A Spanish holiday hotspot, once loved by Brits who descended in their thousands, has seen a staggering fall in visitor numbers. Magaluf became famous throughout the 1990s and 2000s as a clubbing paradise, with its busy strip regularly seeing bars overflowing, full of Brits soaking up its famous nightlife.
However, tax increases, shifting holiday practices, and a backdrop of anti-tourism protests across Spain have seen numbers fall to worrying levels for those who depend on the consistent influx of summer tourists to keep their businesses afloat. One staff member of the popular Lineker’s Bar says that a decrease in the number of Brits heading to the area is having a profound impact on local businesses. Olly said: “This is usually a British destination, but this year there are zero.”
He told the Telegraph: “Instead we have the German, the French, Portuguese, Italians.
“But the problem is they book an all-inclusive hotel, then eat, drink and do everything in the hotel. They don’t go out for a party.”
Another added: “The Italians, they don’t eat and drink. They come and share an espresso between four people.
“We miss the English, because the English spend money.”
Miguel Perez-Marsa, head of the ABONE nightclub association on Majorca, believes that British people have been “demonised” in the area, meaning that British youths are now heading to Benidorm and other “more-welcoming” resorts.
Magaluf’s infamous party strip has been under the spotlight since Majorca’s leading politician at the time, Jose Ramon Bauza, slammed Punta Ballena as “500 metres of shame”.
This came after an 18-year-old girl was tricked into performing sex acts for a supposed free holiday, only to receive a cocktail named ‘Holiday’.
Rowdy behaviour has long angered locals and local authorities, who have recently introduced severe measures, including £1,300 penalties for street drinking and mandatory night-time shutdowns of alcohol-selling shops in parts of Magaluf.
One YouTube commented on the difference between modern day Magaluf and the party town it was once renowned for being.
They said: “Back in the day, you wouldn’t be able to move in Magaluf in the peak summer months.”
Another added: “Dead atmosphere, it’s a bit sad. It’s got an end of season feel about it. I remember going more than twenty years ago in August and the streets and bars were all packed.”
A former rep in the area said: “I repped there in 2008 for Thomas Cook in the hotel which used to be Majorca beach now Meliá south beach, we used to take 500 people onto the strip on bar crawl once a week, it used to be rammed.”
