Majorca is facing what has been dubbed a “hospitality crisis”, similar to that of the 2007 financial crisis. Miguel Carrió, president of the restaurants association for Palma’s Paseo Mallorca, said that while “Palma is full”, visitors are now choosing to spend their money different when it comes to food and drinks.
Since June last year, statements from the Balearic Island’s restaurant sector have consistently highlighted a downturn. Last month, the president of the CAEB Restaurants Association, Juanmi Ferrer, said that “We haven’t had such a bad summer since the pandemic.” While he did admit that there was an upturn in business over the second half of July, revenue was still down on last year. “You see tourists staying in four-star hotels for €300 a night,” said Mr Carrió. “But they don’t go to bars or restaurants.”
Instead, tourists are routinely heading for local supermarkets and the prepared food section.
“They take a loaf of bread and a slice of pizza to eat in their rooms,” the president continued.
“Families don’t have €3,000 to come on vacation. Plane tickets cost €1,000; there’s another €200 for a night in a hotel. How much does a week’s vacation in Majorca cost? €5,000? If the bill for a table of four is 200 euros, many people prefer to pack their Tupperware to go to the beach.”
While big corporations will be able to plug the gap with the necessary resources, Mr Carrió said that small businesses on the holiday islands will lose out.
“A small coffee shop run by a married couple with one employee, or someone who buys a food truck and pays 5,000 euros as a self-employed person, takes on a lot of risks,” he said.
This news comes as beach businesses have seen a 20% drop-off in revenues as tourists abandon once-popular hotspots, according to local authorities. The figures for the month of July compared to the previous year are startling and it’s being blamed on surging airfare and hotel costs by the Association of Temporary Services Concessions and Operations in the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain of Majorca (Adopuma).
Adopuma president Onofre Fornés added that “irresponsible negative messages against tourism” are “damaging” the perception of Majorca as a holiday destination, and is having a direct impact on the sector’s income.
