It was once the go-to destination for coming-of-age Brits looking for their first taste of sun and sangria.
But today, Magaluf faces an unprecedented crisis after being practically abandoned by UK holidaymakers.
That’s according to a string of bar owners at the Mallorca resort, who told the Daily Mail this week how they have suffered year-on-year losses of up to 40 per cent this summer.
They claim a perfect storm of anti-partying laws, hotel price hikes and anti-tourism protests are pushing the vital British market to mainland rivals like Benidorm.
In its heyday, Magaluf epitomised the typical ‘lads holiday’ or girls’ trip abroad, with tens of thousands of British 18 to 30-year-olds flocking to the resort each summer during the late 2000s and 2010s.
Now, with Brits dropping off, businesses fear they will be forced to rely on ‘penny-pinching’ Europeans who simply ‘do not spend the same’, wreaking havoc on their profits.
One party rep said he was stunned after seeing a group of four Italians sharing one tequila shot between them, while a bar manager insisted the French ‘don’t spend a cent’.
Meanwhile, workers accused Calvia Town Hall (the local authority), of working with the ‘powerful hotel lobby’ to orchestrate the demise of bars on the party strip (Punta Ballena).
Manuel Pozueco, 42, (pictured) manages the iconic British bar Linekers, which also has locations in Ibiza and Marbella
In its heyday, Magaluf epitomised the typical ‘lads holiday’ or girls’ trip abroad. Pictured: A general view of the beach
Sulamita Salazar, 24, works at a tattoo shop on the strip, which has been operating for 15 years. She said she hasn’t tattooed any Brits this year
This, they claim, is part of their attempt to rebrand Magaluf as the family-friendly ‘Calvia Beach Resort’.
Manuel Pozueco, 42, manages the iconic British bar Linekers, which also has locations in Ibiza and Marbella.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘The hotels are connected to the politicians and their plan is to destroy the businesses outside the hotels.
‘Under the recent laws, we can’t do happy hours or give away free shots, we can’t do any drink deals, as they see it as promoting excessive alcohol consumption, and of course this turns away traditional customers like the Brits.’
A big issue of contention is the so-called ‘Red Zone’, an area of land demarcated by the town hall in 2020 in a bid to crack down on ‘excessive tourism’.
Businesses in the red zone have stricter rules that they must follow, or face being heavily fined or shut down.
These include a ban on pub crawls, drink deals, happy hours and organised party boats, as well as noise restrictions.
But while before it covered a large part of Magaluf, last June it was reduced by 90 per cent and now only affects the strip and a few adjoining streets – and crucially, almost no hotels.
Calvia Town Hall, run by the conservative Partido Popular and hard-right Vox parties, branded it a ‘responsible tourism and quality improvement’ measure.
But for the bar owners on the ground, it felt discriminatory.
Workers have accused Calvia Town Hall (the local authority), of working with the ‘powerful hotel lobby’ to orchestrate the demise of bars on the party strip. Pictured: A bar in Magaluf
Jason Brown, 44, (pictured) who runs Tom Brown’s on the frontline of Magaluf, has witnessed decades of changes, as his restaurant was first bought by his father in 1981
A big issue of contention is the so-called ‘Red Zone’, an area of land demarcated by the town hall in a bid to crack down on ‘excessive tourism’ (Pictured: A general view of Magaluf)
Manuel said hotels have open bars until midnight, with ‘hundreds of guests queuing’ to get liquored up.
‘If we are caught serving drunk people we can be fined thousands, but the new laws only apply to small businesses,’ he fumed.
‘We pretty much cannot have music either, a speaker from the supermarket is louder than what we’re allowed in here. Who wants to go to a bar where you can hardly hear the music? The same goes for watching a football match.’
Manuel showed the Daily Mail a special device he has attached to the DJ booth which monitors the noise level.
In the evenings, according to the Calvia town hall and Spanish Law 37/2003, night time venues cannot exceed 35 decibels on the street.
During the day, Manuel says, the limit rises to around 60 or 70 – equivalent to a vacuum cleaner.
He added: ‘I have friends in the town hall who have actually told me they don’t want the bars anymore, they want coffee shops and clothes stores. They want to destroy the Magaluf we’ve known for decades.
‘And now look, there are no British tourists this year, everyone is going to Benidorm or Torrevieja.’
Manuel accused the Mallorca authorities of ‘demonising’ British tourists, using a string of ‘balconing’ deaths pre-pandemic – at hotels – as an ‘excuse’ to crack down on the party strip.
‘What they have done to the British tourists is insulting,’ he said, ‘We’ve always been here for the Brits… the Italians, French and Polish, they don’t spend a penny in the bars, we are 30-40 per cent down on last year.’
Phoebe Malena, 21, from Mallorca, works at Boat Excursions on the front line. She said she had seen more families coming
In 2020, drinking was banned on public streets in Magaluf, with fines of up to €3,000 for rule-breakers
The lack of Brits this year is no coincidence, coming just months after the Balearic Islands government published a 350-page ‘Sustainability Pact’ document.
In it, they revealed their plan to ‘reduce dependence on traditional markets’ like the UK and Germany.
In 2020, they also banned drinking on public streets in Magaluf, with fines of up to €3,000 for rule-breakers.
A sign on the party strip this week warns revellers: ‘Shout, fight or bother people, €400 penalty.’
Gabi Carbonell, 52, owns four businesses along Magaluf’s strip, including the Stereo nightclub.
He agreed that it is ‘undeniable’ that the drop in Brits has been ‘extreme’, adding that the authorities’ plan of attracting wealthy golfers is not working.
Gabi told the Daily Mail: ‘There is pressure from the hotels, town hall and protests etc to have ‘higher quality’ tourists, they want to change the area but we didn’t expect such a rapid and extreme change.
‘This used to be a kind of initiation resort for teenage Brits, but now it’s too expensive and the stricter laws are hurting bars.
‘This week used to have lots of hen and stag dos but now they go to Benidorm, where there are fewer rules and it is cheaper – it’s like the authorities want to make us boring
‘During the day the strip is now a ghost town, nothing really opens until 8pm, but the hotels will be full.’
It’s a far cry from resorts like Benidorm, where Brits can still be seen getting the pints in from 10am and drinking throughout the day.
‘If it continues like this all the bars will disappear in two or three years, I’ve already had to let go of 30 staff,’ Gabi warned.
Manuel shows the Daily Mail a special device he has attached to the DJ booth which monitors the noise level
Businesses in the red zone have stricter rules that they must follow, or face being heavily fined or shut down. Pictured: A general view of Magaluf
He added: ‘I think we all need to meet and decide what type of resort we are. There’s a market for everyone, but the golfers are not coming, because it’s twice the price of Alicante, and we don’t have that many family friendly hotels yet.’
But there are already clear signs that the strip has changed. While there are still the tacky shops selling explicit t-shirts and trinkets, a worker in one of the stores said they were ‘shocked’ by the number of families this year.
There are also now two silent discos, suggesting businesses are attempting to appease the town hall’s noise regulations – while a ‘Healthy Options’ cafe offers a host of vitamin-packed smoothies, hinting at the resort’s family-orientated future (and perhaps at the fact that Gen Z don’t party like the millennials once did).
Sulamita Salazar, 24, works at a tattoo shop on the strip, which has been operating for 15 years.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘I haven’t tattooed any Brits this year and they were the ones who spent the most, this has been the worst year for us since before the pandemic.
‘Of course when there is a crackdown on drinking there are fewer people coming and looking for tattoos.
‘We are going to close early this season because there’s just nowhere near enough customers.’
Liverpudlian party rep Danny, 30, who this summer is working for the Three Lions pub on the strip, said the drop in Brits is ‘concerning’.
‘One hundred per cent there are fewer Brits, and they are the best customers because they spend the most, that’s who we need, I saw four Italians sharing a tequila shot the other night.
‘There’s concern on the strip but some are still doing well, obviously not as well as they want to, but still busy every night.’
Locals have said they have been shocked by the number of families visiting this year
Danny said the anti-tourism protests in nearby Palma de Mallorca – and across Spain – which attracted thousands of demonstrators earlier this year, have not helped.
Footage from the protests showed irate locals holding placards reading ‘tourists go home’ and ‘your holiday is our misery’ – with some armed with water pistols to douse innocent holidaymakers.
Danny said: ‘Many don’t feel welcome after seeing people spraying tourists with water guns, families don’t want to be harassed like that.
‘I’ve worked here for nine years and it’s changed loads, I’ve seen the decline.
‘I used to be able to give people two-for-one deals and a fish bowl, but now that’s illegal on the strip.’
‘We’re giving away free smiles today ladies!’, he jokingly quipped to a group of women passing by.
Danny said he is hopeful that the strip will survive and that the government will be begging the Brits to return in force once they see effects of the drop in visitors.
‘They want it to be Calvia Beach Resort now but it will always be Magaluf,’ he said.
He added that price rises are one of the key factors turning away Brits.
It comes as the Balearic government this year revealed plans to raise the Sustainable Tourism Tax up to €6 (£5) per night in the peak season.
It also said car rentals would be taxed up to €80 (£70), depending on the length of stay.
Meanwhile, hotel and restaurant prices have risen 5 per cent year-on-year, according to the consumer price index.
Anti-tourism protests in Spain have recently gone viral on social media. Pictured: A general view of the beach
Jason Brown, 44, who runs Tom Brown’s on the frontline of Magaluf, has witnessed decades of changes, as his restaurant was first bought by his father in 1981.
He told Daily Mail: ‘We’ve screwed ourselves a bit by trying to become solely for families so quickly.
‘Up the strip it’s struggling the most because they don’t want ‘shagaluf’ to be ‘shagaluf’ anymore.
‘I am frontline and I had an okay summer but the first week in September I am down 40 per cent.
‘This week we used to have lots of hen and stag dos but now they are going elsewhere.’
Jason believes the fines for UK parents taking their children out of school for holidays is also bad for business – but so too are the anti-tourism protests that have repeatedly gone viral on social media.
‘I’ve had Brits messaging me asking if they will be welcome because they’re genuinely worried,’ he admitted.
However, he said customers are now far more diverse and that businesses need to adapt.
‘I’ve got Brits who love us but then Germans telling me they don’t like our burgers. And increasingly lots of Scandinavians and Italians, so it can be tough,’ he said.
‘But Magaluf is changing and we have to adapt. We’ve got to accept it for what it is, I’ve doubled in size and got a kids play area now.’
Indeed, there are businesses that are pleased with the move to a more family-friendly resort.
Phoebe Malena, 21, from Mallorca, works at Boat Excursions on the front line.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s been great for us, now we have more people who actually want to see the island and enjoy nice days out, it’s a change but a good one.
‘We have more families who want to spend more and who want to do nice activities instead of just drinking, so it is actually benefiting businesses like ours
‘We never did booze cruises so we have not been impacted by the crackdown.’
