Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Shell’s on board with Covid rules
Infamous Punta Ballena is now boarded-up ghost town Virus an ‘excuse’ to put an end to ‘500 metres of shame’
MICHELLE Keegan put safety first as she wore a face mask for a day at sea with husband Mark Wright.
The Our Girl actress and reality TV star Mark, both 33, were spotted boarding a boat with a bunch of pals in
Magaluf on Spanish island Majorca. Michelle was heard telling her friend: “I don’t want to catch coronavirus.”
The couple are enjoying their freedom after spending lockdown at their home in Essex. They were spotted in Marbella, on the Costa Del Sol, five days ago.
BOARDED up and abandoned, one of Spain’s biggest party resorts has become a ghost town.
Magaluf, on the island of Majorca, has been hugely popular with tourists for years and a bawdy rite of passage for millions of teenagers.
But when the Daily Mirror visited this week we found resentment from holidaymakers and business owners, furious that the Spanish authorities closed the infamous Punta Ballena – the main strip full of bars and clubs – due to Covid-19 safety concerns.
Officials acted with lightning speed to shut it down for at least two months after footage emerged of drunken, mask-less Brits ignoring social distancing and causing chaos.
But many think the pandemic is just an excuse to step up the drive to change the face of Magaluf for ever.
Authorities in Majorca have been trying to improve the image of the resort for years, with one mayor even describing the Punta Ballena as “500 metres of shame”.
This year, numbers were already down due to the pandemic but now
streets lie eerily empty. Only two shops remain open on the strip itself and police patrol constantly, ordering people to disperse and wear masks, shutting down on the spot any business that fails to comply.
One that is still open is a tattoo parlour run by Spanish owner David, 40.
He said: “What they are trying to do is change the type of tourist they get in Magaluf. The closure has nothing to do with what happened when the young people were seen jumping on the car... it is just an excuse.
“We are in trouble, our businesses are on the edge already.”
Business owners are taking collective legal action against the government over the lockdown. One of them is British-born Daniel Hernandezchetland,
whose family own the hugely popular Red Lion pub in the centre of the strip.
The 42-year-old said: “I think this is politics. Why have they only shut the strip and why didn’t they give us fair warning?
“We were doing everything correctly and then suddenly the police turned up and told us we were shutting.
“I had just brought 13 members of staff back from furlough.”
The shutdown also came amid growing fears that Spain faces a second lockdown after Covid-19 cases tripled in a fortnight. That would be another huge blow to its tourist industry, which could lose £65billion this year alone.
But it is also a worry for holidaymakers, who are slowly making their way back to resorts such as Magaluf. Sally Cotton, 21, from Liverpool, said: “I came out just before the strip shut down and it was great but since it closed people haven’t known what to do with themselves.
“You can still get a drink but it’s just not the same. It feels like Maga might be done for good.”
But not everywhere is closed. While big clubs such as BCM are boarded-up for the season, visitors to the town can still enjoy a meal and a drink. Families are still having fun at the beach and some water parks, go kart tracks and other attractions are open.
Ben Morris, 30, is an investor in the upmarket Magaluf Square development, at the end of the strip, which remains open.
It was busy when the Mirror visited, as one of the only places young tourists can congregate. But he explained
Magaluf will have to change. He said: “I think the council has tried everything to control things over the past 20 years.
“But now the virus has been used partly as an excuse to say enough is enough. The strip has been sinbinned. We do need to change, we want you to come down here and grab some food, have a civilised drink.
“We need to polish a few things up now and I think maybe in five years you will see a massive difference.”
Just a few hundred metres away on the silent strip itself, the only other business open was a small shop selling soft drinks and snacks.
It is run by Robert Poletti, 45, who was angry at losing his customer base. He said: “This is an impossible, illegal situation. It seems more about politics then common sense. I have a family to feed and yet they have taken this money from my life with no thought for us. It seems as though this is just a strategy to turn the strip into hotels.” Waitress Lauren Pettifor, 20, from Manchester, had been working in one of the bars on the strip before it shut.
She said: “Before the shutdown the bars all adhered to social distancing. I think the police here have always just wanted to shut down the strip and that’s what they have done.”
When it triggered the shutdown, the Balearics’ regional government referred to the cavorting Brits “putting everyone’s health at risk”. It added: “We cannot allow what we saw to be repeated. We don’t want uncivil tourists.”
The Mirror approached the Magaluf local authorities for comment.
They are trying to change the type of tourist here
DAVID TATTOO PARLOUR OWNER IN MAGALUF