ECONOMIC MESSAGE

SO the Balearics should be out of recession by the end of the year, according to Balearic President Francesc Antich. I am sure that the hard-pressed businesses in the tourist resorts will be over the moon at the latest upbeat assesment about the economy!

I sincerely hope that Antich is right and the islands will return to positive growth but I think the speech had more to do with next year´s local elections than any good news about the economy. According to Antich, the Balearic economy will start growing marginally by the end of the year, we are talking very limited growth. So, really it would be better to keep the champagne on ice. It is going to be a long, hard road to recovery. I sincerely doubt that there will be a full economic recovery until the end of next year, well after the local elections. Now, I believe in being upbeat but I also realise that many local businesses are having a very hard time. Antich should have addressed some of these concerns in his speech instead of just trying to make election capital. I sometimes get the impression that our local politicians don´t live in the real world. I would tell Antich to have a walk around Palma and just look at the empty shop fronts and then he can try being upbeat about the local economy.