Souvenirs that exploit the island universe try to emerge in the midst of a global world victim of 'McDonaldization'. The term was coined in 1993 by the American sociologist George Ritzer, author of the book McDonaldization of Society. According to Ritzer, Western societies in the service of capitalism are becoming environments that prioritize productivity like the famous fast-food chain. And they do so based on four factors: efficiency (achieving results at low cost), calculation, predictability, and control.A manifestation of the 'McDonaldization' of society is tourism, which has transformed places into consumer products. French sociologist Rodolphe Christin speaks of tourist 'world-eating'. It is a concept he has developed in three poignant essays: Un mundo en venta. Crítica de la sinrazón turística (A World for Sale: A Critique of Tourist Irrationality) (2014), Manual del Anti-turismo (Anti-Tourism Manual) (2018), and Contra el turismo, ¿podemos seguir viajando? (Against Tourism, Can We Still Travel?) (2023). Christin recalls that the father of mass tourism was the British Thomas Cook, who in 1841 created the first travel agency. However, the rules of the game changed in 1936 when Popular Front France approved paid holidays (15 days) so that the working class could travel. Until then, it was an activity reserved for a wealthy minority. The measure would become widespread after World War II, at the height of the welfare state.According to the French researcher, 'holidays for all' would lead to the commodification of territories. That change in paradigm would be reflected in vocabulary. Thus, a distinction would be made between traveling, synonymous with exploration, and doing tourism, synonymous with exploitation. The new dynamic would trivialize any destination. Many souvenirs are a good example of this, which some scholars see as ethnocidal tools. In the case of the Balearic Islands, during the tourist boom, Francoism promoted 'Marca España' (Brand Spain) with products that had nothing to do with the island reality, such as figures of sevillanas dancers and bullfighters and Cordoban hats (there were also Mexican ones). Later, the Archipelago would be presented as a theme park of carnality with naked women printed on t-shirts, aprons, towels, mattresses, and postcards. Another classic would be bottle openers with phallic shapes. These are commercial inertias that still persist.Christin assures that today tourism is "a toxic industry." Initially, it was an important factor in development and the promotion of interculturality. Later, however, in the era of turbo-capitalism, it would become a "predatory" and "totalitarian" activity. The sociologist speaks of the "tragedy of tourism" given its consequences: the destruction and depersonalization of destinations, turned into a non-place in the service of selfie-hungry influencers, a precarious labor market, the expulsion of low-income residents to make way for tourist housing, and the closure of traditional shops in favor of fashion franchises.
"Indicate that you are not a tourist": Catalan 'souvenirs' that make the country in the Balearic Islands
Melicotó opened the way in 2011 and today several brands from Mallorca and Ibiza turn island phrases and imagery into products designed, above all, for residents
At the beginning of 2011, the 26-year-old graphic designer from Palma, Jaume Vich, was in charge of coordinating the successful lipdub campaign ‘Mallorca m’agrada’ by Obra Cultural Balear (OCB). Back in 2008, the entity had launched the ‘Cafè per la Llengua’ campaign with well-known faces such as that of tennis player Rafel Nadal. According to the official statement, the new initiative aimed to “promote the moral rearmament of people who love Mallorca”. Many towns became involved in the creation of collective videos that claimed their own identity elements. In June, that boost of self-esteem would turn into frustration. The popular José Ramón Bauzá won the regional elections. His four-year term would be characterized by a clearly hostile attitude towards the Catalan language and culture.
With the ‘Mallorca m’agrada’ campaign, Vich developed his good business acumen. “I discovered – he says – the commercial potential that the universe of Mallorcan identity had. It was a niche that was completely abandoned because all the souvenir businesses were only aimed at tourists”. In November of the same year, 2011, the Palma native got down to business. With two other illustrators, Robert Campillo and Javi Torrado, they created the Melicotó brand. The objective was to sell all kinds of products (t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, canteens, notebooks, keychains, badges...) with humorous phrases from island daily life written in the colloquial variant such as ‘Mos deim coses’, ‘Si sa curtor fos boira’, ‘Uro’ and ‘Da-li gas’. There would be others with more uninhibited messages like ‘Estima com vulguis’. “The name of the fruit suited us very well because it is a genuine name from here and at the same time it contains a wordplay that defined us: mel (honey), synonymous with something good, and cotó (cotton), in reference to the first t-shirts we used”.
Mallorcans under threat
Melicotó opened a shop in the Pere Garau neighborhood of Palma. “The citizen response – says the co-founder – was very positive. Facebook, which was the only social network at the time, helped us a lot. In addition, for five years we went around to village fairs to make ourselves known. Being a local proposal, which was completely innovative, the media paid a lot of attention to us”. In 2013, the friendly brand would notice an increase in customers thanks to the historic mobilizations of the green t-shirts against Bauzá's TIL (Integrated Language Treatment). “Feeling threatened, many Majorcans were encouraged to buy products that vindicated our culture”.
In that new professional challenge, Vich had the opportunity to put into practice the love for the language and the territory that years before he had learned during his time as a youth club monitor. “With our cultural marketing, we do politics, we build a country in an increasingly multicultural society where Catalan is suffering a strong decline. We bet on the Catalan-speaking sector of the population, which, despite being a minority, is very loyal as a customer”. At first, the designer was a victim of his own linguistic prejudices. “When a person with different facial features entered the store, I addressed them in Spanish. I was surprised to find that they answered me in Catalan. That’s how I decided to set aside an attitude that was completely racist. Now we greet everyone with a ‘Good morning’”.
Vich is proud to see Catalan-speaking clients who are interested in island culture through their products. “We have noticed, however, that among some Majorcan clients there is a lot of ignorance. There are those who know more about Thailand than about here. They tell us: ‘Wow, I didn’t know who na Maria Enganxa was!’”. In 2014, the designer took another step in cultural activism by helping to found Orgull Llonguet. The entity is responsible for giving the Sant Sebastià festivities in Palma a more assertive character, following the model of the Comissió de Festes de la Calatrava, created in 1976. In 2015, Orgull Llonguet organized the end-of-summer neo-festival of Canamunt and Canavall. In 2017, Melicotó’s shop moved to Geranis and in 2021, to Blanquerna street.
'I will tell you things'
A businessman who has followed the path initiated by Melicotó is the Sineu resident Lluc Aparicio, 34 years old, better known as en Parisio. A graduate in Art History, in 2020, during covid, he opened the Youtube channel Parisio Productions, from where he still dedicates himself to making dubs with an islander touch and an irreverent spirit of famous films and various news. “Then I decided to appear in the videos wearing a t-shirt with some of the funny phrases I used to say with friends printed on it. To make them funnier, I would put the literal translation in English, which makes no sense, for example: ‘I will tell you things’ (‘Et diré coses’)”. In 2021, after the pandemic and encouraged by friends, Aparicio became self-employed to monetize that initiative with all kinds of products. The profits would serve to finance his videos. He opened the shop on Carrer Major in Sineu, in his father's art gallery, Ricardo Gago – he also sells online.
Aparicio's souvenirs know no bounds when it comes to adapting the island's imagery to the British language with phrases like ‘Dont look slim’ (‘Don't look thin’) and ‘Give’em onions’ (‘Give them onions’). Some are only said in Sineu, like ‘Bad grass never dies’ (‘Bad grass never dies’) or ‘Always rains when there is no school’ (‘It always rains when there is no school’). There are also personal interpretations of genuine expressions like ‘fer bonda’ defined as ‘do what your body asks for’. Others, like ‘No passis pena’ (‘Don't worry’), need no explanation. “They are phrases – he says – that represent a cheerful way of understanding life. My goal is to make people laugh because there are already enough hardships in the world. The same philosophy applies to the videos I make”.
With a father from Zamora and a mother from Palma, Aparicio had no doubts about his personal choice. “I am Mallorcan and I was clear that my audience had to be local. As an influencer I also always use Catalan. I have Spanish-speaking clients who write to me to thank me for promoting our culture”. Besides Parisio Productions, in recent years other brands have emerged that exploit the Mallorcan identity, such as Ca de Bou (famous for t-shirts like ‘Llonguet King’ and ‘Son Banya University’), Catadeplaceta, and Malafolla. The latest addition is Patxanga, by Guillem Barceló, which has just opened a store in Manacor. On the other islands, the model has been copied in Ibiza by Eulàries with slogans like ‘Estem xiflats’ (‘We are crazy’), ‘Amb cafè i na Maria sempre hi ha alegria’ (‘With coffee and Maria there is always joy’), and ‘Tot és millor amb un ‘t’estim’ de sa güela’ (‘Everything is better with a ‘I love you’ from grandma’). Olívia Cardona is in charge. “In 2018 – she points out – I set up a shop selling handmade bags and baskets. Three years ago, I decided to make t-shirts and other products with local phrases. It's a way of injecting a bit of self-esteem amidst so many tourists. 99% of our clients are from Ibiza”.
‘Banal insularism’
Mercè Picornell, a professor in the Catalan department at the UIB, closely follows the growing commodification of popular culture. It is one of the topics addressed in the book she will publish in Spanish in September with the title Paraísos insoportables. La resistencia cultural a la turistización en la Mallorca contemporánea. “These souvenirs – she says – are in line with the boom of summer neofestivals. They are tools for claiming one's own identity within the context of globalization, which causes cultural homogenization. The same goes for Estrella Damm's 'Mediterràniament' advertisements, which sell a global product based on the local”.
Faced with the island's current touristification, Picornell highlights the added symbolism of the cultural marketing initiated 15 years ago by Melicotó: “They are products that indicate you are not a tourist. Also, however, they are a cry of resistance within the process of marginalization that our culture suffers from compared to Spanish culture”. For some scholars, the new indigenous-branded souvenirs promote 'banal insularism'. The philologist, however, qualifies: “It is true that in some cases they folklorize our imagination and sell a single way of being Mallorcan or Ibizan through a selection of genuine phrases. Nevertheless, they are a commercial proposal to be appreciated since it is made from the pride of being who we are and not from victimhood”.
Menorca is, along with Formentera, the only island in the Archipelago that does not have any business selling reivindicative phrases. The Mahón researcher Miquel Àngel Maria has an explanation: “The people who live their identity with more normality do not need to turn their country into a brand. Instead, when people feel more threatened, that is when the clichés appear that supposedly identify the essence of the territory. Mallorca and Ibiza have suffered the pressure of tourism for much longer. In recent years, however, this pressure has intensified in Menorca”.