Tag: featured

Mallorca Going For Gold

The Olympics opened in Paris last night and Mallorca has quite a few representatives in the games and has been the training ground for many individuals and teams leading up to it. Here are all of our athletes and the sports they are competing in. 

Adrián Abadía (Palma) Synchronised 3m springboard.

Álex Abrines (Palma) Basketball.

Nacho Baltasar (Palma) Sailing. iQFOiL.

Paula Barceló (Palma) Sailing. 49er FX.

Mariona Caldentey (Felanitx) Football.

Juana Camilión (Palma) Basketball 3×3.

Cata Coll (Marratxí) Football.

Marcus Cooper (Oxford) Canoeing. K4-500, K2-500.

Sergio de Celis (Palma) Swimming. 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m breaststroke.

Rudy Fernández (Palma) Basketball.

Mavi García (Marratxí). Road cycling. 

Hugo González (Palma). Swimming. 200m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 4×100 freestyle.

Patri Guijarro (Palma) Football.

Joan Toni Moreno (Pollença). Canoeing. C2-500.

Nicolau Mir (Palma). Artistic gymnastics. Teams and individual.

Jaume Munar (Santanyí) Tennis. Individual.

Rafael Nadal (Manacor) Tennis. Singles and doubles.

Alba Torrens (Binissalem) Basketball.

It is the first time ever that 3 athletes from Mallorca have competed in the same team. Mariona Caldentey from Felanitx, Cata Coll from Portol and Patri Guijarra from Palma will compete together in the women’s football.

Gymnast Nicolau Mir is from the Xelska Gymnastics Club in Palma, who we sponsor at Pirates. 

Basketball player Rudy Fernandez will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games and is considered to be the Spanish flag bearer at the closing ceremony of Paris’24.

Rafa Nadal will compete in his last Olympics and possibly his last competitive matches in Paris. He will play in both the Men’s singles event, and he will team up with Wimbledon Champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Men’s doubles.

Marcus Cooper was born in Oxford, England, to an American father and a British/German mother, the family moved to Mallorca when Cooper was 3 months old. The Spanish Olympic Committee selected Cooper, together with women’s sailor Tamara Echegoven as the flag bearers for the country.

With Mallorca having such a plethora of great sporting facilities, with great all year round weather and being easily accessible. There has been no shortage of teams and individuals training here pre-Olympics.

Matthew O’Connor who runs the Best Swim Centre in Ses Salines told me “We have had the New Zealand, Croatian, Norwegian and Bosnian national swim teams, who all just left for Paris in the last few days. The Canada open water swim team arrived this past week. Then the New Zealand, Croatian and Czech Paralympic teams arrive over the next few weeks.”

From The Best Swim Centre, Real Mallorca’s training ground, Rafa Nadal’s tennis centre, the Palma cycling Velodrome, the Son Hugo dive centre and the athletics stadium in Magaluf, there is no shortage of facilities. Add in the road cyclists, the sailors, the canoeists, the basketball players and many more, you can see why Mallorca not only produces great athletes but has all the facilities to help many others from around the World. 

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

A Bumper Year For Mallorca But Can We Cope?

Mallorca looks like it’s going to have a bumper season, that’s not just coming from me take a look at what industry experts are saying.

The CEO of Tui Stefan Baumert highlights Mallorca as one of the preferred Mediterranean holiday destinations. Mallorca is in fact exceeding all expectations: “Mallorca is way ahead in terms of current bookings and we expect demand to be higher than ever this summer.”

Steve Heapy the CEO of Jet2 says “with more seats and hotels on sale than ever, Mallorca is quite simply the perfect holiday destination.”

The President of the Mallorca Hotel  Federation, Maria Frontera, says that “in addition to July and August, British tourists are increasingly opting for Mallorca in the months before and after the summer”.

Palma’s airport Son Sant Joan, will break all historical records in terms of air traffic. Both the number of planned seats and the number of flight movements will reach unprecedented levels.

This is evident from data released by the Spanish Association for the Coordination and Facilitation of Slots. This consists of the aviation authority AENA and fourteen European airlines. Moreover, it concerns the traffic forecasts for the summer period from March to October.

According to AECFA, the airlines will offer 33,483,816 seats. That is an increase of 16.3% compared to 2023. This follows a year that already set a record with an increase of 9.7% compared to 2019, until then the year with the most planned seats (29.6 million).

From where I work at Pirates we are seeing unprecedented levels of online bookings making us reconsider our show calendar on a weekly basis. 

Now this is all well and good but in order to be able to look after all these people the island needs a strong and reliable workforce. The problem is that since Brexit and the pandemic the workforce that used to arrive in the summer months isn’t coming anymore. Firstly the Spanish workers that would come here from the mainland in their droves are now not coming. Whilst the wages are averagely better here, the cost of living is not. Property rentals have become too expensive for most, with quite a few hotel chains now housing their workforce in their own hotels. The overall costs of bringing in goods from the mainland has made prices rise to a level seen before. I’ve mentioned the problem in getting a taxi here on the island before and when you get to the peak season it’s almost impossible to get one. But that is the same across nearly all industries, there’s a distinct lack of workers. If you cannot find those people you may choose to look elsewhere. However Spain doesn’t make that easy for you either. I believe our political state of flux hasn’t helped and other EU countries are currently cheaper on their cost of living. But if you want to employ a non-EU worker, that’s another ball game altogether. 

I will try to explain. In order to hire non-EU employees with a temporary work visa, you must publish the job offer in the autonomic public portal SOIB (the Balearic job Seekers Service) and it must be published for approximately one month. 

If there are no Spanish/European workers interested in the job offer, SOIB sends an official document stating that no one has applied and those jobs are then on the list of hard-to-hire professionals. Without this document, the Immigration Department will not grant a visa to any worker coming from outside the European Community. 

If and when you do find a non-European person for a particular job, see how long it takes to then get that visa. The problem? Lack of staff to process them, you couldn’t make it up!

From a UK workers point of view the problem is just as bad. Bars, restaurants, cafes and clubs used to rely on seasonal workers for the summer. But since Brexit the UK has become persona non grata like any other non-EU country. British citizens’ EU citizenship and free movement rights ended when the Brexit transition period expired on the 31st of December 2020. Those rights had enabled them to visit, live, work or study in an EU Member State without needing a visa. I liken Brexit voters to how the authorities are wanting Magaluf to change. They are all forgetting they were young once and are denying the youngsters of today the freedom they enjoyed when they were young. In other words a very small minded and selfish way of looking at life. Will this change? Well there is a push to do so. As the UK is suffering in just the same way in filling job vacancies that used to be taken by EU workers. 

It’s in the hands of our politicians and there my friends is where I’ll leave it because we could like a visa application be waiting a very long time!

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 

The Home Of Live Music

Mention Mallorca and the majority of people will agree it is an 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. 

One thing you might not think about when coming to the island is live music. But over the years Mallorca has hosted some of the biggest artists in the World. Including Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Simply Red and David Guetta to name just a few. This year is looking like a bumper year if you love your live music and it’s happening in all genres.

At Pirates last year we trialled a series of DJs at our Reloaded show, including the legend that is Judge Jules and Fat Boy Slim and Zoe Ball’s son Woody Cook. They were all amazing but the one that definitely grabbed the audience was Charlie Sloth. He played three shows in May, June and September and each one sold out. So this year we decided to sign him for a residency every Friday at Reloaded from May 10th to September 13th. 

Charlie Sloth is a British DJ, hype man, producer, and TV presenter. He worked as a presenter and presented the daily drivetime show on BBC Radio 1Xtra from September 2012 to November 2017. He hosts the Rap Show and curates playlists for Apple Music. In addition, it was announced that Sloth had signed a deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation in August 2020. In addition to his work on radio, Sloth is also a successful live DJ. He has toured extensively around the world, and he has played at some of the biggest festivals in the world, including Glastonbury, Coachella, and Wireless. He is a popular figure in the UK music scene, helping to launch the careers of a number of successful artists, including Stormzy, Skepta, and Dave.

He is also an investor and brand ambassador for AU Vodka. Set up in 2015 by two teenage boys from Wales who thought they could do things just a little better. One of those boys Charlie Morgan, became famous earlier in his life, as he was the ball boy who was kicked by Chelsea player Eden Hazard in a league cup semi-final. The brand reportedly sold 3.5 million bottles in 2023, they are sold in more than 40 countries and 32 American states. You’ll find it stocked in most UK airports and supermarkets and Easyjet have added it to their drinks and duty free trollies. As celebrities go Charlie Sloth is one of the most genuine I have had the pleasure to meet. Remember that when buying your ticket, not only will you see Charlie Sloth but included in your ticket price is a Club, Show, Experience matched by no one on the island. For tickets please go to http://www.piratesreloaded.com 

Mallorca Live at the old Aquapark just down the road from Pirates will take place this year on June 13th, 14th and 15th. This year they have really pulled out all the stops with three top headliners. Underworld aka Karl Hyde and Rick Smith were part of the the ’90s underground techno scene, the group’s definitive breakthrough came in 1996 when their timeless anthem ‘Born Slippy (Nuxx)’ became the soundtrack of a generation after it was featured in the film Trainspotting. The success of that single catapulted the British duo from the underground into the heart of the mainstream.

Blondie are an American rock band founded in 1974 in New York City by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band were a pioneer in the American new wave scene of the mid-1970s in New York City. “Heart of Glass” was their best selling single among many others. As a teenager I had a crush on Debbie Harry and had her posters on my bedroom wall, along with football ones of course!

The Pet Shop Boys are listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the most successful duo in UK music history. Since signing to Parlophone Records in 1985, they have achieved 42 Top 30 singles in the UK including 22 Top 10 hits and four number ones. They have released 14 studio albums all of which have made the UK Top 10 as well as album charts around the world. Their best selling single is “West End Girls” and last year saw the release of SMASH – The Singles 1985-2020, the complete collection of their singles from across 35 years of iconic releases. For tickets please go to http://www.mallorcalivefestival.com 

In Palma at Son Fusteret you will be able to see Tom Jones and James Blunt as part of the Palma Concert Series. James Blunt has a connection to the island as he got married here in 2014 and Tom Jones returns to the island after his hugely successful concert in Port Adriano in 2017. Organisers say that more artists will be revealed soon. For tickets please go to http://www.palmaconcertseries.com 

As yet Port Adriano haven’t released their line up for the summer, I’m told it should be ready by the end of April. 

For the younger people out there my understanding is that the Origen festival will return to Son Fusteret with Elrow yet to be confirmed. BCM haven’t yet released their DJ line up but I’m sure it will be as good as last years that featured Meduza, Bob Sinclair, Steve Aoki, Fisher and Joel Corry to name just a few. 

I’m sure that more artists will be released in the coming weeks, making it an exciting year for live music here on the island.

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