Nightlife, well-being, nature and a lighthouse: Differentiation and convergence of the post-pandemic images of the Balearic Islands through tourism

Abstract

[eng] The Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, are administratively connected to the Kingdom of Spain, as one of its seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas). From the sixties of the 20th century, the archipelago economy is mainly focused on tourism. These four main islands – Mallorca, Menorca and the Pitiusas sub-archipelago (Eivissa and Formentera) – propose a good example of how tourism specialization is not only determined by geography, climate or culture. Despite their similarities in the last aspects, each island has specialized in a different type of tourism, projecting a varied international image. In this chapter, we study the diversity of these phenomena considering the current representation of the Balearic Islands in the tourist market (based, among other things, on institutional promotion) and the historical causes of its diversification. We also analyse how, in the four islands, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused at least three significant changes. First, the attraction of domestic tourism (inter-island and peninsular Spanish). Second, the increase in peninsular or foreign residents who, as a result of the increase in telework, are turning their holiday home into their habitual residence. Third, the mobilization of the hotel sector for the maintenance of the economic model and, conversely, the social mobilization against mass tourism.