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Tourism bonanza MALLORCA’S tourist industry is predicting a record September with arrivals set to exceed those recorded in the same month three years ago. The key indicator is that Palma airport is scheduled to welcome more visitors than in what was a record-breaking month back in 2019. All signs are pointing to the airport exceeding the record high of 3.7 million passengers recorded in that year. Tour operators have upgraded their September forecasts ‘because the demand of European tourists going to the island does not stop growing’. Hotels are predicting an average occupancy of 70%, though in some areas that will rise to above 80%. September is also viewed as the most profitable month of the year, with wealthier tourists going to Mallorca after the high peak summer season has passed. It also allows hoteliers to raise prices which, depending on the area, will range between €120 and €160 per night. As a counter-balance, hotels and other businesses do have far higher operating costs due to the current economic situation.
MALLORCA
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voice in Spain
Vol. 5 Issue 138 www.theolivepress.es August 26th - September 8th 2022
BATTERED BY BRITS
EXCLUSIVE: Taxi driver and father of four hit by two tourists in brutal Magaluf attack reveals how he will suffer from long term medical side effects forever A TAXI driver who was viciously assaulted by a British holidaymaker in Mallorca has revealed how his soldier attacker has left him maimed for life. Gabriel Callero, 57, who is married to a British woman, has spoken exclusively after being brutally assaulted by two British men in Magaluf.
EXCLUSIVE By Jorge Hinojosa
“Everything happened when I was passing the strip where all the English bars are. “Just as I was passing the Whitehouse hotel slowly three guys came up too close to my car and one of them jumped on the bonnet,” he explained. “I stopped immediately and got out to find that no damage was done to it,” he continued. “But then two of these British guys started to laugh at me, so I asked them what was so funny?”
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It was then that one of them, a marine and ‘a very strong guy’ punched him in the face which practically knocked him unconscious and he fell to the floor injuring his shoulder, hip and face. But it didn’t end there. While lying on the pavement the two British hooligans started to kick him around the head. The two men have since claimed they were drunk, but Gabriel does not believe that they were under the effect of alcohol. A Spanish court has released the two men on a bail set at €7,000. “I think that is completely unfair and ridiculous considering my injuries.
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“If it was locals they would have had a jail sentence already,” he claimed. “Being handed bail of just €7,000 is ridiculous after all the damage that they have caused me,” he added. The taxi driver revealed that before working as a taxi driver, he worked as a bouncer for 15 years and in all those years he only had one problem with an attacker. He insists he knows how to calm people down and deflect and avoid violence. Yet now he is in bed and unable to work since the incident as he feels sick and aching. KICKED: Gabriel was left with serious injuries “I feel really sick, dizzy and I have a constant ringing he tried to attack them - but Gabriel in my ears which I’m told by doctors insisted that it is not true that he had could stay with me forever caused by no intention of attacking them. the damage,” he added. “If I attacked them, I would have The two Brits claimed in court that marks on my hand, but I don’t have them,” he insisted. “I’m also sure CCTV will clear it all up and prove I am right.” He concluded that while he doesn’t feel any malice towards British people because of the attack, he is insistent that the violent minority need to be punished.
Idiots
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“What these idiots did was a disgrace and they need to be properly punished for it,” he said. The Spanish authorities have been attempting to clear up the drunken tourism that has badly scarred resorts like Magaluf for decades. Various measures have been introduced to stop groups organising pub crawls and so-called ‘booze cruises’ on boats. The name of the resort has even been changed in an attempt to clean up its reputation.