Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

It was with a sigh of relief that the environment ministry was able to report that a fire in Albufera - yet another fire in Albufera - had been brought under control by half six on Tuesday evening, the fire having been declared around 2pm. Sixty hectares of mostly reed had been affected, making this fire the worst in the Balearics this year, a year that has been thankfully without major incidents. By mid-September, only 74 hectares had been affected by various fires. The Albufera blaze therefore almost doubled this tally. It was nowhere on the scale of the devastating fire of September 2020, when approximately one-fifth of the Albufera Nature Park (350 hectares) was burned. But it once more raised issues about fire prevention in Albufera, as fires are all too common.

The breezes in the area had eased by the late afternoon, the sigh of relief having been in advance of the forecast for stronger winds on Wednesday. By 10am on Wednesday the fire had still to be fully extinguished, and the wind was blowing. The remnants of Hurricane Kirk had led to the met agency downgrading the hurricane to a storm affecting parts of the mainland. Mallorca and the Balearics were on the fringe of this; little risk of rain but rough seas and wind inland. This wasn't a typical weather event for the autumn, which is more characterised by the DANA isolated depression, known as the 'gota fria' (cold drop in English). That usually does bring heavy rain.

The weather in Mallorca is more influenced by systems that enter from the Atlantic than elsewhere. The distance from the mainland can sometimes mean that these systems lose their force, and so the weather is always reminding us that Mallorca is an island subject to all manner of special circumstances. Apart from the weather, one of these is the island's energy. Insularity, the fragility of the territory and the need to cut emissions have placed particular demands on energy policies, one of the most controversial proving to be the plan to lay a second electricity cable between the mainland (Valencia) and Mallorca.

There will in fact be three cables, the national grid company, Red Eléctrica, estimating that the whole project will cost one billion euros. There had been talk of this connection being operational by 2027; the revised date is 2030. Annual savings from the two connections (the other was to Santa Ponsa in 2012) are put at 150 million euros, while the reduction in CO2 emissions is put at 900,000 tonnes per annum. The controversy has largely arisen because of the choice of the Bay of Pollensa for the entry point. The land route will go to the substation on the industrial estate next to the Es Murterar power station in Alcudia. Opposition has been on health and natural heritage grounds.

Tourist tax going up or not?

The energy demands in Mallorca are in no small part conditioned by tourism, and the provision of resources is a central issue in the ongoing discussion about tourism sustainability. Facets of this discussion were aired in the Balearic Parliament on Tuesday, most notably the tourist tax.

A somewhat curious alliance of the right-wing Partido Popular governing party and the left-wing eco-nationalists Més (in opposition) approved a motion that in itself was curious. President Prohens last week announced an increase in the tax for June to August and a reduction for December to February. This was presented as the motion, but it was amended and ended up being just a motion to modify the tax without any mention of an increase or a decrease, Més having raised an objection to a winter reduction. The likelihood is that there will be an increase, but if there is one, this will apparently be determined by the working parties for the sustainability pact.

Lower tourist growth isn't a concern

The role of the tourist tax in dissuading tourism is open to question, while in 2024 there have been questions as to how prices and protests have affected tourism. A report this week indicated that tourist numbers in the Balearics had increased 4.7% up to end-August this year, there having at one time been forecasts of between ten and fifteen per cent. The percentage rise in the Balearics was below that of Spain's other main tourist regions, all of which - with the exception of Catalonia (9.7%) - had experienced double-digit percentage increases.

As tourist numbers had increased so massively in 2023 - up by 1.3 million to 17.8 million - the apparent slowdown in 2024 is hardly a cause for concern. The overwhelming majority view among political parties, tourism industry businesses and society at large is that growth is unsustainable. The fact that certain tourist markets - UK and Spain - have shown falls this year isn't really the point; it's the overall level of tourism that matters.

Nightlife complaining about the season

While tourist numbers had risen by under five per cent, tourist spending up to August had risen 12%. This gives a false impression because of the weighting given to the prices of packages or independent travel plus accommodation. These prices have gone up, and Mallorca's complementary sector has spent the season lamenting the fact that it has suffered as a consequence of higher prices for flights and accommodation and less willingness to spend compared with the post-pandemic bonanza years of 2022 and 2023. The restaurants have complained about a 20% fall in turnover, and it is now the turn of nightlife - a 15% drop and many clubs are closing early for the season because September wasn't great.

A point is that the complementary sector could well be accused of having had unrealistic expectations for 2024 despite the increased number of visitors. There had been sources prior to the season starting that had warned that general spending in-destination would be down this year.

How to diversify. Agriculture?

Another familiar topic for discussion is the lack of economic diversification. In this regard, an observation that "Mallorca has been putting all its eggs into basket (tourism) for too long" was not new. This came from geography professor Joan Enric Capellà, one of the founders of the Homo Turisticus debate platform that is committed to a more balanced tourism.

A finding of its survey of people in 45 of Mallorca's 53 municipalities was that 63% of the population believe that further tourism growth will not improve their standard of living. Saying that the "traditional tourism model is exhausted", Capellà called for transformation through diversification. He highlighted the agri-food sector as one with potential through investment in technology.

Lack of qualified workers and productivity

More than technology might need investment, though. The president of the Confederation of Balearic Business Associations, Carmen Planas, noted that agriculture is one of the sectors suffering from a lack of qualified personnel. She in fact suggested that all sectors suffer in this regard and called for greater commitment to training and to digitalisation.

The problem with a shortage of qualified workers, Planas explained, affects companies' productivity. While the Balearic economy has generally speaking exhibited decent growth, this hasn't been because of improved productivity, the consequence being that the growth hasn't been reflected in standard of living and well-being (Capellà said much the same thing). She drew attention to the fact that the Balearics European ranking for per capita income has declined from having been 23% above the European average in 2000 to ten per cent below in 2022.

This also has to take account of population growth, latest figures from the National Statistics Institute showing that 47% of Balearic residents were either born in another Spanish region or in another country. This is the highest percentage in Spain, well above the national average and is a reflection of immigration predicated on employment opportunities offered by tourism that aren't necessarily that well paid or that productive. There is, therefore, something of a vicious circle, which has resulted in certain municipalities - Calvia being one - where people not born in the Balearics form the majority of the population.

Excluded from housing

And this of course impacts housing, with the average wage-earner struggling to keep up with rising prices both for purchase and for rent. The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) have highlighted the growing phenomenon in Palma of 'residential exclusion'. Different to social exclusion and its connotation of down-and-outs on the streets, this is an exclusion from access to housing among people with jobs. In the Nou Llevant district, as an example, there is a settlement with fifteen tents. All of these are occupied by people who work but simply can't afford rents. Marga Plaza of Cruz Roja says: "If housing prices continue to remain as they are, many more people will have difficulty finding housing. This (residential exclusion) is on the rise."

Apartment holiday lets - legal and illegal - don't help the situation. And nor do companies that appear to be reluctant to cooperate with the Balearic Government and the Council of Mallorca in rooting out the illegal offer. There is one company in particular - Airbnb. The government maintains that Airbnb has demonstrated "a clear lack of will".