Future of Mallorca Tourism: Optimism and Investment

In the European tourism world, there are three main tourist fairs. The World Travel Market in London in November, Fitur in Madrid in January and the ITB in Berlin in March. These are all large-scale events where exhibitors from travel, hospitality, and cultural sectors convene to showcase their services and products.

So the great and the good from the travel world here in Mallorca have returned from Madrid, and I was wondering what was the message they returned with. 

After speaking to a few of them, the main answer I got was “optimism”. 

One of the main problems the Government need to address is the sustainability of the Islands and how they are going to do that yet still reap the economic benefits.

President Marga Prohens announced that 1.12 billion euros is to be spent on tourism sustainability and modernisation in the Balearics.

The slogan for the campaign is ‘the reason is you’ and the strategy is to make the Balearics a benchmark in tourism sustainability. The money will come from the EU next generation funds and the tourist tax – respectively 260 million euros and 860 million euros of tourist tax revenue raised since 2016.

Being an island, we rely on people arriving by air and sea, so is it any wonder the amount of investment in our airport and ports?

Many airlines are increasing their seat capacities. One of them United Airlines from the United States, will increase its direct flights from Palma to New York by more than 50%. A route between the two cities that will also remain in operation until the 24th of October, an extra month on last year.

Anybody travelling through Palma Airport this winter will have seen the massive investment in the infrastructure. Now, I imagine this is being put in place to improve the customer journey, but without doubt it is also preparing for an increase in passenger numbers. 

Back in 2021 there was a 5-year agreement signed to limit the size and number of cruise ships visiting Palma. Whilst there are fewer ships and passengers compared to 2019, the numbers are still high. In 2025, 541 cruise ships are scheduled for Palma. The total number of passengers is put at 1.8 million. By comparison with 2024 there will be 47 more ships and 41,000 more passengers. 

According to Ibestat the passengers that disembark “only spend €35 on the island”. Only? That’s not a bad per head for a person spending less than a day here. That 63 million euros I am sure is welcome. What isn’t taken into account is the employment this all creates and the other revenue such as coaches, taxis and the companies restocking those ships. I would also wager a bet that a certain percentage of those 1.8 million visitors will return to the island for another holiday. 

You may wonder why the Club de Mar and the Paseo Maritimo in Palma are being revamped? Like the airport, I imagine this has been to not only improve the area for residents but preparing for greater numbers arriving at the port. 

1 in 5 people in the Balearics work in Tourism, we all know someone who is involved in that Industry. Tourism both directly and indirectly contributes between 40% and 50% of the Balearic Island’s total GDP. Mallorca continues to face major challenges in terms of making tourism more sustainable while at the same time safeguarding their economic interests.

Exploring Family-Friendly Travel: Center Parcs to Cancun

We returned from our Christmas break last week with our batteries recharged and ready for what 2025 has to offer. 

Christmas with the family is a must-do for us every year, although tinged with some sadness this year after the passing of my Mother. We stayed at Center Parcs in Woburn for the beginning part of our break. If you’re not familiar with them, they are a holiday resort brand offering family-friendly short breaks in natural forested settings. Operating several holiday villages across the UK, each designed to provide a tranquil escape while offering a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities for all ages. What I love about them is they are so big that you never see a lot of people at any one particular time, and that they are car free. 

I say this every year and I will keep on saying it, Center Parcs would be perfect for Mallorca and particularly to help promote the winter months here. One highlight of our trip every year is going to see our team the Arsenal play and as usual tickets were hard to come by but a good friend of ours managed to sort them for us. At the time of the game, we were staying at the Premier Inn in Gatwick Airport, in preparation for our holiday abroad. So we caught the Gatwick Express to Victoria and then the Tube to Arsenal. We booked our tickets on the Train Line App and halved the cost that we would have paid by paying at the station. 

Our holiday was booked through TUI, who we’ve travelled with for quite a few years now. We find the choice and prices they offer particularly on long haul holidays are usually the best compared to say Virgin or BA. Interestingly, we flew with BA to our destination, which was Cancún in Mexico. We were booked into the Grand Palladium Select, situated in Costa Mujeres. Approximately 45 minutes from the airport. The Palladium Hotel Group is a well-known Spanish hotel chain established in the late 1960s. It operates a diverse portfolio of luxury and all-inclusive properties across several brands, catering to various types of travellers, including families, couples, and adults-only guests. Headquartered in Ibiza, Spain, the group is part of the Matutes Group, a family-owned conglomerate with interests in tourism and real estate. On Ibiza they own some of the most iconic brands including Ushuaia, Hi Ibiza and Privilege Nghtcub. Here in Mallorca, they own the BH complex in Magaluf that they’ve turned into a huge family complex in partnership with Fergus Hotels. 

Palladium aren’t the only Balearic based hotel company with interests in long haul destinations. Melia, Riu and Iberostar are well represented, and it makes you wonder that one of the reasons why the Balearics suffers during the winter months could be their concentration on their long haul offerings. 

Another Balearic business situated at our hotel was the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy. It opened in 2018 and provides excellent tennis facilities for the guests at the hotel. 

All in all it was a lovely relaxing holiday and the Mexican people are very friendly, polite and hard-working. 

One thing I noticed on the way home was, why is it that long haul flights are always such a mess at the end? There is rubbish everywhere, and having flown on many a low-cost flight and see how they keep their flights as clean as possible. Why can’t the long haul flights do the same? 

Freedom Of Movement

Back in May, I wrote this;

“The 23rd of June 2016 was a day when the older generation in the UK totally changed the landscape for the younger generation. It was the day that Brexit became a reality and unfortunately, just over half of the population believed the spin of vote leave campaign more than the spin of vote remain. One of the driving forces for vote leave was immigration, and by taking away the freedom of movement they said the UK would get their borders back. Well that went well didn’t it!

On the one hand, all it has done is to drive the people to take much riskier ways of getting to the UK. And on the other hand, it has denied the younger generation all over Europe, the freedom to travel and work abroad. 

Why is the UK Government so obsessed with denying people the freedom to travel? It seems they and those who voted for Brexit forgot they were young once and decided it is best that they deny the same opportunities to younger people.”

Of the 18-24 year olds, 73% voted to remain and 27% voted to leave. Compare that to the over 65’s where 60% voted to leave and 40% voted to remain. It’s a sad fact of life that some of those over 65’s are now no longer with us, and while I respect their right to vote for what they believed in. Surely a clearer majority should have been put in place to make sure a tight result meant a second referendum? Although you have to be over 18 to vote in the UK, why weren’t the 16 and 17-year-olds at the time not given the opportunity to vote on something that would ultimately affect their future? Unless something changes they’re going to have to live with the consequences of this decision for about 70 years, and it’ll affect every area of their lives from education, to jobs and to travel.

Both the UK and the EU have suffered from an employment point of view, ever since the freedom of movement was taken away. Mallorca has suffered twice in the need for workers from both Brexit and the pandemic. Brexit has brought the lack of workers from the UK and since the pandemic, less seasonal workers from the Spanish mainland have arrived. Meaning some bars and restaurants only open for 5 days a week, and have you wondered why it’s so difficult to get a taxi in July and August? 

Rumours are abound in Westminster that the Government have set up a task force to forge closers ties with our former EU partners. One of the topics is the freedom of movement for 18-30 year olds. I don’t understand anyone who would deny anyone of any age their freedom of movement, particularly if it was to go somewhere looking for work. But if it means our children can enjoy the same freedom as I and many others did, then I am all for it. 

A Catch Up With Juan Antonio Amengual The Mayor Of Calvia

On the 16th of December 2022, I was asked by a good friend to have a coffee with a friend of his in Portals Nous. He explained that the person I was meeting was an ex-hotelier who had become a consultant in the Tourist industry, and he was the prospective leader for the PP political party in Calvia to become the Mayor. Juan Antonio Amengual was his name and he was asking me through the radio and my blog to help push the ‘foreign voters’ into registering themselves in order that they were able to vote in the upcoming local elections in May 2023. He wasn’t pushing them to vote for him at the time but at least to get registered as the cut off to be registered was in January, 5 months before the actual elections! Juan Antonio was very clever as he knew that 30% of the population in Calvia were foreign voters and if registered to vote that would give him a better opportunity to win. 

When it came to the elections in May 2023, the PP increased their vote share to win 3 more seats than they did previously, and they then entered into a coalition with Vox to gain overall control of Calvia by just one seat.  When you go back over the numbers you see that of the 52,458 population, 31,549 (60%) were registered to vote. Of that number that were registered to vote, only 17,384 (55%) actually did. When you look at the number of people registered to vote against the overall population, just a third (33%) of the population actually bothered. Which in all honesty and despite the push to vote, the overall turnout was poor. Of those figures, I don’t know how many were from the non-Spanish voters. 

Last week, I interviewed Juan Antonio to look back on his first 18 months in power. One thing I admire about him is he gets himself around. There isn’t an event in the municipality that he misses, judging by the pictures on social media. He tells me that he seriously hasn’t had a holiday in those 18 months, plus the 6 months of campaigning, and he is looking forward to a break at Christmas. But he is rightfully proud of his team and the pushing out of their manifesto pledges. He stresses his most important project is to extend the season and I noticed a quote this week from the outgoing President of the Hoteliers Association Maria Frontera, who said that “Public authorities are content with having services open for six or seven months”. Not in Calvia says Juan Antonio, he is looking to extend the season for as long as it’s possible. The message they gave at the World Travel Market was ‘one Tourist, one friend’ and that despite the tourism protests in the summer, tourists are definitely welcome in Calvia all year round. The first phase of the new promenade in Magaluf has started at a cost of €5 million and the second phase funding has just been secured for the winter of 2025/26. There is an amazing opportunity to showcase all that is happening in Calvia and especially Magaluf when the ABTA conference comes to town in October next year. The Travel Convention is attended by decision makers, influencers and opinion formers spanning the full breadth of the mainstream and specialist travel sector; from tour operators and cruise lines, to hotels, airlines and all types of travel retailer. It is also attended by travel industry specialists, from accountants and lawyers to technology providers and marketing experts. Approximately 75% of the attendees are ABTA Members or Partners.

The event attracts more leading journalists from the UK national, consumer and travel trade press than any other UK travel industry event held overseas, creating significant coverage of the event.

Delegate numbers for The Travel Convention are capped at around 600, to provide delegates with a high quality event and networking experience. So as you can see it’s a perfect opportunity for Mallorca, Calvia and Magaluf to promote themselves and that is not lost on Juan Antonio.

At the end of the interview, he encourages everyone to attend the many fiestas that are happening through the holidays. Details of which can be found on the council’s website https://www.calvia.comThe full interview with Juan Antonio can be found at https://www.facebook.com/RadioOneMallorca 

He wishes everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

As this is my last column before Christmas and the New Year, I would also like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year. 

Shop Locally This Christmas

I’ve put together some ideas to make your Christmas a little easier. Whether you’re looking for some ideas for gifts or some deals from proven quality suppliers on the island, you should read on. 

The tanning product that has taken TikTok by storm and has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. 2BTanned is a premium tanning brand dedicated to helping you achieve a flawless, sun-kissed glow. Offering a range of high-quality tanning products, including accelerators and bronzers, 2BTanned delivers a deep, natural-looking tan with ease. Their formulas are designed to enhance your tanning experience, whether indoors on a sunbed or outdoors on the beach, for a radiant finish every time. Quite simply, the ultimate confidence boost which will make a great Christmas present or stocking filler. 

Items available to buy are;

Lip Gloss €10

100ml cream €10

200ml cream €20

Face creams €15

Gels €20

They can make up some Christmas bundles too if you wish. 

You can place an order on what’s app (0034) 692 920 017 or email julie@square1limited.com, and they can deliver them to you here on the island before December 20th. 

Simon at Bespoke Provisioning studied for 3 years training at Chefs school, which included becoming a fully fledged butcher and fishmonger. 

You may remember him from the Escape bar in Palma, which he ran for 16 years. When he left the bar he started The Meat & Fish Society which has now become Bespoke Provisioning. They specialise in the highest quality meat and fish, fully trimmed, cut, filleted, vacuum packed and labelled and delivered on time. They deliver to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca (fixed rates to Ibiza and Menorca so no surprises) Simon has cheffed for Queen drummer Roger Taylor on his new yacht ‘Rock n Roll’ and has cooked at countless events. 

As yacht provisioning is a little quieter at this time of year, he has some special festive offerings for Christmas. Whole organic Turkeys and gammon joints in various sizes, with a special offer of a 6kg Turkey with a 4kg gammon for €100. He can also offer other meats and fish, including geese, a rib roast or smoked salmon and even caviar. 

Simon has very kindly offered a 5% discount on all of his products if you use the code Richie Xmas. 

For more information, please call or WhatsApp Simon on 619 593 387. Facebook 

“the meat and fish society” for pictures, videos and general information. 

And you can Email him on sales@mn2v.co

Stuck what to buy someone this Christmas? Why not treat them to a sightseeing helicopter trip or get them a voucher for a trip or a voucher to go towards a trip?

Without doubt, one of the best ways to see Mallorca or one of our other islands is from a helicopter. It gives you a totally different perspective of the Balearics rather than driving around in a car or an excursion by coach. The Helicopter Center has over 20 years of experience to make flying a pleasure whilst maintaining the highest standards of safety.

They offer pleasure flights around our idyllic island, an island hop between Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, or you could indulge in their ultimate helicopter dining package. Which I have been lucky enough to experience. We flew from Son Bonet down to the South West coast and up through the beautiful mountainous West coast. Passing Richard Branson’s estate and the stunning villa of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. We landed at the 5-star hotel Son Brull, surrounded by 32 hectares of vineyards, orchards and centuries-old olive trees, just 2 km from the town of Pollença and 6 km from the sea. This historic 18th century monastery is the perfect place to enjoy a lunch and a bottle of Mallorca wine (lunch not included). We then flew back through the centre of the island, passing the reservoirs and the capital city of Palma. 

Stewart has very kindly offered a 5% discount on all flights and vouchers if you use the code Richie1.

For more information please go to http://www.thehelicoptercentre.com email info@thehelicoptercentre.com or call 0034 638 603 197

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. 

When I last spoke to Quentin, he didn’t have too many trees left, but has very kindly offered a 5% discount on the last few trees if you quote the code Richie Tree.

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.

I totally believe in buying and helping local businesses at this time of year. All of the above I count as friends who have always helped when I’ve asked for help with charity events. Rest assured, they are all professional people that have lived and worked in Mallorca for as long as I have. 

Ryanair Holidays

My life in Tourism began in the mid-eighties when I worked for Butlins holiday hotels as a Redcoat. My experience there led me to start work overseas here in Mallorca in 1990. I was a Holiday Rep for Intasun Holidays, working at the Guadalupe Hotel for my first season. At that time, there were loads of UK Tour Operators. Intasun were under the ILG banner which also included Global, Lancaster, Club 1830, Sol Holidays and the airline Air Europe. Their main rival was Thomson, who had Skytours, Horizon and their own airline called Brittania. There are lots of others too including, Cosmos, Owners Abroad (First Choice), Airtours and Thomas Cook. 

Remember, all this was before the internet was invented, so people booked their holidays with a travel agent or on teletext (remember that!) Low-cost airlines weren’t around at that time, although interestingly a company called Skytrain took to the air for the first time on 26 September 1977 when their inaugural flight departed London Gatwick for New York JFK. This flight carried 272 passengers on one of the airline’s 345-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide bodied aircraft. The fares charged at the time were £59 (equivalent to £463 in 2024) one-way from London and $135 (equivalent to £1,059 in 2024) one-way from New York. It makes we wonder why the owner Sir Freddie Laker decided to take on British Airways and the large American carriers at that time to fly long haul. When surely it would have been cheaper and more economical to fly short haul? He went bust five years later. 

Ryanair had been in existence since 1984 but by the mid 1990s it had become a big player in the European low-cost market, they were followed In 1996 by EasyJet with their first European flights. Both of these airlines began to totally change the way we travel and giving people the opportunity to arrange their own holidays. Interestingly starting in 1996 in Amsterdam, was Booking.com who have grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the world’s leading digital travel companies. On the back of both Ryanair and Easyjet. 

This then led to there being fewer Tour Operators, and they started to buy each other up. The biggest mergers were in 2007 when Thomas Cook partnered with My Travel and Tui partnered with First Choice. 

2007 also saw the emergence of Jet2 Holidays who had mainly been a flight only and freight company before that. 

Fast-forward to today, and the travel landscape is very different. 

The Leading ATOL-licensed tour operators in the United Kingdom as of February 2024, ranked by number of passengers licensed, with figures from Statista are;

  1. Jet2 Holidays 
  2. TUI UK
  3. Love Holidays 
  4. Booking.com
  5. EasyJet Holidays

With all the consolidation in the holiday market there is one name that’s missing in that Tour Operating top five. Ryanair have so far resisted the temptation to delve into the package holiday market. Interestingly, though, in January this year they agreed a new partnership with Love Holidays for its customers who wish to book low-cost package holidays. This deal allows Love Holidays customers to buy Ryanair flights, seats, and bags as part of their love holidays package at Ryanair’s low prices.

Don’t be surprised to see Ryanair take that partnership further by buying Love Holidays or another online travel agent and launching Ryanair Holidays. It seems the natural way forward and having seen what EasyJet have done, I’m sure they won’t be far behind. 

December 1st!

December 1st has been named as the best date to put your Christmas tree up. According to the experts at Christmas Tree World, December 1 is the perfect date for other reasons too. By embracing the Christmas spirit early, families are left with enough time to establish their own traditions. Having the tree up can also encourage you to get ahead of the rush when it comes to buying presents for loved ones. Interestingly, minimalist Christmas trees have surged in popularity this year, devoid of tinsel, sparkling fairy lights and homemade decorations. Designs now proving popular with shoppers include trees with metal branches, or skeletal-like wooden frames. It comes after research suggested that traditional Christmas decorations are on the decline, with over a third (34%) of Brits saying they’re boring and half (50%) saying they want their Christmas tree to reflect their passions. Instead, people are opting for more meaningful decor, with more than three-quarters of Brits owning personal baubles that have a special meaning to them. 

Don’t forget, Mallorca Christmas trees are open for business in Son Oms industrial estate. For more information, please visit http://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com Mallorca Christmas Trees on Facebook and Instagram or call or what’s app (0034) 658 342 941.

Britain is a proud nation of fakers, with two-thirds believing we have perfected the art of receiving presents we do not like. As many as 69 per cent of Brits would not dream of telling someone they didn’t like a gift given to them – with a third (30 per cent) regularly pretending to like pressies they actually hate, according to a new survey. In fact, half (49 per cent) admit they often receive Christmas gifts they dislike – so much so that 60 per cent believe they have perfected the art of faking their joy. And, according to one in three (31 per cent) of the nation’s ‘faking experts’, exclaiming ‘thank you! It’s what I’ve always wanted’ in a big voice, is the best way to disguise your dislike, along with common phrases, ‘you really shouldn’t have’ (23 per cent) or ‘it’ll be souseful’ (22 per cent), according to the findings by online card marketplace thortful. Changing the topic quickly to focus on someone else (nine per cent) and hopefully quipping ‘it will look great when I put it on’ (nine per cent) are also among the top ways to hide dislike. In our family we do a secret Santa where we randomly pick a family name from an online app and each person can make up a wish list from Amazon, Etsy, JD Sports, Nike and Look Fantastic to the value of £50.00. Meaning everyone ends up with a present that they wanted and not having to come up with the excuses like above. 

Football league one side Stockport County has embraced the festive spirit with an innovative meal that’s sure to go down a treat at half-time, and it’s already gone viral. 

Food at football grounds can leave a lot to be desired, and you will normally pay through the nose for it. There’s a superb Instagram app called ‘footyscran’ which features good and bad food at football stadiums.

The ‘Christmas dinner in a cup’ has captured the imagination of fans nationwide, leaving them eager to sample it, and it’s already gone viral. The Hatters as they’re known have produced, a delicious offering of tender turkey, savoury stuffing, creamy mash, and rich gravy, and at £4.50 it is an absolute bargain. Complete with brussels sprouts, pigs in blankets, and roast potatoes, the cup prompted comments such as, 

“A lot of pubs would pour that on a plate and charge £18. Pick out the sprouts

and that’s a top half-time warmer!”

Another admirer remarked: “If clubs were judged on food, Stockport County would be in the Champions League. 

Last Friday, we started playing Christmas songs on the radio. Normally we will wait until December 1st but as that’s today, the listeners decided for us to start last Friday. Now just to make you feel old, this year marks the 40th anniversary of Band Aid song ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ and the Wham! song ‘Last Christmas. Also, it’s the 30th anniversary of the East 17 song ‘Stay Another Day’. 

This week’s Official Singles Chart already has 10 Christmas songs in it, with Wham! The highest at number 8 and Mariah Carey at number 10.

I wonder what will be this year’s Christmas number one?

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.