Sunday, September 03, 2006

Open Holidays / Tourism economics / Beaches / Smoking

A bit more trouble on the apartment/villa front. Though applications for the correct certification are expected to come flooding in by the 26 September deadline, one company - well-known in Pollensa especially for marketing this sort of accommodation - has gone into administration. Open Holidays had the administration filed on 31 August. It rermains to be seen as to what the future may hold, though it is easy to imagine that the confidence of both property owners and those renting will have taken a knock.


August hotel occupancy in Mallorca stood at 95%, so the hoteliers say, an increase of 2.5% over last year. The number of people visiting the Balearics in total has risen by just over half a million during the first seven months of the year. Oh well, there you go.


Beach problems in Puerto Pollensa. The strip along the main paseo (Anglada Camarassa) leading to the pinewalk is one of only two beaches in the whole of Mallorca to have been declared deficient according to the weekly analysis. The pong is rumoured to be caused by sewage from one of the hotels. Yuck.


The deadline for premises to adopt smoking measures has passed. In the Balearics, those bars/restaurants etc of less than 100 square metres do not need to physically separate smoking and non-smoking areas. Those of greater size do, with the creation of, for instance, a wall. However, the authorities appear to be taking a softly-softly approach, and there is some talk of other means of “separation” being used, e.g. air curtains and extractors.

No comments: