It was one of those complicated little news stories. It was to do with land planning and environmental objections in Alcudia. To get to the nub of the story, the town hall wants to swap part of some land earmarked for development in one part of the municipality so that there can be development in another part. Notwithstanding the fact that an environmental commission and an environmental sub-committee object to both developments, the town hall seems determined to press ahead.
If this were all that the story entailed, it might just have been understandable. In the end, the story, as in its English version, appeared much like I've explained, but it missed out a fair-sized chunk, one that can seem almost beyond explanation or indeed comprehension, whether in English, Spanish or Catalan.
This is because it has to do with land planning and environmental regulation bureaucracy. I am personally convinced that very few people reading about this in Spanish would have the faintest idea what it was all about. Put it into English, and the comprehension would be even less.
There are things which do need explaining and there are others which are probably best left unexplained. They are too confusing and too technical by half, but such is how administrative procedures are in Mallorca. They almost defy explanation on account of their sheer complexity and in the way that a rule for one thing conflicts with a rule for another, largely dependent on how many administrations are involved, of which there is an abundance.
Just to give an idea, there is PGOU, there is POOT, there is PORN, there is PTM, there is ART, there is ZEC, there is ZEPA. To say nothing (and oh how one would prefer not to have to) of the likes of ZGAT and PIAT. What does any of this stuff mean? Some is, on the face of it, comparatively straightforward. A PGOU in essence is a municipal urban plan, but straightforward it rarely or indeed ever is. Not when there is a POOT (tourist accommodation quotas), a PIAT (vaguely similar), a PTM (the overall land plan for Mallorca) or, God forbid, a PORN (natural resources plan) to take into account. Which is before one even starts on the possible implication of, for example, ZEPA (bird protection zones). And how can one overlook PHIB, the Balearic Islands hydrology plan? That's water to you and me. There may be a simple explanation as to why there is a lack of water at present, but things are not simple when one delves into the hydrology plan and its far-reaching tentacles that cover every single drop of water on the island, thus rendering aspects of a PGOU, for instance, unworkable.
If all this is difficult enough to explain in layman's terms, don't think that those to which it all applies find it any easier. One often hears of the need for "legal certainty", so that town halls, businesses, whoever can proceed with whatever project they have in mind without ending up in court. Which is what normally happens anyway. It's not surprising if no one can tell his POOT from his PORN.
Mallorca has long since disappeared up a posterior crammed with acronyms. Constipation has thus ensued because there are that many plans for this, that or the other thing that everything grinds to a halt. And once it all does, no one is much the wiser because explaining any of it would take so long that anyone attempting to read an explanation would very early on lose the will to live.
Not everything is mercifully as complex and confusing as land regulations. Take politics, for example. Hang on, what am I saying? Not confusing. Well, some of it probably gets over-confused and over-explained. Is it really necessary, for instance, to have to refer to PSOE as the socialist party? It's not as if PSOE is a recent phenomenon; it's been going since the middle of the nineteenth century.
But it's when one gets down to all the various parties, groupings and combinations that some explanation is perhaps necessary. Can one, for example, just refer to Més and say no more? Perhaps so, and in some ways it's best not to say anything more because the explanation involves trying to get across what it means by nationalism. And this creates its own issue. Més is a nationalist party, which sounds right-wing but isn't where Més is concerned; it's the opposite.
If it were the case that every plan, political party or whatever required explanation, you would never get to the story which is being reported. But perhaps this is how they like it - the various administrations and parties. Transparency is supposedly a mantra these days, but opacity rules. Anyone want to know what a PORN actually entails? You'll be sorry you ever asked.
Showing posts with label Bureaucracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bureaucracy. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
The Slow Pace Of Modernisation: Hotels
Getting an exact figure for the number of hotels in the Balearics is a straightforward task. If you are of a mind to go to the tourism ministry's website, you will find spreadsheets for "types of establishment" for each year from 2004 up to 2012. One has to know what the abbreviations mean in order to understand what is what, but the total number of establishments is (was in 2012) 2,591. Of these, 711 are hotels from one-star to five-star-plus and 241 are hotel apartments. In addition, there are 863 apartments, which are different to hotel apartments, and which are rated according to the key system rather than the stars.
When one looks at the star ratings for 2004 and 2012, it is noticeable that there hasn't been an especially significant change where the core 3-star hotel is concerned. There were 371 hotels (excluding hotel apartments) in 2004. In 2012, there were 354, of which two were 3-star superior (a category that didn't exist in 2004). The number of 5-star hotels rose by eleven to 34, while the biggest mover was the 4-star: 204 in 2012 versus 150 in 2004.
The 2012 tourism law placed a great deal of emphasis on modernisation and renewal. Since it was passed, there have been 215 applications for an increase in star (or key) ratings, and over half of these have been applications to upgrade to 4-star, to 4-star superior or to 5-star. 65 3-stars are seeking 4-star status, 41 want 4-star superior status and four are seeking a 5-star rating. These applications represent, therefore, what is perhaps the single most significant rise in hotel standards there has ever been.
Overwhelmingly, the hotels seeking upgrades are located in Palma and Calvia where, respectively, there are applications for 40 and 38 increases. Nowhere else comes close, which probably reflects the fact that Palma and Calvia have considerably more hotels anyway. But to take one municipality - Alcúdia, with at least 70 hotels and apartments, there are only six applications. This seems on the low side. Capdepera has 13, Sant Llorenç has 11 and Pollensa ten.
While this all suggests a commitment, in line with the modernisation drive envisaged under the tourism law, to greater quality and improved standards, there are questions that need asking. One is why it takes such a hell of a long time to approve the applications, and the other is whether the implication of higher prices that come with superior hotels will actually result in greater profitability.
The procedures for gaining approval and for the granting of licences in order to permit renovation are notoriously slow and complex. So far, of the 110 applications for 4-star and 5-star status, a mere 26 have been agreed to (three have been declined). At the current rate of progress, therefore, it will be the end of 2016 before all the applications have been dealt with. The tourism ministry, conscious of the need to get a move on, says that it will do just this, but in the meantime, one does have to wonder if work is being undertaken without the necessary agreements. This was an issue that was highlighted when the upper floors of the Son Moll hotel in Cala Rajada collapsed during renovation work at the end of 2008. The death of four workers was not attributed to the absence of the proper licence, but the Son Moll incident showed that renovation was commonly done without licences being in place because of the time it took for them to be agreed.
If bureaucracy is holding things up, then the tourism ministry (and also town halls, which do have a say in all this) need rockets being put under them. It makes little sense to put in place a strategy of modernisation only for improvements to be delayed because there is either an insufficient number of technicians to sign off on plans or because there is too much red tape. The ministry, indeed the Balearic Government in the form of President Bauzá, had said that processes would be streamlined.
As for greater profitability from 4-star or 5-star establishments, the mere fact that prices are put up simply because of the number of stars on a plaque outside a hotel do not necessarily mean greater profitability. Just as an indication, figures for the Hoteliers Price Index, one compiled by the Spanish National Statistics Office, showed last year that only 5-star hotels had in fact registered an increase in revenues per room. And there is a further issue when it comes to raising prices because of an upgrade in star rating. In competitor destinations, Greece for instance, prices have been going down. Mallorca's hoteliers might hope that they can compete on improved quality and so demand higher prices, but they might find themselves thwarted in this hope by market conditions.
Improving hotel standards is very welcome, but we shouldn't get carried away. 110 establishments equate to only roughly 10% of hotels and hotel apartments, and this improvement is a case of catch-up with elsewhere where 4-star, if not 5-star, is the norm. In the Balearics, the 3-star remains king.
When one looks at the star ratings for 2004 and 2012, it is noticeable that there hasn't been an especially significant change where the core 3-star hotel is concerned. There were 371 hotels (excluding hotel apartments) in 2004. In 2012, there were 354, of which two were 3-star superior (a category that didn't exist in 2004). The number of 5-star hotels rose by eleven to 34, while the biggest mover was the 4-star: 204 in 2012 versus 150 in 2004.
The 2012 tourism law placed a great deal of emphasis on modernisation and renewal. Since it was passed, there have been 215 applications for an increase in star (or key) ratings, and over half of these have been applications to upgrade to 4-star, to 4-star superior or to 5-star. 65 3-stars are seeking 4-star status, 41 want 4-star superior status and four are seeking a 5-star rating. These applications represent, therefore, what is perhaps the single most significant rise in hotel standards there has ever been.
Overwhelmingly, the hotels seeking upgrades are located in Palma and Calvia where, respectively, there are applications for 40 and 38 increases. Nowhere else comes close, which probably reflects the fact that Palma and Calvia have considerably more hotels anyway. But to take one municipality - Alcúdia, with at least 70 hotels and apartments, there are only six applications. This seems on the low side. Capdepera has 13, Sant Llorenç has 11 and Pollensa ten.
While this all suggests a commitment, in line with the modernisation drive envisaged under the tourism law, to greater quality and improved standards, there are questions that need asking. One is why it takes such a hell of a long time to approve the applications, and the other is whether the implication of higher prices that come with superior hotels will actually result in greater profitability.
The procedures for gaining approval and for the granting of licences in order to permit renovation are notoriously slow and complex. So far, of the 110 applications for 4-star and 5-star status, a mere 26 have been agreed to (three have been declined). At the current rate of progress, therefore, it will be the end of 2016 before all the applications have been dealt with. The tourism ministry, conscious of the need to get a move on, says that it will do just this, but in the meantime, one does have to wonder if work is being undertaken without the necessary agreements. This was an issue that was highlighted when the upper floors of the Son Moll hotel in Cala Rajada collapsed during renovation work at the end of 2008. The death of four workers was not attributed to the absence of the proper licence, but the Son Moll incident showed that renovation was commonly done without licences being in place because of the time it took for them to be agreed.
If bureaucracy is holding things up, then the tourism ministry (and also town halls, which do have a say in all this) need rockets being put under them. It makes little sense to put in place a strategy of modernisation only for improvements to be delayed because there is either an insufficient number of technicians to sign off on plans or because there is too much red tape. The ministry, indeed the Balearic Government in the form of President Bauzá, had said that processes would be streamlined.
As for greater profitability from 4-star or 5-star establishments, the mere fact that prices are put up simply because of the number of stars on a plaque outside a hotel do not necessarily mean greater profitability. Just as an indication, figures for the Hoteliers Price Index, one compiled by the Spanish National Statistics Office, showed last year that only 5-star hotels had in fact registered an increase in revenues per room. And there is a further issue when it comes to raising prices because of an upgrade in star rating. In competitor destinations, Greece for instance, prices have been going down. Mallorca's hoteliers might hope that they can compete on improved quality and so demand higher prices, but they might find themselves thwarted in this hope by market conditions.
Improving hotel standards is very welcome, but we shouldn't get carried away. 110 establishments equate to only roughly 10% of hotels and hotel apartments, and this improvement is a case of catch-up with elsewhere where 4-star, if not 5-star, is the norm. In the Balearics, the 3-star remains king.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Mallorca Is Open To Business: Or is it?
The Balearic Government wants to make life easier for businesses. It wants to promote and encourage entrepreneurship, to simplify procedures, to make the finding of relevant information and relevant decision-makers easier, to attract foreign investors and to develop local talent.
It wants to do all these things and up to a point it is going about them in the right way. It talks the talk, but whether it walks the talk is another matter.
A gathering of mainly British businesspeople and others on Thursday last week at the offices of the Centre Balears Europa (CBE), part of the government's department of the presidency, was designed to impart information regarding "the changing landscape of business opportunity for European entrepreneurs in the the Balearic Islands". This was the title of the meeting at any rate.
It wasn't a bad meeting insofar as the most interesting aspect of it was to hear from a body that few people knew existed - the IDI, the institute for business innovation. It was interesting as there appear to be people within the institute, and by extension, therefore, the government, who do seem to know what they're talking about and who do seem to be genuinely committed to pursuing the objectives set out at the top of this article.
It was a pity, then, that I left the gathering with a distinct sense of pessimism, one formed by different factors: administrative structures, culture and attitudes.
There is an admission, and God knows why it has taken so long for there to be an admission, that governmental and agency structures that businesspeople have to confront are labyrinthine to say the least. Ultimately, what is needed is a flat structure, one which, culturally, places the user (the businessperson and/or company) above, and which serves this user. When there are as many agencies as there are, it is hard to see how such flatness can ever be achieved. Not while turf wars and vested interests remain endemic.
I give you a case in point as to how the government wanted to flatten decision-making but was denied the opportunity because of the interests of town halls and the Council of Mallorca. It was the process for obtaining permissions for hotel conversion. The town halls and Council were meant to have been taken out of the equation, but they refused to be. One-nil to the vested interests.
Changing bureaucratic structures can only come with a fundamental change of culture. This isn't necessarily a cultural change that brings about more Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards business, i.e. those which are more in tune with the needs of business and entrepreneurs, and away from an obstructive, everything in triplicate and then in triplicate again just to be sure, southern European mindset. These attitudes may well help, but there is also a question of cultural change of public sector mentality, and this is one that is universally obstinate in resisting change.
While the Balearics might look to northern Europe for guidance, it might be recalled how the British public sector once was. It still carries baggage from the past, but cultural change was one that proved hard, despite the insistence of Margaret Thatcher and then John Major. It can be done, but it doesn't happen overnight, especially if the structures inhibit or even prohibit its being effected.
Attitudes die hard. The landscape may apparently be changing for European entrepreneurs, but neither the CBE nor the IDI has fully cottoned on to the fact, if their websites are anything to go by. The best one can say is that the IDI does at least have a Castellano version; the CBE doesn't even have that. So much for an apparent wish to make English a language of business locally. Talking the talk (but only in Catalan), rather than walking it.
When there is a linguistic attempt to engage foreign investors, the attempt ends up being mind-boggling. I give you a different case in point: the translation into English of the new tourism law. Reader-friendly it most certainly wasn't.
Just how much do the Balearics and Mallorca want foreigners to invest and to pursue business activities? It is a key question, and I'm afraid that there is antagonism that stems from parochialism and even xenophobia (which is far more prevalent away from Palma and its cosmopolitan satellites, it should be noted). The reaction to Media Markt's opening from parts of the local business community has pretty much betrayed this antagonism, it being couched in an insular Mallorcan style.
But for big-ticket business, such xenophobia can be overcome. The labyrinth of bureaucracy can be worked through. Relationships can be formed easily with governmental leaders. Big-ticket business can do these things, but what of the small business or the one man? The IDI and the CBE might hope they can make life easier, and I wish them every success, but optimistic I am not.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
It wants to do all these things and up to a point it is going about them in the right way. It talks the talk, but whether it walks the talk is another matter.
A gathering of mainly British businesspeople and others on Thursday last week at the offices of the Centre Balears Europa (CBE), part of the government's department of the presidency, was designed to impart information regarding "the changing landscape of business opportunity for European entrepreneurs in the the Balearic Islands". This was the title of the meeting at any rate.
It wasn't a bad meeting insofar as the most interesting aspect of it was to hear from a body that few people knew existed - the IDI, the institute for business innovation. It was interesting as there appear to be people within the institute, and by extension, therefore, the government, who do seem to know what they're talking about and who do seem to be genuinely committed to pursuing the objectives set out at the top of this article.
It was a pity, then, that I left the gathering with a distinct sense of pessimism, one formed by different factors: administrative structures, culture and attitudes.
There is an admission, and God knows why it has taken so long for there to be an admission, that governmental and agency structures that businesspeople have to confront are labyrinthine to say the least. Ultimately, what is needed is a flat structure, one which, culturally, places the user (the businessperson and/or company) above, and which serves this user. When there are as many agencies as there are, it is hard to see how such flatness can ever be achieved. Not while turf wars and vested interests remain endemic.
I give you a case in point as to how the government wanted to flatten decision-making but was denied the opportunity because of the interests of town halls and the Council of Mallorca. It was the process for obtaining permissions for hotel conversion. The town halls and Council were meant to have been taken out of the equation, but they refused to be. One-nil to the vested interests.
Changing bureaucratic structures can only come with a fundamental change of culture. This isn't necessarily a cultural change that brings about more Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards business, i.e. those which are more in tune with the needs of business and entrepreneurs, and away from an obstructive, everything in triplicate and then in triplicate again just to be sure, southern European mindset. These attitudes may well help, but there is also a question of cultural change of public sector mentality, and this is one that is universally obstinate in resisting change.
While the Balearics might look to northern Europe for guidance, it might be recalled how the British public sector once was. It still carries baggage from the past, but cultural change was one that proved hard, despite the insistence of Margaret Thatcher and then John Major. It can be done, but it doesn't happen overnight, especially if the structures inhibit or even prohibit its being effected.
Attitudes die hard. The landscape may apparently be changing for European entrepreneurs, but neither the CBE nor the IDI has fully cottoned on to the fact, if their websites are anything to go by. The best one can say is that the IDI does at least have a Castellano version; the CBE doesn't even have that. So much for an apparent wish to make English a language of business locally. Talking the talk (but only in Catalan), rather than walking it.
When there is a linguistic attempt to engage foreign investors, the attempt ends up being mind-boggling. I give you a different case in point: the translation into English of the new tourism law. Reader-friendly it most certainly wasn't.
Just how much do the Balearics and Mallorca want foreigners to invest and to pursue business activities? It is a key question, and I'm afraid that there is antagonism that stems from parochialism and even xenophobia (which is far more prevalent away from Palma and its cosmopolitan satellites, it should be noted). The reaction to Media Markt's opening from parts of the local business community has pretty much betrayed this antagonism, it being couched in an insular Mallorcan style.
But for big-ticket business, such xenophobia can be overcome. The labyrinth of bureaucracy can be worked through. Relationships can be formed easily with governmental leaders. Big-ticket business can do these things, but what of the small business or the one man? The IDI and the CBE might hope they can make life easier, and I wish them every success, but optimistic I am not.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Putting Up Barriers: Hotels and town halls
Before it was finally drafted and then approved, a key part of the regional government's new tourism law was that decision-making and the administration of procedures with regard to a hotel's change of use would pass from the town halls to the government. It was a measure that made sense, as the intention was to cut down on the red tape that surrounds any work with hotels. It was to prove, however, to be the one part of the bill that was substantially altered, i.e. the government caved in because the town halls kicked up an almighty great fuss, saying that they knew best when it came to local planning.
The government was wrong to have given way. Removing the need for town hall approvals would have deprived the local councils of a key function, and their objections smacked of preserving their fiefdoms as much as they may have been founded on legitimate arguments as to local knowledge. The government's weakness in the face of opposition from many town halls run by fellow members of the Partido Popular is now being shown up; the hoteliers federation is complaining of bureaucratic obstacles being raised by town halls that threaten to delay both regular renovation and change of hotel use until next winter.
One does have to be guarded when it comes to statements by the hoteliers federation, as there is a tendency for it to over-egg situations, but it is not altogether surprising if, as the federation alleges, there are staff in town halls who are not following procedures as set out under the new law and that these town halls are displaying negative attitudes towards requests for building licences. The suggestion is that some of these staff haven't even bothered familiarising themselves with the new law.
These negative attitudes expose the extent to which turf wars exist in the layers of public bureaucracy. If there is a hymn sheet from which all local authorities should be singing, then it hasn't been distributed. Copies of the law have presumably been distributed and have seemingly been filed. You know where.
Turf wars, fiefdoms, call them what you will, there are nevertheless reasons to be surprised by such negative attitudes. In Alcúdia, one of the town halls identified as being obstructive, the mayor had been only too happy to announce how many licence requests had been received. Such positive spin does not, however, appear to be backed up by acting on the requests.
A second reason, and one specifically to do with change of hotel use, is that town halls are set to benefit from tax revenue. Five per cent of the value of converted or changed hotels is meant to find its way into town hall coffers. This inducement, introduced once the government had backtracked, seemed sensible. If the town halls benefited, then surely they would be amenable to getting licences approved as quickly as they could.
It seemed sensible, but there was a catch. The town halls had to then undertake modernisation work of their own to the areas near to converted hotels. But then so be it; they should be doing this anyway.
The number of licence requests that Alcúdia and other towns were boasting about sounded like good news. The more renovation or conversion work, the more jobs there are. If it genuinely is the case that the town halls are being obstructive, then it demands more of a response than complaints from the hoteliers federation; the government should be banging heads and kicking backsides.
Of course, what may be happening - hence why one does have to be guarded about what the federation says - is what has long happened, which is that work is started while the licence procedures are still being sorted out. This practice was one that was highlighted after the accident in Cala Ratjada when part of a hotel being renovated collapsed and lives were lost. Among mayors who were asked about licences in the light of the accident was Alcúdia's then mayor Miguel Ferrer who admitted that this was the practice.
One reason for the practice was the length of time it took for licences to pass through town halls and then onto the relevant government bodies. Yet it was this bureaucratic time-wasting that the government had sought to cut by taking the town halls out of the equation.
But if the situation is as the federation suggests that it is, then the government should pay serious consideration to going back and revising the law to make it as had first been intended. No local authority should be in a position in the current economic climate to be erecting bureaucratic barriers to badly needed winter employment opportunities.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The government was wrong to have given way. Removing the need for town hall approvals would have deprived the local councils of a key function, and their objections smacked of preserving their fiefdoms as much as they may have been founded on legitimate arguments as to local knowledge. The government's weakness in the face of opposition from many town halls run by fellow members of the Partido Popular is now being shown up; the hoteliers federation is complaining of bureaucratic obstacles being raised by town halls that threaten to delay both regular renovation and change of hotel use until next winter.
One does have to be guarded when it comes to statements by the hoteliers federation, as there is a tendency for it to over-egg situations, but it is not altogether surprising if, as the federation alleges, there are staff in town halls who are not following procedures as set out under the new law and that these town halls are displaying negative attitudes towards requests for building licences. The suggestion is that some of these staff haven't even bothered familiarising themselves with the new law.
These negative attitudes expose the extent to which turf wars exist in the layers of public bureaucracy. If there is a hymn sheet from which all local authorities should be singing, then it hasn't been distributed. Copies of the law have presumably been distributed and have seemingly been filed. You know where.
Turf wars, fiefdoms, call them what you will, there are nevertheless reasons to be surprised by such negative attitudes. In Alcúdia, one of the town halls identified as being obstructive, the mayor had been only too happy to announce how many licence requests had been received. Such positive spin does not, however, appear to be backed up by acting on the requests.
A second reason, and one specifically to do with change of hotel use, is that town halls are set to benefit from tax revenue. Five per cent of the value of converted or changed hotels is meant to find its way into town hall coffers. This inducement, introduced once the government had backtracked, seemed sensible. If the town halls benefited, then surely they would be amenable to getting licences approved as quickly as they could.
It seemed sensible, but there was a catch. The town halls had to then undertake modernisation work of their own to the areas near to converted hotels. But then so be it; they should be doing this anyway.
The number of licence requests that Alcúdia and other towns were boasting about sounded like good news. The more renovation or conversion work, the more jobs there are. If it genuinely is the case that the town halls are being obstructive, then it demands more of a response than complaints from the hoteliers federation; the government should be banging heads and kicking backsides.
Of course, what may be happening - hence why one does have to be guarded about what the federation says - is what has long happened, which is that work is started while the licence procedures are still being sorted out. This practice was one that was highlighted after the accident in Cala Ratjada when part of a hotel being renovated collapsed and lives were lost. Among mayors who were asked about licences in the light of the accident was Alcúdia's then mayor Miguel Ferrer who admitted that this was the practice.
One reason for the practice was the length of time it took for licences to pass through town halls and then onto the relevant government bodies. Yet it was this bureaucratic time-wasting that the government had sought to cut by taking the town halls out of the equation.
But if the situation is as the federation suggests that it is, then the government should pay serious consideration to going back and revising the law to make it as had first been intended. No local authority should be in a position in the current economic climate to be erecting bureaucratic barriers to badly needed winter employment opportunities.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Hotels' Beachhead
Change of government is still a month away, but the tourism industry has gone into overdrive in anticipation of all sorts of liberalisation that may be ushered forth by a Partido Popular victory.
As far as the hoteliers are concerned, Mariano Rajoy may as well already be prime minister. The Meliá plans for Magalluf are partly dependent on legislative relaxation, and the specific plans Meliá has for the beach would almost certainly require some changes to the Coasts Law.
When it was announced that Meliá wished to "exploit" the beach, a thought which occurred had to do with what the Costas Authority would make of it. This is a body which, while it does, quite rightly, seek to protect the coastal environment, is also the source of obstruction and of much that runs counter to the wishes of the tourism industry.
If a likely change of government were not in the offing, the chances are that Meliá's wishes would have been stamped on from the great height that the Costas has come to assume; or probably, the wishes would never have been made public. Without knowing for sure, one gets the sense that the Costas might find its seemingly all-embracing powers being cut back.
Meliá wants, among other things, to be able to provide temporary moorings next to its hotels. The Mallorca hoteliers federation, very much to the fore in driving a national agenda, wants a change to the Coasts Law which would not only remove any obstacle to Meliá providing its moorings but would also permit other hotels to exploit other beaches for leisure purposes.
The proposal, much as it may make good business sense for the hotels and for the tourism industry, does run up against a difficulty. Essentially, the beaches would be privatised and there has to be a risk, somewhere along the line, that the principle of free public space on the beaches might be endangered.
Where the Costas has been doing a good job is in ensuring this free space. Together with town halls, it has also kept the sea itself free. And by free, one means open and accessible. It is the open to access principle that comes into question if the hotels have their way. With Meliá's moorings, where would they go exactly? Would they in some way impede public use of the sea?
A further factor in the hotels' ambitions for beach exploitation is the Costas' bureaucracy. An aspect of this does badly need to be changed, and it is that which relates to the annual rigmarole that is gone through to establish provisions for beach management and for licensing operations.
The annual bureaucratic procedures have the effect of inhibiting investment. If a beach operator cannot be sure of running a beach from year to year then it is understandably reluctant to commit itself too heavily. Meliá wouldn't, one would imagine, put up with such uncertainty.
If there were to be a relaxation of this bureaucratic burden, it could only be a good thing. It would prevent, one would hope, the kind of delays that have bedevilled beach management operations in Puerto Pollensa, and it might also be hoped that further relaxations would get rid of the nonsensical situation whereby an operator such as Sail and Surf in Puerto Pollensa cannot put out buoys for larger craft out of high season, so restricting its ability to extend the resort's tourism season.
This constraint is another of the Costas' domains, just one that has consistently placed it at loggerheads with business and especially the hotels. In Mallorca, there is an added dimension. The local head of the Costas is Celesti Alomar, the former (socialist) tourism minister who was responsible for the despised eco-tax that the hotels were charged with collecting and which, in some cases, they never handed over.
The Costas locally has brushed up against some heavy hitters, not least in Muro where its interpretation of coastal demarcation and the almost unworkable notion of land that is "influenced by the sea" have threatened hotels' interests. To put it mildly, there is no love lost when it comes to the hotels' attitude towards the Costas.
So now the hotels can sense the opportunity to get the law changed and also bring the Costas down a peg or two. As a protecter, it does a valuable job, but its role as enforcer has created too many enemies. If the law does change and if the Costas finds itself with a diminished role, this may be no bad thing. But would things go too far in the other direction? The privatisation of the beaches and of the water.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
As far as the hoteliers are concerned, Mariano Rajoy may as well already be prime minister. The Meliá plans for Magalluf are partly dependent on legislative relaxation, and the specific plans Meliá has for the beach would almost certainly require some changes to the Coasts Law.
When it was announced that Meliá wished to "exploit" the beach, a thought which occurred had to do with what the Costas Authority would make of it. This is a body which, while it does, quite rightly, seek to protect the coastal environment, is also the source of obstruction and of much that runs counter to the wishes of the tourism industry.
If a likely change of government were not in the offing, the chances are that Meliá's wishes would have been stamped on from the great height that the Costas has come to assume; or probably, the wishes would never have been made public. Without knowing for sure, one gets the sense that the Costas might find its seemingly all-embracing powers being cut back.
Meliá wants, among other things, to be able to provide temporary moorings next to its hotels. The Mallorca hoteliers federation, very much to the fore in driving a national agenda, wants a change to the Coasts Law which would not only remove any obstacle to Meliá providing its moorings but would also permit other hotels to exploit other beaches for leisure purposes.
The proposal, much as it may make good business sense for the hotels and for the tourism industry, does run up against a difficulty. Essentially, the beaches would be privatised and there has to be a risk, somewhere along the line, that the principle of free public space on the beaches might be endangered.
Where the Costas has been doing a good job is in ensuring this free space. Together with town halls, it has also kept the sea itself free. And by free, one means open and accessible. It is the open to access principle that comes into question if the hotels have their way. With Meliá's moorings, where would they go exactly? Would they in some way impede public use of the sea?
A further factor in the hotels' ambitions for beach exploitation is the Costas' bureaucracy. An aspect of this does badly need to be changed, and it is that which relates to the annual rigmarole that is gone through to establish provisions for beach management and for licensing operations.
The annual bureaucratic procedures have the effect of inhibiting investment. If a beach operator cannot be sure of running a beach from year to year then it is understandably reluctant to commit itself too heavily. Meliá wouldn't, one would imagine, put up with such uncertainty.
If there were to be a relaxation of this bureaucratic burden, it could only be a good thing. It would prevent, one would hope, the kind of delays that have bedevilled beach management operations in Puerto Pollensa, and it might also be hoped that further relaxations would get rid of the nonsensical situation whereby an operator such as Sail and Surf in Puerto Pollensa cannot put out buoys for larger craft out of high season, so restricting its ability to extend the resort's tourism season.
This constraint is another of the Costas' domains, just one that has consistently placed it at loggerheads with business and especially the hotels. In Mallorca, there is an added dimension. The local head of the Costas is Celesti Alomar, the former (socialist) tourism minister who was responsible for the despised eco-tax that the hotels were charged with collecting and which, in some cases, they never handed over.
The Costas locally has brushed up against some heavy hitters, not least in Muro where its interpretation of coastal demarcation and the almost unworkable notion of land that is "influenced by the sea" have threatened hotels' interests. To put it mildly, there is no love lost when it comes to the hotels' attitude towards the Costas.
So now the hotels can sense the opportunity to get the law changed and also bring the Costas down a peg or two. As a protecter, it does a valuable job, but its role as enforcer has created too many enemies. If the law does change and if the Costas finds itself with a diminished role, this may be no bad thing. But would things go too far in the other direction? The privatisation of the beaches and of the water.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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