Magaluf Ghost Town (2021)

Strange things are happening in Magaluf, Mallorca: the smell of piss and blood, police cars and ambulances cruising up and down the streets with no one paying them any mind, people shouting in the middle of the night - Magaluf is just a small, peaceful town on the island of Mallorca that many have ventured to call the Balearic Twin Peaks. Its residents are torn between an everyday aura of doom and genuine holiday pleasure, a place that has become the European paradigm of low-cost tourism based on insatiable nightly entertainment. A million tourists invade the streets of Magaluf every summer, as if they were specters transforming public spaces into a theme park where almost anything goes. Meanwhile, Magaluf's residents try to coexist with the contradictions of this model of tourism that feels like an invasion but that also generates millions of euros for the catering industry, workplaces and opportunities for many people who wouldn't be able to survive anywhere else without Magaluf's characteristics. Magaluf Ghost Town is an ensemble portrayal of a community during both the off-season and the high season, with a mystery-like tone, close to that of a thriller but without overlooking all the humorous local color, combining documentary and fiction. It is a story that's international in scope about the dreams of a town simply trying to survive in a touristified context, as well as a reflection on what it means to be a tourist in Europe.