Letters to the editor

Bouquets to Graham Phillips, George Scott and Ray Fleming for their intelligent and thoughtful letters and articles on the subject of the American elections. Brickbats to Mr. Green and Mr. Bentley for their ignorant and ill considered comments.

With the arrogant Mr. Bush and his crew in office for the next four years, we can expect more limitations on civil rights, more tax breaks for the wealthy, less help for the needy, more illegal military operations, more destruction of our natural resources and a great many other horrors.

As an American who has lived here 45 years, I do not know any other American, Spaniard or citizen of another country who is not fearful of the future under Geoge W Bush.

Yours sincerely,

Elena Davis, Fornalutx

SADDAM USED WMDS

Dear Sir,

Graham Phillips in his latest tirade, fails again to address my point that Saddam (a spent force as he calls him), used WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION on his own people, the Shias of the South, The Kurds of the North, murdering thousands as mass graves have revealed, with poison gas and other chemical weapons, some of which were found stockpiled. I have little doubt that this monster would have been quite capable of developing other destructive weapons, including nuclear, had he not been confronted by the Coalition led by the United States and Britain.

Sincerely,

Phil Green.

P.S. This will be my last word on the subject and I hope Mr. Phillips's too!

Dear Sir,

I read with much interest the letter from Dr Garry Bonsall (5th November) and wholly agree with his point of view. However it is not only in the political arena where expats are effectively “left out in the cold”. Many are involved directly, or depend on, Majorca's tourist industry for their livelihood having moved here not only to live but to work. As we all know, over the past two years the market has declined. Despite the Balearic Tourism Minister, Joan Flaquer's optimistic opinion, (as expressed in your article on the 10th November) the prospect of further UK tour operator cutbacks forecast for 2005 is, or should be, a matter of serious concern. This is another area where expats, of all nationalities, have no real voice in the formulation of policy to promote tourism to the island or how to look after tourists once they are here, which is to the detriment of all concerned. It is in the British establishments that the opinion of British tourists can be clearly heard and no doubt the same applies to businesses run by other nationalities but there is no effective means of channelling this information to the Ministry of Tourism. Whilst PIMEM aspires to represent small and medium sized businesses on the island it's inability, or unwillingness, to communicate in any language other than Mallorquin effectively excludes the expat community from contributing anything via this medium. It is my view that it is high time for an association to be formed from the expat business community that would be strong enough, and sufficiently representative, to have a voice in the debate on the future of tourism in the Balearics and the formation of policy. If anyone reading this has a similar opinion I would be very happy to hear from them and perhaps the wheels could be set in motion. Fortunately this would not require any change of government policy to implement! It is clear that for far too long the policy of the Ministry of Tourism and the hoteliers has been to keep the Tour Operators happy instead of seeking to look after the tourist. The Tour Operators are only interested in their profit margins and, therefore, the emerging markets, where their costs are less, are considerable more attractive to them. As they now largely control the point of sale distribution network through the high street travel agencies in the UK, it is not difficult for them to ensure prospective holidaymakers go where they want them to go. In my view the Ministry should be taking a more positive attitude to direct marketing via the internet as a means of attracting visitors to the island. Statistics show that the increase in the direct booking of holidays and flights via this medium has increased substantially and there is evidence to suggest that the more discerning tourist is no longer happy with the “packaged holiday”, preferring to have the freedom to be independent. It is this class of tourist that Majorca should be seeking to encourage as they normally have more money to spend whilst they are on holiday and therefore contribute more to the economy.

This leads me to another recently publicised article regarding the proposed “legalisation” of privately rented properties in Majorca. It has not gone unnoticed that whilst hotel bed occupancy has fallen the number of people arriving at the airport has increased so they must be staying somewhere. The Government has decided that the private rental sector, which has largely operated underground, needs to be recognised and controlled. It is an important market and the clients it attracts are those most needed as these are the people who undoubtedly spend more whilst they are here. What concerns me is that there appears to be no representation from property owners, or those involved in this market, on the commission that will eventually decide on the legislation to be enacted and how this is to be implemented. Apart from the Consejero de Turismo the other representatives appear to be from the Hoteliers Association and the Time Share Companies. Maybe I am being cynical but I can't help but wonder if this is not an attempt by the Hoteliers to kill off this market which they see as being competition against which they cannot compete.

Whilst it is clear that there should be some controls to ensure that standards of quality and safety are maintained and that those receiving an income from renting should be subject to taxation unless there is some input, either from those people who choose this type of holiday or companies who have been involved in the marketing and administration of this type of holiday, any legislation is likely to be unworkable or so restrictive as to make it no longer viable.

Once again this is an area in which there does not appear to be any representative body that can provide a balanced point of view to the legislators. One needs to be set up, and quickly, before any new laws are passed and property owners, both local and those who have bought a holiday home with a view to renting, find themselves subject to restrictive legislation where they have had no opportunity to have their, or their clients, views taken into account.

Yours faithfully

Adrian L Head,

Santanyi