East Is East: Hotels in the Llevant

The Llevant has different meanings in Mallorca. It is one of the Mediterranean winds, that which blows from the east, and it is the eastern region of Mallorca; llevant (or levante in Spanish) refers to Mediterranean east coasts.

The east of Mallorca is strangely overlooked. The inevitable north v. south divide means that the east doesn't really get a look-in. The south does of course dominate, but it is the north, for the British at any rate, which comes in second and this has everything to do with concentration of population, the British population.

The east is ill-served in some respects. The collapse of the plans to build a new rail link from Manacor to Artà underlined the absence of infrastructure. The regional government has suggested that the clearing that had been done to accommodate the railway might be turned into a highway solely for public transport use (i.e. a rapid bus service); but where would the money for this come from? More positively, last week, a mere fourteen years after the go-ahead was given for it, the bypass in Porto Cristo was officially opened.

The Llevant extends from Cala Rajada on the north-eastern tip of Mallorca to Santanyí in the south-east. It is, in Mallorcan terms, a large area, one that shouldn't be overlooked but which often seems to be. There is one particular reason why it shouldn't be overlooked and this is that along the Llevant coast a third of all Mallorca's hotel places are located. This advantage of tourism does not, however, come without its drawbacks.

The infrastructure which connects the Llevant with Palma isn't too bad, but it isn't brilliant either. But the infrastructure, and complaints about it, isn't really the issue. Not for the hoteliers on the Llevant. The real issue is that they are where they are - some distance from Palma and from attractions which are concentrated in and around Palma.

The Llevant hoteliers are complaining that this season is proving more difficult than previously, and they attribute this largely to the costs associated with transport, both for transfer and for going on excursions. Yet this is hardly anything new, and nor is it an issue unique to the Llevant; the north of Mallorca faces precisely the same issue.

But it is a combination of tourists looking to save money and therefore spending less on their holidays and of the rise in popularity of direct booking of accommodation that is beginning to take its toll; this is what the hoteliers reckon at any rate. Quite obviously, it does cost more for transport to, say, Cala Millor from the airport than to Magalluf. And it will cost more to go on an excursion to a waterpark in the south for a tourist in Cala Millor than for one in Arenal. Tourists can hardly be blamed for choosing a cheaper option.

So what can be done? Short of building an airport in Manacor, not a great deal. An anticipated change to local transport law should involve a degree of deregulation that will allow a shuttle bus to operate from hotels to the airport. This may help with the costs of transport, but ultimately for the Llevant resorts and hotels, it is a question of marketing and differentiation. And differentiation is one reason given as to why last year Santanyí (which includes Cala d'Or) registered the highest increase in revenue in the Balearics. It was joined at the top of the list of municipalities which were coining it in more than others by Capdepera, the town in which Cala Rajada is located.

The hotels of the Llevant may be showing lower occupancy this season, but come the end of this season will we see that resort towns at either end of the Llevant region have registered such high levels of revenue and of profitability as they did in 2011? One fancies things will not prove to have changed so radically in the course of a year, despite the disadvantage of distance from Palma and the cost of transport.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.