Hoteliers in Playa de Palma have joined a growing backlash against airport operator Aena over an advertising campaign displayed at Palma Airport, saying it presents Mallorca as a destination linked to excess and disorder.
The campaign at the centre of the dispute is a large red banner placed at the entrance to the airport car park. Written in German, it reads “Was auf Emmalli passiert, wird auf Emmalli beglichen” — a phrase that translates as “What happens in Mallorca stays in Mallorca.” The banner uses the term “Malle,” a German slang abbreviation for Mallorca that is closely associated with heavy partying and uncontrolled behaviour. The campaign was promoted by Sparkasse, a German network of savings banks, and Wero, a European instant payment system.
Aena has defended the campaign, stating it is a promotion for a payment service and does not promote tourism excess. However, that response has done little to appease regional authorities and the hotel sector.
The Asociación Hoteleros Playa de Palma said the campaign causes serious reputational damage to the island, using codes and references widely associated with uncontrolled behaviour. The association has backed calls from the Balearic Government and the Council of Mallorca for the ads to be removed immediately.
Pedro Marín, president of the hotel group, said the sector has spent years working to shift tourism towards quality and civility, while campaigns of this kind risk reviving the excess tourism image the island is trying to leave behind. He described it as “inadmissible” for an airport to project messages that undermine the island’s tourism strategy.
The Balearic Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzá, launched a direct attack on Aena, writing on the social platform X that it is “unacceptable” for the airport authority to allow a campaign that glorifies binge drinking and Mallorca‘s party culture while the regional government and other institutions are promoting a responsible and sustainable tourism model. In a formal letter to Aena president Maurici Lucena, Bauzá expressed the government’s “deep indignation and concern” and demanded the banner’s immediate removal. He described the use of the term “Malle” as a “tourist caricature” that reduces Mallorca to a destination of “open bar and quick business.”
María José Aguiló, vice president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, also weighed in, saying the banner conveys a message that is not aligned with the efforts being made across the Balearic Islands to promote quality tourism.
The Asociación Hoteleros Playa de Palma said it is particularly concerned that the message appears in the airport, which it described as a strategic infrastructure and one of the first places where visitors form an impression of the destination. The association said campaigns of this kind influence the type of visitor Mallorca attracts and shape how the island is perceived abroad.
The dispute adds to pressure on Aena at one of Spain‘s busiest tourist gateways. Palma Airport handles millions of visitors each year and has previously faced scrutiny over the messages shown in and around the terminal. The hotel association said the timing makes the current campaign especially damaging, coming at the start of the peak summer season.
The controversy reflects a wider debate in the Balearic Islands over how Mallorca should be marketed. For years, local residents have complained that mass tourism is overwhelming the island, driving up housing costs and turning some resort areas into around-the-clock party zones. Local authorities and tourism businesses have increasingly sought to promote a higher-value, more sustainable visitor profile.
The Balearic Government has also called on Aena‘s top management to show greater sensitivity and institutional co-responsibility in the advertising it approves. Bauzá noted that Balearic society has made a significant political, social, and economic effort to eradicate anti-social behaviour that harms the international reputation of the destination, including specific regulations and awareness campaigns, and that Aena‘s decision runs counter to that collective effort.
The Asociación Hoteleros Playa de Palma is standing by its request for immediate removal. It said the campaign risks undoing years of work aimed at changing perceptions of Mallorca and said the island’s institutions and businesses should act with responsibility.
