Cyprus or Mallorca – Cash is King!

Western Union transfer on Mallorca, not at Easter.

Without cash, life can sometimes be harder than you might think. In Cyprus, the banks imposed limits on transfers and cash withdrawals, and the German Bundesbank promptly shipped several billion to Nicosia in an express transfer. For fear that Cypriots would empty their bank accounts, the central bank fixed the limits for the day the banks reopened.

But it is not only in Cyprus that a lack of cash can lead to frustration and unwanted trouble. Anyone who loses their wallet on Mallorca, and possibly their ID card and credit cards with it, has a real problem. Hopefully the hire car and the hotel have already been paid for, otherwise you are in for a gauntlet run: reporting the loss to the police, sourcing replacement money and convincing the hotel you booked that payment will follow during the holiday, if it was agreed for check-in. All of this with no car and no money? A fine old bit of fun on Mallorca.

Surely there's Western Union, not on Mallorca!

Read this reader's account of losing his credit and debit cards at the start of his Easter holiday on Mallorca, and the subsequent, fruitless search for a Western Union agent on the island:

I landed at Mallorca Airport yesterday evening and checked in at the Iberostar Cupido in Arenal. Luckily I had paid for my outbound and return flights, the hotel and the hire car directly, so my accommodation and mobility were secured, but what happened to me over the course of today I still cannot believe. In the morning, at the breakfast buffet, I noticed that my credit cards and debit cards were no longer in my wallet and that I only had 30 euros in cash left. After searching in vain in my hotel room, in the lobby and in the previous evening's restaurant, I finally rang my credit card hotline and had my cards blocked. Without cash, even if the hotel and hire car on Mallorca are paid for, an Easter holiday really isn't much fun! So at 11.30 today I rang a friend in Germany to ask whether he could send me some money via Western Union. Since I had already sent my daughter money via Western Union transfer on holiday two years earlier, I knew how simple and fast Western Union is for straightforward cash transfers.

Not on Mallorca, as would become clear over the course of the day.

My mate didn't hesitate for long and sent me 300 euros via Western Union transfer, then sent the screenshot to my phone. Postbank in Germany is Western Union's official partner for transfers to and from Germany. Since my friend has a Postbank account, he can carry out Western Union transfers directly via online banking. So the matter should have been quickly sorted. I drove to the post office in Arenal, but unfortunately the "Correos" was closed, with a notice that the post office in Arenal is closed from Maundy Thursday until the Tuesday after Easter. Fine, I thought, then I'll just go to the internet cafe round the corner, where I had seen Western Union transfer offers in the window. But the friendly Mallorcan woman then told me that in Spain Western Union payouts can only be received at the post office or from special Western Union agents. OK, I said to myself, no problem, then I'll just drive to the main post office in Palma, after all it was only 13.00. Having arrived at the Passeo del Borne, the post office already seemed apparently deserted, just like the whole of Palma's old town, but I parked round the corner and, within seconds, had to look at the same message once again: closed Thursday to Tuesday. Hmm, OK, I thought, then I'll just drive to Gomila and find a Western Union agent who can help me out. Along the Passeo Maritimo, past millions of yachts, 30 euros in my pocket, I drove to Joan Miro to find a friendly Indian or Turkish man there who could help me. But all four (!!!) stations listed by Western Union were closed there, as was the last post office I had on my list. After some interim research on the iPad, I discovered that in the small Corte Ingles the only post office on Mallorca still open. So, from Porto Pi back again to Jaime III, to the basement of the Corte Ingles. The uninterested woman behind the counter made it clear to me at once that at this "official" branch, plastered everywhere with Western Union advertising, they do not carry out any payouts, only a transfer abroad would be possible. Thoroughly fed up now, back in my car, I once again turned to my iPad and looked up the telephone hotline for Western Union transfers in Spain. The hotline costs more than a euro a minute; three times I got through, heard the call centre agents, but no one spoke to me!!! After slowly having to realise that I could not get hold of the transferred money, in my desperation I tried to reach all the Western Union agents in the south-west by phone (after a Google search, because the Western Union site only lists mega-expensive hotlines), but could not get a single one to answer. Then I first wrote a hate email to Western Union about how unbelievable this organisation is. Apparently, almost four months ago, the Spanish government restricted the payout arrangements for Western Union in Spain and reduced the payout of transfers to local post offices. As so often in Spain, no one thought far enough ahead for the case of public holidays, which is once again typical! To continue the story, sadly there is no way to get hold of the money at Western Union before next Tuesday, and I am sitting with only 21 euros left by now in my hotel room on the Playa de Palma. The sun is just going down and I am wondering how on earth I am going to get hold of any cash now. Well, there is always Moneygram...

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