Magaluf Clubs

Season

The tourist season is the main driving force of the economy of Calvia, during the high season (June, July and August) Magalluf is considered as the Queen of nightlife in the district of Calvi and in the rest of the island. At just 3 km from the Casino of Mallorca, this mini-city is transformed into an authentic splendor of colorful neon, terraces with huge television screens, attractions and massive crowds of tourists wandering the streets. The busiest street is called Punta Ballena, (which the British call The Strip). In July and August, it is very frequent that the traffic is cut off due to the number of tourists who crowd the pavements and the road , blocking the circulation.

Magalluf, due to its continuous and relentless nocturnal revelries and celebrations, has been renamed by its visitors with the nicknameshagaluf alluding to its sex parties, including dating between single persons and between groups of all natures. Punta Ballena disposes over 6 discos, topless bars, cocktail bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, fast food shops, jewelry shops and a multitude of different pubs and entertainment lounges. In the early 80's, some music bars started to hire public relations persons(the so-called PR's in English ) who at different times and with various strategies and attractive offers, tried to attract customers to the business they worked for.

Some of these offers existed of offering entry-tickets, free drinks, T-shirts or other gadgets such as a hats, bags, bikinis, etc. Throughout this decade, those PR's were Spanish boys, apart from the odd English or Scandinavian boy, but in the early 90s, most of the Spanish PR's had been replaced by English or Scandinavian PR's . Because of their vast number, the continuous harassment of tourists and the difficulty to control them, a new rule was issued, which required them to wear a reflective vest, indicating in Spanish and in English that they are PR's of Calviá. In 2007 the council issued a new regulation to ban the use of PR's in the streets of the town.

In the mid eighties , one of the most charismatic figures of the nights of Magalluf, was Andrew Statler, also known as Andy the hat, who along with Damon Menday and DJ Sammy organized the first rave that took place in Mallorca. Andrew, a wealthy English young man (living on the island since his childhood) had at home, from childhood on the disposal over the same equipment as used in the local discos. He toured as a star DJ the booths of Magalluf's night circuit.

95% of visitors are of British origin and the rest are of various nationalities ,with the majority being from the North. During the nights there are also many Irish coming from Santa Ponsa and Palma Nova.

During the sixties some tower houses were built , which were considered as the stereotypical example of balearisation and in 2007 Magaluf became known worldwide for its leisure areas and the vast amount of tourist attractions offered, which include: scuba diving, mini cruises, parachute rides, jet skis, horse rental, bungee jumping, rocket launch, 2 water parks, go-karting, the popular megadisco BCM with a capacity of 5000 people (where known DJs such as DJ Sammy, Freemasons, Judge Jules, Tim Westwood and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell have played) , pirate dinner shows at Pirates Adventure and La casa de Katmandu. Magalluf disposes over 6 hotels of the prestigious hotel company Sol Melia,

The picturesque range of attractions including mini golf, slush cocktails on the beach, music, sand sculpture, volley ball, tattoo centers, strip bars, dancers on tables in bars, recreation rooms, mini fairs, playgrounds, bouncy castles, rental of scooters, courses of windsurfing and scuba diving, as well as the overly popular Pub crawl ,consistent in big groups of tourists, organized and led by guides (usually under a commission) who lead the people to all the involved bars, causing enormous and funny jams wherever they go. It is also common to find groups of 15 or 20 people dressed the same, such as the group of the warrior girls, all with military clothing, or the group of the young Tarzans, all wearing only a loincloth, and on top of that hundreds of tourists dressed as pirates with plastic swords who, overexcited after the show at Pirates Dinner Adventure, rock the streets of the area.

Due to its high concentration of commercial music and the massive influence of visitors, Punta Ballena is the area the most prone to conflicts,of Magalluf, and when disputes arise sometimes a strong police presence is required. One of the major conflicts occurred in the middle of 86/87, when a group of about 100 Brits barricaded themselves in a pub in the street Punta Ballena throwing beer bottles outside, while they sang in chorus God Save the Queen , the anthem of the United Kingdom. This incident kept the entire police corps during hours on vigilance , until they managed to break the barricade.

Another series of incidents consists of a large number of deaths due to negligence, such as jumping from the balcony of a hotel room, or drowning caused by drunken swimming.