On the critical list - Mallorca news round-up

The federation was speaking on the same day (Tuesday) as there was a heated exchange in the Balearic parliament. The former tourism minister, Iago Negueruela of PSOE, claimed that the government of Marga Prohens' Partido Popular was "maintaining practically all the policies of Francina Armengol's government because they (the PP) do not know how to do anything new".

PSOE and other parties now in opposition have been highlighting the fact that policies they introduced, and for which they were criticised by the PP, have now been accepted. For example, the moratorium on new tourist accommodation places isn't going to be lifted - for now at any rate. Prohens insisted in parliament that she has "always" defended the limitation of tourism growth, pointing to a government programme of transformation that allows growth in value, not in volume.

A form of political consensus

But this can't really be said to differ fundamentally to what the previous government sought. While the political exchanges are to expected, the reality is that there is something like consensus across the political spectrum. How this has been arrived at is frankly unimportant, as it can't be understated just how much the political tone (that of the current government) has changed in only a matter of a fortnight or so.

At present, however, "measures", be these to tackle overcrowding or tourist excesses, show no great advance, despite what the government and Council of Mallorca may say. Even so, it seems undeniable that tourism has arrived at a crossroads, and one at which there is to be serious debate.

Less tourism, better lives

A few days before the hoteliers and parliamentarians had their say, a study was published which indicated, among other things, that 86% of people living in Mallorca believed that their lives would be better if there were less tourism. A significant finding was that 81% of those whose jobs depend on tourism were of this view. A survey of this type, with a small sample base of 420, can always be dismissed because it is small. Nevertheless, it did offer an indication of opinion.

Irresponsible tourism - Spanish students

While the hoteliers now applaud the government for its tourism of excesses decree, there having been criticism and a subsequent government rethink, there are excesses which carry on regardless. The Llucmajor local security board has met to finalise measures for dealing with all the Spanish students who will be arriving in Arenal in June for four weeks of end-of-course holidays. Excesses by the students, and these apply elsewhere in Mallorca, are very difficult to police. For instance, how can a ban on street drinking be enforced effectively given the numbers of people? These holidays are the total antithesis of so-called responsible tourism, and everyone knows they are except for a very limited collection of businesses that derive financial benefits from them.

Cars in Mallorca - "something has to be done"

Ibiza will be applying limits to the number of vehicles entering the island in high summer, thus following the lead of Formentera, where there is to be a further four per cent reduction this summer. The association of vehicle rental firms, AEVAB, says that Formentera should serve as a "laboratory" for limits on the other islands, its president, Ramón Reus, having accepted that "it is clear that something has to be done".

While AEVAB, which is said to represent 85% of hire-car firms in the Balearics, is open to reducing the number of cars, Reus insists that any limits should also take account of private vehicles that arrive on ferries. He has a point; one wonders what the ferry operators' view is.

Congestion on the roads can't overlook the fact that the sheer number of bicycles at given times add to the sense of 'saturation'. There is also the risk factor. And in this regard attention has been drawn to the concentrations of cyclists at the Coll de Femenia on the Pollensa to Lluc stretch of the MA-10 main road in the Tramuntana. A well-known stopping point, cyclists tend to be on the road itself - both sides of it - and therefore represent a real risk.

Lighting up the north of Mallorca

The Formentor road, as we know, is subject to congestion. And on the peninsula, as we also well know, there is the saga of the Hotel Formentor redevelopment, the latest instalment in which being that the hotel will now reopen in August and not June, as had been expected. This reopening can't come soon enough; most of us are weary of the saga.

Formentor was a good place to witness a rare event for Mallorca. The Northern Lights have been seen before from the island, but last weekend's display was most unusual because of the scale and intensity. Salvador Sánchez from the observatory in Costitx explained that the last such event was some ten years ago but was "very brief and small"; nothing like what was seen overnight on Friday last week. Meanwhile, it has been announced that the observatory, which filed for bankruptcy in 2016, has been acquired by an unnamed group of investors. It is said that the observatory's scientific functions are assured and that there are possibilities for "astrotourism".

"Taking away our right to live"

Returning to tourist overcrowding and what is very much a related topic - the housing problem - there was a protest in Palma by motorhome dwellers last Saturday. Held outside the town hall building, the protest was against the new bylaw that will oblige motorhome owners to move their vehicles every ten days. One of the protesters said that the town hall is "taking away our right to live". An organiser added that the protest was "100% positive" but regretted the fact that it was partially hijacked by motorhome tourists. "They don't understand people who live in the vehicles." The protest was intended to draw attention to the housing problem.

The government, a rentals agency

Spain's National Statistics Institute has estimated there are some 100,000 empty homes in the Balearics, approximately one-sixth of the entire housing stock. Empty homes have been the focus of political attention in that they do offer a potential solution to the housing problem. The government has a new plan for these homes. Dubbed Safe Rental, it will involve the government acting as a sort of letting agency. Owners, many of whom are reluctant to rent out properties for long-term residential purposes, will be offered certain guarantees to allay their concerns.

An aspect of the scheme is that the government will pay owners the market rates for rents, depending on where they are, and then sublet to tenants through agreements with estate agencies and property management companies.

The housing minister, Marta Vidal, believes that the programme will release "thousands of apartments" onto the market. Maybe it will. It's certainly worth a try, and the government should be applauded.

How many illegal holiday lets?

A portion of the housing stock is off the market because it is being offered for illegal holiday letting. A data-trawling exercise by the Tax Agency and island councils has led to the conclusion that there are some 8,700 illegal holiday lets in the Balearics. The calculation is based on the tourist tax. There are properties for which the tax is paid but that are not registered as holiday lets.

As the cross-checking of data has also detected registered holiday lets for which the tax isn't being paid, it wasn't clear if the 8,700 included these; they are legal. There are other questions that arise, e.g. illegal lets for which the tourist tax isn't paid and those that don't appear on websites like Airbnb that were consulted for the purpose of the exercise. The findings and the information given by the authorities weren't entirely satisfactory.