When you hear the phrase ‘Brits abroad’ your mind likely wanders to sun-scalded pink bellies ambling beside a resort pool with a Stella in one hand and a packet of Lays in the other. Think Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast and you’re there.
And indeed, that’s an iconic image for a reason: we do love that kind of holiday.
We’re also big on our boozing and our big club nights, and what better to way to get all the above than to hit the Balearic Islands?
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Located off the coasts of Barcelona and Valencia, the islands comprise Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca. Those islands have been a British holidaymaking hotspot for decades, but in recent years we’ve been sending more and more of our summertime delegations than ever before.
The past five years have seen a surge in tourists across those islands, and it’s having a big knock-on effect for the local economy. Prices for things like bottle water and oil have leapt by more than 50%, and locals have been protesting the devastating effect the tourism is having on housing.
Short-term lets and second-homeowners are par for the course anywhere there’s a beach and some sunshine – just ask the good people of Ramsgate or St Ives – reducing available housing stock for locals whilst pushing prices to rent and buy higher and higher.
An influx of wealthy immigrants making the islands their new home has also spurred a more entrenched wealth gap, and they now account for half of the islands’ citizens.
According to a survey conducted by the Balearic Institute of Social Studies, 84% of respondents cited the cost of living spike as a serious issue. Between household goods and housing cost increases, it’s an expensive time to be a Balearics native.
According to Alfonso Rodriguez, the president of the Consubal Consumers Association, and per the Majorca Daily Bulletin, oil prices on the islands has increased by 67% since 2020, while there’s been a 50% increase in the cost of juice, sugar, bottled water, and meat.
If you’re considering heading over to the Balearic Islands this summer, take this as your warning that it’s likely to cost you more than you might expect. Protests are planned throughout the summer too, and that kind of disruption is sure to put a downer on days lounging by the pool.
Along with the increased cost of living, consumers’ dampened spending power has yielded a 20% drop in Majorca’s hospitality revenues, per restaurant association Restauración CAEB.
"If spending in our sector decreases, it will inevitably affect the entire local economy," said Juan Miguel Ferrer, president of Restauración CAEB.
In summer 2024, Peter Clover, reporting for the Majorca Daily Bulletin, said: "Majorca has become uber-expensive for the average consumer, and is perhaps in danger of outpricing itself in favour of caressing the plump wallets of the super-rich.”
Topics: Restaurants and bars, News
Rachael Davis