Magaluf has a reputation as the maddest party town in Europe — with the word ‘infamous’ popping up as soon as the Mallorca town is mentioned.
For a few decades it’s been the ultimate lads/lasses on tour destination, the cheekier cousin to its Balearic neighbour Ibiza, with a hint of a Carry-On film buzz about it.
But over the last few years, Magaluf has been getting a bit more sophisticated (no laughing at the back).
OK, you’ll still see dozens of steamboats stag and hen parties, the biggest bar on the infamous strip is actually called the Benny Hill, and you can still get a tattoo of Skepta on your arse at almost any time of the day.
But if you stroll away from the strip you’ll find plenty of little chillout havens, beautiful coastal scenery and fine dining.
But relaxation can wait for the day after your third rollover, because we all know you’re heading to Magaluf to, ahem, let your hair down and the town is a long way from bowing out gracefully from the party scene.
A few developments will make sure Magaluf stays on the party radar for the foreseeable future — the opening of the town’s most recent music hub BH Mallorca Hotel, and the booking of Stormzy as resident-at-large for a few nights at BH and its partner, the super- club BCM.
The Mallorca branch of global dance brand Cream made an inspired choice in Stormzy to play repeat gigs at BH and BCM over the summer. Along with Skepta, the Londoner is leading the second wave of grime MCs, taking over the charts, European festivals, YouTube and Twitter.
When David Cameron resigned after the Brexit referendum result, it wasn’t long before #StormzyForPM gained traction. A few months ago he even got Nando’s to mock up a new burger in his name after he tweeted to them that “haloummi cheese and garlic bread is a burger in itself”. Proper cheeky.
Even if Stormzy hype is at peak levels, it’s still a bit of a left turn to book him for BCM. For over 20 years the mega club on the strip has been Mallorca’s dance hub, with a big focus on ramped-up EDM over the last few years.
You can’t walk a few steps without seeing a billboard, poster or flyer for some mega-hyped festival headliner playing a slot in the vast club. They’ll also cheekily stick their finger up and boast about their top 10 entry in the DJ Mag top 100 clubs poll for this year — beating Berlin’s techno pilgrimage spot Berghain, Zing!
Last year BCM had Paul van Dyk, Example, Afrojack, Steve Aoki, Axwell, Steve Angello, Erik Prydz, Snoop Dogg and loads more, on a nightly rollo- ver that keeps fists pumping till 6am.
Bar Stormzy, the big acts booked this year his year include Steve Aoki, Example, Drum & bass crew Chase & Status, fellow D&B heads Sigma, EDM heroes Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Sebastien Ingrosso, Axwell, Fedde LeGrand and Martin Garrix. Tinie Tempah is also back for a few dates.
Stormzy’s causing the biggest buzz this summer though, for sure. Even as we were checking in to BH hotel the flyers were everywhere, with guests posing in bikinis and cocktails, even taking selfies at the posters.
The boy Stormzy didn’t disappoint at BCM either. His DJ had the easiest job of hyping up a crowd going bananas on the all-inclusive drinks and nine hours in the sun. He even plays Freed From Desire to the delight of a few fellow Nordies beside me, as Will Griggs gets paid his dues. Stormzy — head-to-toe in regular Adidas uniform — bounds around, high-fiving, sweat spraying during WICKEDSKENGMAN then teases snippets of his mega-hit freestyle Shut Up, stopping, starting, playing the ringmaster while plastic cups fly everywhere. He’ll be the definite highlight of Longitude at the weekend, for sure. And he’s a bit too far down the poster for how big he’s got in the months since the line-up was announced.
BH ensures your clubbing doesn’t stop and start at BCM. The club has branched out to take the partying off the scale, with a full-scale €2m renovation of the existing B Hotel, to become the BH Hotel which opened last season.
Magaluf’s newest party hotspot has views of the Med, around five minutes’ walk from the beach and one minute from the daftest fast food joint you’ve ever seen — called Ding Dong Kebab (Hello Darling, Hello My Friend.)
As well as fully renovated hotel rooms and suites with slick grafitti on the walls, there’s a noon til late music policy at the hotel — with the Island Beach Club cranking it out the music from lunchtime. The five-person suites beside the Stage are the right idea if you want to share the budget, but they’ll also be the loudest rooms, if you care about that.
And it’s definitely worth it to upgrade to all-inclusive, as you can do some serious damage with the little silver wristband, on repeat cocktails by the pool and the all-day restaurant.
There’s also an actual water park called Twisted in the centre of the complex, with wave machines and nine slides ranging in fear levels from slight unease to ‘I hope I brought a spare pair of trunks’.
The biggest draw of the hotel, though, is the Stage — a massive festival-size arena with thousands packed in for the summer gigs.
On our visit, Chris Brown managed to fit what seemed to be about 100 of his entourage onstage as he tore through an OTT hip-hop and R&B set that was bumped up a few gears with the dazzling visuals and confetti and dry ice cannons.
Guests at Stage this year include Steve Aoki, who opened up the season, fol- lowed by Jess Glynne, Tinie Tempah, Stormzy, Craig David, Duke Dumont, Disclosure, Hardwell, Rudimental, Example and David Guetta.
All gigs are included with your room — apart from Craig David, his big come- back must be big business after all.
In fairness, even when you’re in your room there’s no escaping the blast from Stage — it puts people complaining about loud music in hotel clubs into perspective.
Just make sure you’re not after an early night — and even if you come home at 6am you’ll get a right wake-up call if you’re at one of the Stage suites.
Just as well there’s a bar a few minutes away and those mental slides to flush the cobwebs out and start again. Oi Oi!
- For more details of line-ups, offers and buying tickets for BCM, visit bcmplanetdance.com
- To book a spot at BH Mallorca hotel, visit bhmallorca.com
Originally appeared on buzz.ie
Moo Kid 