The island of Mallorca is preparing for an influx of German tourists over the Easter holidays, after the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) took six Spanish regions off Germany’s “high-risk” list. Several German airlines have responded to the surge in demand by making extra flights available - but the Federal Foreign Ministry is not best pleased.
German tourists are known to be fond of heading out to the Balearic islands on their holidays, with some even going so far as to joke that the region is Germany’s “17th state”. Despite official channels still advising would-be holidaymakers against travelling, demand for holidays in the Mediterranean has skyrocketed in recent weeks.
On March 14, Eurowings announced that it would put on an extra 300 flights to Mallorca over the Easter period, to accommodate the extra demand that has arisen since the RKI revised its risk list. After these quickly sold out over the weekend, it added a further 50 flights.
A few days earlier, flagship carrier Lufthansa also said that it would be doubling the number of flights from German airports to the island. Meanwhile, tourism giant TUI has said that it has received more bookings for Mallorca in recent days than in the same period in 2019, and so has decided to double the number of services to the island to 300. Condor and Ryanair have also said that they are increasing the number of flights.
The German Foreign Ministry has been quick to respond to the flurry of bookings, hastily stressing that the change in travel advice - which means vacationers no longer need to quarantine upon their return home, or undergo mandatory testing - was "not an invitation to go there".
"We have an increased incidence rate in Germany, and everyone is still called upon to do their part," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Berlin this week. "Travel is one of those things that leads to more contacts, and that's why this is a decision that everyone has to make for themselves. But I hope citizens handle this responsibly."