The season can begin: what can vacationers expect in Mallorca?

Saturday 13 March 2021

The season could begin
What can vacationers expect in Mallorca?

Although the travel warning has been lifted on the Balearic Islands, don’t expect Mallorca to have a normal summer. Vacationers are likely to be disappointed – everyone will likely be happy. Talk about next season.

Lifting the travel warning for Mallorca. It is possible once again to spend vacations on the most popular holiday island for Germans without quarantine and without obligation to test after returning. But what is the current situation on the site? And what can vacationers expect this season? Lucia Escribano, Mallorca Director of Tourism, spoke about this by serving the dpa theme at ITB.

The island is ready to open

“Some hotels will reopen early in Easter,” said Escribano. German tour operators want to take holidaymakers back to Mallorca during the holiday season. Trekking destinations such as cathedrals and forts as well as shops are already open.

For the time being, the holidays in Mallorca will continue under epidemic conditions. “It is possible that some restrictions will apply until the summer, such as the necessity to wear face masks, and to keep your distance from tables in restaurants,” Scribano said. You must wear the mask wherever you are among people, for example in pedestrian areas and when entering shops. Exceptions apply, for example, at the beach or while playing sports.

Peace in nature instead of partying and drinking

A return to old Mallorca times with parties in big discos is unlikely this summer, too. Only event sites are permitted to enter a limited number of people, and distance must always be maintained.

“It’s not that we don’t want people to dance and drink,” Scribano said. “But this year is not the time to party. It will be a quiet time.” Active holidays and enjoying nature with family are the focus this summer.

Mallorca wants to move away from unrestricted drinking tourism in the past and has already issued strict rules before Corona. “We no longer want all-inclusive hotels with bunk beds, where six people stay in one room just for drinking,” said the Tourism Director. “This does not bring anything to the island’s economy and only uses the resources.” The epidemic helps, so to speak, to continue the path taken.

Much depends on vaccinations

As in all areas of society, a return to true normality is only possible when the majority of people are vaccinated against the Coronavirus. According to Lucia Escripano, this also applies to tourism in Mallorca. “The sooner everyone gets vaccinated, the better.” However, vaccines are making slow progress in Europe.

The exception is Great Britain, where vacationers are traditionally also strongly represented in Majorca. So the question arises of who will be the first to throw a towel on the deck chairs – the British or the Germans? Does vaccination give British guests a strategic advantage, so to speak?

Lucia Escribano puts it right: “We don’t expect the same number of British guests as in other years.” The reasons are Brexit and the tense financial situation of many vacationers from Great Britain due to the consequences of the epidemic.

There are no perks for vaccinated people or risers

Some countries allow vaccinated people who have recovered from the Coronavirus infection to return to the country without any conditions – such as compulsory testing. In Mallorca, the marks are rather bad as long as the planned EU digital certificate of vaccination has not been released. “If we provide such a form of permit, it will have to be applied throughout Spain,” Scribano stressed. The ball is in the hands of the government in Madrid. Therefore the obligation to perform PCR testing will remain in place for the time being.

In the long term, Mallorca would like to become more sustainable. This means, among other things: less tourism, better distribution of vacationers throughout the whole year, less consumption of resources, better control of traffic flows, and fewer huge cruise ships at the same time in the port of Palma.