This Spanish Island Wants to Ditch Drunk British Tourists for Rich American Ones
Mallorca is taking a less-is-more approach to tourism as anger swells among locals
Mallorca is embracing a strategy of fewer, higher-value tourists in an effort to calm local protests over overtourism while preserving vital tourism revenue.
The island is targeting wealthier, quieter visitors, particularly Americans, who spend more daily in Spain than German or British travelers.
The shift hasn’t quieted local anger, as residents face a severe housing shortage that has forced some to live in campers.
MALLORCA, Spain—This Mediterranean island is a tourist paradise, with glittering turquoise seas, hidden coves and endless white-sand beaches that have been luring Europeans for generations.
It is also the epicenter of Europe’s backlash to overtourism. Local residents have taken to the streets and beaches repeatedly this summer to protest the island’s growing flock of visitors, united by one message: “Tourists, go home.”
The island—roughly 125 miles east of the Spanish mainland, with a population of about one million—is on track to welcome about 14 million tourists this year. They pour in on hulking cruise ships, rowdy budget airline flights and tour buses run by vacation-package companies. In peak summer months, the island’s daily population can rise by 50%.
Mallorca’s tourism model is increasingly a victim of its own success, as overcrowding risks eroding what made it special in the first place. Local politicians are scrambling to calm the backlash from residents—without jeopardizing the revenue that is the lifeblood of the economy.
The flood of tourists has pushed the island’s infrastructure to its limit, leading to traffic jams, strained water resources and a severe shortage of affordable housing for locals. On the outskirts of the capital, Palma, some locals who can no longer afford an apartment live in sprawling communities of camper vans.
Some on the island have called for radical tourism-containment measures, such as an outright limit on visitors.
Mallorca’s leaders are testing a different solution: a rebrand. The island wants to shed its reputation as a hot spot for British bachelor parties and thrifty package-holidayers and transform into a luxury destination for high-rolling tourists like Americans.
“Tourism is our way of life,” said Pedro Homar, managing director of Palma’s tourism board. “The change of model is quality over quantity. We need to have less tourists that spend more.”
Farm land to party island
Mallorca’s sun-drenched beaches and hilltop villages have been a popular hangout for foreign writers, artists and musicians for more than a century.
But it was Spanish dictator Francisco Franco’s tourism push in the 1950s and ‘60s that transformed Mallorca from a quiet agricultural community into a mass tourism destination. Franco saw foreign tourism as a way to soften the image of his authoritarian regime internationally—under the slogan “Spain is different!”
Low-cost packages from British and German tour operators opened the island up for thousands of Europeans.
In Playa de Palma, a 3-mile-long stretch of beach on the southern coast of the island, tourism workers speak fluent German and restaurants offer favorites like döner kebab and currywurst. In Magaluf, a beach town popular among Brits, restaurants serve full English breakfasts and yorkshire pudding.
Mallorca’s reputation as a cheap party destination has long frustrated locals, who complain of public drunkenness, nudity and drug use. But the island’s heavy reliance on tourism has made attempts at change difficult. Tourism accounts for almost half of economic activity in the Balearics, the archipelago that Mallorca is part of, according to Exceltur, a tourism non-profit.
“We depend entirely on them,” said Jaume Moreno, a longtime taxi driver on the island.
Homar, the Palma tourism official and an 8th generation Mallorcan, has for years been working to attract a new type of tourist: wealthier, quieter, interested in traveling outside the peak summer season. And above all: American.
“They are not rowdy at all. They travel with the idea of understanding the culture, mingling with the locals, buying local arts and crafts,” he said. “We are no longer appealing to tourists in the U.K. [or] Germany, whose main motivation is partying and drinking.”
Deep American pockets
American tourists in Spain spend more than any other nationality: about $410 a day in July, compared to $240 by Germans and $260 by British travelers, according to government data.
By many accounts, Mallorca has succeeded in dispelling hard-partiers. On parts of the island, local authorities implemented fines for drunken behavior, banned party boats and limited drinks at all-inclusive hotels to six a day. On a recent summer day, the beaches of Magaluf were quiet and filled with families.
Germans and Brits still make up about half of Mallorca’s tourists, but American visits have surged 60% this year through June. United Airlines has expanded direct flights to the island from its hub in Newark, N.J. Boutique hotels catering to Americans have sprung up across the island. A Mandarin Oriental hotel opened this year.
Laurel and Dustin McQuate, from Breckenridge, Colo., visited Mallorca for the first time this month to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday.
“We live in the mountains, so we were like, ‘A beach? Yes, yes,’” Laurel said.
The group of eight rented a house for about $6,000, a boat for a day, and two rental cars. They planned winery visits and a day in Palma. The couple was particularly excited about shopping at local markets and trying local pastries.
“I have no room in my suitcase,” Laurel lamented.
Hospitality executive María Martínez had to train workers on how to serve Americans’ needs: they want more small talk, guidance on itineraries and are more interested in the island’s history. The chain she works for, IT Mallorca Unique Spaces, has six boutique hotels across the island, and Americans are its main client group.
Wealthy South Koreans are another group of coveted tourists for Mallorcan businesses. Newlywed Sukyung Lee spent four days in Mallorca in September for her honeymoon. She loved Caló des Moro, a beach nestled between steep cliffs.
“The ocean is beautiful…it’s famous for a reason,” Lee said.
Priced out and living in vans
The shift toward wealthier tourists has done little to quell anger from locals, who argue the problem is the number of tourists, not just the type.
“They occupy our streets, our homes, our spaces, and often fail to respect the people who are working for them,” said Stella Arbona, a 23-year-old who works in a bakery on the island.
“There’s hardly any space left for the locals.”
One local politician this year proposed capping tourist arrivals on the Balearics at 2023 levels. Leaders are instead pursuing measures such as capping cruise ship arrivals and restricting hotel construction.
Thousands of homes and villas have been converted to short-term rentals like Airbnbs, and a black market for illegal apartment rentals has further constrained housing supply for locals. The government is stepping up enforcement and working to build more subsidized housing, but those efforts will take time.
“The problem has grown over many years, and we may need the same time to solve the problem,” said Juan Antonio Amengual, mayor of Mallorca’s second-biggest municipality, Calvià.
A few miles away from the beaches of Magaluf and upscale shops of Palma, the parking lot of a public pool is now home to Mallorcans who have been priced out of the rental market.
Begoña Iglesias, 62, began living in a camper she shares with her son, Hector, about four years ago. More than 100 similar vehicles are parked there, and Iglesias said she’s fielding more questions from people interested in moving there.
“We are collateral damage of the island’s housing crisis,” Iglesias said.