Book: A summer in Magaluf (2012) by Kevin Paul Woodrow. Selfedited.
In A summer in Magaluf (2012), DJ Kevin Paul Woodrow explains how, after having worked in England and Germany, he decided to set up residence in Magaluf in 1992, which he defines as “the crazy party resort on the sunny island of Mallorca”. In his first-person chronicle, excesses prevail, relating to his compatriots a series of anecdotes in surprising moments.
Background and characteristics of the work: A summer in Magaluf is a biographical work. One of the first impressions mentioned by the author upon his arrival in Magaluf is to enter a strip bar and think that it could be any place in Thailand instead of Mallorca. Kevin Paul Woodrow's biography is a parade of unusual characters like Jimmy the Jinx, Lars from Mars, Spanish Steve or Tumble Drier Tony; of anecdotes marked by the sun, the alcohol and the hangover with which, paradoxically, he is able to articulate criticism against the behavior of his compatriots, the manipulation or the violence of the nights of Punta Ballena: «I can honestly say that during the sixteen years I've lived on the island I haven't seen a single punch»
Woodrow's book is especially descriptive when it comes to illustrating the way in which sexuality was lived in Magaluf during those early nineties: «The things I've seen would go beyond your wildest dreams. If I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me », he assures in his pages.
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You have to remember that, when you come to Mallorca the measures are much bigger here than probably anywhere else in Europe, if not the rest of the World, so you must proceed with caution!
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At the time, a Leicester man named John was running a bar called Puppets, situated on the opposite side of the road [...] The biggest mistake he made by far was to begin a price war with other bars in the area, including the Prince William. At the time the average price for a pint was around 200 pesetas.
One evening, a sign appeared outside Puppets, announcing the price of a pint to be 190 pesetas, so the rest of the bars had to follow suit. The next day Puppets price was lowered to 185 pesetas and again, the other bars were forced to lower their prices, much to the annoyance of all the owners, but especially for the owner of the Prince William. This price was continued every day until John’s price reached an all time low of 100 pesetas! When the Prince William’s owner spotted the sign, he walked up the hill and had words with Puppets’ John.
Returning to his own bar, herminio placed a new sign outside, announcing the price in the Prince to be 85 pesetas for a Beer! Immediately a new sign appeared outside Puppets announcing to the entire world that the price for a Beer was now 70 pesetas! Now the problema with this was that it actually cost John 75 pesetas to buy a pint from the brewery, so it was now costing him 5 pesetas for each pint he sold!
...This particular night, it had just filled with two hundred people [...] An outraged, very angry Herminio climbed onto the stage and announced to the thirsty revellers, “Ok we are all going across the road to my friends bars and we are going to drink the place dry! [...] An hour later, the Puppets had not a drop of alcohol to sell and as they had no orders placed, the bar could not open its doors in three days.
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I have seen a most beautiful girl, so gorgeous and incredibly sexy that she could easily have graced the cover of any magazine in the world, absolutely, and I do mean completely stark naked, lying paralytic in a shop doorway. Anyone could have had sex with he rand she would not, or indeed nobody else would have known that she had been raped!
[Magaluf Discredited by the media]
Magalluf has always had a bad reputation with the press. For some reason, the media just Love to slag the place off!
I remeber back in 1993 I was drinking in a bar named Fawlty Towers, which in those day was situated next to the famous Prince William pub. [...]
Some men with expensive càmera equipment entered the pub, announcing they would PAY the equivalent of ten pounds to anyone who would spend the next fitfteen minutes Rolling around in the gutter, pretending to be totally incapacitated due to an extreme intake of an excess of alcohol! At least twenty lads took the men up on their generous offer (who could blame them) and it must be said, they all had a really good laugh whilst acting out the drunken scene. But it was not so funny when this piece of film was shown on national television back in Britain, as part of a documentary all about The Seedy Side of Magalluf, along with the question, “Would you allow your child to go on holiday to this low life destination?”
