Despite individual corona rules - the Balearic island expects a mass rush

Mallorca stands for tourism. Mallorca lives from tourism. Mallorca expects after two years of coronavirus pandemic again a lot, apparently very much tourism. The number of visitors in the first weeks of the season gives hope to hoteliers, restaurateurs and tour operators.

Even a new record of vacationers is possible in 2022. This writes the Mallorca Magazine - and compares the figures. Thus, in 2021, only 6.3 million vacationers had traveled to the Balearic Island, while in 2019 there were 13.7 million tourists. According to the report, there could be more than 14 million vacationers flying to the Spanish vacation island this year. The reason for the assumption makes above all the strongly increasing number of foreign tourists.

Nationally, guests also came during the pandemic. For example, almost as many Spaniards (2.4 million) came in 2021 as in 2019 (2.7 million) before the pandemic. At the same time, (partly comparatively strict) Corona rules still apply on the Balearic Island:

Vacation on Mallorca: unvaccinated, mask obligation, entry - these Corona rules apply.

• Unvaccinated persons must present a negative Corona test when entering Mallorca. Either a negative PCR test, which must not be older than 72 hours. Or a negative rapid antigen test, which must be no more than 24 hours old.
• Vacationers need a completed entry form for Spain. This is not required if tourists can show a valid digital EU Covid certificate (proof of vaccination).
• Vaccinated persons must show a digital proof of vaccination upon entry (valid digital EU Covid certificate).
• Masks are mandatory on public transportation.
• Employees in the catering industry are required to wear a mouth-nose protection, while this does not apply to guests and vacationers.

Nevertheless: The Germans fly again in droves to Mallorca. Between 2019 and 2021, the German market had fallen from 3.7 million visitors a year to 2.3 million, writes Mallorca Magazine. But: in the first quarter of 2022, flight bookings from Germany had increased by 21 percent compared to 2019.

By March, for example, there had also been 30 percent more bookings from Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2019, according to the report, almost one million tourists from the two Benelux countries came to the Balearic Island. The Italian market also offers a good perspective, the report said.

At the same time, stricter rules of etiquette apply at Mallorca's party hotspots Ballermann than in the past, which is likely to affect German vacationers there in particular. Oberbayern, Bierkönig, Megapark - the huge party areas have reopened and are again heavily frequented, after the Balearic regional government in the meantime wanted to use the pandemic as an opportunity to put a stop to "booze tourism" in and around Palma.

In concrete terms, numerous restaurateurs on the party mile on the outskirts of the island's capital Palma signed a code of conduct at the instigation of Mallorca's business association Caeb and the nightlife association Abone. In this way, the companies want to take stronger action against excessive drinking, racism, violence and drug use.

For example, in the Megapark topless is no longer allowed even for men, in some discos and bars you no longer come in swimming trunks. The restaurateurs want to increase their warnings against heavily intoxicated and/or aggressive guests, and also cooperate more closely with the local police. The rules are also to be extended to the party spot Magaluf, which is heavily frequented by Brits. The Corona rules are to be replaced by rules of etiquette. After two years of the Corona virus, this does not seem to have had any negative impact on mass tourism.

Image by Lutz Hirschmann