Miguel Praga

🛫 Heathrow Airport in London, Europe's busiest airport, shut down entirely on Friday due to a fire at an electrical substation a few kilometers away. Operating at 97% capacity, the closure affected 1,350 flights across various major cities from Madrid to Dublin, Frankfurt to Amsterdam, and Washington to New York. The emergency electrical system failed to activate, causing disruption despite multiple regulatory layers and oversight by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The article also references Donald Trump's approach to dissolving bureaucratic structures.

💰 Since 2005, the author has frequently flown with Ryanair, facing issues only early on with credit/debit card charges. Despite criticisms, they find Ryanair's flights to be cheap, punctual, and safe, consciously choosing to fly with them even if others consider it a deception. They acknowledge the airline's self-interest but note that their planes often fly full, suggesting many others also accept the terms offered by Ryanair.

🚩 Seven anti-tourism activist groups in Mallorca wrote a letter to visitors asking them to refrain from coming, blaming tourists for the island's tourism saturation crisis. The letter suggests Mallorca's half-a-million hotel accommodations, made in the last century, and the recent approval of 100,000 legal tourist apartment and home spaces by the last government, are not the tourists' fault. No political party, not even the left-wing ones, suggest eliminating tourist accommodations in the Balearics, unlike Barcelona's planned suspension of 10,000 vacation apartment permits by 2028. The anti-tourism letter expresses hostility and lack of hospitality towards visitors.

🏕 Japan targets 60 million tourists by 2030 but implements a dual pricing system to combat overtourism. Foreigners will pay 8,800 yen versus 6,930 yen for locals at Junguria Okinawa Park opening this July. Himeji Castle differentiates by residence, not nationality. Similar policies exist in Thailand (Emerald Temple) and India (Taj Mahal). Ordinary tourist expenses like hotels, consumption, and transportation remain unaffected.