Mallorca: How Corona tamed the Ballermann vacationers

Easter is the start of the party season in Mallorca – but it’s not quite like it used to be: the regional government has been trying to civilize Ballermann tourism for years and could now be successful with its code of conduct.

Johanna Heinemann from Göttingen is very satisfied: “We met new people,” she says, who is on holiday in Mallorca with her best friend. “It was super open and really nice and after Corona it was a real relaxation,” she enthuses.

Heinemann and her best friend are drawn to the Megapark at Ballermann 6. After a forced break of two and a half years, guests have been able to celebrate there again for a few days. However, Corona is still more than a type of beer there – there are rules. No problem for Johanna: “When you go in you still have the mask on and if you want to go to the toilet or get a t-shirt or just walk around in the megapark. But we have a table and we can take off the mask there,” says you. She finds the rules “completely okay”.

Mask requirement, but no testing

The mask requirement in public interiors, i.e. in clubs, restaurants, shops as well as in taxis and other public transport, applies beyond Easter. Rosa Golze, who is also a Megapark visitor and who has experienced her first real vacation in two years as very liberating, doesn’t detract from the mood: “Well, the mood is actually quite good, people are partying well,” she says. “You can actually run around everywhere out here without a mask and stuff like that and without testing. That’s the biggest difference.”

Perhaps the biggest difference in this beginning Mallorca season compared to two years under Corona rules. But party life is not quite as it was before: the regional government of the Balearic Islands has been trying to civilize Ballermann tourism for years – and could now be successful with it.

No “bucket drinking and what do I know”

Ballermann veteran Jannek Rakemann observed that not so many on the beach celebrate “bucket drinking and what do I know”, but “many people sit down here” to enjoy their drink.

This is due to the rules of conduct that the club and restaurant operators have prescribed for themselves: Anyone who wants to go to the Megapark, for example, must not come topless and must behave reasonably. Anyone who becomes aggressive or vulgar or looks too deeply into the proverbial bucket is thrown out. No disadvantage, says Jannek Rakemann: “Well, I found it very nice so far, I thought it was great. The atmosphere was great, and the beer was tasty too.”

According to Mallorca’s business association Caeb, in which many innkeepers are organized, excess tourism will soon be a thing of the past across the island. The association now wants to enforce the moral rules in the party hotspot of Magaluf, which is dominated by British holidaymakers.