The Parador Paradox

The visitor to Mallorca is unlikely to know a great deal about the Spanish "paradores". Mallorca doesn't have a parador; nor do the other Balearic islands. The Canaries have five and there is a parador in both of the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Otherwise, the more than ninety establishments are on the mainland. All regions of Spain have at least one, except the Balearics.

The paradores are state-run hotels. Not any old hotels. They are hotels in converted buildings of historical and artistic interest, such as former castles and monasteries. They are not some cheap and cheerful, backpacker hostel-type accommodation. Anything but. They are luxury, predominantly four-star, though there are some five as well as three-star hotels. The first parador came into being in the late 1920s. The network underwent its most rapid period of expansion during the 1960s when the number of establishments doubled to 83. Nowadays, they offer in total more than 10,000 places.

The rationale behind the paradores has always been clear. They are representative of Spain's heritage and so fit with a broader concept of tourism than the usual sun and beach. Not exclusively rural, they nevertheless form part of a tourism philosophy that has always gone hand in hand with sun and beach, the cultural philosophy.

The paradores website says that the network is in the midst of its greatest growth stage since the 1960s. Fourteen more establishments are due to open in taking the total number to over a hundred. This is the plan, but the plan is unlikely to be fulfilled. The paradores are in trouble. Deep trouble. Roughly a quarter of them are included in a new plan - one of restructuring - several of them are closed temporarily and at least one will be closed permanently. Negotiations with unions regarding redundancies have been going relatively smoothly.

Take a look at any of the paradores and you can't fail to be impressed. Some are much grander than others. Santo Estevo in Galicia, for instance, is a fine building with cloisters and courtyards. One of the less grand is the Puerto Lumbreras in Murcia. This three-star Mediterranean-style house (a rather large house, it must be said) is one that will definitely be closing.

It is the grandness, though, which partly explains why the paradores are in trouble. They cost a great deal to maintain, and the state, you may have noticed, is a bit short of readies just at the moment. There is also the fact that they tend not to be cheap to stay in. In the current economic climate, they face strong competition from the less grand and less expensive and they are also subject to a downturn in the home tourism market.

The financial strains that the paradores are experiencing has brought into question their viability as state-run hotels. In a way, they are something of an anomaly in being in public-sector ownership. But then, they are also part of the nation's heritage, and the 80 or so years history of the network is not something that even the national government with its austerity measures is keen to give up.

Privatisation of sorts is going to happen, though. The government says that it is not privatisation in the purest sense. Rather, it intends to put out to tender the management of hotels with a rider that as many jobs as possible can be guaranteed. So far, however, 350 job losses have been confirmed. More restructuring may be required to salvage the network that, in 2011, lost 35 million euros and experienced a decline in occupancy to under 60%. By way of comparison, in 2004, it made a profit of 20 million and had occupancy of over 70%. 

The paradores are not the only example of government-controlled accommodation having to be farmed out to the private sector. In Mallorca, for example, the island's council has bowed to the inevitable and privatised two of the refuge hostels on the Tramuntana dry-stone route; the council simply can't afford their upkeep.

In the end, the privatisation of the paradores may have to be purer than the national tourism ministry wants, so long as it can maintain the network and the branding. But would it be able to? It is the parador brand that makes privatisation and the possible dismantling of the network paradoxical. At the same time as these hotels and their brand, magnificent in showing off Spanish culture, are threatened, the government is attempting to boost cultural tourism as part of the "marca" España, the Spain brand. 


* For information on the paradores: http://www.parador.es/en/portal.do



 
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