The legislation that is to be developed against overcrowding will be an unprecedented initiative for a problem that has been growing for some time, but for which political intervention has not been forthcoming until now. Going hand in hand in the legal arena will provide both communities with greater security in possible legal approaches that may meet with opposition from the private sector or even the state administration.
The first agreement will be established between the two autonomous governments, although cooperation mechanisms will subsequently be developed between island councils and local councils. In addition, the idea is that the private sector will also participate in the meetings - there is talk of one every six months, more or less. The Balearic government has the backing of the Mallorca Hotel Federation and the support of the president of the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, Ashotel, Jorge Marichal, Jorge Marichal. He is also president of the state hotel confederation, CEHAT, of which Javier Vich (president of the FEHM Mallorca federation) has recently been appointed vice-president.
For all these reasons, maximum support is also expected from the private sector. This is an initiative that the Regional Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Government of the Balearics has been working on for several months, convinced of the mutual benefits that can be derived from this collaboration. The two regions witnessed mass demonstrations throughout last season over the issue of tourist saturation.
The Canary Islands were in fact the first autonomous community to do so. The protests continued up to the recent International Tourism Trade Fair in Madrid, Fitur, at which Canarian ecologists demonstrated under the slogan Mass tourism equals poverty. The Balearics are immersed in the start of the second phase of the Pact for Sustainability. Both delegations took advantage of the Fitur event to bring their positions closer together in the preparation of the collaboration agreement.
As in the Balearics, the government of the Canary Islands - with very similar problems of overcrowding in streets, public spaces and roads, as well as access to housing - decided to set up a forum for dialogue to determine the negative externalities of tourist activity and find a remedy. In the case of the Canary Islands, the initiative has consisted of setting up five panels of experts who are to draw up measures to be adopted in favour of sustainability. At the end of the year, the document entitled 51 measures for the Canary Islands of the future: facing the demographic challenge and sustainable development was released, a text that has been criticised for its lack of specificity and for the lack of concrete proposals that get to the root of the problems.
The Pact for Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability of the Balearics begins its second phase, described as ‘actions and proposals’, on 27th February. It will do so in the same place where it began its journey last May, the UIB School of Hospitality, where it will once again bring together the nearly 140 agents participating in the board. Despite the fact that organisations have been dropping out over recent weeks and months (PSOE, Més, Fòrum per la Societta Civil...), the government’s intention is to re-invite everyone. In any case, the first phase of the pact - categorised as the diagnosis and identification of the problems - will be considered closed that same day, in fact a little earlier than was foreseen in the initial approach, proof that the government has wanted to speed up the whole process.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.