The president of the Balearic Ports Authority, Javier Sanz, said on Wednesday that the work to remodel Palma's Paseo Marítimo will be completed by April 16. The official inauguration will be in October, a year after the work had originally been scheduled to finish.
Responding to this announcement, the president of the Paseo Marítimo's business association, Manuel Jiménez, expressed his hope that this will indeed be the case, as he wasn't convinced. "Let's see if it is true that it'll be ready by the end of the year." He and businesses in the area have so far had to endure more than two years of disruption. The work started in November 2022.
There are 80 members of the association and nearly all have suffered as a consequence of the work. He pointed out that "15 per cent of the businesses are up for transfer and many have been closed over the winter". There are, he added, "only a few that have closed completely".
At present, he explained, some businesses are undertaking renovations; they are all "waiting for the arrival of aid". "We will calculate the total losses once the work is finally finished, but right now the average cash loss is 50 per cent, which is crazy. But there are some businesses that have lost even more".
Restaurants have suffered greatly and "car rental companies have disappeared". "All the companies to have left have done so because it was impossible to work here."
3 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
WOW theres a surprise ! When did any council project ever get completed on time or on budget ? Dont the people who allocate the contracts put some kind of penalty in the contact for late completion ? and shouldnt the work be a fixed price ? Seems to me they just go in with a low quotation and promises of fast completion to secure the work and then find excuses for the delays and over spend knowing that once the company has started it very difficult to kick them off and find a new contractor to finish.
I was very sad to lose the Cafe Colmar, it had been there since 1967
If you calculate the extended period of work as a percentage, it is ridiculous. I wonder what the cost will be over budget. Im not quite sure it has made a considerable difference, to be honest.