It can appear somewhat contrary that leading hoteliers and left-wing politicians can share the same platform and, in principle, agree with each other. Such has been the result of the holiday rentals' dynamic. Two warring factions have joined forces, albeit they have become allies for different motives. The hoteliers have always had an issue with rentals because of perceived unfair competition and a lowering of standards (discuss), while the left have started to agonise over saturation and resident populations being deprived of places to live.
Exceltur, the alliance for touristic excellence, is an exclusive club. Among its members are leading hoteliers, such as Meliá. It carries a certain amount of clout. Names like Escarrer have the ears of the nation's politicians. And it was the national government which received a unified message from hoteliers and mayors when they gathered in Madrid for their forum this week. The state is the only body which can control the situation: this situation being the proliferation of rentals and the activities of Airbnb and its kind.
José Hila, Palma's mayor who is president of the federation of municipalities and provinces, underlined this message by saying that it is the state which can stand firm against these websites. The state, however, and Matilde Asián, the tourism secretary-of-state pointed this out, cannot establish a single set of regulations. The responsibilities lie with the regional governments and, up to a point, with town halls as well.
Madrid, at least while the Partido Popular remains in control of the government, seems disinclined to involve itself with market regulation. Devolved responsibilities to the regions there are, but these responsibilities produce legislation which, in the absence of umbrella state legislation, bring the regions into conflict with an arm of the national government, the competition commission. Its ultra market liberalism has been rearing its head again this week. The commission's defence of a property owner's rights has meant clashes with the governments in the Canaries and Galicia. When the Balearic government finally publishes its legislation, you can be sure that the commission will be examining the small print in great detail.
The consequence of the state's lack of involvement is legal uncertainty, something which all parties seek. A further consequence is that regional authorities can be undermined if the commission (and the courts) challenge their legislation. The Madrid government, meanwhile, will know full well that anything it might introduce would be booted upstairs to Brussels. The European Commission is lumbering towards some form of directive, though how this can possibly take into account the diversity of needs down to very local levels is impossible to understand.
Meanwhile, though, the Balearic Tax Agency and tourism ministry have been enforcing what legal powers they possess. A campaign of inspections that was carried out prior to Easter has netted eight real-estate companies in Mallorca. The fines for promoting illegal rentals will amount to some 200,000 euros. These companies are based in Palma, Arta, Capdepera, Colonia Sant Jordi and Pollensa.
Back at the Exceltur gathering, at which not all the mayors, it might be noted, were from left-wing parties, there was some consensus that there is scope for growth from rentals. Palma and Barcelona, not represented at the meeting, seem exceptions to the potential for growth rule, but for cities such as Malaga, Valencia and San Sebastian, the issues are those of diversification of the accommodation offer and of its control. It is the latter which is the key issue, but so also is enduring legal certainty. The PP in the Balearics have this week made it clear that when it returns to government - it seems confident that it will in 2019 - it will repeal the holiday rentals' legislation that Biel Barceló will shortly introduce.
As with the incoherence caused by the state's lack of involvement, so there is incoherence at regional level. Politics change and so also do policies.
Showing posts with label Cities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cities. Show all posts
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Sunday, May 15, 2016
The Cities Of Mallorca
Shirley Roberts, who co-pens the Tuesday Spotlight on Soller column in the Majorca Daily Bulletin, provided an interesting post to her Soller Shirley Facebook page the other day. It reported that Soller is a city and was made so by King Alfonso XIII in 1905. I commented that there were two other "cities" that I was aware of in addition of course to Palma, whereupon Shirley suggested this might be the subject for a few articles. Well, I don't know about a few but here's one.
The term "city" poses a bit of an issue. The Spanish and Catalan are, respectively, "ciudad" and "ciutat". But both words are used generally to refer to somewhere as a town (or a city). This, though, isn't an official usage; it is just a generic term. Where it does get official is when the word refers to somewhere that has been granted the status of city by the crown.
The British are used to a city being so because of a cathedral, but that isn't the case with Mallorca's cities: there is only one cathedral and that's in Palma. But as far as I can make out, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, there are seven Mallorcan cities in all. Palma is by far the largest, Soller we have already established is one, and the other five are Alcudia, Felanitx, Inca, Llucmajor and Manacor.
Palma is not only the largest city, it is the oldest. After the Catalan conquest, it was given the name Ciutat de Mallorca by Jaume I of Aragon. There are those who nowadays refer to the Ciutat. Indeed, it has been argued that this is how Palma should be known.
It was to be almost three hundred years after the 1229 conquest that Mallorca acquired its second city - Alcudia. Back in Roman days, Alcudia (or Pollentia as it then was) was every bit as important as Palma (which is what the Romans called the city). By the sixteenth century it no longer was. So how did it come to merit a city status? It had everything to do with the Germanies (brotherhoods) uprising: the revolt by the artisan class against the aristocracy and against King Carlos I. Alcudia remained loyal, the nobility which hadn't been massacred holing up behind its walls. When the revolt was crushed, Alcudia was named - in July 1523 - "city most faithful to the emperor". Carlos, in addition to being king, was also the Holy Roman Emperor.
Although there are references today to Alcudia being a "ciutat", the background to the awarding of this status might be said to cause a bit of an issue: the Germanies, certainly for some, were the goodies. Such bashfulness in city matters, always allowing for any reluctance to admit that any honour bestowed by the Bourbon dynasty is automatically a "bad thing", would not apply to the other five cities. They were all given the title for their contributions to economic well-being.
The first of them, and so what became Mallorca's third city in 1886, was Felanitx. At the time, it was positively thriving and was a major centre for the wine trade. It was Maria Christina, the Queen regent from 1885 to 1902, who bestowed the honour, as she also did to Inca (city number four) on 13 March, 1900. This was in recognition of Inca's growing industrial importance, especially where the leather and shoemaking industry was concerned.
It was her son, Alfonso XIII, who then got into the city-making business. He took the throne, aged 17, in 1902, and his first city was indeed Soller in 1905. Here was a place which, despite the occasional downturn, had been a hotbed of entrepreneurialism for decades. Its isolation, stuck in the mountains, had led to export trade from which much of its wealth was derived.
Seven years later and it was the turn of Manacor. Apart from anything else, this was, from 1902, the home of the Majorica pearls. By 1912 the company was booming, so was Manacor, and a parliamentary deputy by the name of Alexandre Rosselló petitioned the king, Alfonso, seeking the honour of "ciutat". It was granted. The same Alexandre, friendly with Joaquín Ruiz Jiménez, who was basically the interior minister (not that it was called this), wielded his influence four years later, and Llucmajor became city number seven.
None of this really meant a lot. Alcudia had, back in its day, enjoyed tax privileges, but they were not a factor when the Queen Regent and Alfonso were handing out the titles. It was all about the honour, and so you have the seven cities of Mallorca.
The term "city" poses a bit of an issue. The Spanish and Catalan are, respectively, "ciudad" and "ciutat". But both words are used generally to refer to somewhere as a town (or a city). This, though, isn't an official usage; it is just a generic term. Where it does get official is when the word refers to somewhere that has been granted the status of city by the crown.
The British are used to a city being so because of a cathedral, but that isn't the case with Mallorca's cities: there is only one cathedral and that's in Palma. But as far as I can make out, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, there are seven Mallorcan cities in all. Palma is by far the largest, Soller we have already established is one, and the other five are Alcudia, Felanitx, Inca, Llucmajor and Manacor.
Palma is not only the largest city, it is the oldest. After the Catalan conquest, it was given the name Ciutat de Mallorca by Jaume I of Aragon. There are those who nowadays refer to the Ciutat. Indeed, it has been argued that this is how Palma should be known.
It was to be almost three hundred years after the 1229 conquest that Mallorca acquired its second city - Alcudia. Back in Roman days, Alcudia (or Pollentia as it then was) was every bit as important as Palma (which is what the Romans called the city). By the sixteenth century it no longer was. So how did it come to merit a city status? It had everything to do with the Germanies (brotherhoods) uprising: the revolt by the artisan class against the aristocracy and against King Carlos I. Alcudia remained loyal, the nobility which hadn't been massacred holing up behind its walls. When the revolt was crushed, Alcudia was named - in July 1523 - "city most faithful to the emperor". Carlos, in addition to being king, was also the Holy Roman Emperor.
Although there are references today to Alcudia being a "ciutat", the background to the awarding of this status might be said to cause a bit of an issue: the Germanies, certainly for some, were the goodies. Such bashfulness in city matters, always allowing for any reluctance to admit that any honour bestowed by the Bourbon dynasty is automatically a "bad thing", would not apply to the other five cities. They were all given the title for their contributions to economic well-being.
The first of them, and so what became Mallorca's third city in 1886, was Felanitx. At the time, it was positively thriving and was a major centre for the wine trade. It was Maria Christina, the Queen regent from 1885 to 1902, who bestowed the honour, as she also did to Inca (city number four) on 13 March, 1900. This was in recognition of Inca's growing industrial importance, especially where the leather and shoemaking industry was concerned.
It was her son, Alfonso XIII, who then got into the city-making business. He took the throne, aged 17, in 1902, and his first city was indeed Soller in 1905. Here was a place which, despite the occasional downturn, had been a hotbed of entrepreneurialism for decades. Its isolation, stuck in the mountains, had led to export trade from which much of its wealth was derived.
Seven years later and it was the turn of Manacor. Apart from anything else, this was, from 1902, the home of the Majorica pearls. By 1912 the company was booming, so was Manacor, and a parliamentary deputy by the name of Alexandre Rosselló petitioned the king, Alfonso, seeking the honour of "ciutat". It was granted. The same Alexandre, friendly with Joaquín Ruiz Jiménez, who was basically the interior minister (not that it was called this), wielded his influence four years later, and Llucmajor became city number seven.
None of this really meant a lot. Alcudia had, back in its day, enjoyed tax privileges, but they were not a factor when the Queen Regent and Alfonso were handing out the titles. It was all about the honour, and so you have the seven cities of Mallorca.
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