'Malle'

‘Malle’ is Mallorca. Thus, with this word, ‘Malle’, the slogan of a huge advertising billboard that you can see on the facade of the Son Sant Joan airport car park refers to the island, and which has caused disgust due to the idea it conveys about Mallorca, as a place of uncontrolled tourism where anything goes and one doesn't need to be picky about anything. You can read in ARA Balears's chronicle by Aina Vidal about the billboard and the controversy it has generated.The slogan in question is written only in German: “Was auf Malle passiert, wird auf Malle beglichen”, that is, “What happens in Mallorca is settled in Mallorca”. The reference to “settlement” is understandable because the advertising company is Wero, a digital payment service —like PayPal and Bizum— designed to operate within Europe. The advertisers' ingenuity cannot be disputed. What they are trying to tell German tourists (who are the target audience of the advertisement) is: “pay for your parties in Mallorca with Wero”. Pardon: not “in Mallorca”, but “in Malle”. What does “Malle” have to do with Mallorca?” It has to do with the fact that it is a diminutive, a kind of nickname that aims to be affectionate and at the same time roguish, for a place of ill repute. It plays on the reference to Las Vegas (the famous phrase ‘what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas’) and simply starts from the idea that Mallorca is a destination for beach, sex, and drunkenness tourism. It is not the equivalent of Mallorqueta or sa Roqueta, bland and prim denominations, which the most smug Majorcans still use to reduce themselves to a commonplace (which is not the same as a toilet). Malle has a resonance more of party, more nocturnal, more rowdy. It is the diminutive that the vicious but not very vicious, those who allow themselves an excess from time to time because they can afford it, give to the place they go to be naughty without having to give explanations. This is Malle: an island where it doesn't matter if it's five or fifty, where you don't have to worry about anyone being offended by your behavior, because what they want is for you to go there to lose yourself. All you need is money in your current account and a digital platform for small payments to cover the cost of your vice. The rest is secondary, starting with the native population of Malle, a completely irrelevant and despicable people, starting with their language. It is possible that you may encounter some of these natives, but do not pay the slightest attention to them.All this is also stated by Wero's sign on the facade of the Son Sant Joan car park: not in the text but in the subtext and context, which are equally important. To advertise like this (without even respecting that signage, by law, must be at least in Catalan, and also in Spanish) is an act of arrogance and contempt for which Aena is also responsible, allowing its advertisers to advertise in this way (the same Aena that also wants to double the capacity of Ibiza airport, because it is the main competitor in the race to finish squeezing the Balearic Islands and the Pitiusas until the last drop of juice they can give). The main responsible parties, however, are we Majorcans ourselves, who for decades have persisted in presenting ourselves as an island of greedy people fascinated by easy money, to the point of allowing anyone who fancies it to advertise at the airport —the gateway to the island, the first thing anyone arriving finds— saying that this place here is ca na Brutes and that it doesn't matter to suffer for anything, the only thing to do is pay and no one will say a peep. The saddest thing is that they are right. Welcome to Malle, Majorcans.