Mallorca is becoming the island of the rich

Mallorca is becoming the island of the rich. Even Jack Ma is said to have been there. The Alibaba founder's super yacht "Zen", estimated at 170 million euros, was anchored off the southwest coast of Mallorca for days in October. Ma, one of the richest men in China, had long disappeared from the scene after his falling out with his country's government over criticism of the financial system. "Shopping, golfing, maybe even looking at real estate" were now on the 57-year-old's program, as the "Mallorca Zeitung" wrote in the latest edition. The "South China Morning Post" - which belongs to the group of online retailer Alibaba - reported that Ma was on business in Spain. It is not surprising that Ma was spotted on Mallorca on his first known international trip after the dispute with Beijing. The party stronghold, once ridiculed as the "cleaning woman island" and until the end also dependent on the controversial drinking tourism, is increasingly becoming the island of millionaires and billionaires. Luxury tourism is booming like never before. The record numbers of 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic, were exceeded, although the corona virus is still haunted, as Jesús Cuartero tells in an interview. Cuartero speaks of a "spectacular development" - and he should know it. The head of Vanity Welcome, which offers visitors premium services, is also the president of the "Essentially Mallorca" interest group, which claims to represent most of the island's luxury companies. "Mallorca has now positioned itself as one of the most important European travel destinations in the luxury segment," he assures. The rush of the rich continues in autumn: on the last long weekend with All Saints' Day, all boutique hotels and all five-star hotels in the island's capital Palma were booked, as the hotelier association Asphama announced. The high demand for luxury travel has been going on for "many weeks," said Asphama President Javier Vich of the Última Hora newspaper. Indeed - for many weeks: In July, for example, there were 2,685 take-offs and landings of private jets on Mallorca. That was around 60 percent more than in the same month of 2019. Other figures also speak for themselves: According to "Essentially Mallorca" in 2021, room occupancy in luxury accommodations was 90 percent so far. Luxury tourism brought Mallorca income of one billion euros by the end of the summer season this year. Every luxury tourist spends an average of 5,000 euros per day.