From Russia Without Love

At the end of the last century a mere 8,000 or so Russian tourists came to the Balearics. By 2010 the number had climbed to over 34,000. This year the total (taking in also visitors from the Ukraine) has been projected to rise to 90,000. It is still not an enormous number, but such growth has implications for all manner of reasons, not least for the demographic melting-pot that is the holidaymaking collective in Mallorca.

There are other implications, such as what the heck the Mallorcans will make of attempting to put everything into Cyrillic script and inevitably getting it wrong. And they are surely bound to get it wrong.

The Russians, as a rule, don't speak Spanish and they're not much better when it comes to English. And no one speaks Russian. Communication is going to be a big challenge, but not the biggest; and this brings you to the melting-pot, one that might just have the potential to boil over.

Let's cut to the chase. The Russians are not exactly well liked. Years of antagonism between different nationalities on holiday will draw to a close as a united, western European front is formed against the Russian invasion. Remarkably, the British are likely to be brought into a grand holidaymaker alliance, with their old foes the Germans calling on their one-time enemy to join in a whole new battle of the sunbeds.

The Germans have a deep-rooted dislike of the Russians, and the feeling is entirely mutual; Stalingrad and all that. Russian paranoia, a national trait and the one that for centuries has caused the Russians to be constantly seeking ways of repelling enemies, imagined or real, is now being reinforced by treatment that the Russian tourist receives.

Tensions with the Germanic peoples, and let us not forget that a certain German was actually born in Austria, has been evident in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel, which decided to limit the number of Russian visitors to 10% of the whole. The decision was taken because of the Russians' loud and brash behaviour.

Anti-Russian feeling is certainly not limited to the Germans and Austrians. The British have been taking as hard a line, as can be seen in some comments emanating from Trip Advisor. Take these two for a hotel in Marmaris in Turkey. "Ignorant Russians can spoil the mood." "If you want to punch a Russian clap your hands." On another internet forum, someone wrote: "The problem is that they are not ordinary, decent Russians but crooks and apparatchiks who have come into money without doing an honest day's work."

The Dutch have a dislike of the Russians almost as strong as an historic loathing of the Germans, so much so that following huge numbers of complaints from Dutch tourists there is now such a thing as "tours without Russians" being promoted.

The mixing of cultures in Mallorca's resorts has not always gone smoothly, but for the most part there has been a tolerance bred from familiarity. Brits and Germans may have their differences but they have reached an accommodation over the years. They might even actually like each other now, and one would hope so. On the principle that travel broadens the mind, then going on holiday should break down the stereoptyping and the antagonisms. Which ultimately will be the case with the Russians, but for now, in addition to accusations of rudeness and ignorance, there is more than a suggestion that much of the negativity towards the Russians comes from resentment; that they have acquired wealth where they previously didn't have it and are not shy in flaunting it, especially the women.

The generalisation as to how this wealth has come about gives rise to the type of comment quoted above and to jibes of mafia and oligarchs. Put Russians together with Germans in Arenal, and the Germans will not like it not just because they simply can't stand the Russians but also because they know that an Abramovich could, were he minded to, come along and buy Arenal. It is the shifting of Europe's economic tectonic plates, however the money has been acquired, that lies behind the resentment.

The widening of Mallorca's tourism base should be welcomed by everyone, but such a development adds to the peculiar social phenomenon associated with holidays, that of nationalism and territorialism. The "old world" of western Europe's tourism - the Brits, the Dutch, the Germans and so on - have, grudgingly in many instances, come to accept each other, but acceptance of the "new world" of eastern Europe and of Russia in particular is going to take some doing. Mallorca's tourism industry should understand what it's letting itself in for.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.