Private management for mountain refuges

07/12/2012 00:00

Palma. Apart from saving costs, the Council wants to improve services at the refuges which act as wayside inns in the Tramuntana mountain region.
Each of the five refuges give shelter to around 20'000 guests a year; they are Muleta in Soller, Tossals Verds (Escorca); Son Amer (Escorca); Can Boi (Deya) and Pont Roma in Pollensa. Last Friday, 30th November was the final date for private companies to hand their bids in for the refuge management. The Council has said that a total of six firms have applied.

Trials for a private management services are going to start at Can Boi and Pont Roma and act as guidelines for the other refuges. The privatisation of maintenance, said the Council will provide uniform quality of service to each of the refuges and optimise profitability.

Over the past year, services have decreased little but the Council of Majorca has managed to save 20 percent of running costs and 24 percent on food. Now, products which are purchased for board and lodging are being tightly controlled and all refuges offer the same menu, the Council's Environment department said yesterday.

Over the course of a year, the Council, led by the Partido Popular President Maria Salom spends 1.1 million euros on the refuges split up into personnel costs (788'074 euros) and maintenance (323'409). Of this second sum, 156'000 went to purchasing food in 2011, and the remainder to property and machinery maintenance.