The Disunited Front Of Mallorca

Despite Francina Armengol having been slated by a report by her own party that condemned errors she made while president of the Council of Mallorca, she looks odds-on to be the new local leader of PSOE. And in true leadership-in-waiting fashion, she has been engaging in high-level diplomatic discussions with President Bauzá (in that politics in the Balearics can ever be said to be at a high level).

This might give the impression that Francina had initiated these discussions. It would be a false impression. Bauzá has finally deigned to speak to someone from PSOE, and other parties, and explain what the hell he's up to, though you might have thought that they could have figured this out for themselves. But Bauzá appears to have needed to have climbed down from his perch and seek some support from the opposition, given that many within the PP seem intent on deserting him.

Diplomacy to the fore, along with her own leadership aspirations, Francina has called for there to be a united front among the parties in combating the challenges facing the Balearics. This is all good spin-for-public-consumption stuff, but is of course complete rot. PSOE, or rather Armengol, might put on a united-front face, but you can exclude other parties. The PSM socialists, for example, are totally opposed to Bauzá's changes to the language law that would see Catalan disappear as a requirement for public workers. Bauzá has said he won't budge an inch.

Bauzá is placing so much emphasis on the reform of the language law, to the extent that it seems to have become cornerstone legislation of his administration even more than getting the economy right, that he can be seen as being either a strong leader or completely mad. It's a bit of both probably.

There is more than a hint of jealous rivalry about the opposition that Bauzá is encountering within his own party. It is rivalry that stems in part from the fact that he is relatively new to the heights of the PP. He isn't one of the old guard, many of whom have expressed their disquiet with the change to the language law. He is being cast in the role of the André Vilas-Boas of the PP, a young, Chelsea-like manager seeking to mould a team in his own style but coming up against the Terrys and Lampards of the PP dressing-room.

A united front of language will be an impossibility, but what of other government initiatives (such as they are)? There is really only one other, and that is the tourism law. Here, Bauzá has indicated that he might be willing to move. Whether he's told Carlos Delgado, one can't be sure, but the Armengol pow-wow resulted in two things. One was that town hall responsibilities for licences and permissions, which would be threatened under the revised law, would be reconsidered. The other was that he was minded to look again at all-inclusives.

The first of these is something he would do well to stick to his guns on. The town halls don't want to lose power. They should be told to get lost. Reducing their role would lessen bureaucracy, delays and costs. As for all-inclusives, it is intriguing, if nothing else, that Bauzá seems willing to consider them further. But in what way? He hasn't said.

The only provision under the new law that deals with all-inclusives is the ludicrous idea that by stopping tourists taking food and drink off-site this might help local bars and restaurants. It is the only provision in tackling an issue over which the regional government's hands are tied by the demands of tour operators and, to a lesser extent, the hotels themselves.

However, there is something the government could do. It cannot prevent all-inclusives, and nor would it, but it could apply, and in a very strict fashion, standards of service and of quality that would be hard for some hotels to meet. In theory, these standards are already meant to be met, but they clearly are not. The reasons why not are that the investment demanded would be too great and that some hotels would be forced to abandon all-inclusive, thus threatening tour operator relationships and overall tourism competitiveness in Mallorca.

Whether Armengol has any better idea or indeed if Bauzá has any better idea, one would doubt. As is usually the case, politicians can speak of united fronts and of looking again at policies (all-inclusive in this case), but the talk means little, as there is very little they can actually do.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.