Tag: europe

How Does Portugal Compare To Mallorca?

Whenever I visit another country, I always find myself comparing it to Mallorca. At the end of last year, my youngest son Jude had been invited by the Llevante Academy in Mallorca, to play in a tournament called the IberCup in Estoril, Portugal. Llevante Academy is made up of players from around the island who are invited to play in tournaments in different age groups. The IberCup is one of the largest and most International Youth Football Tournaments, teams get a chance to play against the best Football Academies in different locations around the world. Since he was called up, he had training sessions in different parts of the island, once or twice a month. As the tournament was in July, I thought that it might be a struggle to go and watch him, as July is high season for pirates. But my boss Cathy encouraged me to go, for which I was very grateful. My Wife and I decided it would be a good time to getaway for a little rest and relaxation after what has been a fairly stressful year. Both of us had worked in Portugal before, I was a holiday Rep in the Algarve, and she had worked as a dancer in Oporto. 

We based ourselves in Estoril, which is just outside the capital city of Lisbon. Most of the games were scheduled to be played in and around that area. 

The boys flew to Sevilla and then had a 5-hour coach journey from there to Estoril. We took the slightly easier route of flying with Vueling direct to Lisbon. The hotel was called Evolution Calais and Estoril and is situated on the seafront just outside the town of Estoril and the city of Lisbon. A very modern hotel with views out to sea from the higher floor rooms and a rooftop swimming pool. The staff were very attentive and spoke fluent English, and I would definitely recommend to others. 

The games were close to the hotel but not close enough to walk, so with the help of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who had come across from a holiday in Madeira, we discovered Uber. There is no shortage of them in Portugal, unlike Mallorca, and very cheap too. Our journey from the airport to the hotel by taxi cost us €48 and our journey back from the hotel to the airport with Uber was €23.50. I look forward to Mallorca either putting out more taxis or extending the Uber offering. We also used the local bus and train service a couple of times, which were frequent and cheap. That’s slightly different for us as residents in Mallorca, as we get free travel. We took a trip up to a beautiful place called Sintra, but I have to be honest and say there were just too many people to enjoy it, so we cut short our visit. We weren’t made aware of any tourism overcrowding protests, but I could understand in that part if there were some. 

We found eating out a lot cheaper than Mallorca. An average cost of a meal with starters, main course and drinks was around €25pp. On our last night, we ate in the marina and discovered the old town, which was a shame as we would have liked to explore that. 

The football went very well. Jude’s team were in a group with 3 Portuguese teams and a team from Canada. They drew their first game 0-0 and then won 6-0, 3-1 and 12-0. In the last 16 they played a team from Beirut in Lebanon. A tough game which they eventually won by 1-0. We had planned our stay to leave on the Saturday evening, and we now had the prospect of playing a quarter-final and a possible semi-final on the Saturday afternoon and the final on Sunday morning. Should I change our flights was the conundrum I was dealing with, but that wasn’t easy, so I decided to wait and see what happened first? The quarter-final was against another Spanish team, from Cataluña. Who were a very tough opponent. They were playing a little higher in the mountains and the wind proved to be the deciding factor. They disappointingly lost 1-0 and so were out of the competition. Nevertheless, they’d had a great time and were much the better for the experience. We would have rather seen them qualify, but this did mean that we could catch our original flight. 

I thoroughly recommend Portugal as a country, Estoril and its surrounding areas, and we will definitely go back to the Old Town and visit Lisbon next time. 

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

The Young Ones

I’m passionate about my football, especially when it comes to Real Mallorca and football in general here on the island. I believe it’s a help not only to tourism to have a team in La Liga but to the development of youth football on the island too. However, although the island does produce some great footballers, there haven’t been that many who’ve come through the ranks and made it to the Real Mallorca first team. The most notable is Marco Asensio, of course, who started at Platges de Calvia before moving to Real Mallorca, then to Real Madrid, and he’s currently playing for Paris St Germain. The former coach of Mallorca, Javier Aguirre, wasn’t an advocate of bringing youth footballers through, but the new coach Jagoba Arrasate is apparently a fan of promoting them through from the academy. At his old club Osasuna at least six of the first team squad have come through the ranks. Pablo Ortells the director of football at Real Mallorca said this week, “We can win titles in grassroots football, but if we don’t develop players to move up to move up to the first team, our work is incomplete.” Music to the ears of all youth footballers here on the island. It comes after Mallorca’s division honor team (under 19’s) won their league and the Copa del Rey. Also, Mallorca B have just been promoted to the fourth tier of Spanish football and this team is made up of players between 18–24 years of age. 

If these youngsters are given a chance, then there are many benefits for everyone. The club doesn’t need to spend money to bring players in, an exceptional player will no doubt get transferred for a fee to help pay for other transfers or to invest in the academy. Every supporter around the World loves a “home-grown” player. Most importantly, if there are those opportunities, you won’t see as many of our talented footballers leaving the island looking to play first team football. Case in point this week, Marc Domenec is a 17-year-old forward who played for San Francisco division honor team this year. The club where my two boys play. He was the top goalscorer in the league with 21 goals. He has a contract with Real Mallorca until 2027 and this week a bid of €300,000 was made by Barcelona. This was firmly rejected by the club, who see him as the next “Marco Asensio”. He will probably play with Mallorca B next year and also train with the first team. Apparently his buy out clause is 1 million euros and I think Barcelona will be reluctant to pay that. All in all, it’s a good time for Mallorca football, and hopefully we’ll be hearing that song “he’s one of our own” many more times. Well, the Mallorquín equivalent of course! 

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

10 Ways To Save Money in Mallorca

Everyone is saying how expensive Mallorca has become, so I’ve come up with 10 ways to save money here on the island. 

  1. The Spanish government subsidises 75% of the fares of scheduled air or sea transport for all EU citizens who are residents of the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla. For us Brits living in Mallorca it means to qualify for the discount, you must be a permanent resident, either with the green NIE stating ‘permanente’ or with the TIE card. You also need to get a resident certificate from the municipal council where you are registered. I got ours from one of the tourist information offices. 
  2. All public transport will continue to be free in 2024. This will be for interurban buses, trains and Metro in Mallorca. Palma buses are treated separately, and the town hall has said these are also free. To get your card, you’ll need to take your NIE and ‘empadronamiento’ – proof of residence in your local municipality – to one of the travel information offices. Palma’s intermodal station is just one of the locations where you can obtain your card. Note that the Soller train is not included in the above. 
  3. In the municipality where I live in Calvia, parking is free in the blue zones in the winter, which is normally November to the end of March. In those blue zones in the summer months, you have to pay on Mondays to Fridays 09.30 to 13.30 and 16.00 to 20.00. Saturdays, 09:30 to 13.30, Sundays and bank holidays are free. It’s always best to check the machine before paying. It can be different in other municipalities, so it’s good to check first. There is a parking app called Elparking.com which I haven’t used yet but looks useful, particularly in the summer months. 
  4. Hotel treats is a website that offers vouchers to luxury hotels, spas and beach clubs not just to tourists but to residents too. My Wife made me aware of this when she booked a day at Puro Beach in Illetas last summer. We got a Bali bed for two, drinks and fruit on arrival and a three-course meal with wine in their restaurant, all for just €100. 
  5. Menú del día, or “menu of the day”, is a set menu or served by Spanish restaurants during weekday lunch, one of the largest meals of the day in Spain. It is known for being economical, and normally you’ll have a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts plus a bottle of house wine and water. Lots of restaurants are offering this now, not just your traditional Spanish restaurants. 
  6. Most of the supermarkets have loyalty cards. We shop in Lidl, who have an app that you can download. You tend to find that they will offer you discount on the things you buy regularly, which is useful. Aldi offer something similar, Eroski and Carrefour have a club card system and as far as I am aware Mercadona do not have anything. Although they do have that annoying jingle which now I’ve said it will be going on in your heads all day! 
  7. “Too Good To Go” is the free food recovery app that makes it easy to make a positive impact on the planet while saving money on your favourite foods. The #1 app for reducing food waste, you can save tasty unsold snacks, takeaway meals, and ingredients straight from shops, cafés, supermarkets and restaurants in your area – all at an unbeatable price. Most of the offers range from €2 to €5 and are normally available in the afternoon/evening. 
  8. Mallorca Fashion Outlet is situated just outside Marratxi on the outskirts of Palma. It has a full array of shops offering factory prices plus a cinema, karting and many different food outlets. Every last Thursday of the month they offer “Super Thursdays” where they offer even bigger discounts. I went to one last year when they were offering all goods without paying IVA(VAT to you and I).
  9. Most excursions on the island offer a resident’s discount. It’s best to check with each one what they offer. At Pirates, you can get 20% off of Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos, by using the code RESW20. But keep a lookout in the winter months, as sometimes we’ll offer a bigger discount for a limited period only. 
  10. Most of the above are for residents here on the island, but a few of them can be used if you’re visiting us from somewhere else. I would encourage more of you to come in the low season and in the winter. Mallorca and Palma in particular have a great deal to offer than just sun, sea and sand. Gastronomy, culture, bars, boutique hotels, history and lots of shopping opportunities are just a few of the highlights. 

This list has been made up of things I already knew and some from friends that I didn’t know about. I’m sure there are many more, so please feel free to send them to me or add them into the comments below. 

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

Welcome To Mallorca

So Mallorca is back in the headlines again. After the so-called “booze ban”, now we apparently don’t want any tourists. Give the British press a bone, and you can be sure as (can’t say it), that they’ll not only be chewing on it, they’ll be making up their own stuff too. Why let a good headline get in the way of the truth? TOURIST GO HOME is the message and let’s be honest, it’s not a very welcoming one, is it? Grammatically incorrect, of course, but why let that get in the way of what you’re trying to achieve. And to be honest, that is what is puzzling me, just exactly what are you trying to achieve? I highlighted a few weeks ago that a vote for Brexit in the UK was a vote from the older community, which has ultimately made freedom of movement for our younger people that much more difficult. So, whilst trying to deny an immigrant entrance into the UK, you’ve denied our younger people the opportunity to do the same in another country. 

With their message, they are trying to drive people away from the tourist industry that is fundamental to the islands’ GDP. Someone tried to tell me the other week that tourism is only 11% of Spain’s GDP. That may well be true, but on our island it’s 45% and would hazard a guess that it is a lot higher than that when you take into account the third party businesses that support tourism. 

Mallorca isn’t the only destination with this problem. Barcelona, the Canary Islands, Amsterdam, Venice, Japan and Hawaii are other examples. My family were in Croatia in the past couple of weeks and the same message was seen there too.

So what’s the beef amongst these protesters here in Mallorca? Too many tourists, lack of affordable housing, high cost of living, traffic congestion, impact on the environment and natural resources are the main factors, I am led to believe. 

In my opinion, there’s a total lack of organisation and management here.  Political parties with their own views are getting in the way of the problem. So, rather and sitting down like adults and discussing properly, they argue against each other. The “left” were in Government for 8 years and did absolutely nothing, and now they’re in opposition they’re voting against anything that the “right” proposes. As the right are a minority Government, depending on VOX to help them, nothing gets done or if it does, it’s painfully slow.

So let’s discuss each of their points.

Too many tourists…. You may remember I interviewed Brad Robertson from Save The Med a couple of weeks ago. He said, “there’s too many of us, that’s not just tourists, that’s people living here too.” Mallorca isn’t like the Canaries, who have a whole year – round problem, the season is six months at best, and I’d say the true busy part is June to September. Tour operators aren’t the major problem as if you go back to years gone by, there were a lot more and that just isn’t the case now. It is the growth of the low-cost airlines, the car rentals, the Airbnb market and the illegal lets that are now the problem. 

A lot of this can’t be blamed on foreign investment as Mallorca’s biggest Hotel chains, Melia, Fergus, Iberostar, Riu and Barcelo are all Spanish owned and run. The airport is run by the Spanish state owned company AENA. Mallorca’s Son Sant Joan airport is the third largest in Spain, with only Madrid and Barcelona having greater numbers. Despite that, the airport is expanding the terminal buildings and more car parking space which is not for cars parking, it’s for rental cars to have more space. When I checked into the car park last weekend, half of the second floor was dedicated to the car hire firm, OK Cars.

Lack of affordable housing….
It is true that foreign investors have driven up the prices of property, but there are also many Spanish people that have second holiday homes that they use in the holidays or rent out. My neighbours where I live are from Madrid, and we only see them during the holidays. Rental prices are too high but with a lack of properties and demand so high, there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Rent caps have been put forward by the opposition PSOE but considering they were in power for eight years and did nothing, it’s laughable really. You have to ask who owns these properties, and I think you’ll find the majority are Spanish owned. So would any property owner be happy if their incomes were capped? This is not just a Mallorca problem, my Sister in the UK has her eldest Son currently living at home with his girlfriend as they can’t afford to rent or buy there either.

Promoters, in order to get their building licence, should be forced to build a percentage of affordable housing and make those properties unsellable for a long time period. Like they did on the properties in Son Caliu behind Mercadona. 

There are plenty of Old military plots in and around Palma that could be turned into affordable housing, and any old hotels or apartment blocks should be converted too.

High cost of living…..

We are an island and therefore the majority of our goods must be imported, making them immediately more expensive. There was an increase when the pandemic hit and as yet as far as I can see there hasn’t been any reductions since we have got back to normal. If the demand is there, companies are less likely to reduce their prices. 

Traffic congestion….

If, like me, you’ve driven the Via Cintura in the winter, there is still traffic congestion and it can still be a nightmare. Of course, that traffic increases in the summer with the car hire and coaches. The bus services I think are pretty good, but the Palma Metro and the rail links, particularly to the south of the island, need to be looked at. There have been calls for car hire limits, but apart from Formentera as far as I am aware, there doesn’t seem to be one in place. A park and ride service into the centre of Palma wouldn’t be a bad idea. What about utilising the huge car park at Mallorca Outlets, for instance? It would drive traffic there to shop, and then you could hop on a bus for more central Palma shopping if you wished. Real Mallorca has a huge car park that gets used 19 days a year for their home games and mostly in the off season. That would be another perfect park and ride stop. 

Impact on the island and its natural resources….

I have two words to say about this….Tourist Tax. The tax was introduced to help inject funds into conserving the environment and to make tourism more sustainable for the island’s ever-increasing population in the high-season. Data provided by the authorities show that around €12 million will be raised each year as a result of the tourist tax.

Mallorca is a beautiful island of contrast. From the beautiful beaches in the North, to the mountains of the West, the caves and coves of the East and the bustling busy nightlife of the South. There is something for absolutely everyone. 

If ever there was a destination built for tourism, it is our island. It hasn’t been one of the most popular destinations in the World for the last 50 years for nothing. It is, in my opinion, still one of the best holiday destinations, an island with turquoise blue waters, secret coves, soft golden sands, lush green foliage, rugged mountains, picturesque villages, amazing cuisine, an up-and-coming wine industry, bustling nightlife and a vibrant capital city. 

But we must keep it that way, and therefore, as I said above, it must be managed in a right and proper manner.

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 

The Devil is in the Detail!

I hope the person in charge of PR for the Balearic Islands has been working this weekend. The press and social media has been dominated by headlines such as “Booze You Lose” and “A kick in the Balearics for Boozy Brits”

It was reported that sales of alcohol would be banned from 9.30pm until 8am, but they didn’t explain where. Prompting the pile-on from the press and the keyboard warriors. All headlines have to be put into context and the devil is in the detail, as most of them are either clickbait, old news or fake news. Any excuse to sell a newspaper or get more likes on social media. But the more serious side of this is the effect it has on the holiday industry and, more importantly, the businesses that rely so much on it. I’ve lost count of the amount of people who’ve been asking me has Magalluf banned alcohol? That’s people looking to come away on holiday and, more importantly, concerned business owners.

So let’s put this utter rubbish to bed. Remember that this isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s old news rewritten with the authorities looking to put it back into the public eye, with what they say are stricter rules. Which is where the PR comes into it, do these people not talk to each other? Yes, put out the statement, but at least control how it is presented. 

In January 2020, the Balearic government passed a decree law “against tourism of excesses and for the improvement of quality in tourist zones”. This, however, got lost in the two years of the pandemic. But since the resorts reopened in 2022 and 2023 the rules have been applied. 

It is important to point out that the decree applies to only four resorts in the Balearics but not to the whole of these resorts – Arenal (Llucmajor), Magalluf, Playa de Palma and Sant Antoni de Portmany. Which, in my opinion, is where this is wrong. I’m all for the measures but for all, not by a map that has been drawn to favour certain businesses. There’s a great saying in Spanish which says ‘todos Moros o todos Cristianos’ which basically means everyone should receive the same or be held by the same. 

The part of the decree that created all the fuss over the weekend, which for clarity has been part of it since it was created in 2020, was the following. 

“Displays of alcoholic drinks outside shops or in shop windows are prohibited, and alcohol cannot be sold by shops between 9.30pm and 8am.”

Meaning this has nothing to do with all the restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs, who have certain other rules they have to apply to, but it’s not a total ban as the headlines appeared to state.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Magaluf has one of the best beaches on the island. All the beach clubs, shows, restaurants, cafés, bars, clubs and hotels have invested huge amounts of money to upgrade their premises and turn the resort around. Having lived and worked here for over 30 years, I think I’m entitled to comment, and I don’t think I’ve seen it looking so good. 

So let’s be positive,  drive this negativity away and look forward to a busy summer. 

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 

Brexit, Was It Worth It?

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 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 in the UK, the freedom to travel and work abroad. 

I can take this back even further, when the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition took away the opportunity for parents to take their children out of school during term time for a holiday. A subject I’ve talked about before. Seeing new countries, experiencing new cultures, hearing new languages and tasting different cuisines should be part of their education in my opinion. And it should be in the hands of the parents and teachers to decide if a child could take some time away, not a Government Minister.

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.

In the last few weeks I’ve highlighted the slowness at passport controls now and   that employing people from the UK is virtually impossible here in Mallorca. So imagine my surprise and anger when I heard this. Rishi Sunak has rejected an EU offer to strike a post-Brexit deal to allow young Britons to live, study or work in the bloc for up to four years.

The prime minister declined the European Commission’s surprise proposal of a youth mobility scheme for people aged between 18 and 30.

The current UK Government are on borrowed time, but even the Labour Party who are tipped to get into power have rejected this. Saying, “Labour has no plans for a youth mobility scheme. We have already suggested some tangible ways that we would look to improve the relationship and deliver for British businesses and consumers.”

In fact the only ones who support this are the Liberal Democrats, their leader Ed Davey says “Expanding our existing youth mobility visas to cover European countries on a reciprocal basis would be a win-win. 

“It would be a much-needed boost to our economy, especially hospitality and tourism; it would offer great new opportunities to young British people to work abroad; and it would be a crucial step towards fixing our broken relationship with Europe.” Unfortunately, the Lib/Dems have as much chance of winning the election as Tottenham Hotspur do of winning a trophy. 

Anand Menon, a professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London and director of UK in a Changing Europe, said: “Clearly there is a debate to be had about the costs and the benefits of a youth mobility scheme, but I find it utterly depressing that both of the major political parties, one of which will form a government after the next election, do not know the difference between free movement and a limited youth mobility scheme which involves visas.”

It is true that a youth mobility scheme would not be a return to freedom of movement and would, if agreed, require a YMS visa, evidence of sufficient funds to sustain a living and health insurance. There is speculation that the UK will try and do individual deals with certain countries rather than the whole Bloc. If that is the case, then I sincerely hope that Spain is top of that list. 

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 

Mallorca Too Expensive?

I see a lot of comments on social media about how expensive Mallorca has become. Being an island that has to import most of its produce, unfortunately means we are hit harder than most. But most of the complaints seem to be about the cost of holidays, flights and hotels. Once again, being an island doesn’t help, as it limits the ways people can get to us. 

Possibly we have become victims of our own success and popularity means more, and more people are choosing to come here. If Tour Operators, hoteliers and airlines see that demand and load factors are high, then why would they drop their prices? I’m not saying it’s right, but it makes business sense and let’s face it, they are not in it to lose money. A change I have seen is that the Brits do not seem to dominate the market as much as they used to. In the resort of Magalluf which has been a predominantly British resort for years, we are now seeing Germans, French, Italians, Spanish, Scandinavians and Americans. At Pirates, particularly in our family Adventure show, we have seen a huge shift. Years ago, our market would have been 90% British, but that has now slipped to just over 50% with all the other markets filling the space. 

Mallorca hoteliers who own Iberostar and Melia hotels International hit the headlines when they were announced on Forbes billionaire list. Then came the usual pile on from the keyboard warriors about reducing their hotel prices in Mallorca. Let’s remember that although these businesses are based here, they have hotels and other businesses all over the World. So their fortune is not just built here. When I was in Seville in February, I booked a room for one night at the Eurostars Torre Sevilla for 3 of us, and it cost me €150. The weekend that Real Mallorca played there in the Copa del Rey final, the same hotel was €599 for one night! It’s a trend copied by tour operators, hoteliers and airlines worldwide and if you want to go somewhere that’s popular, I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay for it. 

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 

Real Mallorca Brings Tourism – Fact

Last week I mentioned the importance of Mallorca having a successful football team from a tourism point of view. This week we learned that the Balearic government and the Council of Mallorca will pay 2.6 million euros to the club, a new tourism promotion sponsorship agreement. It was an agreement that was made under the previous PSOE government but dropped because of their coalition partners Més and Podemos being so anti-tourism. 

Reacting to the new agreement, the Més spokesperson at the Council of Mallorca, Jaume Alzamora, says that it is one thing is help and support sport and a very different thing to provide funds for something that will lead to more tourism “massification”.

He is critical of the use of public money for an organisation that is only motivated by financial interests. It is money for a company that does not have Mallorcan capital, has few local players but ones who earn “very high salaries”.

Luckily, these people are no longer in power, but they still speak utter rubbish in the press. Does Señor Alzamora realise that the majority of the football season is played in the low season, away from the really busy months? What business isn’t motivated by financial interests? It is run by an American company, that is true, but let’s face it, it hadn’t been run properly for years in the hands of Spanish owners. There are four Mallorcan born players in the current first team squad, which I consider to be a good number when you look at the size of the island. And who is he to question the salaries they earn?

Not only that, it’s a huge boost for all of our youngsters on the island wanting to become professional footballers. I highlighted last week that Real Mallorca’s youth team won the Copa del Rey, which is an unbelievable achievement. 

And one last fact for our friend from Més (that’s the party he represents by the way, make up your own gags!)

The president of the Mallorca Hotel Federation (FEHM), María Frontera, has said that the tourism sector is responsible for 7 out of every 10 jobs created in the Balearics.

The start of the season is upon us. With Easter falling so early, it’s been a bit of a conundrum for businesses here on the island whether they open or wait until the start of May. According to reports this week, 90% of Hotels in the Calvia region in the south of the island will be open, which is refreshing to hear. What I’m hearing and seeing is there doesn’t seem to be too much of a lull after Easter, which is always the problem when it falls so early. No business wants to be stuck with a load of employees on contract with nothing to do. At Pirates, we opened our Adventure show on Wednesday the 27th of March, with extra shows over Easter. That’s followed by Gringos on Saturday the 30th of March and Reloaded on Friday April the 19th. We have not seen such levels of bookings since the pandemic and speaking to all the tour operators, agencies and hotels, the feeling is a good one for the season. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it’s important that we can look after these people to ensure that they come back year after year. 

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Easter. 

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 

Don’t Forget Your Core Supporters!

This weeks thoughts are a bit of a double edged sword. I want to give out praise where praise is due but  there are a couple of negatives coming too. The negatives are in my opinion constructive and believe me when I say I only want the best outcome.

I’ve been a Real Mallorca fan since I came to the island. I started going regularly in the early 2,000’s, so I’ve seen the good times and the really bad times. In the 2016/17 season they were relegated to Segunda B meaning they couldn’t go much lower. In that league average attendances were around 3 or 4,000, you could sit in your allotted season ticket seat and not have anyone near you. Believe me at times it was awful to watch but we still went every week. At that time Mallorca were bought by a group of Americans investors who without doubt at that time would have been wondering what they had got themselves into. Remember that relegation doesn’t happen in American sport. However back to back promotions meant they returned to La Liga in record time. Another relegation during COVID was quickly turned around the following season and last season they finished a very successful ninth in the league.

During all this time the owners have invested a lot of time and money into the Club and away from the pitch their marketing and in particular their social media ranked them third in La Liga behind the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona. One thing that had held the club back was the stadium. Built in 1999 for the World Student Games and leased to the club by the Palma City Council for 50 years, there had been many arguements over its renovation and in particular the running track. Thankfully those arguements subsided and work began on moving the stands closer to the pitch. When you visit the stadium now it is something to be proud of and this week a season record crowd of 22,051 saw the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey. 

One of the major changes to the stadium has been on the corporate side. New offerings include the ‘Tunnel Experience’, the ‘Premium Club’ and the new VIP boxes above the North stand. One of those boxes for a season for 12 people will cost you an eye watering 44,000€. If all these offerings are sold and the money can be reinvested into the team that can only be good for the club. 

Now I did say at the beginning of this there would be a couple of negatives. As I said I hope the club is looking into the issues I’m highlighting as it seems that the average season ticket holder like me has been left behind. I am more than happy with the stadium on the inside, my beef lays on the outside. Part of the renovation was to convert the old Mallorca Cafe into a state of the art club shop. Which I’m not criticising as it looks amazing but the Mallorca Cafe was a meeting point for fans before the game. Last Tuesday there was a temporary constructed outside bar that was nowhere near big enough to service the thousands of people outside. Remember that you can only buy an alcoholic drink outside a La Liga ground as it is banned inside the stadium. So you can imagine what it was like. Are their any plans to replace the Mallorca Cafe, that would not only be used on match days but as before for people to enjoy it for a morning coffee or to watch away matches on a big screen? Surely this is an opportunity for the club to make extra income? On top of the lack of being able to get a drink, there were two mobile caravans selling burgers at 8€ a pop. Neither despite their best intentions could cope with the amount of people. If the outside experience of us fans not wanting the corporate experience is being looked into then that is something to look forward to. The other problem is trying to get out of the stadium at the end of the game from the club car park. It took me an hour to get out on Tuesday night. I’m not sure what the answer is as it seems the majority of the crowd drive to the stadium. When a game is on there are cars parked everywhere, even on the motorway hard shoulder! Would the club and Palma City Council look at extending the metro service? Or maybe offer a rolling free bus service back into the city? There was talk by the previous government of building a tram service from the centre of Palma to the airport and also to Son Espases hospital. Could this be extended to the stadium? These projects were to paid for in part by European or Spanish Government subsidies. Alfonso Diaz, Mallorca’s Chief Executive has said “Basically, we want this stadium, which is a major building in the city, to be a venue for the city and its people. Little by little, this is being achieved and this space is being opened up so that it could be used 365 days per year and not just 19 or 20 times when there is a football match. The city and its people should be able to enjoy this venue with facilities that can be used for social, sporting, and entrepreneurial activities.” That’s great but that outside experience and the transport problem needs looking into. 

I will of course carry on being a season ticket holder as there’s nothing I want more to see the club be successful. I believe having a club in La Liga is positive for the island and is another arm to our tourist offering particularly in the low season. Not only that, it is an avenue for all youth footballers here to go into the professional game. 

As the song sung at the stadium goes “Rojo, negro hasta que me muera” (meaning red and black until I die).

But please remember and look after your non-corporate supporters. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

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

A Solution To Winter In Mallorca?

We’ve just got back from being away for the Christmas holidays. Working the Summer season in Mallorca makes it impossible for us to go away at any other  time. This year we used Center Parcs at Woburn in Bedfordshire as our base to visit family and friends and for them to visit us. After the Christmas celebrations we flew to the beautiful island of Jamaica and the resort of Negril. I was looking at the two destinations to see how they compared to Mallorca and what could we learn from them. 

Woburn Center Parcs is the newest of the five Parcs around the country and was opened in 2014. The other sites are Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire and Whinfell Forest in Cumbria. Ten years ago virtually to this day I wrote the following about Elveden Forest Center Parcs in Suffolk.

‘Our final 3 days were spent at the Centre Parcs site at Elveden Forest. If you’ve never been I would thoroughly recommend it for families. “The Center Parcs concept is to provide short breaks in the forest, bringing families together and back to nature with high quality accommodation, a range of outstanding leisure facilities and over 200 activities, all set within a protected and enhanced woodland environment. 

Each village is set in 400 acres of natural woodland, with trees, streams and wildlife surrounding Apartment and Lodge accommodation. At the heart of each village is the Subtropical Swimming Paradise, an extensive range of restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, plus, Center Parcs’ own Aqua Sana spa facility.”

Now we didn’t go for the weather as you can imagine but it led me to think why couldn’t this concept work in Mallorca?’

So just to repeat I wrote that 10 years ago when the last Parc at Woburn was opened and my thoughts haven’t changed in the slightest. In the Summer it would be a no brainer and in the winter a great way of prolonging the season. On average 2,000 plus  people a week, surely that’s worth exploring? The problem we have is there are currently no incentives for businesses to stay open in the winter as far as I know. We are an island so we need the airlines to commit and once they do it will create a snowball effect. Whilst Center Parcs has all their bars and restaurants on site you could argue how does that help the resorts? Well pretty much the same way as all inclusive has done. People will always want to explore and spending your whole holiday in the same place all the time isn’t for me and many others as I’ve discovered whilst in Jamaica. 

Since I wrote the above a Spanish company(not Center Parcs) but who have a similar concept did moot a similar idea to Calvia Town Hall. The idea was to use the land occupied by Western Water Park and the old Aquapark on the outskirts of Magaluf. They had talked to the owners of the land and the idea was then pushed higher to the Balearic Government. Guess what? It was refused! I’m not party to the reason why but it was an opportunity lost in my opinion. 

The arguement about winter in Mallorca apart from airline links always comes back to the weather. The winter weather though has definitely improved and as I write this from a beach in Jamaica you may be laughing as I hear it’s turned colder and there’s snow on the mountains at home. Believe me it’s a damn sight better there than the UK was over Christmas and that didn’t stop everyone having a good time at Woburn.

So I’ve made the case for Center Parcs, what about Jamaica?

The major negative people will always throw at you between Mallorca and Jamaica is the weather. But it’s worth remembering the curse of Jamaican weather is the hurricane or rainy season and it officially lasts from June 1st to November 30th. Temperatures though are still high nearly all year round as opposed to Mallorca where in the winter it’s colder. To be honest it s difficult to make a comparison as there’s no denying both islands are stunningly beautiful and have beaches to die for. I’d say the infrastructure of Mallorca is better than Jamaica but I’d say the Jamaicans are friendlier. Neither is a criticism of the other, just my opinion. Mallorca of course is a lot closer to home, a 2 hour flight compared to a 10 hour flight is always helpful. I don’t though think there’s a case for where is better but if I had to choose then of course it would have to be Mallorca. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

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