The Government attacks Aena for 'Malle' advertising: "Unacceptable, we deserve much more respect"

PalmaThe Balearic Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzà, has criticized Aena for allowing the installation of a large advertising banner at thePalma airport that conveys an image of Mallorca based on excess and contrary to the quality model promoted by public institutions on the islands. "It is unacceptable, we deserve much more respect," he denounced after reading the news published by ARA Balears.

In a message published on the X social network, Bauzà has described as “inacceptable” this large red banner hung at the entrance to the airport car park, which reads 'Was auf Emmalli passiert, wird auf Emmalli beglichen' (what happens in Mallorca stays in Mallorca). The campaign, visible to the thousands of tourists who pass through the area every day, has been promoted by Sparkasse, a German network of savings banks, and Wero, a European instant payment system for sending and receiving money from a mobile phone.

The minister has held Aena, the airport's owner and operator, responsible for authorizing this advertising while the public administrations of the Balearic Islands work to promote a tourism that is “more responsible, sustainable, and compatible with the lives of residents”. Bauzà has denounced that the use of the term 'Malle' constitutes “a tourist caricature” that reduces Mallorca to a destination of “open bar and quick business”, and has warned that the message being projected is that “everything goes” on the island and that it functions as a “theme park of excesses”excesses".

The nickname 'Malle' does not appear in the German dictionary, but it is a colloquial and very widespread abbreviation with which many Germans refer to Mallorca, especially in contexts linked to summer, parties and holidays.

The councilor recalls that the Government, the island councils and the town councils have been promoting a debate for years on the limits and responsibility of the tourism model, which is why he considers it contradictory that a campaign of these characteristics is located precisely at the main gateway to the islands, through which 20 million travelers are expected to pass this year.

In this regard, Bauzà has called on Aena for "more respect" for Mallorca's image and for institutional efforts to move towards a more balanced tourism model between the enjoyment of visitors and respect for the quality of life of residents.

MÉS brings the case to Parliament and demands the withdrawal of the campaign

The response to the campaign has not only come from the Government team, but the opposition has also been very critical. Specifically, MÉS per Mallorca has registered a non-law proposition (PNL) in Parliament to demand the immediate withdrawal of the campaign. Through a statement, they have remarked that they consider it "offensive" and representative of a tourist model based on "the commercial trivialization of Mallorca and excessive tourism".

The initiative also attacks Aena's management model, which the party defines as "centralized, extractive, and indifferent to the interests of the Balearic Islands," and denounces that decisions about the airports are made from Madrid without real participation from the Balearic institutions. In the text, MÉS directly links airport policy with mass tourism and the housing crisis, and rejects the planned expansions at the Palma and Ibiza airports because, it assures, they increase pressure on the territory and consolidate "an unsustainable economic model."

The eco-sovereigntist formation also calls for advancing towards effective airport co-management and reprimands both the president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, and the director of Palma airport, Tomás Melgar, for having allowed a campaign that, in their opinion, "undermines the identity and social interests of Mallorca".

In fact, the spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, also tweeted on the social network X assuring that this campaign was another example of "colonial mistreatment". "That Aenapermeti this advertising at Son Santjoan airport is another example of absolute contempt, they openly go against the Majorcans to squeeze us for all we're worth," he sentenced.