Editorial: Something is wrong

SOMETHING is not right here in the Balearics. Last week we saw that while mainland Spain has enjoyed a record year for the number of tourists and the amount of money they have spent, here in the Balearics, tourism spending has fallen since the start of the year and now, that summer is over and hotel s are going to start closing up for the winter, a last minute increase in revenue is unlikely to be experienced.
And, it appears that not only have foreign visitors spent less in the Balearics, domestic consumer confidence in the region remains brittle. Yesterday is was announced that Spanish retail sales rose 0.4 percent year-on-year on a calendar-adjusted basis in August, the biggest increase since May, according to data from the National Statistics Institute.
That follows a 0.2 percent contraction in retail sales in July. Retail sales have shown signs of picking up in 2014 after a three-year period when they mostly fell, as unemployment in Spain soared.
Retail sales had been expected to drop 0.3 percent year-on-year in August, according to a Reuters poll and that, is what has happened in the Balearics, despite the increase across the water.
Retailers in the Balearics suffered a 0.5 percent fall in takings last month.
And all this comes as the Spanish economy on a whole grows at one of the fastest rates in Europe, sadly though, none of that appears to rubbing off here.