Mallorca's mild climate, many high quality beaches and stunning scenery have made the island an extremely popular tourist destination, especially with northern Europeans, millions of which visit Mallorca every year and, during the most popular months, outnumbered the resident population is three to one. Its Airport caters for frequent direct flights that connect the island with most major European cities. The island can also be reached easily from North and South America, via connections at Barcelona and Madrid airports. While tourism colours the majority of Mallorca's economy, other important economic activities include farming, fishing, pottery, mining and the production of metal goods.

Economy
Since the early 1950's Mallorca's economy has gone through many changes with the tourist trade leading the way, however as a place for business there are still area's to be explored. Tourism by its nature also stimulates other areas of the economy bringing people and businesses wishing to invest or buy homes and property. As a consequence real estate, legal and accountancy firms as well as the construction and ancillary industries based on the island are all consistently active. There is also a fair amount of activity around the purchase and sale of established businesses such as restaurants, bars, hotels and shop's. Although Palma is the largest commercial area on the island there are many small towns and villages around Mallorca, the majority of which gain their income from the tourist trade.

Infrastructure
Palma De Mallorca Airport services Palma, the capitol of Mallorca, from Son Sant Joan situated about 8 miles from the centre of the city. During the summer months it has the highest number of passengers of all Spain's airport's and annually in the top three. 2004 saw 20,416,321 passengers arriving through the airport according to AENA the Spanish airport authority. In the early 1950's Son Sant Joan was still used as a military base and during the late 1950's to the mid 1960s it was gradually transformed into a commercial airport. For cargo, the airport is also supported by a number of international freight carriers.

By road the airport is accessed by the Palma-Santany? motorway. Buses also connect Palma and the airport every 15 minutes. Travel around Palma is best made with the network of bus routes available and buses are the main type of public transport for accessing the rest of the island, although costly for longer trips.

Two rail lines exist on the island connecting Palma to Inca and Soller. Access to the rest of the island is by bus, taxi or hire car.

Workforce
Mallorca has a population of around 767000 (2004). The majority of those employed on the island work within the tourist industry or related industries. The University of the Balearic Islands provides graduates for the workforce not only in the tourist sector but also the sciences, electronics, mechanical engineering and architecture. Foreigners own many of the companies on the island, usually English or German, leading to many Mallorcans speaking one or more foreign languages. The workforce of Mallorca is changing, with the increasing use of modern communications and regular air transport, a growing number Europeans are choosing to live on the Island and work from there or commute to and from Mallorca.

Standard of Living
For many years Mallorca has been popular with tourists, however many of the travellers have considered it as a place live and work. An agreeable climate and a pace of life that is far removed from the hectic pace of the worlds major cities combined with properties in near idyllic locations make the prospect extremely tempting.

Palma boasts many top restaurants, hotels and shops, however away from the city itself these are not as concentrated and can be harder to locate although the coastal resorts include a reasonable selection. The native Mallorcans enjoy a reputation for being sociable and friendly towards foreigners. Throughout the year many festivals take place, often religious in nature and typically very colourful. Leisure is also important to those wishing to live, work or invest in Mallorca. The island has a number of activities available including golf, sailing, diving, riding, walking and riding.

Business Costs
The region of Catalonia, which includes the Balearic islands, according to the World Competitiveness scoreboard (2005) of the IMD ranks at 32nd, 6 places above Spain as a whole.