Lift-off for holidays in Majorca as Brits fly in
HUNDREDS of holidaymakers arrived in Majorca yesterday for the first time since lockdown – and after the Government lifted the two-week quarantine rule.
The Balearic island normally expects hundreds of thousands of visitors in July but many hotels, restaurants and bars were forced to stay closed.
However, Palma airport saw a steep increase in travellers as hundreds of passengers desperate for a summer holiday arrived at Palma airport on the first four UK flights. Two were from Luton, the others Gatwick and Manchester.
Ben Horton, 18, and Luca Carballeiro, 19, both from Weybridge, Surrey, were two of the first to walk through the arrivals door in the baking 93F (34C) heat.
Luca said: “We booked our flights in February and were a little bit worried about flying but it didn’t stop us. The flight wasn’t full, just the front and middle of the plane had passengers and the back of the plane was empty.”
Flouting
Domi Nicholson, from Guildford, Surrey, said: “It’s so nice to leave Britain, it feels quite liberating to be able to get out. It’s the simple pleasures we’re looking forward to, like going in the sea, eating out and seeing friends we have here.”
Paul Griffiths, 59, of Stretford, Greater Manchester, said:“It’s brilliant to be here. We’ve been shielding at home because we’ve both got underlying health conditions... it’s been terrible.”
His wife Heather who celebrates her 65th birthday tomorrow added: “I was so fed-up with people flouting the quarantine rules and the protesters back home. There was no social distancing so we weren’t worried about coming.”
Reinhold Klinglmar, owner of Cafe Mozart in Santa Ponsa, said he was delighted to hear that the UK tourists were arriving.
He said: “The trouble is no one knows how many people will come. But everyone hopes that it will happen faster now that people are allowed to fly.”
He explained that not everyone was comfortable: “We have some people who are very afraid and others have no problem. Some people will sit in the restaurant with masks and gloves on and others don’t bother.”