Mallorca home name gasp at political altar

Article posted by Coliseum, August 24^th, 2022

Image: RCD Mallorca

Following discussions lasting over 10 hours on August 18^th between the political dispensation of Spain and the Council of Mallorca, the naming-rights sponsorship of the LaLiga team Real Mallorca’s (Spain) home ground – Visit Mallorca – has been shelved.

The reason attributed is that the name per se hardsell the island as a tourist destination which is uncalled for considering the fact that the island is already crowded with tourists.

‘Majorca Daily Bulletin’ stated that the agreement to pay Real Mallorca 1,815,000 euros over two years to name the stadium ‘Visit Mallorca’ was brokered by the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) President of the Council of Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, and her party colleague, Andreu Serra, the Tourism Councilor.

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Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in the Balearic Islands (Spain). It plays in LaLiga – the men’s top professional football division of the Spanish football league system.

The 23,142-capacity Visit Mallorca Stadium is a football stadium located in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, and serves as the home ground of RCD Mallorca. It is the largest stadium in the Balearic Islands and the 26th largest in Spain.

The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) is a social-democratic political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in Government longer than any other political party in modern democratic Spain, namely from 1982 to 1996 under Felipe González, from 2004 to 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and presently since 2018 under Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain.

The tourism board’s brand name has been dropped after one of the three parties that comprise the province’s ruling administration – Més – opposed tooth and nail the ‘Visit Mallorca’ name and threatened to break the coalition of PSOE, Més and Podemos.

‘Majorca Daily Bulletin’ further stated that the Més party’s contention is that Mallorca is again attracting tourists by the horde – what it was during pre-pandemic times – and the name ‘Visit Mallorca’ was kind of tourism blitzkrieg which is uncalled for taking into consideration the sustainability factor.

The Council of Mallorca said it will honor its share of the €1.5m (£1.27m/$1.55m) deal to back the Visit Mallorca Stadium.

Cladera informed that the Council will maintain its financial support for Real Mallorca but that a new “cooperation framework” will be established.

A new name for the Visit Mallorca Stadium will be proposed, one that is “linked to social and sporting values that represent Mallorca”.

The above development comes as a huge climbdown for Cladera, who had been insisting that the naming-rights deal would not be rescinded.

The club’s home has been known as Visit Mallorca Estadi for the past two seasons, with RCD Mallorca having originally donated the rights in June 2020 as a means to help Mallorca’s tourism economy recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The deal announced between the club and the Council of Mallorca recently maintained the stadium’s name for the 2022-2023 seasons and also granted various promotion and advertising rights related to the team, both in the Spanish and international markets.

Real Mallorca has yet to respond to the outcome of the meeting.

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