Lockdown de-escalation Phase one on Spain’s holiday island Mallorca: local business owners tell EWN how the moves towards the ‘new normal’ have affected them

WITH Mallorca now into the second week under Phase one of the lockdown de-escalation and looking forward to entering Phase two next week, EWN talked to two business owners about what the preliminary moves towards the ‘new normal’ has meant for them.
For Carla Macedo of Kwik Kleen laundry the change has not made a huge difference as the business is considered an essential service.
Much of Kwik Kleen’s custom comes from ports and sailing clubs, and throughout lockdown Carla has been able to drive around and collect from boats much as usual.
The big difference following the switch to Phase one has been on a family level. She is now able to visit her father, who like Carla lives in Santa Ponsa.
It was, she told EWN, “worrying” not seeing him, but better than risking him catching the virus before, for example, supermarkets introduced more stringent health and safety controls.
Carla and her family have ventured out for one meal, to a restaurant by the sea with a large terrace. It was “absolutely fantastic,” she said.
“After being on lockdown all this time, not having to cook a meal…!”
Carla and her family have been able to cope with the lockdown situation on the whole, Carla believes. Being somewhere like Santa Ponsa, where it’s easier to move around than in a city like Palma, and where there are more green spaces, has undoubtedly helped, she feels.
Rebecca Bellafont-Evans has found that the lockdown has had quite an impact on how her company Mallorca Solutions functions, but in a constructive way.
“Initially I really thought we would be frozen, but we have changed our tactics on how we work.”
Used to dealing with clients face-to-face in the office for their official administrative services, insurance and property sales and rentals, Mallorca Solutions has been operating via phone, email and video conferencing.
Fortunately, Mallorca Solutions has long since been a paperless set-up, with all files and documents digitised, and has for several years had in place online systems which make working from home straightforward.
“It’s been more difficult as I’ve been used to having the team next to me and getting spontaneous answers to questions,” Rebecca admitted, but added, “It has helped us realise what we didn’t have in place.”
The Mallorca Solutions office in Palma Nova has since the move into Phase one reopened. But, Rebecca told EWN, “now we give clients the choice: they can come in or have the first meeting by video call.”
She also stressed that in this new age of social distancing and health and safety requirements it is essential that people make an appointment rather than turning up, to ensure the smooth running of services and customer satisfaction remains high.
Staging consultations with clients by video call is in fact more “productive,” Rebecca believes as the meetings tend to be more focused.
She says the whole lockdown experience has also made her realise the scope which exists for going even more digital, with plans to reach out to clients all over the Balearic Islands and the mainland to expand the company’s services and client base.