Indeed - the difference between Palma vs Alicante is fairly small, and the foreign bases are a great way of combating EU261. The only problem that has arose is where a 738/752 has gone tech down route, and there's only one 733 that'll get there in time, meaning some pax are stuck waiting for another a/c to come in from the UK. As you say, the ALC base has more than proved its worth. I think that as the fleet standardises, and presumably a 738 would be sat in ALC, it would offer much greater flexibility having the two stations in the med.