August on Mallorca: Fewer Guests – The Cash Registers Still Ring

More money, fewer regular guests: The unusual August pattern

Last August the island was full, but somehow different. Around three million visitors were counted – that's only a small increase from the previous year. At the same time hoteliers and authorities reported revenues of about 4.39 billion euros. Sounds strange? It is: fewer traditional regular vacationers, but higher spending per capita.

Shorter stays, higher prices

Who sits in Palma on Passeig del Born on a Sunday afternoon can hear it at the tables: many stay now only five to six days. Overnight stays hardly increased, arrivals did. That means: more faces, fewer nights. The logic behind it is simple – daily rates and restaurant bills have risen. I spoke last week with a waitress at Plaça Major: "Today the French pay for the bottle, the German would rather stay home next year," she said with a laugh, half serious. A beer for 15 euros was the small bill.

Who is missing, who pays more?

Interesting: Exactly the traditional guests are turning away. The number of German visitors fell, and fewer Spaniards came. Instead, French, British and other markets filled the gaps — many of them with bigger wallets. For local entrepreneurs it's a short-term blessing: more revenue, full tables, better cash flow.

Record numbers and protests – both at the same time

In terms of the year, it still looks like a peak: in the first eight months, visitors and revenues reached a very high level. And yet there's a sense that the island is changing. Demonstrations against overload, signs on promenades, annoyed residents — all of that runs alongside. For many tourists Mallorca remains a destination: book quickly, stay briefly, spend.

What this means for the island: The economic math currently adds up. For the city administration, restaurateurs and hoteliers that means better numbers in the books. For residents, however, the pressure grows: rising prices, crowded parking, buses full in the morning. The debate about whether quantity or quality should count more remains open.

I will continue to observe in autumn — at a street corner, at the market in Santa Catalina or in the small cafe on Carrer de Sant Feliu. One thing is certain: Mallorca is changing its guest composition faster than some notice. And the visitor's credit card is a little quicker to deplete.