Spain is becoming a high incidence area - and vacationing on Malle is a bit more difficult for Germans.
The tourists usually take it easy.
For some locals, the situation is already dire.
Palma - The sun burns from the sky over Mallorca, clean beaches and a turquoise Mediterranean invite you to relax.
Ideal conditions for a great summer vacation.
Also part of reality in summer 2021: The corona pandemic, which is currently causing the number of infections to go through the roof in Spain and Mallorca. The federal government has now pulled the emergency brake and declared the whole of Spain to be a high incidence area. Anyone who returns home from Tuesday, unvaccinated or not recovered from Corona, is allowed to twiddle their thumbs in the quarantine for at least five days.
But what would have hit the bad news in the first Corona summer 2020 and would have triggered a wave of cancellations, hotel closings and a hasty return campaign by German holidaymakers, is now being received relatively calmly by politics, the tourism industry and holidaymakers.
“That is not good news,” says Iago Negueruela laconically.
He is the tourism minister of the Balearic Islands, which besides Mallorca also includes Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
He refers to the vaccination campaign and hopes that the number of infections will drop soon.
Tui spokesman Aage Dünhaupt reports that the vast majority of holidaymakers from Germany wanted to stay on the island.
European regulation required
The President of the Association of Hotel Directors in the Balearic Islands (AEDH), Alicia Reina, demands that there should finally be a European regulation for the exemption of fully vaccinated people from the corona restrictions. In this respect, Germany's decision to declare Spain a high incidence area is regrettable, but correct. Because it privileges the vaccinated.
Young German holidaymakers apparently also feel privileged at the infamous Ballermann, the party mile in Palma. "We have been vaccinated for a long time, we have been through the two weeks, so everything is safe," says a young man, his girlfriend nods. Sure, the incidence is relatively high and one wonders if that is a good thing. But "twice vaccinated, twice fun, that's what I always say", he adds with a thumbs up, while another says: "Drink for a week".
One of the migrants from Africa with a large plastic bag in his hand makes his way through the crowd and offers “beer, beer, beer”.
Although such drinking bouts in the open air have long been banned and since the weekend there has been a threat of fines of 1000 euros or more, the police are pretty powerless.
No distance, no mouth and nose protection - actually a must if the distance of one and a half meters cannot be maintained.
Even a drone was used to drive the party people away.
In vain, as the newspaper "Diario de Mallorca" reported.
Breaking off vacation is out of the question
Older people and holidaymakers with smaller children prefer quieter parts of the island. "We accept the quarantine for our older daughter," says Sabrina from Remagen, who stayed in a holiday apartment with her husband and two children at the age of seven years and ten months. “We actually feel safe in Mallorca, says the vaccinated German. A premature termination of vacation would be out of the question. “We'll be staying until mid-August. We have decided to go around the island by boat. "
Vanessa, on the other hand, is happy that she is leaving on Monday, one day before the high-incidence area rules apply. “Actually, I didn't really have that on my screen. My boyfriend and I are both not fully vaccinated yet. We still have a week's vacation afterwards, but we certainly don't want to squat that at home, ”says the German. For some locals, however, the corona crisis brings more than just inconvenience. One of them is Fernando Moscardo, manager of the “Kokomo” beach bar in Palma's Cala Mayor district. “On the beach, people can do what they want. They meet in large groups. Only eight people are allowed to sit at a table on my terrace just a few meters away, and only four indoors, ”he complains. The landlord is not yet very worried.“Our customers are usually over 50 years old and have already been vaccinated. You are not threatened with quarantine. ”While the bar was in the red last year, the store is at least operating at a cost this season.
Landlady wants to file for bankruptcy
The “Carpe Diem” bar in Palma, which is mainly frequented by locals, had to close forever. “Water and electricity were turned off,” says the landlady Carolina Cucoch-Petraello. The owner now wants to sell the restaurant after being unable to pay the rent for a year. “I'm going to file for bankruptcy and try a fresh start. Maybe I have to emigrate to find work again, ”says the 42-year-old Chilean. Such a fate threatens more locals, fears Heimke Mansfeld from the German aid organization Hope Mallorca. She considers the decision to declare Spain a high incidence area to be wrong. “The hospitals are underutilized. It's not like people are dying en masse. ”Worse is the economic collapse threatened by the absence of tourists.“There will be layoffs. In the short season, people could hardly save money, there is a threat of hunger, misery and increasing crime. ”Dpa
