You probably won't have heard of the Fundéu BBVA. It is a foundation that was created in 2005 by one of the main news agencies, Efe, and the BBVA bank. Fundéu stands for Fundación del Español Urgente. It coordinates its work with the Real Academia Español, the director of which is the foundation's president. The academy supplies the last word on Spanish usage; its dictionary is of biblical proportions in defining what is correct.
"Urgente" means urgent, but in the context of the foundation it has nuance. Emergent is another meaning. Unlike English, for which words are dreamt up and become common usage without any body truly determining their legitimacy or not, Spanish (like French and other languages) has a form of language arbitration. It is the academy which is the arbiter.
Efe's involvement is key to the purpose of the foundation. The news agency seeks to clarify emergent usage and how it is presented. The foundation has, therefore, issued an edict in respect of one of the new words of the moment. "Turismofobia" is perfectly legitimate usage. Moreover, it is not necessary to place it within quote marks or alternatively to italicise it. Turismofobia is here, because Efe and the foundation have decided that it is.
The anglicisation of this - tourismphobia - has been rarely used. I don't know that I can claim to having been the first to have used it, but in 2011, when I did for the first time, it most certainly was new and seemingly unheard of in English. Six years ago, however, it had emerged in Spanish. And Spain, from what I could ascertain in April last year, was still one of the very few countries to have discovered this phobia. Italy was probably in fact the only other. In that country there has most obviously been the phobia in Venice.
Being Spain, there has to be acknowledgement of separate languages. In Catalan it's the same, save for the substitution of a vowel, but Basque is something else. It is "turismo borroka", and I'm reliably informed that "borroka" means fight as opposed to phobia. The actual meaning isn't especially important; the existence of the term is what is.
The Spanish word is, in a way, somewhat misleading. Regions such as Madrid, Andalusia and the Canaries insist that "turismofobia" isn't present. But it is in Catalan-speaking regions and now also in the Basque Country. Nevertheless, the word is on the lips of many a Castellano speaker, including leading hoteliers and politicians: the national minister for tourism, Alvaro Nadal, regularly refers to it.
Accepted and repeated usage brings with it ever broader awareness and diffusion. Tourismphobia has become a social reality, even if it is impossible to say how deep the phobia is or indeed how widespread it is. But the mere fact of its media legitimacy reflects its presence. And there are those who are only too willing to exploit this presence.
Arran in Mallorca maintain that they are not about tourismphobia. Tourism is not going to disappear, they acknowledge, but it needs to be controlled and regulated. It is causing many problems, just one of which relates to workers. Their conditions need to be improved.
In truth, there aren't many sectors which would disagree with the need to improve conditions, including the hoteliers. But the Arran manifesto of expropriation of this, that and the other is quite plainly ridiculous. What will the workers be doing if a sizable chunk of tourism was to disappear? This manifesto, it needs noting, isn't Arran's. It comes from the political party the group claims not to be formally linked with - the CUP in Catalonia.
The bout of tourismphobia that has been recently witnessed is, in my opinion, as much to do with the politics of the agitating far left as it is with tourism per se. Tourism provides a useful and convenient means through which to express this agitation. There are almost quaint echoes of the chaotic situation during the Second Republic, when anarchists were as crucial to the downfall of the Republic as others. Arran are sort of current-day heirs of that anarchy.
It is no coincidence that the Basques are now in on the act. San Sebastian is a city which has witnessed significant tourism growth in recent years. Similar fears about saturation exist there as they do in Palma, but San Sebastian isn't on the same media radar as Palma or Barcelona. Hence, there is the group Sortu, who want to place it on this radar.
It is Catalans and Basques who are fuelling this phobia, and it has to be seen within the context of independence demands. The CUP isn't an irrelevant party: it has ten seats out of 135 in the Catalonian parliament. It has its agenda and it wants to spread it to Mallorca.
Tourismphobia, Efe has clarified, is here. The question is whether it is here to stay.
Showing posts with label Basque Country. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basque Country. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Galicia Lessons: The End For Sánchez?
Regional elections in Spain, because they are not all held at the same time, can be viewed as a test of a public opinion about the national government. In Spain at present, however, there is only a national government by default, one that is nine months on from when it should either have been confirmed as re-elected or ousted. Are, in these circumstances, the elections in the Basque Country and Galicia relevant? Do they say anything about the national government?
They most certainly do. More importantly, they say a great deal about the pretenders, one of whom is PSOE; the PSOE that Pedro Sánchez leads. This is not the PSOE of the whole country, however, and the results loosen his grip - already tenuous - ever more. The knives of Andalusia, in the hands of Susana Díaz, are being sharpened on the stone. How long can Sánchez carry on?
Consider the numbers. In Galicia the regional version of PSOE suffered its worst ever result. It ended up with fourteen seats in the regional parliament with slightly less than 18% of the vote in a four-way fight. En Marea, effectively Podemos by another name, also gained fourteen seats but with a higher share of the vote - just over 19%. Both were eclipsed by the Partido Popular. Alberto Núñez Feijóo will continue to govern with an absolute majority.
In the Basque Country, the socialists suffered major losses - seven seats gone, leaving them with nine. The PNV, habitual leaders in the region, have insufficient seats for an overall majority, but could hook up with the PP (or PSOE) and establish a parliamentary majority.
While Feijóo's win in Galicia will be taken as enhancing Mariano Rajoy's moral right to remain as national prime minister, it needs reminding that Galicia is very firm PP territory - and Feijóo territory. The loss of one PP seat in the Basque Country places a rather different spin on things. Perhaps the strongest message to come from the elections, where the PP is concerned, is that Feijóo has strengthened his case for replacing Rajoy.
Rather than a test of public opinion for Rajoy, the elections were a poll on the ambitions of Sánchez and PSOE to attempt to form an "alternative" government of the left. These are surely dashed, if indeed they have ever truly been realistic. Díaz had made it clear that they weren't, given the fact that PSOE have only 85 seats in the national Congress.
A surprise with Sánchez is the fact that he's still in charge. Reflect on the charge sheet. A failed attempt, an awfully failed attempt at investiture, followed by a second election at which PSOE lost more seats in Congress. Yet he still believes he can form a government, seemingly egged on by the likes of Balearic president Francina Armengol into adopting a model of government akin to that in the Balearics - one that quite plainly isn't functioning. Armengol is deluded and so is Sánchez. With the batterings in the Basque Country and Galicia, his time must surely be up.
If this proves to be the case, the PSOE "barons", marshalled by Díaz, will manoeuvre a situation whereby there is a pact with Rajoy and the PP (or possibly with Feijóo and the PP; this may be the price Rajoy has to pay). For Francina Armengol, who must have been observing the results coming in with increasing horror and alarm, such a national manouevre would be terminal. Podemos wouldn't stand for it, while Més seem ever increasingly alienated from Armengol.
If PSOE were the big losers in these two elections, what about Cuidadanos? This party is more and more like an annoying terrier, snapping at the heels of others. It is shooed away but keeps coming back, yapping and yapping but never getting its way. Its leader, Albert Rivera, had been looking at the prospect of a post-election alliance with the PP in Galicia. They failed to gain a single seat. A share of the vote that was little more than three per cent ensured that they would fail, just as they also did in the Basque Country.
What may now dawn on the C's, whose support has been eroding, is that their aspirations to be a national party run up against nationalist interests in specific regions. Even the conservative nationalist instincts in Galicia and the Basque Country appear disinclined to embrace a party which started as a regional Catalonian organisation (with avowed anti-nationalist sentiments) and has attempted to become a national force. Regional parties aren't supposed to behave like this. The C's have got above their station. They are liked less and less. Their time may well have come and gone, leaving Podemos, with its internal divisions, as the genuine "alternative".
Díaz, Feijóo and others will make damn sure it never is.
* This article was written before Sánchez announced that there are to be "primaries" for electing the secretary general, i.e. that he is putting his position to the test.
They most certainly do. More importantly, they say a great deal about the pretenders, one of whom is PSOE; the PSOE that Pedro Sánchez leads. This is not the PSOE of the whole country, however, and the results loosen his grip - already tenuous - ever more. The knives of Andalusia, in the hands of Susana Díaz, are being sharpened on the stone. How long can Sánchez carry on?
Consider the numbers. In Galicia the regional version of PSOE suffered its worst ever result. It ended up with fourteen seats in the regional parliament with slightly less than 18% of the vote in a four-way fight. En Marea, effectively Podemos by another name, also gained fourteen seats but with a higher share of the vote - just over 19%. Both were eclipsed by the Partido Popular. Alberto Núñez Feijóo will continue to govern with an absolute majority.
In the Basque Country, the socialists suffered major losses - seven seats gone, leaving them with nine. The PNV, habitual leaders in the region, have insufficient seats for an overall majority, but could hook up with the PP (or PSOE) and establish a parliamentary majority.
While Feijóo's win in Galicia will be taken as enhancing Mariano Rajoy's moral right to remain as national prime minister, it needs reminding that Galicia is very firm PP territory - and Feijóo territory. The loss of one PP seat in the Basque Country places a rather different spin on things. Perhaps the strongest message to come from the elections, where the PP is concerned, is that Feijóo has strengthened his case for replacing Rajoy.
Rather than a test of public opinion for Rajoy, the elections were a poll on the ambitions of Sánchez and PSOE to attempt to form an "alternative" government of the left. These are surely dashed, if indeed they have ever truly been realistic. Díaz had made it clear that they weren't, given the fact that PSOE have only 85 seats in the national Congress.
A surprise with Sánchez is the fact that he's still in charge. Reflect on the charge sheet. A failed attempt, an awfully failed attempt at investiture, followed by a second election at which PSOE lost more seats in Congress. Yet he still believes he can form a government, seemingly egged on by the likes of Balearic president Francina Armengol into adopting a model of government akin to that in the Balearics - one that quite plainly isn't functioning. Armengol is deluded and so is Sánchez. With the batterings in the Basque Country and Galicia, his time must surely be up.
If this proves to be the case, the PSOE "barons", marshalled by Díaz, will manoeuvre a situation whereby there is a pact with Rajoy and the PP (or possibly with Feijóo and the PP; this may be the price Rajoy has to pay). For Francina Armengol, who must have been observing the results coming in with increasing horror and alarm, such a national manouevre would be terminal. Podemos wouldn't stand for it, while Més seem ever increasingly alienated from Armengol.
If PSOE were the big losers in these two elections, what about Cuidadanos? This party is more and more like an annoying terrier, snapping at the heels of others. It is shooed away but keeps coming back, yapping and yapping but never getting its way. Its leader, Albert Rivera, had been looking at the prospect of a post-election alliance with the PP in Galicia. They failed to gain a single seat. A share of the vote that was little more than three per cent ensured that they would fail, just as they also did in the Basque Country.
What may now dawn on the C's, whose support has been eroding, is that their aspirations to be a national party run up against nationalist interests in specific regions. Even the conservative nationalist instincts in Galicia and the Basque Country appear disinclined to embrace a party which started as a regional Catalonian organisation (with avowed anti-nationalist sentiments) and has attempted to become a national force. Regional parties aren't supposed to behave like this. The C's have got above their station. They are liked less and less. Their time may well have come and gone, leaving Podemos, with its internal divisions, as the genuine "alternative".
Díaz, Feijóo and others will make damn sure it never is.
* This article was written before Sánchez announced that there are to be "primaries" for electing the secretary general, i.e. that he is putting his position to the test.
Saturday, September 03, 2016
Do The Basques Offer A Clue To Balearic Holiday Rentals Legislation?
A new law on holiday rentals came into effect in the Basque Country on Wednesday. This is a region of Spain which, while it isn't recognised as being among the leaders for sun-and-beach tourism, does of course attract this market. San Sebastian, for example, can lay claim to being one of the finest resorts anywhere in Spain. It is also a region with city-break tourism in Bilbao as well as San Sebastian. There are coastal villages. There is surfing. There is gastronomy. Tourism is not unimportant, even if it is a tourism largely shunned by northern Europeans fearful that the Atlantic might not offer as benign sun-and-beach conditions as the Mediterranean.
Despite this, there has been a boom in accommodation. It's a familiar story to that of the Balearics, to Barcelona and the Costa Brava, to the Costa del Sol and to the Canaries. The debates and arguments in the Balearics over so-called saturation, partly brought about by the dramatic increase in private holiday accommodation, might make these islands seem unique. They are not. They share similar concerns with other regions, and as the Balearic tourism ministry undertakes the task of drafting holiday rentals legislation, it might wish to take a look at what the Basques have come up with, as there is one very significant aspect to their legislation.
The Basques have removed the loophole of the national urban leasing law (aka the tenancy act). Where accommodation is for tourist purposes it will be regulated only by the regional tourism legislation. As in the Balearics, it is clear when tourist purposes apply, even if there is no marketing that says so. The Basques are putting a stop to that.
But might this this legislative move be subject to possible legal challenge on the grounds of it being unconstitutional? The Basques are working around a national law after all. However, it has become increasingly obvious that the urban leasing law is a nonsense in that it creates confusion as well as what can amount to blatant fraud. There is a tax consideration to be factored in over and above income tax and VAT. San Sebastian, as noted last week, is looking at introducing a tourist tax. This couldn't be applied if property, by definition of a legal loophole, cannot be classified as being touristic.
Any challenge on constitutional grounds may fail in any event because when the national government devolved responsibilities for tourist accommodation regulation to the Spanish regions, this came with the urban leasing law attached. Or with its possible regional amendment. Biel Barceló has identified the leasing law as a major complication when it comes to effective regulation of private holiday accommodation. He would do well to get on the phone and speak to his Basque counterpart - only in Spanish, though.
The Basque law also has a language aspect. It is one which Barceló might be interested in (to the horror of many in the Balearic tourism industry). When it comes to classification of accommodation - star ratings for hotels and other systems for non-hotel accommodation - a weighting is to be given to the knowledge of Basque among staff, notably the frontline staff (hotel receptions, for instance). For Basque, substitute Catalan? The regional government here has said that it won't be compelling the private sector to employ Catalan speakers, but this might not stop it trying to take a leaf out of the Basques' book.
Despite this, there has been a boom in accommodation. It's a familiar story to that of the Balearics, to Barcelona and the Costa Brava, to the Costa del Sol and to the Canaries. The debates and arguments in the Balearics over so-called saturation, partly brought about by the dramatic increase in private holiday accommodation, might make these islands seem unique. They are not. They share similar concerns with other regions, and as the Balearic tourism ministry undertakes the task of drafting holiday rentals legislation, it might wish to take a look at what the Basques have come up with, as there is one very significant aspect to their legislation.
The Basques have removed the loophole of the national urban leasing law (aka the tenancy act). Where accommodation is for tourist purposes it will be regulated only by the regional tourism legislation. As in the Balearics, it is clear when tourist purposes apply, even if there is no marketing that says so. The Basques are putting a stop to that.
But might this this legislative move be subject to possible legal challenge on the grounds of it being unconstitutional? The Basques are working around a national law after all. However, it has become increasingly obvious that the urban leasing law is a nonsense in that it creates confusion as well as what can amount to blatant fraud. There is a tax consideration to be factored in over and above income tax and VAT. San Sebastian, as noted last week, is looking at introducing a tourist tax. This couldn't be applied if property, by definition of a legal loophole, cannot be classified as being touristic.
Any challenge on constitutional grounds may fail in any event because when the national government devolved responsibilities for tourist accommodation regulation to the Spanish regions, this came with the urban leasing law attached. Or with its possible regional amendment. Biel Barceló has identified the leasing law as a major complication when it comes to effective regulation of private holiday accommodation. He would do well to get on the phone and speak to his Basque counterpart - only in Spanish, though.
The Basque law also has a language aspect. It is one which Barceló might be interested in (to the horror of many in the Balearic tourism industry). When it comes to classification of accommodation - star ratings for hotels and other systems for non-hotel accommodation - a weighting is to be given to the knowledge of Basque among staff, notably the frontline staff (hotel receptions, for instance). For Basque, substitute Catalan? The regional government here has said that it won't be compelling the private sector to employ Catalan speakers, but this might not stop it trying to take a leaf out of the Basques' book.
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