"What happens in Malle stays in Malle": the German airport advertisement that ignites residents

PalmaA new advertising poster entirely in German installed at Palma airport has once again ignited the debate about tourist overcrowding in Mallorca. The campaign, located on the facade of the car park building and visible from the main exit of the arrivals terminal, uses the slogan 'Was auf Malle passiert, wird auf Malle beglichen' ('what happens in Mallorca stays in Mallorca').

The advertising, promoted by Sparkwasse and Wero, has generated strong criticism, especially for the term 'Malle', a colloquial name used by German tourists to refer to the island, particularly associated with leisure and sun and beach tourism.

The presence of this type of message at the main entry point to the Islands comes shortly after the start of what has so far been a record tourist season, which has also gone hand in hand with the social debate on the limits of the tourism model and, consequently, the loss of quality of life for residents of the Balearic Islands due to the lack of access to housing, precarious employment, and rising prices.

In recent years, the proliferation of signs, advertisements, and services aimed exclusively at foreign visitors has been the subject of criticism from entities warning of a progressive subordination of public space to the tourism industry. The location of the sign, right at the airport exit, has reactivated the debate about what model of island is projected to the millions of tourists who arrive each year and what space is occupied by the native language and identity within infrastructure increasingly geared towards unlimited tourist consumption.