Palma (Spain) (AFP)

Daniel Wiener's mask does not hide his joy at being one of the first tourists authorized to land on Monday in the Balearic sun, a week before the Spanish borders are reopened.

"We know it is a privilege for us to be here," said the 46-year-old man, beer in hand by the pool of his hotel in Palma, the capital of Majorca.

This island, the main one of the Mediterranean archipelago, is a particularly popular holiday resort for the Germans, to the point that they call it "the 17th Land" of their country. Last year some 4.5 million Germans came here to enjoy the idyllic beaches and festive nights.

Prevented from enjoying their second home in the Balearic Islands due to the confinement and closing of the borders, many Germans have gone so far as to protest to the Spanish authorities since April.

A stone's throw from the RIU Concordia hotel, where masked employees were waiting for these first tourists like the Messiah on Monday morning, the seafront is dotted with restaurants offering "Deutsche Küche" (German cuisine) and whose servers speak German. The swimming instructions are also written in German.

Like Daniel Wiener, 180 Germans took off at dawn in Düsseldorf to land just before 11:00 a.m. (09:00 GMT) in Palma as part of a pilot project to resume sealed tourism between the Balearic regional authorities and tour operators. .

"We looked at the number of sick people (from the Covid) in Mallorca and there are very few currently," he adds, ensuring he feels "safe".

"I am not afraid," says Michael Driesch, 56, for his part, because "the Balearics are not a hotbed of contagion: it is more dangerous to drive from Hamburg to Munich," smiles the regular. island, which he describes as "paradise".

- Test for tourism -

In total, almost 11,000 Germans will be able to come to the Balearic Islands as part of this pilot project, including 1,500 before the opening of the Spanish borders on June 21, the date corresponding to the end of the deconfinement in the country, one of the most affected by the pandemic with more than 27,000 dead.

Subject to a strict health protocol, they must submit to a temperature control on arrival and will be followed up by telephone from the authorities to verify the possible appearance of symptoms of Covid-19.

"It seems to me that this is a magnificent test in order to test" the protocols to be put in place in tourist places once the borders are open, said Spanish Minister of Health Salvador Illa on Monday.

Second world tourist destination behind France, Spain, where the mask will remain mandatory for long months, hopes to convince foreign tourists by playing the health security card.

In the Balearic Islands, where tourism accounts for 35% of GDP compared to 12% in Spain, the return of German tourists, who represent 27% of holidaymakers, is synonymous with a restart.

"Hope is very strong here because Palma depends a lot on tourism and especially on the Germans," says Christian Laforcade, 48, manager of the restaurant Zur Krone where all the menus are in ... German.

© 2020 AFP