Ministry of Tourism to set up London office

by Staff Reporter
A London-based Press office, reporting to the Balearic Ministry of Tourism, will be set up to monitor publicity in the British media that could be considered damaging to the reputation of the Islands as a tourist destination. Joan Flaquer, Minister for Tourism, confirmed yesterday during a session of the Balearic Parliament, that an office will be set up to be responsible for monitoring any such harmful reporting. The minister was responding to a question from Miquel Jérez, a Popular Party (PP) deputy, who had asked what the Balearic government planned to do to counteract “the cruelty” with which a section of the British Press published information about the islands, tarnishing the region's prestige as a tourist destination. Flaquer explained that promotion in Britain is one of the Balearic government's key priorities, and it will set up a Press office in Great Britain thanks to an agreement between the Spanish Tourist office in London and the Balearic Institute for Tourism (Ibatur). This Press office will keep “a constant vigil” on information on the Islands that might appear in the British Press.specification” had been created.
Majorcan Socialist Party and United Left/Green Party deputies, Pere Sampol and Miquel Rosselló wanted to know what Parliamentary controls would guarantee diversity when regional television goes on air. Furthermore, this organisation will “react” appropriately against publicity that it considers threatening to the image of the Balearics within the realms of the tourist market, commented the Minister. During the same Parliamentary session, the socialist deputy Antoni Diéguez raised a question with the head of the Balearic Civil Service, José María Rodríguez, concerning the dismissal of various government members. Diéguez accused Rodríguez of conducting a “political vendetta”, of creating an “old boy network” and of having converted the public administration into a “large family”. The minister replied that the previous government, the “Progressive” coalition, was the real culprit for having introduced “close relatives” and “electoral roll members” into the civil service. Rodríguez claimed that 181 posts of “undetermined job station is set up, the government will be bound by guidelines enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and regional government by-laws. Yesterday's Parliamentary session welcomed the recently appointed Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Margalida Moner.