In celebration of Valentine’s Day the brief was, “Why I love Magalluf?” You might be thinking well good luck with that one! But in my humble opinion, there isn’t (or maybe there wasn’t?) a better person to ask. 

The name Magalluf sends chills around authority circles, so much so that they’ve even tried to rename it. Amongst the youngsters it has its own name but I can’t mention that here! Years ago there was talk of merging Magalluf and Palma Nova and calling it MagaNova, as Palmalluf didn’t really roll off the tongue. Hoteliers have pushed for Calvia Beach resort but to me it’s always going to be Magalluf. It’s not the name of the resort that needed changing it was the resort itself and the image it portrayed. 

This year I celebrate working at Pirates for 30 years and Magalluf has been my place of work for 34 years. I arrived in Mallorca in the summer of 1990 on an Intasun holidays Reps training course. It was that long ago that they still allowed smoking on the airline I travelled with, Dan Air. Can you imagine that today? Speedy smoking anyone? We were being trained as holiday reps in the hotel Guadalupe in Magalluf. At the end of the course we were all sent off around the World, everyone except me, I didn’t even move away from the hotel as it was to be my home for my first season. All Reps will tell you your first season will always be your favourite and you look back fondly on that resort. That was what happened to me. So much so that the excursion I sold the most tickets for and was without doubt my favourite offered me a job. I’d previously been a Butlins Redcoat for four years and had seen so many shows but Pirates was different. Some of the things they were doing even at that time were insane and not forgetting that the boss Jacques Sasson was an absolute legend. How could I turn him down? He was a great mentor for me, he was certainly unconventional and we pushed and still do along with his daughter Catherine, the entertainment envelope. It was no surprise that Calvia Town Hall opened a square in his name, for his contribution to tourism both in Magalluf and the rest of the island. 

In 1990 families and young people mixed together and the problems that we’ve seen in Magalluf some years ago were nowhere to be seen. It was the year that England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup under Bobby Robson and the John Barnes rap was belting out in bars such as the Pink Elephant, Cafe Opera and the Red Lion. Sadly those bars are long gone but the strip still exists. It’s not  a place I frequent these days but it still is a place where the youngsters want to go and is synonymous with the resort. Some say in a bad way but In my opinion it is no different to any other city centre or holiday hotspot, it just has to be policed properly. The people criticising it either don’t understand it or can’t remember that they were young once. Magalluf in 2024 has changed dramatically. Over 75% of the hotels in Magalluf are now 4 or 5 star and the beach is still one of the best on the island. 

The shortsightedness of authorities in the past meant that they didn’t understand that the youngsters of today will be the families of the future. Like me as a Rep you remember your first holiday or the good times you had in a resort and therefore you are drawn to revisit when you are older with your family. 

My list of positives about Magalluf is endless and when you look closely it’s a resort to still mix families and youngsters. For families there’s Pirates, Western Water Park, Karting, Katmandu, the beach and countless bars, cafes and restaurants to cater for their needs. 

For youngsters there’s Reloaded & Gringos, Oceans Beach, BCM, The Strip, the beach and like the above, countless bars, cafes and restaurants to cater for their needs. 

My love of Magaluf has changed over time but it will always be there. 

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