in Lanzarote in April and the papers were full of similar stories. We did not see any disruption. As others have said, protests are targeted at the gov, and are mainly in the cities. I wouldn't worry about it.

We are off there next week with our three young children and I have been really concerned so this is reassuring to read!

I'm there now. Not seen any signs of protests. The weather on the other hand......

The quick summary: It's a load of bollocks.

There was one peaceful political demo in Palma (of course, the Mail 🤡 reported that "ARMED police in STAB VESTS looked on", yeah, because Spanish police wear stab vests and carry guns every day), calling on the local government to build more affordable housing, and to prevent so many places being rented out on Airbnb (which is often illegal but there are not enough resources dedicated to enforcement). This was billed as something close to "Majorcans demand an END to tourism" in the media. As many have pointed out, this could have been in Amsterdam or Edinburgh or Reykjavik or any other city blighted by holiday lets of homes in ordinary residential areas.

Then during the week, a local politician from the Vox (fascist-apologist) party, talking about the volume of tourists, said "Well, Majorcan people shouldn't expect to be able to go to the beach in July/August any more". This annoyed some anti-fascist people, so they said "Let's occupy the beaches this coming Saturday" (specifically as an "up yours" to the fascist party). This was billed in the media as "Now Majorcans prepare to STORM the beaches to protest against tourists". 🙄 A total of 30 (thirty) people turned up. There were more journalists and camera crew than demonstrators.

And that's it. Meanwhile in the last week there have been reports of three or four incidents in which tourists themselves (German and British) were responsible for acts of drunken violence, but this has not been billed as "Northern European tourists STORM Majorca". Funny old world, eh.

So desperate has the Mail become to capitalise on "Majorca Meltdown Fever" that yesterday it ran a 20-photo piece about (checks notes) some blokes having a few beers at their hotel.

We were in Palma during the recent protests- almost didn't know they were happening. We are polite, try to speak the language and support local business and don't fall about drunk in the street causing trouble though....

I've been going to Mallorca, specifically Pollenca, since I was a child. Like many places, including Edinburgh where I live, and the highlands, where DH's family are from, locals are being priced out of the housing market.
Coupled with disrespectful behaviour from some tourists, people are fed up.
I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Thank you everyone! We shall keep our holiday booked.
I understand totally the house price situation and the frustration so was trying to be sensitive to locals and our want for a holiday.
We are very quiet and just want a break! Pleased to know it's all hyped up and happy to tow the rules in any country we visit

@solpa tell me more about the weather we arrive tomorrow 🤪

Honestly ignore the British press. Youll have a lovely time and. Be made to feel very welcome .

It's been disappointing until today.
Sunny but a cool wind. I like to be in the shade and it hasn't been warm enough. I brought a cardigan for evening but could have done with a big fleece. Bars were handing round blankets.Yesterday we had torrential rain.
However today it seems to have changed, sunny, 25C and the wind has dropped to a gentle breeze so hopefully you will have perfect weather.

Thanks @Solpa that's helpful!

We're considering going at the end of July so need to book soon. I was concerned after seeing the news, especially because we're travelling with children, though not extremely young children.

DH thinks it will be fine and I'm reassured by opinions on this thread.

Really, it is what the Americans call a nothingburger.

I think some people are imagining it's like when there's a civil war somewhere and tourists can't get back to the airport, or there's some Islamist atrocity as in Tunisia a few years back.

Literally zero tourists have been threatened by anybody (and zero people have been arrested at any of the entirely peaceful demonstrations).

But it's very easy to scare people with made-up stories of nasty foreigners being mean. In fact it's the entire business model of some news outlets. 🙏

Just proves that all things are relative and dependant on a person.
We have been in Majorca since end of May and been swimming in the sea every single day with 2 kids . Its been 24-28 degrees most of the days and we havent had a single day of rain which was just perfect for us. At around 16.30 pm water in the sea in Alcudia was particularly perfect and definitely warm enough for swimming . It was still very hot in the afternoons so we tried to stay in the shade.

Definitely nothing to worry about in terms of the weather.

People in Majorca are lovely and very welcoming. We are having the best time here . The protests are to bring certain issues to attention not to hate on responsible tourists coming to enjoy and respect the place.