The quioscos de prensa in Mallorca’s capital city Palma have disappeared.

Actually, the press kiosks are still there, but they have been closed down. There were about fifteen newspaper stalls in Palma de Mallorca during the last fifteen or twenty years, but that number dwindled to about seven or eight over the years. At the beginning of this year, there were only five kiosks left. Two weeks ago at the end of June, these remaining press stands were closed, abandoned, shut down for good.

I used to be a regular client myself, in the early years. I bought at the kiosk in the Passeig des Born quite frequently to get my shot of international papers and news magazines that I thought I could not live without. But in recent years, probably brought on by me feeding my need for information more and more from the Internet, I found that I bought less and fewer periodicos in Palma. The quiosco de prensa opposite Bar Bosch in the Born disappeared two or three years ago. I missed it being there but I had already become a rather infrequent customer.

Now all the other kiosks have gone too. I understand that the business just was not profitable enough any longer.

The Palma city council will now decide what to do. They may try and find a new taker for the concession, or they may find a different use for the still existing kiosks. We shall have to wait and see. But it may be the end of an era.

There are newsagents in Palma in regular shops. One can still buy newspapers. But it is not the same, and not like it used to be.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 3rd, 2009. The time was 13:37:28.