Palma gears up for the return of tourists

The city, the capital of the Balearic islands, is stressing that it is “open and ready to welcome UK travellers again”.

Although Spain currently remains an amber destination under the UK government’s traffic lights system and the Foreign Office (FCDO) continues to advise against non-essential travel to the Balearics.

Tourism from mainland Europe to Palma is restarting with Germany and the Netherlands “leading the demand”. Spain also reopened to UK arrivals without a Covid test requirement earlier this week.

There is hope the Balearics could be placed on the UK’s green list of destinations with low Covid-19 infections during the next review in early June, especially as transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed that the government is looking at introducing a new “islands” policy for this system.

Palma Hotel Association said 45 hotels are currently open in the city with 67 set to be operating again by the end of next month.

The city’s La Seu Cathedral has also restarted its guided rooftop visits, while VisitPalma has revamped its website to include a range of recommended destination experiences.