Taking Refuge In The Ecotax

It was one of those embarrassing occurrences. It was August and talk of saturation, principally courtesy of Airbnb, was incessant. The rentals' legislation had, though, finally been brought into force. Airbnb would be brought into line.

The Council of Mallorca may not have been the body which introduced the legislation, but as we know it is fundamental to its implementation. Its political make-up mirrors that of the government. For the Council as well as the government, Airbnb is thus akin to the devil's work. So, when the Council discovered that Can Boi was being advertised on Airbnb, you can imagine that the Council corridors were full of fury that went beyond a mere breach of advertising rules.

Can Boi, if you are unaware, is one of the Council's Tramuntana refuges. These are essentially like hostels and they are typically pretty basic. Situated in Deià, Can Boi is on the GR221 dry-stone route. As with other refuges along the route, it isn't particularly well patronised in high summer. Publicising itself might therefore be considered to make some business sense. Well, it can publicise itself, but not on Airbnb.

While the Council owns these refuges, a couple are operated - as is the case with Can Boi - by a concessionaire. There are certain rules that need to be observed in the contracts, and the Airbnb incident points to limitations imposed on running them in a true business sense. And Heaven knows, when the Pont Romà refuge in Pollensa was being put up for "privatisation", there was a right old ballyhoo from local businesses which reckoned this would represent unfair competition, though for the life of me I couldn't understand how - a maximum of 38 people with prices pegged at low rates, it made little difference whether the Council or someone else was in charge.

The Council had pursued this limited move towards privatisation on account of the vast debt that the refuges had run up - at least 600,000 euros back in 2011. Five years ago when I considered the role of the refuges on the dry-stone route, I concluded that there should be more of them. Notwithstanding the costs of running them, I came to this conclusion purely because the refuges appeal to a particular type of minority tourism. Five years ago one assessed such an issue in straightforward tourism terms. Five years on and there is a political expedient which supersedes purely tourism considerations.

The Council and the regional government would of course deny this. As part of the "Better in Winter" campaign, the more refuges the merrier. Yes, the refuges are for tourists, but these tourists are now politicised because of the politics of tourism policies. Refuges are thus "a good thing", with no questions asked.

Once upon a time, as in 2011, the Council was shelling out upwards of three million euros in investing in its refuges. There is now an alternative source of investment - the tourist tax. Consequently, there are to be new refuges on the Galatzó finca in Calvia and in Betlem (Arta). One wouldn't be surprised if others were to pop up, thanks to the tourist tax.

The Council is not the sole provider of refuges. The Ibanat agency, part of the environment ministry, has its own - thirteen of them. Seven of these are also in the Tramuntana. The others are, for example, in the Llevant Nature Park, and the Betlem refuge is on the Es Canons finca, which is to become part of an expanded park, courtesy of 4.7 million euros of tax revenue.

In principle, this may all sound reasonable enough, but how many refuges are needed? The number of guests is generally on the rise, but to give an idea of use, in 2012 there were just over 18,000 for the entire year in the five (as were) Council refuges in the Tramuntana; there are now eight of them.

In addition to the investment, there are the running costs. The annual cost of maintenance for the five refuges in 2012 was over one million euros. There are now more of them, with others about to be added. But nowhere, it seems, is anyone actually querying the necessity of increasing the number. The government's got the money, so the government will spend on refuges because they conform to a political vision of tourism that remains predicated on a shaky foundation - all those extra tourists in winter. And in any event, do these extra tourists, even hikers, necessarily want to stay in a refuge? Wouldn't encouraging them to stay in hotels in fact make greater economic sense?

Four years ago the Council was seeking ways of boosting occupancy of the refuges in summer. Now, because of tourism policies, one fancies that it won't be, further drawing into question the viability of an expanded network. And the refuges, even if they wanted more summer business, most certainly cannot resort to using Airbnb.

MALLORCA TODAY - Decisions on management of Tramuntana by the end of the year

The Council of Mallorca is looking to complete the process of handing over to private operators the running of two of the dry stone route refuges in the Tramuntana (those in Deià and Pollensa) by the end of the year. The privatisation will save the Council around 250,000 euros.

See more: Ultima Hora

MALLORCA TODAY - Tramuntana refuges receive 18,000 guests

The five refuges (hostels) on the dry stone route through the Tramuntana mountains will have received just over 18,000 guests by the end of the year. The annual cost of maintenance of the refuges has climbed to over one million euros, this cost being a principal reason why the Council of Mallorca wants to privatise two of them (one being in Pollensa).

See more: Ultima Hora

MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa's refuge to be privatised

It has taken several months to confirm but the Council of Mallorca has finally and officially set in motion the process to privatise two of the five refuges on the Tramuntana dry stone route, one in Deià, the other by the Roman bridge in Pollensa. The debt for running the refuges in 2011 was 600,000 euros, hence the decision to privatise. The services offered to walkers by the refuges will not be changed under the planned privatisation.

See more: Diario de Mallorca

Taking Refuge: Dry stone routes

I've been there. Ivebeenthere. Co.uk. This "Guardian" operated website, which allows those who have been somewhere to tell others where they have been, is, like most recommendation websites, quite useful. Being the "Guardian", the places travellers have been to tend not to be the usual fare. Chris2005 who is, to use the ivebeenthere vernacular, its "top tipper", has been to 235 places, while the second top tipper, Sissi, has seemingly spent an entire lifetime travelling the world and notching up 196 places to which he or she has been. "I've been everywhere, man."

Chavan, on the other hand, hasn't been everywhere. He or she has only ever been to one place. Or had, as of 9 May. It's never easy to understand the derivation of website nicknames, but one supposes that Chavan is not a chav. You don't get many chavs hacking along the GR221 dry stone route in the Tramuntana mountains. Regardless of the origin of the moniker, Chavan has taken to the route and joins other Mallorcan tippers (74 in all), who invariably seem never to have set foot in a karaoke bar, in informing us as to where he has been (let's just settle on a he, shall we, as I can't be bothered keep on typing he or she).

GR 221, and this is the main point of Chavan's tips, takes in not just dry stones along the route it also takes in refuges, five of them in all. You can stay in one at a ludicrously cheap price. Eleven euros a night. Chavan tells us that the government in Mallorca (by which is meant the Council of Mallorca) "provides stunning refuge accommodation for hikers", one of the refuges being in Pollensa. Near to the Roman bridge, it had a slight problem with the roof in that part of it fell in, or to be more accurate, the skylight fell in to the dining area where, as Chavan points out, you can have an "optional dinner at 8.50 euros", which is indeed "brilliant value for three courses including a carafe of wine", but then so are many menus of the day. Or it would be brilliant value, assuming the refuge had actually reopened. Maybe I've missed something, but as far as I know it is still closed. Perhaps someone can advise.  

The value for money that the refuges offer has not gone unnoticed. If you were to pitch up any time in the next few days and look to unlace your sensible walking shoes, unhitch your rucksack and seek to relax in eleven-euros-a-night stunning accommodation, you would in all likelihood be told that there is no room at the inn. The refuges get booked up in advance, and at eleven euros a night this isn't surprising.

But for how much longer might the refuges operate in such a fashion? Two of them, including Pollensa's, are up for some privatisation. The Council of Mallorca may currently provide stunning accommodation, but it's costing them an arm and a leg to do so. There is a shortfall of some 600 grand per annum, again not surprising when the nightly charge is so low and the refuges themselves are fine old piles that require a fine old amount of looking after or repairing, as in when the skylight falls in.

The spectre of privatisation hasn't gone down that well in Pollensa. The refuge, so some local businesses suggest, represents unfair competition. In private hands and the competition would be more unfair. It is hard to see how, though. Even in private hands, the refuge can only accommodate a maximum of 38 people. If anything, a private operator might want to up the rates, though it presumably wouldn't be allowed to (or not significantly), which would draw into question whether privatisation would in fact be feasible. Moreover, as far as accommodation is concerned, Pollensa town is hardly awash with hotels, and those that there are, apart from the larger Son Brull on the outskirts, are small boutique-style establishments.

The omens for Pollensa's refuge and indeed the others aren't that good. If the Council cannot find private operators for the two it is lining up, there has to be the possibility that they would be closed. Noises from the Council have hardly been reassuring either recently or in the past; the previous administration's councillor for the environment described the hostels as not being economically profitable.

If privatisation were to go ahead and were operators allowed to bump up rates substantially, then the whole ethos of the refuges would change. Chavan, clearly grateful to a local government, for its stunning accommodation, might, when he is there in future, be disappointed to find that they have changed. This would be a huge shame. There is much to be said for the refuges, their character, their style and their appeal to a certain type of visitor. The dry stone routes are a minority interest for Mallorca's tourists, but it is a form of tourism that deserves supporting. Rather than fewer or no refuges, there should be more of them.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

MALLORCA TODAY - Tramuntana shelters will be privatised

As previously predicted, the Council of Mallorca has decided to go ahead with the privatisation of two refuges (shelters) on the dry-stone route in the Tramuntana, one in Deià, the other by the Roman bridge in Pollensa. The shelters offer cheap accommodation (for 38 people in the case of the Pollensa refuge) as well as kitchen facilities, but the two represent an annual deficit of 600,000 euros.

See more: Diario de Mallorca