President Armengol told parliament yesterday that she has not given up on there being legislation to regulate all-inclusive hotel offers before the election in May next year. She pointed out, though, that legislation could be complicated by clashing with island councils' tourism powers and by potential effects on tourist resorts.
Responding to Laura Camargo of Podemos, the president observed that not all-inclusive is the same and nor is it all linked to "tourism of excesses", something that the government and other public authorities wish to eradicate.
Camargo argued that regulation of all-inclusive had been a commitment under the agreements for government between PSOE, Més and Podemos. She said that this had been a promise to businesses from the complementary sector which have been affected by all-inclusives.
At the World Travel Market in London, the national tourism minister Reyes Maroto heard tour operator concerns about potential all-inclusive regulation in the Balearics. She suggested that there will not be any "restriction" in the short term.
The concerns centre almost exclusively on the proposal to limit free alcohol to meal times. Hotelier associations across the Balearics have expressed their opposition to this as well as the tour operators.
If there were to be this form of restriction, and it is an "if", its application would depend on when the legislation is approved and would take account of bookings already made.
