YOUR VIEWS

PRICES ON MAJORCA

AS somebody who lived in Santa Ponsa for nine years and sold-up and left in June 2006, having kept my eyes open, listened and observed and seen the way things were going, I disagree with much of what Eric Smythe has to say. I most certainly can get a very good roast dinner with wine for two for £22, about 24 euros at several national chains. I can also buy a breakfast in a very good quality cafe in Bury, of two eggs, two top-quality sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, bacon, tea and toast for £4. With a few exceptions: cigarrettes, petrol, some fruit and a few other things, prices in the U.K. for most things are much lower.

Of course it's the Britons who are complaining most about the prices since the exchange rate is all but pound to euro, 1.07 is today's rate. How many Britons who did holiday in Majorca this year do you think will return next year? When I sold my apartment in June 2006 the exchange rate was 1.47 euro's for a pound so that means that in a little over three years, the pound has lost 40% of it's value against the euro.

That is why Majorca and all countries that have the euro have seen a very large decline in the numbers of British visitors and with record rates of unemployment in the U.K. and much worse to come added to the low value of the pound against the euro, bad as this year has been for Majorca, next year will be even worse. I have not been back to Majorca since 2006 and unless the exchange rate improves dramatically, I will not be returning and I suspect that is so for many Britons. Those who have been to Majorca have spent much less, ask the bar, cafe, shop and other “complementary services” providers. I remember just a few years ago when “The Powers That Be” on Majorca were saying that they wanted fewer “bucket and spade tourists” and more “high spending tourists.” One wonders what they think of the present situation?

What is that old saying: “Be careful for what you wish.” I suggest that Mr Smythe goes to live on Majorca for three or four months, paying community fees, council tax, rent, electricity bills, butane gas bottles, buying all his food in local supermarkets, drink, school books and uniforms and all the other things required for daily life. I believe he would soon reach a different conclusion. I certainly find things, on the whole, far cheaper in the U.K. and have a higher standard of living, and I do not shop in the likes of Aldi or Netto. I loved Majorca and wish it well but the “Powers That Be” need to wake-up to reality and not keep burying their heads in the sand on increasingly empty beaches and pretending everything will be fine next year, it won't be for the reasons I have stated and they need to realise that fact and plan for it now before it is too late.

Sean Dobson, ex-Santa Ponsa, now Bury, Lancashire