Magaluf. One word, three syllables. That’s all it takes to conjure a world, or at least a 400m strip, of sex games and shots, sunburn and vomit, reality TV and binge-drinking, David Guetta and foam parties that has long characterised Spain’s most notorious resort. But could it be that the Punta Ballena strip’s partying days are numbered? Welcome to Calvia Beach … not yet an actual tourist destination, true, but a multimillion-pound, five-year plan to turn Magaluf into an upmarket resort for wealthy Brits and their families. Pedestrianised boulevards, ritzy marinas, chic hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, and no drinking on the streets between 12pm and 8am. Less Shagaluf, you might say, and more Magaloof.
This week, a consortium of British and Spanish companies met in London to launch their vision of a grownup and sobered-up Magaluf. Apparently based on the transformation of Miami’s South Beach and Barcelona, the plan is for Magaluf to, well, no longer be Magaluf. It’s not going to be easy. Last year, the resort, which attracts just 1% of Spain’s tourists but pretty much all its unwanted media attention, made global headlines when footage of a teenager from Northern Ireland giving oral sex to 24 men in a Magaluf bar went viral. For many, sex and binge-drinking will for ever be to Magaluf what Gaudi is to Barcelona.
“There are a lot of people who want that kind of holiday,” says Bob Atkinson, travel expert at TravelSupermarket. “So Palma Nova, the next resort along, becomes the new Magaluf. Or they go to Ayia Napa or head for new resorts like Sunny Beach in Bulgaria which is rapidly starting to make Magaluf look like a kids’ party.”
Has any resort pulled off a rebrand? In 2002, Ayia Napa enforced a zero-tolerance drugs policy, arresting dozens of Brits in an attempt to prevent the fishing village from becoming the new Ibiza. More a shutting up shop than a rebranding. Meanwhile, a 10-year cleanup of Faliraki included banning pub crawls, taking tips from police officers in Blackpool, and cracking down on binge-drinking. In 2013, it was reported that, as a result, Faliraki was in major decline, with businesses losing as much as 90% of their earnings. Magaluf has already attempted a cleanup by bringing in British police officers and limiting bars to organising one pub crawl a night. The travel experts I speak to agree that none of it has worked yet.
“I struggle to think of somewhere similar to Magaluf that has managed to rebrand itself,” Atkinson tells me. “Miami South Beach is different. We never went there by the planeload to get plastered. The architecture is art deco, it has a melting pot of cultures, an alternative scene. It may have been taken relatively upmarket, but it’s still got a lot of grit and soul.”
“I hope it does work,” says Dominique Afacan, a travel writer who recently visited Magaluf to find out how much the resort has already changed. “It is changing a bit, but I found it hilarious that whenever I spoke to someone trying to rebrand it they wouldn’t even accept the word ‘Magaluf’. There seemed to be some denial going on.”
According to Atkinson, Benidorm is a rare example of a resort that is getting it right. “Earlier this year, it applied for Unesco protection on the grounds that it is the world’s first mass-market beach resort,” he says. “A lot has been done to smarten up the waterfront. There are blue flag beaches, a five-star hotel, and a world-class theme park. But at the end of the day it’s still a cheap and cheerful resort that does what it says on the tin.” This is the real problem. “It’s not about claiming to be something it’s not,” he says. “Maybe Magaluf would be better off doing what it does, but toning it down.”
