British travel firms have started slashing the prices of holidays to Greece and Turkey as tensions in the Middle East begin to affect the region. Holidays are now available to both countries for just £300, giving the popular island of Majorca in Spain yet another holiday headache.

According to reports on Monday (June 30), the cheapest deal is with TUI from Gatwick Airport to Kavos in Corfu, available for just £228 on July 13, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. Jet2 Holidays, meanwhile, the biggest package holiday firm in the UK, has deals under £300 this week for a week’s holiday from Stansted to Parga in northwest Greece (July 2), East Midlands to the Turkish resort of Bodrum (July 3) and Birmingham to Marmaris, Turkey (July 4). However, according to the Jet2Holidays website, a stay in Majorca during the same week are currently on offer for a minimum of £858 per person.

For example, a seven-night stay at Innside by Melia Calvia Beach hotel in Magaluf for two adults from July 4, with return flights from Stansted, luggage, bed and breakfast, and coach transfers included, is currently on offer for £1,942.

However, you could stay at Grand Park Lara in Antalya, Turkey, with all the same inclusions for over £300 less.

Majorca is facing growing concerns about its affordability as a holiday destination, with reports indicating it is becoming too expensive for many tourists, particularly families. This is due to a variety of reasons, including rising costs for accommodation, food, and even tourist taxes. The Balearic Island’s popularity has driven up prices, leading some travellers to seek cheaper alternatives.

At the start of 2024, the CEO of TUI, Sebastian Ebel, warned that families are “finding it increasingly difficult” to fund holidays to Majorca and the rest of the archipelago. He said that families will be looking for cheaper alternatives to the islands, such as Bulgaria, which he described as a “serious alternative” for the 2025 season.

However, the Balearics tourism ministry appeared “relaxed” about the statements, particularly as rising prices reflect a push to focus on quality tourism rather than quantity. This comes after demonstrations against mass tourism took place across the islands in 2024, with residents raising concerns about visitors’ impact on local infrastructure, the environment, and house prices.

Those protests have continued this year, with widespread protests taking place on June 15 in Palma de Mallorca, the Canary Islands and mainland cities like Barcelona and Madrid. At the end of the protest in the Majorcan capital, around 100 young people are reported to have surrounded tourists sitting in bar terraces and jeered at them for around half an hour. The police were forced to shield the holidaymakers, and the Balearic government said this was unacceptable behaviour.