Finally, and after glitches concerning the auditor, AENA's initial public offer of shares has gone ahead. The 58 euro per share price rose on the first day of trading to over 69 euros, leaving the minister for development, Ana Pastor, a happy lady. Analysts consider it to be a strong stock, and though the price is likely to fall a little, the entry onto the Madrid stock market has been positive.
Despite the muted euphoria, there are several unknowns which cloud the AENA privatisation. One, that of union relations, has, for the time being, been placed on the back burner, the two main airport unions CCOO and USO having called off strikes that were planned from this month and through the spring and summer. Assurances have been given regarding contracts and minimum staffing levels. If the unions are now adopting a temporarily contented watching brief, not all has been rosy with the chief institutional shareholders. The belief that the privatisation might herald a phase of optimism for the Balearics has been shaken by the fact that the Banca March's investment foundation felt that the share price was too high and so has, along with Ferrovial, opted to stay out of that original core of investors and will not, therefore, be represented on the new board. Still, there has been plenty of interest from major investors such as George Soros and through sovereign funds in the Middle East, Singapore and Norway.
One of the greatest unknowns has to do with the further liberalisation of the skies and so of international airline presence at major airports, by which one means Madrid and Barcelona. Emirates, Air India, Latam Airlines are among overseas operators jostling to develop new routes and which are eyeing up Madrid in particular as a hub. There is, as a consequence, disquiet among an already emasculated Spanish airline industry that existing hub activities might be threatened; Air Europa appears especially minded to get the ear of the ministry on this matter.
And it is the relationship between the government and the 49% shareholders that provides the biggest unknown of the lot. Who ultimately will wield the power? The government may have retained a majority of shares, but how determined might it be to exercise its majority against the ambitions of others?
Coming to Mallorca and the Balearics, further development of international air routes might be thought a good thing, but only if good interconnecting schedules can be piggybacked onto routes that the likes of Emirates or Air India might desire. Otherwise, Palma looks unlikely to be a beneficiary of privatisation. This said, Ana Pastor, following the previous announcement by regional tourism minister Jaime Martínez that airport taxes will be frozen for ten years, has intimated that there may, after all, be room to manouevre in terms of lowering taxes (especially for the off-season) at Balearics airports. Airlines have naturally welcomed the suggestion, though they see in it an element of pre-election campaigning. As I have noted before, the profitability of Palma will be something that shareholders will be keen to maintain and so tax reductions would only be of interest were there a guarantee of greater profits from resultant flights.
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Saturday, November 01, 2014
The Great Mallorcan Tax Giveaway
When all else fails - and it has - the political magician has one last trick which he hopes will win the gasps and applause of the electorate audience. Off comes the top hat and out pops the rabbit which fires a pop gun with the words tax cuts scrawled on a scruffy piece of paper dangling from the final lifeline shot by a failing administration. See the Great Bauzá! Be amazed by his wizardry! Be agog at his political-death-defying feats!
The Bauzá Magic Show has been a roaring success. He has sawn ex-finance minister Aguiló in half. Made former education man Rafael Bosch disappear. Turned Palma's Mateo Isern into a frog. Conjured up a teaching system of awe-inspiring failure. Subjected his own party to the thousand cuts of swords thrust into a box that once contained Balearic regionalist identity. Symbolically turned the Catalan flag into the red and yellow of Spanish nationhood. Yes, a fabulous success. Ah but, there is always the sleight of hand and the rabbit with the tax giveaway.
Anyone out there remember austerity? It was ushered in with grim-reaper solemnity by José Ramón. Dourness, parsimony, cuts of different sorts - to personnel, services, budgets - were for the people of the Balearics to have to suffer for four years. The long faces of crisis were to endure while the vandalised public finances, looted and battered by the previous lot, were slowly mended, nailed back together and given a fresh lick of whitewash. But suddenly, the long faces have been replaced by the happy, smiling features of José Ramón, clapping wildly at every PP mayoral selection decision and beaming his most maniacal of beams.
All that austerity, and do you know what? The current, austerity-driven Balearic Government will be spending over 350 million euros more than when it started. It has managed to add over 1,000 million euros of new debt. Pretty good going, huh? The budget for 2015 - 362 million euros higher than in the first year of government - will include items of expenditure such as increasing the amounts given to political parties, like the PP, which will have twice as much to spend on advertising next year, and giving more to the IB3 broadcaster, firmly under the control of the PP and firmly made to utter only words of Mallorquín and not Catalan.
This non-austere generosity can be explained by the "great effort" of the past three years to overcome the "grave situation" that Bauzá was confronted with. Yes, he truly has been a magician. And what's more, the people of the Balearics will be better off to the tune of 250 million euros of lower taxes next year. Though don't anyone get too carried away, as there is an apparent contradiction in this - 160 million euros more to be raised through income tax and IVA. But don't let's dwell on this. Bauzá certainly isn't. The 250 million euros giveaway is what will get the electorate clapping as wildly as he does.
There are, of course, elections coming up and so there is an explanation which differs to the "great effort" one. Taxes down, budgets up, let's spend lots of money and see those PP names filling the ballot boxes. Tax cuts by government and tax cuts by town halls, just a couple of which are Pollensa and Calvia. "Electioneering", cried the socialist opposition in Calvia, which was perfectly true, though there has also been the "great work of management" by the Manu administration, said one of the PP deputy mayors. And what cuts these are in Calvia. 60% off for "large discos" for instance. Who on earth has Calvia got in mind, do you suppose? Oh well, nothing like recognising the good works that will see the phoenix rise from the ashes of some rocks in Magalluf. And nothing like the wave of the magician's wand and the magician's tax-cut incantation. "Abracadabra!" And with that, all the PP woes were blown away in a puff of smoke.
The Bauzá Magic Show has been a roaring success. He has sawn ex-finance minister Aguiló in half. Made former education man Rafael Bosch disappear. Turned Palma's Mateo Isern into a frog. Conjured up a teaching system of awe-inspiring failure. Subjected his own party to the thousand cuts of swords thrust into a box that once contained Balearic regionalist identity. Symbolically turned the Catalan flag into the red and yellow of Spanish nationhood. Yes, a fabulous success. Ah but, there is always the sleight of hand and the rabbit with the tax giveaway.
Anyone out there remember austerity? It was ushered in with grim-reaper solemnity by José Ramón. Dourness, parsimony, cuts of different sorts - to personnel, services, budgets - were for the people of the Balearics to have to suffer for four years. The long faces of crisis were to endure while the vandalised public finances, looted and battered by the previous lot, were slowly mended, nailed back together and given a fresh lick of whitewash. But suddenly, the long faces have been replaced by the happy, smiling features of José Ramón, clapping wildly at every PP mayoral selection decision and beaming his most maniacal of beams.
All that austerity, and do you know what? The current, austerity-driven Balearic Government will be spending over 350 million euros more than when it started. It has managed to add over 1,000 million euros of new debt. Pretty good going, huh? The budget for 2015 - 362 million euros higher than in the first year of government - will include items of expenditure such as increasing the amounts given to political parties, like the PP, which will have twice as much to spend on advertising next year, and giving more to the IB3 broadcaster, firmly under the control of the PP and firmly made to utter only words of Mallorquín and not Catalan.
This non-austere generosity can be explained by the "great effort" of the past three years to overcome the "grave situation" that Bauzá was confronted with. Yes, he truly has been a magician. And what's more, the people of the Balearics will be better off to the tune of 250 million euros of lower taxes next year. Though don't anyone get too carried away, as there is an apparent contradiction in this - 160 million euros more to be raised through income tax and IVA. But don't let's dwell on this. Bauzá certainly isn't. The 250 million euros giveaway is what will get the electorate clapping as wildly as he does.
There are, of course, elections coming up and so there is an explanation which differs to the "great effort" one. Taxes down, budgets up, let's spend lots of money and see those PP names filling the ballot boxes. Tax cuts by government and tax cuts by town halls, just a couple of which are Pollensa and Calvia. "Electioneering", cried the socialist opposition in Calvia, which was perfectly true, though there has also been the "great work of management" by the Manu administration, said one of the PP deputy mayors. And what cuts these are in Calvia. 60% off for "large discos" for instance. Who on earth has Calvia got in mind, do you suppose? Oh well, nothing like recognising the good works that will see the phoenix rise from the ashes of some rocks in Magalluf. And nothing like the wave of the magician's wand and the magician's tax-cut incantation. "Abracadabra!" And with that, all the PP woes were blown away in a puff of smoke.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Death, Taxes And Holidaymaking
If you are inclined to pay any attention to statistics, you may have noticed that, in the first three months of this year, tourism in Catalonia increased to the extent that it represented a quarter of Spain's total tourism. Does Catalonia having been a mere 5% behind the Canaries tell a story over and above its statistical one? It may do. The tourist tax, which was implemented last autumn, appears not to have had a negative effect.
Prime Minister Rajoy is to agree a new set of economic measures on Friday. He has said that there will be no further rises in either income tax or IVA (VAT), though there has been speculation that the lower, tourist rate of IVA might go up. Rajoy has said it won't, so if it does, then he will have been, and not for the first time, economical with the economic truth.
If the lower rate does escape the government's attention on Friday, it might not do in the future. The 11% difference between the standard and lower rate allows some manoeuvre-room for a deficit-busting government that somehow still manages not to reduce the deficit. The minister of contradiction (his own), Luis de Guindos, told parliament yesterday that the economy will be getting better sooner than had been thought. As he had told an American newspaper the other day that the economy will contract this year more than had been thought, then it is hard, as it always is, to know what Sr. de Guindos really does think. If he thinks at all.
But then maybe he is thinking. If we put the good old tourist IVA rate up again, perhaps his predictions of growth (minimal) in 2014 won't come to pass. Best maybe that IVA be left alone, as relentlessly upping the indirect-taxation ante ain't the best remedy for reversing a contracting economy. Yet, despite this apparent truism, in Catalonia, a tourist tax, coming on top of the IVA rise in September, does not seem to have made much difference, other than to in fact increase tourism. How very odd.
A recent report for "Hosteltur" magazine picked up on an anxiety expressed by the World Travel and Tourism Council about the inclination for governments, not just Spain's or the regional one in the Balearics, to raise taxes that apply to the tourism sector or to invent new ones. The report used the adjective "estrujado". Its verb, "estrujar", has multiple meanings - to crush, to squeeze, to bleed or to drain. Any of these would be appropriate, though the bleed one is perhaps the most appropriate. It is the life-force-removal consequence of tourism being "ordeñado" - from the verb "ordeñar", to milk. Tourism is the milch cow, its udders to be squeezed and squeezed by demands for tax and more tax.
Or so it appears. The tourism industry chattering classes have raised the demon of taxes to a level that they have assumed potentially greater damage than that which might in the past have been caused by aircraft falling out of the sky, civil unrest or natural disaster. Taxes are the new act of God. Or are they?
IVA and Catalonia's tourist tax are not the only taxes which have an impact on the tourism industry. They have been coming thick and fast in recent times. Property taxes have risen, town halls have found new ways to raise tax, the Balearic Government has come up with its laughably monikered "green taxes", the AENA airports authority has increased its charges, governments (the British and the German ones, for example) have upped air duties. One tax after another; each one catches tourism in its net and every tourism organisation, be it representative of hotels, car hire, attractions, restaurants or whatever, cries competitive-loss foul.
A while ago, I suggested that the Catalonians may find that their tourist tax proves not to be price-sensitive and so therefore not price-elastic. Evidence from the first quarter of this year might indicate that I was right, but intuitively you feel that the cumulative effect of all the milking, squeezing and bleeding will be to stretch the elastic to snapping point; the tourism industry would find itself caught with its pants down and its crown jewels exposed to a witheringly icy tax breeze.
Perhaps governments calculate that there is no snapping point and believe that there are not two but three certainties - death, taxes and a determination to take holidays. And maybe they are right. Even if they are, there will still be a squeeze. It won't necessarily be one on airlines or hotels, but one on the rest of the tourism economy. There's now a fourth certainty. Holidaymakers' budgets.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Prime Minister Rajoy is to agree a new set of economic measures on Friday. He has said that there will be no further rises in either income tax or IVA (VAT), though there has been speculation that the lower, tourist rate of IVA might go up. Rajoy has said it won't, so if it does, then he will have been, and not for the first time, economical with the economic truth.
If the lower rate does escape the government's attention on Friday, it might not do in the future. The 11% difference between the standard and lower rate allows some manoeuvre-room for a deficit-busting government that somehow still manages not to reduce the deficit. The minister of contradiction (his own), Luis de Guindos, told parliament yesterday that the economy will be getting better sooner than had been thought. As he had told an American newspaper the other day that the economy will contract this year more than had been thought, then it is hard, as it always is, to know what Sr. de Guindos really does think. If he thinks at all.
But then maybe he is thinking. If we put the good old tourist IVA rate up again, perhaps his predictions of growth (minimal) in 2014 won't come to pass. Best maybe that IVA be left alone, as relentlessly upping the indirect-taxation ante ain't the best remedy for reversing a contracting economy. Yet, despite this apparent truism, in Catalonia, a tourist tax, coming on top of the IVA rise in September, does not seem to have made much difference, other than to in fact increase tourism. How very odd.
A recent report for "Hosteltur" magazine picked up on an anxiety expressed by the World Travel and Tourism Council about the inclination for governments, not just Spain's or the regional one in the Balearics, to raise taxes that apply to the tourism sector or to invent new ones. The report used the adjective "estrujado". Its verb, "estrujar", has multiple meanings - to crush, to squeeze, to bleed or to drain. Any of these would be appropriate, though the bleed one is perhaps the most appropriate. It is the life-force-removal consequence of tourism being "ordeñado" - from the verb "ordeñar", to milk. Tourism is the milch cow, its udders to be squeezed and squeezed by demands for tax and more tax.
Or so it appears. The tourism industry chattering classes have raised the demon of taxes to a level that they have assumed potentially greater damage than that which might in the past have been caused by aircraft falling out of the sky, civil unrest or natural disaster. Taxes are the new act of God. Or are they?
IVA and Catalonia's tourist tax are not the only taxes which have an impact on the tourism industry. They have been coming thick and fast in recent times. Property taxes have risen, town halls have found new ways to raise tax, the Balearic Government has come up with its laughably monikered "green taxes", the AENA airports authority has increased its charges, governments (the British and the German ones, for example) have upped air duties. One tax after another; each one catches tourism in its net and every tourism organisation, be it representative of hotels, car hire, attractions, restaurants or whatever, cries competitive-loss foul.
A while ago, I suggested that the Catalonians may find that their tourist tax proves not to be price-sensitive and so therefore not price-elastic. Evidence from the first quarter of this year might indicate that I was right, but intuitively you feel that the cumulative effect of all the milking, squeezing and bleeding will be to stretch the elastic to snapping point; the tourism industry would find itself caught with its pants down and its crown jewels exposed to a witheringly icy tax breeze.
Perhaps governments calculate that there is no snapping point and believe that there are not two but three certainties - death, taxes and a determination to take holidays. And maybe they are right. Even if they are, there will still be a squeeze. It won't necessarily be one on airlines or hotels, but one on the rest of the tourism economy. There's now a fourth certainty. Holidaymakers' budgets.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, November 23, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Car-hire firms plan actions against tax
Car-hire firms in the Balearics, angered by the planned introduction of a daily tax on vehicle, are to stage a day of protest on a day in December that will bring Palma to a standstill and to follow this by withdrawing hire cars for 15 days. The firms are also planning on moving their fiscal base to another part of Spain and so not pay taxes in the Balearics; the Basque Country would be the most likely base.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Saturday, March 17, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Opposition criticise Alcúdia taxes
Former Alcúdia mayor Miquel Llompart, now councillor for the Convèrgencia, has attacked what he describes as the "enormous" increase in taxes envisaged by Alcúdia town hall's Partido Popular-dominated administration.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Increase in Pollensa rubbish tax
Opposition groups have condemned what they say are broken elections promises on behalf of the Partido Popular-led town hall in Pollensa which plans to approve tax rises by 10% for domestic rubbish collection and by 27% for businesses.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Paying For Sand: Prices on beaches
How much are you paying for a sunbed? It's one of those questions, on a par with what's the weather like in (add as applicable), that is on the list of the Mallorcan visitor's enquiries.
I confess to not knowing a great deal about the cost of sunbeds. I have never, ever hired one. They are a part of beach life that has passed me by, and I pass them by on the way to finding a piece of soft sand. But the sunbed is important for many. The beach should be comfortable and not be a place where no end of patting the sand down can seem to eliminate the annoying ridge that's sticking into your back.
My knowledge of the subject has, however, increased thanks to the fact that sunbeds have been very much a theme of this Mallorcan summer. They have either not been provided (Puerto Pollensa for a time) or too many have been provided (Can Picafort, before the mayor ordered the removal of excessive numbers).
And I can now thank the local Chamber of Commerce for adding to the body of the sunbed knowledge. It's put out a report and is asking for a harmonisation in pricing in the different resorts, differences in which can be as great as five euros for a bed and a shade combination. The average price is 7.6 euros.
The cost of sunbeds has increased markedly since the turn of the century. One reason for this has been an increase in the tax charged by town halls. It's a simple equation: the higher the tax, the higher the price.
The beach operators, however, have other costs to take into account, such as those for the sunbeds and parasols themselves, which are often meant to comply with certain specifications. For example, some of the parasols in Pollensa have not been of the required reed material, which has added to what has become an annual controversy in respect of beach provision.
With the tax that has to be paid and all the other costs, it is perhaps unsurprising that you got a situation such as that in Can Picafort where the operator was exceeding the number of sunbeds by some 550. It's all about profitability, after all. Nevertheless, Can Picafort is one resort where the cost is said to be reasonable.
The differing costs to the operators and the differing prices they charge mean that the overall annual benefits to operators also vary. The report suggests that in Felanitx (by which I guess it means Portocolom) the return is just under five hundred euros a unit, way higher than in Manacor (92 euros).
Sunbeds aren't the only elements of beach life that come with a price. Some come with a pretty significant one. Well, would you pay 50 euros for 20 minutes on a jetski? Maybe you would. Less expensive though and also more sedate are pedaloes. Average going rate 11.7 euros, says the report. But it can be nine euros or it can be 15 (Alcúdia). What you win on lower sunbed prices in Alcúdia, you lose on a pedalo.
And what about the beach bars? The "chiringuitos" and "balnearios". They too are subject to varying taxes according to resort, and so charge accordingly.
Last year, before the season had even properly started, I was being told about the fact that the beach bar prices were too high. An example was given in respect of Swedish tourists to Alcúdia who now found a "pint" in a beach bar to be roughly the equivalent of that back in Sweden, a country hardly known for its cheap alcohol.
But when the chiringuitos are being taxed in the way they are, the prices start to become understandable. They have to pay the town halls, the inland revenue and the concessionaire who actually runs the beach bars.
The town halls make a mint out of their beaches. If they have a number of them and/or they have large beaches with high occupancy by tourists, then they are quids in. One of the largest beaches is that in Alcúdia, and the town hall here rakes in the most of any town hall from its beaches, more so than Palma: nearly three and a half million euros. Even Pollensa, with smaller beaches, can outstrip even Calvia when it comes to its revenue: around a million less than Alcúdia.
There's money to be made from sand. But you know, the beach should be simple. Take a towel and lie on the sand, forget about the pedalo, pack your own drinks and snacks. And then there soon wouldn't be money to be made.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
I confess to not knowing a great deal about the cost of sunbeds. I have never, ever hired one. They are a part of beach life that has passed me by, and I pass them by on the way to finding a piece of soft sand. But the sunbed is important for many. The beach should be comfortable and not be a place where no end of patting the sand down can seem to eliminate the annoying ridge that's sticking into your back.
My knowledge of the subject has, however, increased thanks to the fact that sunbeds have been very much a theme of this Mallorcan summer. They have either not been provided (Puerto Pollensa for a time) or too many have been provided (Can Picafort, before the mayor ordered the removal of excessive numbers).
And I can now thank the local Chamber of Commerce for adding to the body of the sunbed knowledge. It's put out a report and is asking for a harmonisation in pricing in the different resorts, differences in which can be as great as five euros for a bed and a shade combination. The average price is 7.6 euros.
The cost of sunbeds has increased markedly since the turn of the century. One reason for this has been an increase in the tax charged by town halls. It's a simple equation: the higher the tax, the higher the price.
The beach operators, however, have other costs to take into account, such as those for the sunbeds and parasols themselves, which are often meant to comply with certain specifications. For example, some of the parasols in Pollensa have not been of the required reed material, which has added to what has become an annual controversy in respect of beach provision.
With the tax that has to be paid and all the other costs, it is perhaps unsurprising that you got a situation such as that in Can Picafort where the operator was exceeding the number of sunbeds by some 550. It's all about profitability, after all. Nevertheless, Can Picafort is one resort where the cost is said to be reasonable.
The differing costs to the operators and the differing prices they charge mean that the overall annual benefits to operators also vary. The report suggests that in Felanitx (by which I guess it means Portocolom) the return is just under five hundred euros a unit, way higher than in Manacor (92 euros).
Sunbeds aren't the only elements of beach life that come with a price. Some come with a pretty significant one. Well, would you pay 50 euros for 20 minutes on a jetski? Maybe you would. Less expensive though and also more sedate are pedaloes. Average going rate 11.7 euros, says the report. But it can be nine euros or it can be 15 (Alcúdia). What you win on lower sunbed prices in Alcúdia, you lose on a pedalo.
And what about the beach bars? The "chiringuitos" and "balnearios". They too are subject to varying taxes according to resort, and so charge accordingly.
Last year, before the season had even properly started, I was being told about the fact that the beach bar prices were too high. An example was given in respect of Swedish tourists to Alcúdia who now found a "pint" in a beach bar to be roughly the equivalent of that back in Sweden, a country hardly known for its cheap alcohol.
But when the chiringuitos are being taxed in the way they are, the prices start to become understandable. They have to pay the town halls, the inland revenue and the concessionaire who actually runs the beach bars.
The town halls make a mint out of their beaches. If they have a number of them and/or they have large beaches with high occupancy by tourists, then they are quids in. One of the largest beaches is that in Alcúdia, and the town hall here rakes in the most of any town hall from its beaches, more so than Palma: nearly three and a half million euros. Even Pollensa, with smaller beaches, can outstrip even Calvia when it comes to its revenue: around a million less than Alcúdia.
There's money to be made from sand. But you know, the beach should be simple. Take a towel and lie on the sand, forget about the pedalo, pack your own drinks and snacks. And then there soon wouldn't be money to be made.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Higher taxes paid in tourist towns
According to information from the finance ministry, residents of tourist towns on the coast of Mallorca pay far higher taxes than those inland. Alcúdia ranks fifth of towns (Palma is excluded from the list) with a burden per resident of 1,180 euros. This is some way short of Deià which heads the list at 1,845 euros. Muro is eighth with 1,034 euros.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Did You Know They’d Pulled The Town Hall Down
Who would be a local councillor or mayor, charged with balancing the local-authority’s financial books. This is hardly a problem unique to Mallorca’s town halls, but the ongoing parlous state of Pollensa’s finances shows little sign of being reversed. On 30 September last year I noted that the town hall was in the red to the tune of some 800,000 euros. Perhaps it is a device of public-sector accounting, but that loss merely seems to have been shifted a year, with unpaid bills and service deficits for 2006 dragging the town hall ever more into debt. And the solution? As you would expect - rises in taxes, for instance a whacking increase in the local business tax. But Pollensa is not alone in exacting ever more from the local taxpayer. Around the island, taxes for rubbish collection are increasing steeply, not least in Muro.
Some owners of coastal properties may not be faced with such a tax demand. Rather, some owners of coastal properties may be faced with nowhere to live. From “The Times” today one learns of the Spanish Government’s intention to pull down dwellings and hotels along the Spanish coastline, including the Balearics, where the building of these is deemed to have been illegal. Alarming though this may sound, it is unlikely to involve mass demolitions.
Under Spanish law, construction within 100 metres of the coastline is outlawed. That’s the theory, and has been for 20 years. But the law has been flouted - massively. This new drive by the Zapatero administration is being seen by some as a sop to the environmental lobby as a means of securing re-election next year. Perhaps. The obverse of this would be that, were there to be mass demolitions the repercussions would be extremely harmful to the Government. The negative publicity in respect of homeowners would be one thing; the opposition from the powerful hotel sector would be quite another.
The season is as good as over, save for some diehards faced with what is distinctly wintry weather (by Mallorca’s standards that is). A fierce wind blew up last night and, while it has abated, it has brought a blast of chill from the north. The comparison with this time last year is profound. The heat then took the edge off the depressing nature of the season’s end, and served as a means of showing how unpredictable the weather can be at this time. Three years ago I was in Barcelona towards the end of the month. It was wet and cold, and there was snow on the tops of the mainland mountains; Mallorca was not much warmer.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Primal Scream, “Star”. Today’s title - a line from? (The group has featured here before, not that long ago - no apologies, they are one of the all-time great pop acts.)
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Some owners of coastal properties may not be faced with such a tax demand. Rather, some owners of coastal properties may be faced with nowhere to live. From “The Times” today one learns of the Spanish Government’s intention to pull down dwellings and hotels along the Spanish coastline, including the Balearics, where the building of these is deemed to have been illegal. Alarming though this may sound, it is unlikely to involve mass demolitions.
Under Spanish law, construction within 100 metres of the coastline is outlawed. That’s the theory, and has been for 20 years. But the law has been flouted - massively. This new drive by the Zapatero administration is being seen by some as a sop to the environmental lobby as a means of securing re-election next year. Perhaps. The obverse of this would be that, were there to be mass demolitions the repercussions would be extremely harmful to the Government. The negative publicity in respect of homeowners would be one thing; the opposition from the powerful hotel sector would be quite another.
The season is as good as over, save for some diehards faced with what is distinctly wintry weather (by Mallorca’s standards that is). A fierce wind blew up last night and, while it has abated, it has brought a blast of chill from the north. The comparison with this time last year is profound. The heat then took the edge off the depressing nature of the season’s end, and served as a means of showing how unpredictable the weather can be at this time. Three years ago I was in Barcelona towards the end of the month. It was wet and cold, and there was snow on the tops of the mainland mountains; Mallorca was not much warmer.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Primal Scream, “Star”. Today’s title - a line from? (The group has featured here before, not that long ago - no apologies, they are one of the all-time great pop acts.)
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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