Category: Blog

The Rafa Nadal International Airport


After all the rain in early November, the weather has settled down and is very pleasant for mid-November. I’ve said it a thousand times, why is Benidorm, which is literally across the water, so busy and Magaluf is a complete ghost town? One day we will get a winter season, but someone has got to take the risk and give it a go. 

I’ve done a little travelling lately, and Palma airport is going through what looks like quite a few changes. I was in departures and every single escalator was closed, and it was only when I reached the last one I noticed everybody disappearing past the check-in desks and into what I discovered was the new security area. In fact a very modern security area that is state of the art and whilst now it’s not too busy, let’s hope that in the summer it will cope with the huge volumes of people going through it. Right now you don’t go through any duty free, but I’m assured that is coming and will be as big as most major airports. 

I was interested to see what effect the budget will have on people and their plans for their 2025 holidays. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was moaning about the average £2.00 increase in air passenger duty and said ‘This short-sighted tax grab will make air travel much more expensive for ordinary UK families going on holidays abroad and will make the UK a less competitive destination compared to Ireland, Sweden, Hungary and Italy where these Govt’s are abolishing travel taxes to stimulate traffic, tourism, and jobs growth in their economies’. He’s got a cheek, as I found out last week. I was looking to change one of my flights and fully expected to pay the flight difference costs if there were any. But they also add a £45.00 fee for you to change your own flight! Yes, that’s right, you do all the work, and they charge you £45.00 for the privilege. 

Our powers that we have returned from the World Travel Market in London with positive news for 2025 and there seems to be some dialogue regarding the sustainability problem, which is good news. However, I also think our authorities have missed a trick when it comes to Palma airport. When Palma Airport began operating in the early 20th century, it was given the name Son Sant Juan, after the area 8 kilometres east of Palma, where the airfield was built.  But having now announced his retirement, the time has come to rename Mallorca’s Son San Juan airport, The Rafa Nadal International Airport. I wrote about this in 2017 when Rafa won his 10th French Open, and he went on to win 14! I picked this up again in 2022, but now for me the time is right. Of course, airports around the World have been renamed after their famous sons. Liverpool John Lennon, Paris Charles de Gaulle and New York JFK to name a few. Rafa is instantly recognizable around the World, and I’d have him welcoming people on the big screens in arrivals and talking about the tourist tax and how it is being used for sustainability across the island. It’s a no brainer, surely? 

Dare I Mention The “C” Word?

Dare I mention the “C” word? Well, my friends, there are now 39 days until Christmas!

The grand switch on of the Christmas lights in our capital city of Palma will be on Saturday, November 23rd in the evening. Palma at Christmas is definitely worth a visit, whether you live here or you’re coming over for a short break. I’m not sure if we’re on top of many peoples lists to visit for a pre-Christmas visit, but we should be. Firstly of course we’re within 2 hours of most Uk airports and in fact most European ones too. It’s a 15-minute taxi ride into the centre of town from the airport, and there are loads of beautiful boutique hotels. Palma City centre is great for shopping and don’t forget we have three superb shopping malls on the outskirts. They are Porto Pi, Fan and Mallorca Shopping Outlets, all are worth a visit, have a good variety of shops and all three are different in their own way. What you will find in Palma now is a wide range of cafés, markets, bars and restaurants with cuisine from all over the world. There are also some amazing sights to be seen. Palma Cathedral, Bellver Castle and the marina are a few of the must-sees. You could also take in a La Liga game if you wish. Barcelona are in town in early December! 

There are also some beautiful Christmas markets in Plaza Espanya and Pueblo Espanyol. All in all, Palma at Christmas, I would thoroughly recommend you visit.

Previous Christmas Number 1s have been claimed by music icons, cartoon characters, punk-rock disruptors, TV talent show winners, and all-star charity records. Last year, WHAM! Finally secured the Official Christmas Number 1 with “Last Christmas”, 39 years after its release.

Without doubt, if you can write a good Christmas song or in some cases a not very good Christmas song, then it could well give you a good income for the rest of your life. The Performing Rights Society or PRS as it’s known don’t tend to divulge this information easily to protect their artists’ privacy. But it’s a well known fact that the following artists make substantial amounts per year from just one song. The top ten are listed below. 

  1. “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade, £1m 
  2. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl £400,000
  3. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey £400,000 
  4. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby £328,000
  5. “Last Christmas” by Wham! £300,000
  6. “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney £260,000
  7.  “Stop the Cavalry” by Jona Lewie £120,000
  8. “2000 Miles” by The Pretenders £102,000
  9. “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard £100,000
  10. “Stay Another Day” by East 17 £97,000

In my opinion, no Christmas is complete until you get yourself a tree. Not a fake one for me, it has to be real. A few years ago, I met a guy called Quentin who was bringing Christmas trees over to Mallorca from a farm in Denmark. 

Their arborists (aka tree surgeons to you and I) have been growing and selling the highest quality, most sustainable and durable Nordmann fir Christmas Trees since the industry commenced in Denmark in the early 70s. Their philosophy has always been to produce quality over quantity, whereby the ethical treatment of the workers, the earth and the clients is always respected and maintained, these are the values which are essential to their organisation. For every 10 trees they cut, they replant 14. 

Delivery, stands and branches for decorations are available for an extra cost. 

For more information, please visit http://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com 

Mallorca Christmas Trees on Facebook and Instagram or call or what’s app 

658 342 941.

Quentin has also agreed to donate a tree to a local charity home, and I’m talking to Nick at Yachting Gives Back, who will decide where to donate it. 

I know it’s a little early, but let me be the first to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Valencia – A Follow Up

The awful scenes of flooding in Valencia took me back to what we saw at San Llorenc here in Mallorca back in 2018. A similar wall of water struck the village in devastatingly quick time and 13 people sadly lost their lives. I remember the cleaning up operation, where 100’s of people from all over the island including Rafa Nadal descended on the area and a huge amount of charity donations were made by people at the time. I was part of the team at Radio One Mallorca who along with local business, Bosuns Locker took a van load of donations to a church in Manacor as the whole of San Llorenc was completely shut off. 

Believe it or not since those dreadful floods nothing has been done to avert future problems. After researching this further I saw a report in March this year by IB3 our island television station that the Government will invest 40 million euros in the improvement of the Ses Planes and Sa Blanquera torrents in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. The first steps were to commission the drafting of the project and the works are expected to begin in 2027, that’s nine years after the fateful flooding.

There have also been calls for an emergency alert system to be activated, which sends out an SMS message in the event of a catastrophe or emergency such as a fire, an explosion or a flood. Apparently this has been around for years but has not been activated by successive Balearic Governments who have failed to put it into place. Friends of ours in Porto Cristo sent us pictures and videos of similar floods there on Sunday night into Monday morning. Whilst not as devastating still not good and could have been a whole lot worse. 

This rain I imagine then made its way across the water to Valencia to cause the destruction there. This time though on a far greater scale and with many more people sadly losing their lives. Both tragedies have similar stories, copious amounts of rain causing tsunami like conditions and creating flooding in such a way that it’s impossible to avoid. It’s caused by a weather phenomenon called DANA – ‘depresion aislada en niveles altos’ in Spanish – which translates as ‘isolated low-pressure system at high levels’. This is explained in these four steps. 

  1. Cold air from the north moves south.
  2. Warm air then blows over the Mediterranean, rising quickly and forming heavy clouds.
  3. The low pressure from the north gets blocked by the high pressure above the water, causing it to slow down or stop completely.
  4. This creates storm-like conditions that cannot move anywhere else, so the rain falls over the same area for a sustained period of time.

Heavy rainfall was forecast in the most affected region, Valencia, from Friday the 25th, with warnings scaled-up to “significant danger” by the Spanish meteorological service AEMET on the 28th, followed by another warning of “extreme danger” the next morning. Despite the forecasts, many people in the Valencia region only received warnings when the rain had already begun and evacuation was not possible for many. I am also led to believe that an SMS a was sent out for people to remain in their homes but many were still out in their cars and were caught out when a major road flooded. If Florida in the USA can issue evacuation notices on its people when hurricanes or tornadoes are forecast then surely authorities across Spain will have to look at something similar. It’s a known fact that the Mediterranean coastline of Spain, particularly the Valencia and Catalonia regions, is highly vulnerable to these floods.

Near where I live there is a place called El Toro that has a heavy Valencian population. They have been collecting non perishable foodstuffs, hygiene products & pet food, at their HQ Casa de Valencia, on the Main Street. 

Also Port Adriano organised 2 containers to collect food and clothes to send to those affected. Well done to Highland Gold in Son Bugadellas who sent 15 tonnes of food via two of their own lorries given by themselves and other businesses. I’ve seen collections at Real Mallorca, supermarkets and at other aid charities and agencies. I am sure there will be more collections across the island so please help in any way you can. 

It’s a travesty that disasters like this make the authorities take more notice of the problems in hand. 

Devastation across Spain

The awful scenes of flooding in Valencia took me back to what we saw at San Llorenç here in Mallorca back in 2018. A similar wall of water struck the village in devastatingly quick time, and 13 people sadly lost their lives. I remember the cleaning up operation and the huge amount of charity donations made by people at the time. I was part of the team at Radio One Mallorca who along with Bosuns locker took a van load of donations to a church in Manacor as the whole of San Llorenç was completely shut off. 

Believe it or not since those dreadful floods nothing has been done to avert future problems. After researching this further I saw a report in March this year by IB3, our island television station, that the Government will invest 40 million euros in the improvement of the Ses Planes and Sa Blanquera torrents in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. The first steps were to commission the drafting of the project and the works are expected to begin in 2027, that’s nine years after the fateful flooding.

There have also been calls for an emergency alert system to be activated, which sends out an SMS message in the event of a catastrophe or emergency such as a fire, an explosion or a flood. Apparently this has been around for years but has not been activated by successive Governments who have failed to put it into place. Friends of ours in Porto Cristo sent us pictures and videos of similar floods there on Sunday night into Monday morning. Whilst not as devastating, still not good. 

This rain I imagine then made its way across the water to Valencia to cause the destruction there. This time though on a far greater scale and with many more people sadly losing their lives. Both tragedies have similar stories, copious amounts of rain causing tsunami like conditions and creating flooding in such a way that it’s impossible to avoid. It’s caused by a weather phenomenon called DANA – ‘depresion aislada en niveles altos’ in Spanish – which translates as ‘isolated low-pressure system at high levels’. I am led to believe that an SMS was sent out for people to remain in their homes, but many were still out in their cars and were caught out when a major road flooded. Authorities across Spain will have to look at this more seriously now, as this is not a problem that is going to go away and will only get worse. 

It’s a travesty that disasters like this make the people in power take more notice of the problems in hand. 

Near where I live, there is a place called El Toro that has a heavy Valencian population. They are collecting non-perishable foodstuffs, hygiene products & pet food, at their HQ Casa de Valencia, on the Main Street. Gran Via 1.

Collection times are, 

Saturday 2nd of November 10.00h until 13.00h & 16.30h – 18.30h 

Monday 4th of November 09.30h until 13.00h.

Also in Port Adriano on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th of November from 09.00h to 20.00h, they will set up a container to collect food and clothes to send to those affected by the DANA in Valencia. You can bring non-perishable food, clothes, towels, blankets, nappies and animal feed

I am sure there will be other collections across the island, so please help in any way you can. 

Is This Just a Way To Get More Money Out Of Us?

I read with interest the comments made by Easyjet Holidays Chief Executive Garry Wilson and reported in the Majorca Daily Bulletin newspaper this week. He was talking at the ABTA convention in Greece the previous week. He commented that some destinations were introducing what he called “environmental fees.”

“While I understand the ethos, we need to understand what you’re doing with that money.” Wilson said it would be “understandable” if taxes were introduced with a ‘direct link’ to initiatives such as installing systems that automatically switch off air-conditioning and electric sockets when hotel rooms are empty. But he said if the revenue simply “goes into a big pot”, holidaymakers will think “this is just a way to get more money out of me”. Wilson said taxes were “going up and up and up when it comes to travel”.

Now on the one hand I totally agree with him on being as transparent as you can on where all the money is going. I wrote this in 2018, “Just a thought, why isn’t the Government promoting what they are spending the Tourist Tax money on? A video on that massive screen as you come through arrivals at the airport or pictures on the walls saying “last year we raised….and this is what we have spent the money on. Keeping Mallorca the way we all love it for now and for future generations.” Get Rafa Nadal to narrate the video, as he’s a Worldwide name that everybody knows and loves.”

It’s not rocket science, be upfront and proud of what you are doing. Which is basically what Mr Wilson is saying. Where I find his comments slightly disingenuous is when he says  “holidaymakers will think “this is just a way to get more money out of me”. Wilson said taxes were “going up and up and up when it comes to travel”.

Now I have to admit that EasyJet are my no-frills airline of choice but, this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, surely? All low-cost airlines and tour operators are always looking at ways to get more money from holidaymakers. It sometimes costs you more for a suitcase than it does a person these days! Not forgetting to add those other optional taxes such as choose my seat, car hire, insurance and a hotel room. They’ll be asking us to pay to enter the loo soon! 

Tourism in Mallorca, Let’s Look At The Facts Not The Hype

I don’t want to keep going on about it but as it’s in the news, and it’s part of the industry I work in, the tourism protests are becoming a problem. As always the British press and even some on the island press are hyping it way beyond where it should be and so unfortunately more people are taking notice. Firstly, I have no problem with people’s right to protest, we live in a democracy and that is fine. Where I do have a problem is they and the press are saying that they speak for the whole island. Which is simply not true. Estimations by the police say that there were 20,000 people on the march two weeks ago. If that was the case, that is 1.6% of our overall population. Hardly a groundswell of opposition, is it? 

They are concentrating on the smaller towns, villages and beaches where of course there will be problems because they are the places people would like to visit. Deia, Valldemosa, for example. You won’t see them protesting in Alcudia, Cala Millor, Cala D’or or Magaluf as they are much larger and have the space to cope. Ask any business in those areas if it is busier or quieter this year. You might be surprised by the answer. That maybe because of price, but there is no doubt the protests will put off people from coming. I’ll give you an example of an email we received at Pirates this week.

Dear Sir or Madam,

We had to cancel our flights to Palma, due to the current Anti Tourism riots of 20,000 Anti Tourism protesters.

It is a shame as we really wanted to visit and especially see the Pirates Adventure.

Riots?? Where did they get that information from?

One thing the protesters haven’t mentioned and was reported to me by Brad Robertson of Save The Med, when I interviewed him a few weeks ago. He said, “There’s too many people mate, whether you’re a tourist or someone that doesn’t leave your house, it doesn’t matter, there’s just too many of us”. Maybe we should get our own house in order first? 

Anyway, these are the list of demands the protesters have asked for. 

  1. Housing, a guaranteed right. Implement real measures to take housing off the market so that everyone has access to it. For example, regulate the sale of housing to non-residents by establishing requirements such as a minimum length of time of residence. 

In principle, I don’t have a problem with this. I would add to be bought to live in and not just rented out for an extortionate fee. But I would ask the same question of the Spanish from the mainland and even second homeowners from the island that have two properties. Do the same rules apply? 

2. No investment of public money in infrastructure expansion, no more airports, no more ports, no new roads, no desalination plants… Decrease in the number of flights, ban on private jets and a freeze on the number of recreational boats and a limit on vessels mooring off the coast.               
Can it be done if private money can be found?  But like our public services they still need investment, so I would disagree to some extent. But I’m sure some common ground could be found. Like reviving the rail system around the island and expanding the Metro system in and around Palma. 

3. No to the hyper-commercialisation of the coast, saturated with nautical and beach toys.

    I don’t have a problem with this in the smaller coves. But huge stretches of beaches, like Alcudia or Palma Nova, I don’t see as a problem.

    4. Improving and guaranteeing access to all public services: health, education, public transport, social services, etc. 

      I think this should be a must for any Government.

      5. Freeze on all new tourist places, both in hotels and apartments.

        Agreed, but there should be a proper clampdown on illegal holiday lets. 

        6. Eliminate and/or convert old hotels.

          If there is a distinct lack of affordable housing, I would look at conversion rather than elimination. 

          7. No more promotion of tourism. No more tourist fairs.

            Totally disagree, our number one industry has to be promoted and represented. 

            8. Limit the entry of vehicles and set a maximum number of rental vehicles in circulation.

              I have to be honest and say this needs looking at, as I do not know the laws that surround this.

              9. Increase the rate of the tourist tax.

                I agree. But I would charge the same for all tourists all year round, as winter is currently exempt. Also charge the same for every star rating and cruise ships, rather than different rates and I would charge the under 16’s too. Every single person in my opinion should help with the drive for sustainable tourism. But we should also be made aware of where this money is going and show this in the airport and island wide  for everyone to see. 

                I actually have another take on the protesters and their thoughts that tourism is driving up the sales and rental prices of properties. Driving away tourists isn’t going to make rentals or prices cheaper. In fact, the total opposite. We all think we live in paradise, so if all of a sudden the tourists started leaving, then how much more of a paradise would it become? Rather than drive prices down, it will drive prices up. I agree there needs to be a happy medium. I live in an apartment complex that has Spanish, German and UK owners and nearly every single one is using them as their second home (apart from me, I might add). Whilst I don’t have a problem with this, does  that drive the prices up too?

                There are plenty of experienced business people on the island who would be willing to help this situation and find solutions to the current so-called problems. I, for one, would be one of those people, and I’ve had messages and spoken to others who would be too. We only have to be asked, but in the meantime can we let people enjoy their well-earned holidays in peace. 

                Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

                Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi, or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

                Football Travel And The Brexit Effect

                Any football aficionado will tell you that a supporter that follows his or her club home and particularly away is a true supporter. Now I’m not putting myself in that bracket, but over the last few weeks I have been lucky enough to go to two of the biggest games my two clubs have played in the last few years. Two clubs? How can you support two clubs, I hear you say. Well, I’ve been an Arsenal supporter all my life, however when I moved to Mallorca I missed the opportunity to go and watch live football. I travel back for a game in London when I can, but Real Mallorca have become my adopted club. I said the other week that following them to Sevilla was a great experience, even though they lost. It was the same for me and my two boys last week when we travelled to Munich to see Arsenal play in the Champions League quarter-finals. Finding tickets was not easy, and this is when a good network of friends comes in handy. Thank you to Debbie at Inspire Sport who managed to get them for us. 

                My Wife said to all of us before we went, aren’t you going to take a coat? We had looked at the weather forecast, which didn’t look great, but none of us felt we needed one. Which in truth was a schoolboy error. As soon as we arrived in Munich, it was raining, which also turned to hail and sleet!  We managed to find the bar that many of the Arsenal fans were in, which was right in the centre of the city. It was an Irish bar that was right opposite a huge German beer hall, so you can imagine that everyone was enjoying the German hospitality. We decided to get to the ground early as I remembered how difficult it was to get there the last time I went, and also the boys were excited to see it. The Allianz Arena is situated in the north of Munich and is one of Europe’s most striking grounds. It certainly is impressive, and the atmosphere was amazing with a crowd of 75,000. One thing I’ve noticed in European games is within the Ultra fans there always seems to a “conductor” who starts all the songs. In Munich, there were two of them orchestrating everything. It’s not something you see so much in the UK, as it’s normally someone randomly starting each chant. 

                You probably don’t need me to tell you the score, but two defeats in two away trips for my two teams certainly wasn’t great. But spending time with my boys and enjoying the atmosphere of the two different cities meant the results were soon forgotten about. We all agreed that going to away fixtures was actually more fun than going to home games, and it’s something that we will look to do more of in the future. 

                Travelling away from the island has been interesting these past few weeks. We’re lucky to get the residents discount on flights and ferries travelling interisland and to the mainland. Although it does sometimes seem that companies take advantage of this by putting up their prices. But one of the main things is how easy it is to pass through customs travelling within Europe. Apart from showing our TIE identity cards at the check-in, we would just walk through at the other end. I can’t help feeling that Brexit has ruined that form of travel for us Brits and all the hanging around we have to do now. I’ve talked before about the difficulties in employing Brits now with the freedom of movement taken away. Which then begs the question, has Brexit actually been worth it? If anyone can give me a positive, then I’m willing to listen. 

                Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

                Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com