Having been in the media spotlight almost a year ago when the season restarted, once again all hope has been placed in the Germans.
Stefanie Claudia Müller
Tom Mardorf is leaving the island. Even though Mallorca still seems empty compared to the record summer of 2019, he believes that he desperately needs a change of scenery: “I need to have a rest.” The 58-year-old has spent the past few months setting up a food bank together with the evangelical church in Santa Ponsa, distributing tinned food, vegetables, fruit and hygiene items to dozens of families every day.
“Many of the people have never asked for help with food in their lives, and I was shocked by the sudden poverty of many people when I returned to the island last September after a long absence,”
says the German entrepreneur, who normally lives in Miami but owns property in Mallorca.
Tom Mardorf harvesting for the Santa Ponsa Foodbank
Whilst the Spanish capital is still crowded, life on the island continues to be very limited. Late in the afternoon bars and restaurants close, even for tourists, so that social drinking and beach parties no longer take place – although the German media are keenly awaiting pictures when this happens. This is strictly controlled by the Spanish authorities as Mallorca’s image as a safe destination must be maintained at all costs because the government cannot afford a Spanish Ischgl situation. As to how the situation will proceed concerning German tourists in Mallorca, Mardorf will observe from a distance: “First of all I have to look after myself “.
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Solidarity of foreign residents helps Mallorca out of the crisis
According to a study by the University of the Balearic Islands, the number of people on the islands now living in extreme poverty has doubled within a year to 34,000. Fourty per cent of the bars and restaurants on Mallorca have not reopened due to the economic consequences of the Corona crisis, announced the business association Pimem. Mardorf, however, is not the only German Mallorca-fan who, as early as autumn, foresaw the coming of this enormous misery and helped out instead of looking the other way. Employees of Porta Mallorquina have also been involved with numerous measures, wishing to give back what the island and its inhabitants have given to them in recent years. The real estate company has also for years supported the Lions Club on the island, which looks after people in need.
The Lions Club truck drives around the island weekly collecting food for those in need.
Like all real estate agents, however, Porta Mallorquina awaits a turning point in the pandemic even though, to the wonderment of many, the sale of holiday properties is one of the few industries that largely continues to function as before.
“This is another reason why those who are able should try and help. It is a very sad but also positive experience for me seeing how the Germans are involving themselves,”
reports Nicky Neumann, who works as a real estate agent for Porta Mallorquina. The 47-year-old has, like Mardorf, for weeks shopped for food and household goods for those in need:
“And all with money from private donors, including some of my clients”.
Nicky Neumann actively supports Hope Mallorca food distribution in Pollensa
Not only that, but she has also picked fruit and vegetables on the fields of Mallorcan farmers who have also been affected by the pandemic:
“Otherwise it all goes to waste as the produce is normally sold mainly to restaurants and hotel which are closed due to the pandemic.”
Nicky Neumann diligently harvests fruit and vegetables in order to support the aid organizations even more.
Neumann has taken the fruit and vegetables to collection points in Pollensa, where those in need go for food.
Nicky’s sons are also actively helping. Son Malik harvesting.
And son Elias then carries everything to the car.
German media fuels misconceptions concerning holidays in Mallorca
Less illustrious during the pandemic, on the other hand, are the deeds of the Spanish and German media some of which often do more to confuse than enlighten and repeatedly stoke up false fears. The Mallorcans, for example, do not understand that their own countrymen can not come because of the restrictions, although foreigners can. This has to do with the fact that it has never been explained to them that everyone who comes must have a PCR test, and it was also aimed at getting tour operators and airlines interested in Spain once again. In Germany, on the other hand, media-fueled envy of Mallorca, where there are still hotels and restaurants able to earn at least some income, proceeds whilst in their own country everything has been closed. Camera teams, also from German public television channels, already come to the island with preconceived opinions and cause more confusion rather than making a constructive contribution to the crisis.
Fairground without a giant wheel or a roller coaster. The rumor is that the Megapark will probably not open at all due to a lack of licenses. The Bierkönig may open with a scaled-down concept.” He himself wants to hang on: “I’m a full-blooded pub owner. This is my life. I wouldn’t know what to do otherwise.”
Apart from the restaurant owners and hoteliers the multitude of illicit workers on the island, many of whom are African migrants, are also affected by the pandemic-related slump in tourism. Caritas and the churches on the island are trying to take care of these people, many of whom come from Senegal. Here there is also great solidarity, but their plight is of even less interest to the media than to the German tourists who notice little of their distress. Instead, the holidaymakers enjoy the tranquillity which some find sad but for others is very restful.
Ballermann and Magaluf will change
In this scenario the record summer of 2019 already seems to many like a bad dream.
“We will have a problem with mass tourism here in the future, whether on the beach, in discos or in hotels,”
predicts Mardorf. While German journalists are literally chasing holidaymakers for live statements, there are many in the background looking for long-term solutions for the island. This includes Javier Pasquet, tourism delegate for Calvià:
“The old mass tourism model no longer works, and we need to think more sustainably.”
He believes that it is inconceivable that Mallorca, which is so rich and has been booming for years, should now be suffering from poverty. Government aid was not enough and the previous season was very short, but the government in Madrid and on the Balearic Islands is doing everything it can.
“Nevertheless, at present I do not see a wave of bankruptcies amongst the hotels,”
says the tourism expert.
Even so, investors from all over the world are trying to snap up Spanish hotels cheaply. In addition, new hotels are once again being built and opened all over Spain. “But clear is that, as has been planned over a long period, the country will increasingly look to wealthy tourists who do not strain the environment as much and are not hit as hard by economic crises,” Pasquet believes.
Ron Buettner, owner of the soccer bar 4711, during an interview in the Touristik-Lounge, declared that the Ballermann-style tourism will change enormously, which will make many people on Mallorca happy:
”The atmosphere on the Playa will be different this year – it will be like a carnival without the big wheel and the roller coaster. They say that the Megapark will probably not open at all because of a lack of licenses and that the Bierkönig may open as a reduced version.”
He himself wants to persevere: “I’m a full-blooded pub owner, this is my life and I wouldn’t know what to do otherwise.”
Spain’s efforts are remarkable
A year ago, Spain was in the headlines for its many deaths and infections, overburdened hospitals, and chaotic stocks of materials. But politicians quickly learned and on the subject of vaccinations it is a leading country in Europe and infection figures are stable, with restrictions being eased everywhere. What the Balearic government dares to do, however, at the start of the season is a balancing act but if it succeeds the whole world will look proudly at Spain and try to copy its successful model with testing, Covid19 hotels, mandatory masks, and hygiene protocols. Solidarity between the foreign residents and the islanders, who have always complained about German and British booze tourism, will also make the rounds.
Neumann, by the way, never thought for a moment of leaving the sinking ship:
“I love Mallorca”.
But like Mardorf she is now withdrawing for the time being from the relief operations: “I now have to earn money again myself so that I can pay my bills”.