Some heavyweight names have been calling on the Spanish Government to establish a separate tourism ministry and minister, which would mean it taking a U-turn and admitting that a realignment of ministerial posts effected in July was a mistake.
These names include Mallorcan hotel and tourism companies, the former tourism secretary-of-state Joan Mesquida and the president of the Balearics Francesc Antich.
The Mallorcan companies (Globalia, Riu and Sol Melià) made their call during a high-level pow-wow with President Zapatero and his cabinet, designed to bring the great and good of the business world to the talking table and find solutions to Spain's economic mess. Mesquida made his call some days before, and Antich added weight to the companies' demand, reinforcing the view of all parties that, as tourism amounts to such a significant part of GDP (12%), a minister is needed.
The decision in July to in effect downgrade tourism by getting rid of the position of secretary-of-state and merging it with the portfolio for national commerce seemed at the time somewhat perverse, but it was all part of a governmental drive to cut costs. It was one that was mirrored in the Balearics where, in a similar cost-saving drive, the tourism ministry was merged with employment.
At national level, tourism has been and is a part of a super ministry that includes also industry and commerce. The position of secretary-of-state for tourism only, scrapped in July, was only some two years old. It was one formed, as one commentator has put it, in the "days of wine and roses", alongside other new ministerial appointments. Its being dispensed with was far from the tourism snub that it was portrayed and is still being portrayed.
Nevertheless, given that tourism amounts to a sizable chunk of national GDP (and you can always find figures which suggest it is not as high), it might seem sensible to have a dedicated secretary-of-state, especially as tourism is an industry that, one might hope, would be central to economic recovery and also as Spain's tourism faces the kinds of competitive threats that it does. Sensible. But would it be necessary? Mesquida is still part of the same super ministry, and the very fact that tourism is singled out as one element of the ministerial triad along with industry and commerce gives it the kudos it deserves.
The discussion as to the importance of the post has tended to overlook what has happened since Mesquida was made its first appointee. And to overlook Mesquida's credentials for the post. Prior to it he was the director-general for the Guardia Civil and then the newly combined National Police and Guardia. Before this he was the Balearics' treasury minister.
In his time as secretary-of-state, he oversaw the so-called "Q" quality campaign for restaurants and other establishments, one that cost half a million euros and one that has subsequently been allowed to fade away. He also oversaw the launch of the worldwide and bizarrely sloganed "I Need Spain" campaign earlier this year, at the same time defending his government's decision to impose an increase in IVA on tourist business (his previous treasury experience coming to the fore no doubt).
His appointment in 2008 was loudly praised in Mallorca. As you might expect for someone who is a native of Felanitx. Antich said at the time that here was someone who knew well the needs of the Balearics and who would make the execution of certain projects, notably the regeneration of Playa de Palma, that much easier. So what happened with this, then?
If you track back further to Mesquida's time at the treasury, it was he, together with the then tourism minister Celestí Alomar, who came up with the ill-fated eco-tax. Alomar bore the brunt of the tourism industry's opprobrium, but the tax was, after all, a fiscal measure.
Mesquida was unlucky in that his appointment coincided with the crisis, but the point is that having the right person in the job, however it is titled and whatever portfolios it combines, matters as much as the position in the governmental hierarchy. And this brings us to what has occurred in the Balearics.
For President Antich to be pressing for a national tourism minister seems a bit rich when it was he who merged the local tourism minister's responsibilities with employment. The economic importance of tourism is far greater in the Balearics (80% of GDP is what is normally quoted). And just as important is having the right minister. So what has happened? Under separate Antich administrations, there have been Alomar, vilified by the very industry he was supposed to represent, and since 2007 a series of Unió Mallorquina politicians who became tourism minister thanks to the UM having been divvied up responsibility for tourism under the spoils of coalition.
One after the other they came and went - Buils for exceeding his powers, Nadal and Flaquer for being implicated in scandal. And then came the short-lived Ferrer, appointed partly because it was Buggins's turn and partly because he was the mayor of a town with a high level of tourism. One also, Alcúdia, that has been ravaged by all-inclusives, over which he as mayor and as tourism minister had not the slightest power to prevent.
What matters is the right person for the job and that politicians "get it" where tourism is concerned. With this in mind, let's leave the last words to that gift which keeps on giving, the Partido Popular's José Ramón Bauzá. The Balearics face tourism attack from, he says, Turkey, eastern Europe and ... and the Baltics. The Baltics? Maybe he has indeed been influenced by his mate Delgado in Calvia. The stag and hen-do tourism of Tallinn is doing damage to that of Magalluf. Can't think what else he can be talking about.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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