Mallorca’s New Tourism Strategy: Fewer Crowds, Higher Spending

The Government is fighting what seems to be a never-ending battle to reduce the amount of tourism during the high season while trying to increase visitor numbers during the low season.

Their goal, as I understand it, is to attract tourists who spend more per day than the average visitor while reducing tourism from countries whose visitors spend less. This way, visitor numbers can be lowered and pressure on infrastructure eased without hurting the local economy.

In isolation, it sounds as though it could add to the problem, but it’s actually part of the solution, provided that cruise ship arrivals and flights from lower-spending markets are scaled back.

Key markets in recent years have been the UK, Germany and Spain, and I think these are the markets where we will need to see a reduction. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people. It could mean the same numbers, or even more, in fact, but they would need to be spread over a longer period.

I can see a time when June, July, August and September, traditionally the strongest months, become too hot for some people to travel. That will naturally help to create a longer season. The emerging markets are coming from further afield, and Mallorca seems to be becoming increasingly popular with visitors from those countries.

United Airlines is expanding its seasonal flight programme from New York to Palma for the 2027 season by upgrading to a daily service and increasing seat capacity. Services will start much earlier, on 28 March, and run until 24 October. The airline is apparently evaluating potential additions, such as a Washington, D.C., route, if the Newark service continues to perform well, although no year-round service has been announced yet.

Etihad Airways services are due to start on 16 May, a month earlier than in 2026. The route was inaugurated on 12 June this year. The airline will continue to use its 160-seat Airbus A321LR fleet, featuring premium cabins tailored to high-net-worth travellers. For Mallorca, the service is viewed as a source of visitors with high purchasing power.

Following a successful inaugural season in 2026, Air Canada is introducing an earlier start date, increased weekly frequencies and larger aircraft to boost passenger capacity.

To give you an idea of how diverse travellers to Mallorca have become, I’ve been helping out a company called Secret Food Tours. It is a leading global guided culinary walking tour operator that curates local food and drink experiences in more than 140 cities across six continents. Founded in London in 2013, the company connects travellers and food enthusiasts with authentic, hyper-local culinary experiences led by local guides.

On a tour last week, we had two Americans, three Mexicans, two Puerto Ricans, two Irish people and two South Africans! You can’t get much more diverse than that.

Interestingly, more and more holidaymakers are also planning their trips around music, sport and cultural events, according to a recent study by Marriott Hotels.

This surge in event-driven travel is changing how people holiday, prompting 45% of respondents to explore destinations they’d never even considered visiting before.

What’s more, of all the travellers who stayed overnight for an event in the past four years, 62% planned their entire trip specifically around it.

Looking ahead to 2027, 36% say they’re even more excited about travelling for a concert, festival, exhibition or major sporting event than they were last year.

The survey of 2,000 adults revealed that 56% of sports fans would happily use their annual leave to follow their favourite team wherever they play, while 31% are willing to travel abroad to do so.

A perfect example of this was the eclipse earlier this year. I wrote on here previously about the number of visitors from around the world who came specifically to Mallorca for that event.

Unfortunately, that’s not something that happens every year in Mallorca, but last weekend provided a couple of very good examples of how sporting events can influence people’s travel plans.

On Saturday, 2,000 people from 45 different countries competed in the Challenge Peguera Mallorca Triathlon. On Sunday, 10,000 registered participants from 72 countries took part in the TUI Marathon.

Hotel rooms and restaurant reservations were in high demand in both Calvià and Palma. Both events attracted not only the competitors but also their families and friends, who came along to support them.

Another bonus was that these visitors came in October rather than during the peak season.

Mallorca is changing, and in my opinion, for the better. We have to diversify and look for more sporting, cultural and music events to meet the needs of the modern-day traveller.

Spain’s Snap Election, Housing Crisis and the Expat Vote Gap

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has now called a general election for Sunday, the 29th of November.

Spain, to be honest, has been in a state of flux since the last elections. The Prime Minister only just scraped his return to office in the last election in July 2023, after he won the backing of Catalan pro-independence parties by promising a controversial amnesty to those involved in the failed, illegal push for independence from Spain in 2017.

Sánchez’s minority coalition government with the smaller, left-wing Sumar alliance has struggled to get legislation through a fraught Congress and has not passed a budget since 2023!

Despite being behind in the polls, he has taken the opportunity presented by the housing crisis, and the fact that his decrees to try and ‘help’ the situation were vetoed in Parliament last week, to call an election.

What he fails to grasp is that it is his government, which has been in power since 2018, that has failed to build enough social housing to try and solve the problem.

He, in his wisdom, implemented a mass regularisation programme for immigrants in 2026, receiving over 1.1 million applications from undocumented migrants by the late-June deadline! 34,000 applied across the Balearic Islands, and those people will now have the same rights as me. Yes, in all intents and purposes, I am an immigrant too, but I’m an immigrant who’s been living legally for the past 35 years. Yet I’m still treated the same? Any ideas on where these people are going to live? And what about the strain this then puts on all the other services, such as schools, hospitals, etc.?

Coalitions in any country do not work. You’ve got a group of political parties who are only looking out for themselves and, therefore, nothing gets done. Take my point above that no budget has been passed since 2023 as a good example of this.

Having lived and worked in Spain since 1990, I cannot vote in this election. Yes, having paid taxes, bought a property, owned businesses and employed people, I still am not allowed to vote. How crazy is that?

Even our own country scrapped its rule on not being able to vote after living away for 15 years or more. British citizens who have moved abroad will be given ‘votes for life’, as the Government scrapped the arbitrary 15-year limit on voting rights.

New measures will also make it easier for overseas electors to remain registered to vote for longer.

Together, these changes will empower more British citizens living overseas to participate in the UK’s democracy.

Decisions made in the UK Parliament on foreign policy, defence, immigration, pensions and trade deals affect British citizens who live overseas. It is therefore right that they have a say in UK Parliamentary General Elections.

Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Lord True, said at the time:

“In an increasingly global and connected world, most British citizens living overseas retain deep ties to the United Kingdom. Many still have family here, have a history of hard work in the UK behind them, and some have even fought for our country.”

More information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/votes-for-life-for-british-citizens-living-abroad

So why am I being denied that right in the country in which I reside?

One thing we will be able to vote on is the municipal elections in May next year. If you are a resident EU citizen, you can vote in your municipality, but remember, you have to register before the 30th of December 2026.

This can be done at your Town Hall, online through the Town Hall website and at most tourist offices. You will need your NIE and passport for identification.

Being registered at the Town Hall is also important for access to schools, local discounts, healthcare and other municipal services.

Because of Brexit, we are now non-EU citizens, meaning our voting rights are considered less important again. We are still waiting for news on how we can register in order to vote. Last time, we were only given a very short window to register, and it looks like this time it will be the same. I will keep you posted on this. I believe that if you want to have a say in what goes on where we live then you need to exercise your right to vote.

Remember, it doesn’t matter if you were registered to vote last time; you have to go through the process again.

In conclusion, I can vote in the country of my birth, where I no longer reside. I can’t vote in the country where I live, work and pay my taxes. And if I want to vote in the local elections, I, as a non-EU citizen, have to wait until the central Government tells me when I can. How does that song go? “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you!”

Ed Sheeran, Macklemore and When Music Collides With Politics

They say that sport and politics don’t mix. Well, this past week it’s been the music industry and politics that have really kicked off.

At an Ed Sheeran concert in New Jersey, his support act, Macklemore, launched into a political rant about supporting Palestine. This upset both the promoters and the stadium owners, who basically said that if Macklemore carried on, the gigs would be cancelled.

Who you may ask is Macklemore? He is an independent American rapper and activist from Seattle, Washington. He is best known for his massive global hits in the 2010s alongside producer Ryan Lewis, operating as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’ were two of their biggest hits. Does being the support act give you the right to air your political views and therefore put the whole tour in jeopardy? In my opinion, no. The key word here is ‘support’, he wasn’t tbe lead artist. Feel free to air your views at your own gigs but this paying public had bought their tickets to see Ed Sheeran not to listen to your political views. 

It was a no-win situation for Sheeran, who, on the one hand, didn’t want to upset his fans, but also didn’t want to get involved in the political row that was brewing in the States and around the World. He therefore, reluctantly it seems, allowed Macklemore to be relieved of his supporting role.

This decision, however, caused more problems, as Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Danish band Lukas Graham, American singer-songwriter Finneas, and Irish folk band Beoga all quit the tour too.

This then forced Sheeran to come out and speak about the situation at his next concert. Tearfully, he said:

“What happened in Israel at the music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.

“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives, and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

It looks like this has devastated Sheeran, who is known as one of the nice guys on the music scene. My brother-in-law, who is a musician and has played with the likes of Sting, Eric Clapton and the Lighthouse Family, to name a few, says he is one of the most generous musicians out there.

In June 2011, Sheeran released his official debut commercial single, “The A Team”. Despite being a dark folk ballad about addiction, it became a massive mainstream success, debuting at Number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

This momentum culminated in September 2011 with the release of his debut studio album, [+] (Plus), which topped the charts, went multi-platinum and earned him the British Breakthrough Act award at the 2012 BRIT Awards.

Fast-forward to June 5, 2012, here in Mallorca, and Ed Sheeran appeared on stage at Mallorca Rocks. For those not familiar with the brand, Mallorca Rocks was a popular open-air live music venue and hotel complex located where the Fergus Club Waterpark is today. It operated from 2010 to 2014.

I remember thinking at the time how talented he was as he just stood there with his guitar, belting out songs. There were 3,000 people at that gig, which was just over half full, but he captivated the intimate crowd using nothing but his raw talent. Critics noted that he “left everyone smiling” by completely owning the open-air poolside stage with only his acoustic guitar, a microphone and his signature custom loop pedal.

When he returned to the hotel on July 22, 2014, the stakes were completely different. It was the hotels fourth-birthday celebration and a massive milestone for the brand, but it also marked a bittersweet chapter for them as they announced they were going to close at the end of the season.

Sheeran had transformed himself from the rising indie-folk star of 2012 into a global juggernaut. He had just released his massive second studio album, [x] (Multiply), only a month earlier, in June 2014. Before heading out to the island, he noted in a press release how excited he was to “get back out there in the sun and play some of the new songs this summer”. The crowd got a live taste of freshly released mega-hits like “Sing” and “Don’t”.

In 2018, we went to Wembley Stadium in London to see him play live in front of 80,000 people. He was exactly the same as when I first saw him at Mallorca Rocks six years earlier, in front of 3,000 people. A man and his guitar, belting out hit after hit.

I, for one, hope Ed Sheeran can come through this, as he is without doubt one of the most talented and generous music performers of our generation.

Mallorca’s Summer Shift: Tourism Trends and Future Strategies

September is here and we are finally seeing a drop in temperatures across the island. You won’t be surprised to hear that this has been the hottest summer on record since 1961. The highest temperature recorded on the island was 41.9°C in Pollença.

Whilst it has been a busy high season in Mallorca, some areas of tourism are reporting a downturn in both numbers and spend. However, figures just released say that tourist daily spend in Mallorca has surged from €150 pre-pandemic to €219, and it has been driven by higher prices. So, where is the money going?

Rafael Roig, president of the Balearic Transport Federation, says that coach operators are experiencing a “somewhat weaker” season than last year, mainly due to a decrease in excursions and tour groups.

“The season is proving to be worse than last year’s.” “In July and August, there have been days when we’ve had more than a hundred 55-seater coaches sitting idle in the Balearics.”

He also added that excursions have seen at least a 10% decrease year on year.

Juanmi Ferrer, president of the CAEB Restaurants Association in Mallorca, highlighted that individual establishments have faced severe drops of up to 40% in patronage, putting hundreds of businesses at risk of closure.

There are two factors that have affected this. People aren’t coming on holiday now for seven or 14 nights. A long weekend of three or four days has become popular, as has a three- or four-day midweek break when flights and hotels are usually slightly cheaper.

Nearly 70% of all hotels in Magaluf are now four- or five-star, so disposable income is now being spent on those hotels and flights, with less money being spent on in-resort offerings such as bars, cafés, restaurants and excursions.

Because they are coming for less time, they are becoming more choosy about what they want to do. This means that all the in-resort offerings will need to look at their models and see if they not only fit into this new way of travelling, but are also offering what the clients are actually looking for.

Mallorca has an opportunity to reinvent itself, and the quicker it realises this, the better. What do I mean? Well, I’ll come to that, but we have already shown it can be done with the transformation of Magaluf. So, what does Mallorca as a whole need to do?

Well, in my opinion, it has the opportunity to not only reinvent itself but solve the overtourism problem too.

Without any doubt, global warming is becoming more and more prevalent with each passing year. The proof is in the numbers. In the 1960s, the first 30°C day was occurring, on average, on the 13th of July. In the 2020s, that figure has been the 19th of June.

This means that temperatures during the high season of June, July, August and September are becoming hotter and hotter, which for some people is becoming unbearable.

The rise in temperatures, though, is not limited to Mallorca. The UK is suffering the same problem and, let’s face it, the UK isn’t built for heat!

Where they are suffering most is in schools. With no air conditioning and limited ventilation, the heat became stifling, and more than 1,000 schools across the UK either closed or sent pupils home early before the hottest part of the afternoon this summer. Conditions were particularly challenging for GCSE and A-level students sitting exams during extreme heat.

According to research, high temperatures can significantly impair the concentration and performance of children in schools. So, there is a call for the whole school year to be looked at.

I’ve been banging on for years about how draconian the law is when it comes to not allowing children out of school during term time for holidays. This now needs to be scrapped, giving families and schools the right to determine when children can take holidays.

But it also looks like the authorities want to completely change the school calendar year. This may well mean that people will be travelling outside of the traditional high-season months of July and August.

Therefore, the whole model of how Mallorca currently works will have to change. Will we be ready for that change?

Well, it’s coming, so we mustn’t get left behind.

The Solar Eclipse Impact on Mallorca Tourism

I for one probably underestimated the impact that the eclipse has had on Mallorca. It was something I had been aware of for about a year, but it didn’t really float my boat, if I’m honest. I remember reading reports earlier in the year that Sóller was already 80% sold out for that week, but still, it didn’t fully register.

In actual fact, I only really started thinking about it properly when our Talking Balearics podcast talked about it three weeks ago. Also, through what I was doing as part of my concierge business, I was suddenly dealing with a whole load of different nationalities, but the country that had the most visitors was, without doubt, the USA. When I was speaking to them, some had made their reservations 18 months ago!

Eclipse hunters are also called umbraphiles. They are dedicated travellers who journey across the globe to witness total solar eclipses.

Shadow Lovers: The word umbraphile means “shadow lover.”

Obsessive Planners: They track paths of totality years in advance.

Global Travellers: They visit remote islands, big cities and rural villages just for minutes of darkness.

I listened to their stories of where they had been and how many eclipses they had seen. These were people from all walks of life, both young and old, and they all had one thing in common.

Working in Palma in July and August with the heat isn’t easy, but there was such a change in the city in the days leading up to the eclipse. Obviously, it was busy, but there was a buzz building as everyone was deciding where they were going to watch it.

Interestingly, though, on the day itself, Palma was eerily quiet. Not quite a ghost town, but in normal Palma terms, it wasn’t far off.

We were lucky as, where we live near Port Adriano, we could walk out onto the rocks near Malgrats and watch it. I have to admit, I was blown away by the experience, particularly when totality happened.

Social media was flooded with videos and pictures. My wife was very happy that she won a prize in the Majorca Daily Bulletin photo competition and became even happier when she realised she had beaten the Beckhams!

The next total solar eclipse will take place on August 2nd, 2027. The path of totality, as it’s called, will be seen in the following places:

  • Europe: Southern Spain and Gibraltar.
  • North & East Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt (including Luxor and the Giza Pyramids), Sudan and Somalia.
  • Middle East: Saudi Arabia (including Mecca) and Yemen.

Totality will last up to an incredible 6 minutes and 22 seconds near Luxor, Egypt, making it one of the longest land-based total solar eclipses of the 21st century.

Some of the people I spoke to had already booked to go to there and, whether you like it or not, the eclipse mixed with the pyramids is going to be pretty spectacular.

In fact, some of them were even thinking about the one after that, which will happen on Saturday, July 22nd, 2028, in Australia and New Zealand.

I checked online and there are travel companies that dedicate themselves to this form of travel, including many cruise companies that offer specific cruises too.

On the day of the eclipse, there were six ships moored in Palma despite the three-ship daily limit. These, however, were more VIP vessels that hold fewer passengers and therefore remained below the passenger capacity set by the Balearic Government.

It’s a great way to travel the world when you think about it. Although, now I’ve seen one, I’m not sure if I would go to another country specifically to see another. Each to their own, though, and without doubt, it has given a huge boost to the economy here in Mallorca.

Just a pity it didn’t happen in the low season, but you can’t have everything!

Why I Can’t Stop Watching Celebrity Hunted

I’ll be honest and say I don’t watch too much TV these days. I’m either busy working or I’m being Dad Taxi, ferrying the boys around. But I started watching Celebrity Hunted on Channel 4 last week, and it’s so bad I’ve had to keep watching!

Firstly, let me say that it’s for charity, and a very important one at that: Cancer Research UK and their Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) campaign.

And I understand it’s just a TV show and I shouldn’t be getting so wound up about it, but it’s got beyond a joke now.

“Celebrity” pairs are given a head start and then have to remain “fugitives” for 14 days while a team of “Hunters” tries to locate and capture them. 

The six “celebrity” pairs are:

• Amy Dowden & Carlos Gu — Strictly Come Dancing dancers

• Brian Conley & Lucy Conley — comedian and his actress daughter

• Chris Taylor & Toby Aromolaran — Love Island contestants

• JJ Chalmers & Sophie Morgan — a TV presenter, former Royal Marine and Invictus Games medalist, and a prominent TV presenter and disability advocate

• Scarlette & Stuart Douglas — brother and sister, known for their work as property experts, television presenters and developers

• Jen Brister & Laura Smyth — comedians

The so-called “Hunters” are apparently former and current police, military and intelligence personnel, plus cyber and OSINT specialists.

I do worry that if these guys were, or still are, in charge of the police, military and intelligence services, the country would be in a real mess. Some might say it already is, but if you put these guys in charge of catching real criminals, we wouldn’t have a prison overcrowding problem because they’d never catch anyone!

In the two episodes I’ve seen so far, we are four days in and nobody has been caught yet.

Now, we’re not dealing with serious criminal minds here. These guys haven’t got too much on the intelligence front (no offence!), but so far they are managing to avoid detection. And when they are identified, it’s like watching the Keystone Cops  – now there’s an old analogy!

Put it this way: you get the distinct impression that a well-trained Border Collie could have had all twelve of them rounded up before the first ad break.

I won’t give too much away because, to be honest, there isn’t much to give away and you can see that the production company are trying desperately to fill eight episodes.

I’ll keep shouting mindlessly at the TV, but I also want to remind you that here in Mallorca we have an amazing cancer support network.

Cancer Support Group Mallorca (CSG) is a registered association supporting the international community in Mallorca. Their mission is to help patients, carers and anyone affected by cancer by:

• Reducing stress

• Empowering people with a sense of control

• Enhancing self-esteem

• Combating loneliness through connection

• Providing practical assistance

Rebecca, Bronwen and their team of volunteers do an outstanding job supporting people affected by cancer on the island.

If you or a loved one is facing cancer, please reach out — they’re here to help.

For more information, please visit https://www.cancersupportmallorca.com or call 0034 659 887 455.

Tony Hadley’s Musical Journey: A Night at Port Adriano

On Friday morning, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony Hadley on my radio show on Wave Mallorca. Having grown up listening to Spandau Ballet, it was a bit surreal to be talking to the man whose songs were such a big part of my youth and whose voice has, without doubt, stood the test of time.

On Saturday night, he performed at the Port Adriano Music Festival in a beautiful setting right next to the marina.

Tony Hadley can turn his hand to any song. He learned his trade by singing in his school choir and entering singing contests at Butlins and Pontins. His swing and operatic influences come from his mum and dad, who used to play Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mario Lanza while preparing the family’s Sunday lunch.

You naturally associate Spandau Ballet with True and Gold, two anthems in their own right. Tony mentioned that those are the two songs he is always asked to perform, but interestingly, when the band played Live Aid at Wembley in 1985, Gold wasn’t on the set list.

Last night’s set was, of course, heavily Spandau-based, but it also included a few of Tony’s own songs. The band were tight, as were the harmonies, and it was great to see and hear live percussion and, of course, the iconic saxophone. After the first few songs, I turned to my wife and said, “Spandau have such a great catalogue of songs, and we haven’t even reached the biggest hits yet.”

Interestingly, he opened with To Cut a Long Story Short, the band’s very first single, released in 1980. A remarkable 46 years ago!

Tony also mentioned that Through the Barricades is his favourite Spandau Ballet song, which he performed with a subtle swing feel, helped along by a glass of Jack Daniel’s to keep the vocal cords lubricated!

The finale was exactly as it had to be: True, followed by Gold, and he left the stage to a standing ovation.

He probably won’t thank me for mentioning that he’s now 66 years old, but in my mind—and, I’m sure, in the minds of many of you reading this—Spandau Ballet simply isn’t Spandau Ballet without Tony Hadley.

From memory, here was last night’s set list:

● To Cut a Long Story Short

● Highly Strung

● Only When You Leave

● Alibi

● Walk of Shame

● Round and Round

● Soul Boy

● I’ll Fly for You

● Through the Barricades

● Somebody to Love

● Lifeline

● Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)

● True

● Gold

Tony is back on the road in November and December with his Big Band Tour, performing all over the UK. For tickets and more information, please visit https://tonyhadley.com.

World Cup 2026: A Mixed Bag of American Influence

 have to hold my hands up and say I was one of the people who thought that having 48 teams in the World Cup would be too much. I am happy to set the record straight and say I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a footballing spectacle, it was good, but the American influence on the tournament was too obvious and, in the end, unnecessary. These are the things that need looking at before the next tournament.

1. The countdown to kick-off was very annoying and completely unnecessary. Can you see the crowds in the Premier League joining in with that?

2. The rehydration breaks that FIFA insisted were not commercial, when we all knew they were. It came up on the big screens: “And now, the rehydration break, brought to you by Powerade!” Apparently, in the States, those breaks alone brought in $250 million. The Americans are used to in-play ad breaks. Let’s face it, a one-hour American football game takes at least three hours! But for us Europeans, it was totally alien and definitely broke up the flow of the game.

3. Why did we have to cut to FIFA president Gianni Infantino acting like the Godfather within 10 minutes of every game he attended?

4. Probably the most controversial thing was Trump calling Infantino to overturn the red card shown to American forward Folarin Balogun. We’re not arguing whether it was a red card or not, but the fact that Trump had the nerve to call Infantino in the first place, and then Infantino overturning it, stunk of a stitch-up.

5. I have never liked famous singers performing the national anthem. I prefer to hear the players singing out of tune and the crowd singing together, as that creates a great atmosphere. Step forward Jennifer Hudson, who was tasked with singing The Star-Spangled Banner. Now, I know she’s a star in her own right and can certainly sing, but she definitely spangled this one. Why do these singers always try to perform an anthem differently when the standard tune will suffice? Then they try to hit notes that, to be honest, just aren’t achievable.

6. And now let’s talk about the half-time show. Take a deep breath here because I’m coming in with a long run-up.

We started with a clearly pre-recorded and mimed performance from Madonna, who was flanked by what looked like overweight lookalikes of Ronaldinho and R9 Ronaldo—until I found out they were actually the real ones! They were driving a car that looked like they’d nicked it from The Banana Splits(remember them?), and I was half expecting them to break into “Tra La La, La La La La”.

This moved on to more miming from K-pop stars BTS, who were obviously thrown in for the youngsters. Then it was, of course, time for a substitute, but who thought Justin Bieber—who looked like he’d arrived straight from a busking stint at Grand Central Station—was a good idea? Especially when he broke into the most morose song he could find.

The only bright spark was Shakira, along with Burna Boy (no, me neither), but even that fell a little flat. I’m told the creative direction was put together by Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Surely he’d have been more successful bringing out his own band for 25 minutes?

Wayne Rooney mumbled his way through six weeks of football punditry, but his finest moment came when Gabby Logan asked him what he thought of the half-time show.

“Crap,” came his reply.

Well said, Wazza!

7. Finally, the trophy presentation. We all knew Trump would try to get himself into the celebrations, as he had previous at the Club World Cup. Infantino did his best to lead him away like a son would an errant grandad, but he couldn’t resist one final shuffle into the spotlight. The best thing FIFA did was airbrush him out of the final photos.

All in all, it was a good competition that was slightly spoiled by the Americanisms. Let’s see what happens in four years’ time in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Spain’s World Cup Victory: A Call for a National Trophy Tour

It was great to see Spain’s players celebrating in Madrid in front of over 2 million people after returning home from their win over Argentina. However, I think it would have been a good idea for them to visit a few other cities to give everyone in the country a chance to celebrate their heroes. Even a trip to Mallorca would have been nice! While I appreciate that they are tired and want to spend time with their families, a little trophy tour would have added to the feel-good factor around the country.

For the 26-man squad, nothing will quite match the euphoria of adding a second star above their nation’s badge.

However, each player is set to receive a gross payout of €754,701.92 (£640,500) for winning the World Cup. The sum aligns with the agreement reached with the RFEF, under which the players were to receive 45% of the prize money FIFA awards to the governing body for winning the tournament—a total of around €44 million (£37.3 million).

As a result, around €19.8 million (£16.8 million) will go to the players, after they reportedly agreed to collect major bonuses only if they reached the latter stages of the tournament.

However, the players will immediately have to part with a significant chunk of that money in income tax. Depending, of course, on where they play their club football, the Spanish players’ personal income tax rate is around 45%, meaning each player could lose as much as €370,000 (£314,000) to tax.

I also think the players, the governing body, and even the Government have missed a trick here. Let’s face it: while €44 million is a significant amount of money to most of us, in the football world it’s a drop in the ocean. The Government could have declared these payments tax-free, while the players and the governing body could have pledged that the money saved would be invested in grassroots football, helping to ensure that another generation of players can one day add a third star to that famous red shirt.

Having had two sons progress through the Spanish youth football system, I have no doubt that investment made now will have a significant impact on the future success of football here in Spain.

Balancing Tourism and Local Life: Mallorca’s Sustainability Challenges

It’s a subject that keeps coming up, and I’ve commented on it many times here. It comes back into the spotlight again here in Mallorca on Sunday, July 26th. We are talking about tourism sustainability.

The last major protest of this kind was in July last year, so it makes you wonder two things: Is there a problem, and what have these people been doing for the past year?

You would think the protesters would have come up with some workable ideas by now that could benefit the island. But no. What they have come up with is a document singling out key commercial pillars that they accuse of driving up the cost of living and squeezing out local residents.

  • Holiday Rental Properties: Apartments and villas utilised for short-term tourist accommodation.
  • Hotels and Resorts: Major hotel chains and infrastructure catering to mass tourism.
  • Real Estate Agencies: Firms facilitating property investments and second-home purchases for international buyers.

This is the part I find unbelievable, and I’m not making this up.

Rather than advocating for peaceful assemblies, the document functions as an operational guide for low-level sabotage and avoiding law enforcement.

  • Identifying and avoiding security cameras when targeting a business.
  • Scanning areas for police presence and checking for plainclothes officers.
  • Tactical advice on avoiding personal identification by the authorities.
  • Carrying out direct actions such as graffiti, vandalism and property defacement, building on recent incidents where real estate storefronts were smashed and spray-painted.

Now, I believe in people’s right to protest, but when you go down this line, to me, you lose all credibility. This is what we are dealing with. Rather than coming up with sensible ideas, they come up with this. I’m lost for words.

I agree that Mallorca needs to look at its sustainability, but let’s be honest: we are not working flat out for 12 months of the year. I would say it’s four months—June to September. Some would argue it’s only July and August. Regardless of whether it’s two or four months, it’s not all year round. But that shouldn’t be an excuse to ignore what is going on. We should react in a positive way.

To alleviate the strain on infrastructure and the local housing market, the authorities have introduced definitive caps:

  • Cruise Ship Restrictions: Palma limits cruise arrivals to a maximum of three ships per day, with only one allowed to be a mega-ship carrying over 5,000 passengers.
  • Accommodation Freezes: Local updates for 2026 show a complete halt to the construction of new youth hostels and tourist apartment rentals in the capital city.
  • Capacity Targets: The Balearic Government has explicitly set caps to prevent total visitor numbers across the archipelago from exceeding historical thresholds.
  • In Mallorca, you are legally required to have an official tourist licence to advertise a property for short-term holiday rentals. Airbnb enforces this by requiring owners to enter a valid licence number before a listing can go live. In the city of Palma, renting apartments to tourists is now illegal.

However, here is a great example of how a national government run by one political party can undermine all the work of an island government run by another. The national government, run by the PSOE in coalition, decided to create a moratorium allowing roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants to obtain one-year work and residence permits. The measure was designed to integrate foreign nationals already in the country, address labour shortages and combat exploitation.

At this point, 34,000 have applied here in Mallorca. Whilst they now become legal residents, it makes you wonder how many didn’t apply, and what steps are we taking to stop undocumented migrants arriving in the first place?

I keep going back to an interview I did with Brad Robertson, who is the Founder and Ambassador of Save The Med. One of their missions is to promote regeneration through a holistic approach, helping local communities become aware and active custodians.

He said, “There’s too many people, mate. Whether you’re a tourist or someone who doesn’t leave your house, it doesn’t matter. There’s just too many of us!”

In two decades, Mallorca’s population has grown from 727,000 to 960,000, an increase of 32 per cent.

The questions remain:

  • Do we have a sustainability issue? Yes.
  • Are we doing something about it? Yes.
  • Can we do more? Yes.

Let’s see how the protest pans out.