On Behalf Of The Hoteliers' Party

And now, a party political broadcast on behalf of the Mallorca Hoteliers' Federation. "Good evening. As you know, we have been working tirelessly on behalf of all citizens of Mallorca to improve tourism, to create employment and to raise standards of quality in order to meet the challenges posed in today's competitive environment."

Well, this is not quite how it was, as the hoteliers have only released a leaflet and not taken to the television screens to present their manifesto; sorry, their ... . Their what exactly?

With there being so much talk at present of political pacts and of combinations (or not) of parties' initials, I have a suggestion. Actually, it isn't a suggestion. It has pretty much happened. There's a new pact on the block - the PP-FEHM (Federación Hotelera de Mallorca). The hoteliers' federation has despatched its leaflet, its manifesto in support of the Partido Popular to press outlets, extolling the achievements of the current government. The federation doesn't refer specifically to the PP, but there is little doubt as to where its sympathies lie, and they are not with Podemos.

To the fore in this manifesto are measures adopted, approved and taken by the government: the new tourism law, the decree on mature tourist zones, the decree of urgent measures to combat seasonality, the Playa de Palma redevelopment plan. All of them, by implication, have been required and/or successful. All of them have their virtues, but all of them, by further implication, are of benefit to the hoteliers and principally, the hoteliers.

The broader political message of the hoteliers' document is "the Balearics leads the recovery of growth and employment in Spain". Tourism, it goes on to say, is the "axis for economic recovery". Balearics and Mallorcan tourism has, therefore, been the motor of the nation's stagger towards economic improvement, and it is all, by yet further implication, due to the efforts of the Balearics Partido Popular. And its allies in the FEHM.

The federation in Mallorca has, as I think we all know, a great deal of power, and it is power founded on the strength of the hotel sector. So great is it that hoteliers in the rest of Spain are sometimes rather wary. When the federation turned up in Madrid last May with its fifty-point plan for tourist accommodation, this didn't sit well with organisations such as the national federation. It appeared as if Mallorca was assuming leadership and grabbing the attention of national government.

But Mallorca holds much of the national hotel power. There are of course major chains elsewhere, but no other region comes close to what Mallorca possesses. Its chains dominate the nation's hotel industry. It is little wonder, therefore, that they also dominate Mallorca's politics. When an island is as dependent upon tourism for its economic well-being as Mallorca is, then economics equate to politics, and in Mallorca, it is the hoteliers who truly wield the economic and so political power.

When the hoteliers refer to tourism being the "axis" of recovery, they are not wrong. They are also not wrong in pointing to advantageous measures that the current government has pursued. Some are extremely advantageous in lessening bureaucracy, permitting development and raising standards. But because they are also so advantageous for the hoteliers, the federation is perceived as being indivisible from the government and so the Partido Popular: the PP-FEHM. It is this alliance of commercial and political interests that causes the opposition it does in Mallorca. The hoteliers are perceived as acting only in their interests, with the politicians (those of the PP) in their pocket.

This all said, it has to be accepted that the realities of Mallorca's tourism are based on this hotel power. It also has to be accepted that for Mallorca to remain a genuine competitive force, there has to be a major overhaul of its resorts. Governments will only do so much. The private sector, the hotels and their investors, are key to this revamping of infrastructure.

Dislike in general society of the hoteliers - for their dominance, their perceived arrogance, their grabbing of others' business via all-inclusive, secondary activities and outright hostility to the private accommodation sector - cannot obscure their importance and their role in a remodelling of the island's tourism industry. Undisguised alliance with the PP should also not obscure potential risks that lie ahead with a change in government: the jeopardising of the more positive gains that have been made under the PP and through significant levels of investment made and in the pipeline. The hoteliers' interests are their own but they are not exclusively theirs.

Opposition parties might not disguise their antagonism, a reflection of a societal dislike, but they should be careful what they wish for. The hoteliers, the larger ones at any rate, have plenty of fish to fry, and these are on the shores of more exotic species than those to be found around Mallorca. Work with this power, not against it.