Timing, as they say, is everything. Or perhaps it is nothing. On balance, I'm sticking with everything.
The regional government has been at it again. Its politics of finance are guided by one principle: blame Madrid. If it weren't for the national government (by which is meant the Partido Popular), the Balearics would be awash with cash. The Balearics lead Spain, lead much of Europe when it comes to economic growth. Yet the Balearics are impoverished. Blame Madrid for its unjust financing system and perhaps a small dollop of right versus left politics.
The impoverishment is of course over-egged. It is over-milked as well. To the eggs are applied great scoops of cream, all of them aimed at the fat of the national government to the detrimental wasting-away of the slimline Balearics. The latest cake with dairy topping that has been baked by the regional finance ministry is one of "liquidity tensions", by which one is supposedly meant to believe there is some form of cash flow crisis.
Madrid is denying the Balearic government spending of nigh on 150 million euros. The spending can't be made because Madrid wants some of its money back from the debt that the region has with the state. Here is another example, therefore, of how Madrid attacks the ever poorer Balearics and the deprived citizens of the islands.
The financing system is, pretty much everyone agrees, including Madrid, somewhat cockeyed. But the 150 million euros haven't got to do with this directly. They have to do with the regional capacity to spend, something restricted and monitored by law - the Montoro Law, named after the national finance minister.
While I am generally inclined to agree with the regional government when it comes to the financing system, the problem I have is with the constant narrative. It is a political one, pure and simple. If services aren't invested in, for example, it's not the regional government's fault. Blame Madrid. I do also have some sympathy because the current government, despite its left complexion, has proved to be pretty decent at financial management. There again, it has to be, because Madrid insists on this. Edging into surplus, which is expected this year, owes at least something, regardless of the Balearic giveaway because of the distributive financing system that props up other regions, to tax revenues. Economic growth swells coffers, even if it doesn't find its way into employees' pay packets.
The timing was everything. Making plain its disgust with Madrid over the 150 million euros and alerting us all to the existence of a possible surplus, the government was making a plea to be allowed to spend all the extra revenue sloshing around. It can't because Madrid won't let it, just like Madrid won't let town halls spend their surpluses. This was the timing. No sooner had the government pleaded for greater spending flexibility, than Congress was letting it be known that there is to be a modification to the Montoro Law.
The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, presided over, it might be noted, by Palma's mayor, José Hila, had succeeded in getting a budget amendment approved with full-party support. Balearic town halls will, it is understood, be able to invest some 400 million euros from their 2016 surpluses: the Montoro Law is to be partly busted after all. There are 67 municipalities in all. On average, not that it will work out this way, this will mean almost six million each. For the more prudent town halls and those with greater surpluses, the investment potential will doubtless be much greater.
The timing wasn't nothing. It was everything because the government would have known what was afoot in Congress. Or does no one in PSOE in the government, e.g. the Balearic president or finance minister, speak to Hila? Relationships are known not to be great, but when there are 400 million knocking around even the more difficult relationships can be smoothed. Of course the government knew.
So now, the government can say that if there is some loosening of town halls' purse strings, there will be even greater injustice if it is not permitted to have similar flexibility. The politics of finance can thus advance a further step. Madrid can be blamed ever more.
In fact, the government may not wish to harp on too much about this. It plays the siege mentality to its political advantage, while questions might be asked about whether it was aware of the possible modification of the Montoro Law much earlier. The town halls were distinctly miffed at not getting any tourist tax revenue for direct investment this year. They will now be in a position to fund projects a different way, with investment from the surplus allowable this year and in 2018. Did the government know earlier? The politics of finance, as with timing, are everything.
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Resort Redevelopment: No Money, No Time
While there might have been some misgivings regarding the previous incumbents of the positions of national tourism minister and secretary of state for tourism, the federation's relationship was never dogged by the politics which meant that a Partido Popular minister and Partido Popular president of the Balearics ceased to be on speaking terms. Nevertheless, the federation found it difficult to make headway, despite the secretary of state having been Mallorcan. With replacements for both positions in place, it senses that it might achieve more.
Soon after Matilde Asián was named secretary of state, she had a meeting with the hoteliers' president, Inma de Benito. In a rare act of solidarity with the current Balearic government, Benito requested that consideration be given to reforming the tenancy act. The hoteliers and government have different reasons for wishing this, but the reform would be the same: remove the loophole that facilitates so many holiday rentals.
Benito had some other requests, one of which was echoed last week in Berlin. This had to do with finding ways to obtain funds to rehabilitate tourist resorts. When she met Asián in December, the talk was of seeking European funds. Last week, it had simply become funds.
The hoteliers argue, with justification, that millions of private investment have gone towards modernising and upgrading hotels but that this investment has not been matched by the public sector. There are, to cite a general view, five-star hotels from which guests step out onto two-star pavements and streets. The infrastructure is as it has been for years but is getting worse.
We know of course all about Magalluf and Calvia's efforts to try and follow the lead of Meliá and others. But keeping up with these efforts isn't straightforward. Many town halls, having spent the years of austerity remodelling their finances, have surpluses. However, they can't use them; or only small parts of them. They are restricted by Madrid, which in turn bends to the requirements of Brussels.
Take the case of Palma. The town hall is regularly upbraided by hoteliers and residents alike because of its neglect of Playa de Palma. Yet here was supposed to have been one of the stellar resort transformation projects. How long has it been waited for? This isn't the fault solely of the town hall because the scheme has always demanded (and been promised) national funds. The scale of the redevelopment outstrips that of other resorts, but the failures to date serve only to highlight the demands of Mallorca's hoteliers.
Mayor José Hila, referring to Benito's request for national funding, said last week that the principal problem is the cut in public investment. And he isn't entirely wrong. Town halls are bound by rules for budgetary stability. These restrict what they can spend and when.
Town halls, where they are able to, do make investments. In Puerto Pollensa, despite all the rows, the improvement, mainly confined as yet to pavements, has been massive. Previously, some of them wouldn't have merited any star let alone two. The rows were, however, understandable, because of the amount of work required and the consequent inconvenience and noise.
These rows are now being repeated in Cala Bona and Cala Millor. It's reasonable to ask, as is the case, why the work is being done now and will last, in all likelihood, until May. Son Servera town hall, though, will have been mindful of how it is forced to budget for such schemes, which is basically the point that Hila was making.
In other parts of Mallorca, work has caused some rumpus: Paguera, Alcudia, Puerto Soller are and have been examples during this low season. But work in all these resorts achieves only so much. The years of underinvestment, and not just the years of austerity, have created resorts in desperate need of improvement. This extends to buildings as well, and not just hotels. In this regard, Calvia's attempt to incentivise owners has thus far been a dead loss.
The national minister, Álvaro Nadal, has himself spoken of the need to modernise "mature resorts". At present, though, budgetary demands limit his ability to effect modernisation just as they do town halls. If the time comes, though, and the purse strings are loosened sufficiently to enable wholesale resort redevelopments, a question needs answering. When could it be done? Lengthening the tourism season has its drawbacks. Just ask the good folk of Cala Bona.
* Photo: Work along part of Alcudia's Mile.
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Who Pays For Projects?: Son Dureta
Palma's mayor-in-waiting, Antoni Noguera, recently made a presentation of what is to become the city's "urban forest". It was quite an impressive presentation, replete with large drawings of what the forest will look like. A media gaggle was all agog listening to Noguera extolling its virtues.
It is an ambitious and laudable project, but there is a snag. More than one in fact. The town hall doesn't own all the land for the forest, such as that occupied by the old El Tirador velodrome. No problem, the town hall will buy it. The cost could be as much as nine million euros.
Has this been budgeted for? Perhaps so. But if one goes back almost a year when the forest was first being talked up, half a million euros had been set aside in the 2016 budget for starting work on the project (which didn't happen) and which included some "rehabilitation" of El Tirador.
There is much publicity ballyhoo for projects at the end of which the odd caveat is sneaked in. Paying for a project will require, variously, European funding, tourist tax revenue funding, Madrid's largesse or - specifically in Palma's case - funding via the law for capital cities, which is provided by the regional government. Palma, thanks in no small part to the fact that President Armengol and the mayor (the current one) don't see eye-to-eye (or this at least is how it seems), has not received anything like what it should have from this funding source.
Still, it is always possible that financing for the forest will be in place. But the forest's presentation was an example of the way in which projects - typically grand schemes as this one will be - are announced with a blaze of glory without the funding i's having been dotted and t's crossed. Consequently, there is either a significant amount of wishful thinking that funding will be available or the project is being announced in the half (or more) expectation that it will fail. Not because the promoter of the project - Palma town hall in the case of the forest - will have failed, but because some other body has not come up with the cash. Political capital can thus be made, e.g. the government isn't being fair with the city's citizens by not forwarding the law for capital cities' investment or by not allocating tourist tax revenue. Alternatively, and more often than not, it will all be Madrid's fault.
Which brings us to the project to redevelop Son Dureta Hospital. With an estimated budget of 120 million euros, it would rank as one of the government's stellar projects, if not its most stellar - a five-star project for attending, justifiably, to the needs of an aging population.
Ever since it closed and Son Espases opened, Son Dureta has been a monument to a total absence of strategic thinking. There was never any plan or any idea as to what to do with it. Therefore, it has been a multiple edifice in search of a project, one that the current government has now alighted upon.
The first announcement regarding its redevelopment was made only a few weeks ago. The other day, the massed ranks of Armengol, Barceló, Santiago (social services) and Gómez (health) were paraded before the media to make another announcement, one which only added flesh to the previous by stating how many places it will have. Otherwise, why were they making the second announcement? Well, given the stellar nature of the project we can probably expect regular bulletins, but underneath all this is there a different agenda?
The point is that, like El Tirador and Palma, the government doesn't actually own the hospital; it is ultimately the property of the national government. While Madrid is unlikely to object to the redevelopment, there is the separate issue as to who is going to pay for it.
In principle, the regional government will pay, and President Armengol said as much earlier this week. But there are currently only one million euros in the 2017 budget for the project, which presumably are destined for preliminary work, such as drawing up the plans, given that any actual demolition or building won't occur until the end of next year at the earliest. It was what Armengol then also said that makes one wonder. She made another demand for improved financing by Madrid for public service infrastructure such as Son Dureta.
By being somewhat vague as to how it will pay for the redevelopment, the Armengol government appears to be leaving the door open to blame Madrid if there are any hitches. The health service budget, insufficient as it is, cannot be touched, so there has to be an investment fund source, and that it is something which Madrid have shown themselves to be reluctant to part with. Is there a half expectation of failure? If so, it won't be the regional government's fault.
It is an ambitious and laudable project, but there is a snag. More than one in fact. The town hall doesn't own all the land for the forest, such as that occupied by the old El Tirador velodrome. No problem, the town hall will buy it. The cost could be as much as nine million euros.
Has this been budgeted for? Perhaps so. But if one goes back almost a year when the forest was first being talked up, half a million euros had been set aside in the 2016 budget for starting work on the project (which didn't happen) and which included some "rehabilitation" of El Tirador.
There is much publicity ballyhoo for projects at the end of which the odd caveat is sneaked in. Paying for a project will require, variously, European funding, tourist tax revenue funding, Madrid's largesse or - specifically in Palma's case - funding via the law for capital cities, which is provided by the regional government. Palma, thanks in no small part to the fact that President Armengol and the mayor (the current one) don't see eye-to-eye (or this at least is how it seems), has not received anything like what it should have from this funding source.
Still, it is always possible that financing for the forest will be in place. But the forest's presentation was an example of the way in which projects - typically grand schemes as this one will be - are announced with a blaze of glory without the funding i's having been dotted and t's crossed. Consequently, there is either a significant amount of wishful thinking that funding will be available or the project is being announced in the half (or more) expectation that it will fail. Not because the promoter of the project - Palma town hall in the case of the forest - will have failed, but because some other body has not come up with the cash. Political capital can thus be made, e.g. the government isn't being fair with the city's citizens by not forwarding the law for capital cities' investment or by not allocating tourist tax revenue. Alternatively, and more often than not, it will all be Madrid's fault.
Which brings us to the project to redevelop Son Dureta Hospital. With an estimated budget of 120 million euros, it would rank as one of the government's stellar projects, if not its most stellar - a five-star project for attending, justifiably, to the needs of an aging population.
Ever since it closed and Son Espases opened, Son Dureta has been a monument to a total absence of strategic thinking. There was never any plan or any idea as to what to do with it. Therefore, it has been a multiple edifice in search of a project, one that the current government has now alighted upon.
The first announcement regarding its redevelopment was made only a few weeks ago. The other day, the massed ranks of Armengol, Barceló, Santiago (social services) and Gómez (health) were paraded before the media to make another announcement, one which only added flesh to the previous by stating how many places it will have. Otherwise, why were they making the second announcement? Well, given the stellar nature of the project we can probably expect regular bulletins, but underneath all this is there a different agenda?
The point is that, like El Tirador and Palma, the government doesn't actually own the hospital; it is ultimately the property of the national government. While Madrid is unlikely to object to the redevelopment, there is the separate issue as to who is going to pay for it.
In principle, the regional government will pay, and President Armengol said as much earlier this week. But there are currently only one million euros in the 2017 budget for the project, which presumably are destined for preliminary work, such as drawing up the plans, given that any actual demolition or building won't occur until the end of next year at the earliest. It was what Armengol then also said that makes one wonder. She made another demand for improved financing by Madrid for public service infrastructure such as Son Dureta.
By being somewhat vague as to how it will pay for the redevelopment, the Armengol government appears to be leaving the door open to blame Madrid if there are any hitches. The health service budget, insufficient as it is, cannot be touched, so there has to be an investment fund source, and that it is something which Madrid have shown themselves to be reluctant to part with. Is there a half expectation of failure? If so, it won't be the regional government's fault.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Resort Obsolescence: Financing mature zones
Amidst recent talk of Magalluf and its changing face, something quite important has slipped under the radar that is highly relevant to this face-changing. It applies also to Palmanova, Santa Ponsa and Paguera, where facelifts or other cosmetic surgery are spoken of less. That's the power of Magalluf, one supposes. Mention Calvia, and the assumption is that Magalluf is what is meant, but other resorts in the town have just as much of a need for makeovers as Magalluf: more in a way, as they have not gone under the operating scalpel of Meliá.
Businesses, small ones for the most part, met with town hall representatives last week to talk about concerns they have. While they raised once more the prostitutes and lookies' issues - ones that for all the triumphal talk are not getting any better - and also called for greater police presence in Santa Ponsa's Ramon Moncada (a street every bit as bedevilled as Punta Ballena has been), top of their list were "mature zones".
To remind you, these are areas of resorts deemed to be obsolete and outdated. Rundown might also be a description. The zones' levels of maturity reveal their age - fifty plus years - and there are legacies that date back to the first years of development, as is the case with other resorts on the island. The tourism law that the Bauzá government introduced contained provision for resorts (or parts of them) to be declared mature zones. Making such declarations is largely the responsibility of town halls, and if and when these are approved, the process is set in motion for eradicating the outdated and replacing it with the up to date, or possibly even futuristic.
The carrot, where the law is concerned, is that bureaucratic procedures will be relaxed. Financial assistance should also be available. The carrot is for the stick which demands that mature zones and business premises within them are redeveloped, and done so within a set period of time. In Magalluf, Palmanvoa, Santa Ponsa and Paguera, businesses such as bars, restaurants, shops and clubs have three years to get their modernisation act together: approximately a thousand premises across the four resorts are affected.
These businesses had until Monday to submit the initial documentation in order to get the ball rolling and to qualify for the plan. There was talk of extending this deadline, but at the heart of the concerns, one fancies, is the question of money. Where will the financial assistance come from? Will it be forthcoming?
A mature zone declaration brings with it an obligation on behalf of the local authority and businesses. It isn't a jargonistic term but an item of law, the first application of which - to Playa de Palma - is set out in suitably legalistic fashion. It is also a concept which doesn't only apply to Mallorca. It was adopted by the last regional government (and the new one would have no reason to abandon it) as part of a national scheme for modernisation, and nationally there is a fund for the modernisation of touristic infrastructure. This totals 200 million euros but only one eighth of it is targeted at mature zones: 25 million for the Balearics, the Costas and the Canaries.
The rules of engagement suggest that 30% of finance for business modernisation has to be private. Some would argue that it should all be private, as these are not public-sector businesses, but the scale of the task of modernisation in resorts demands government intervention and government cash. The problem is that there seems so little of it.
The Balearics of course have a fundamental issue with national government over investment funding, but even were Madrid (of whatever political colour) to up this investment for tourism infrastructure, would it go to businesses? There's no guarantee that it would, as the resorts themselves need improvement and modernisation, while with Podemos in the equation, public funding going to the private sector would probably be a no-no: they've said that the tourist tax benefiting the hoteliers would be unacceptable, and they might well have the same attitude towards restaurants and clubs.
There are other funds, such as the Balearic tourism "bolsa" that was created from levies paid by hoteliers to legalise all the places in their hotels that hadn't been legal. This is used for resort improvements, but of a general nature. And then there will be the tourist tax, but it won't go into private hands.
There are other funds in the form of generous lines of credit from certain banks, but a key problem, as identified by Meliá's Mark Hoddinott in Magalluf is that bars and restaurants don't operate in the long-term. It's why convincing them of the merits of Magalluf's transformation and changing market profile is not easy. And that means that it isn't easy to convince them that there will be profitable returns on borrowing.
Businesses, small ones for the most part, met with town hall representatives last week to talk about concerns they have. While they raised once more the prostitutes and lookies' issues - ones that for all the triumphal talk are not getting any better - and also called for greater police presence in Santa Ponsa's Ramon Moncada (a street every bit as bedevilled as Punta Ballena has been), top of their list were "mature zones".
To remind you, these are areas of resorts deemed to be obsolete and outdated. Rundown might also be a description. The zones' levels of maturity reveal their age - fifty plus years - and there are legacies that date back to the first years of development, as is the case with other resorts on the island. The tourism law that the Bauzá government introduced contained provision for resorts (or parts of them) to be declared mature zones. Making such declarations is largely the responsibility of town halls, and if and when these are approved, the process is set in motion for eradicating the outdated and replacing it with the up to date, or possibly even futuristic.
The carrot, where the law is concerned, is that bureaucratic procedures will be relaxed. Financial assistance should also be available. The carrot is for the stick which demands that mature zones and business premises within them are redeveloped, and done so within a set period of time. In Magalluf, Palmanvoa, Santa Ponsa and Paguera, businesses such as bars, restaurants, shops and clubs have three years to get their modernisation act together: approximately a thousand premises across the four resorts are affected.
These businesses had until Monday to submit the initial documentation in order to get the ball rolling and to qualify for the plan. There was talk of extending this deadline, but at the heart of the concerns, one fancies, is the question of money. Where will the financial assistance come from? Will it be forthcoming?
A mature zone declaration brings with it an obligation on behalf of the local authority and businesses. It isn't a jargonistic term but an item of law, the first application of which - to Playa de Palma - is set out in suitably legalistic fashion. It is also a concept which doesn't only apply to Mallorca. It was adopted by the last regional government (and the new one would have no reason to abandon it) as part of a national scheme for modernisation, and nationally there is a fund for the modernisation of touristic infrastructure. This totals 200 million euros but only one eighth of it is targeted at mature zones: 25 million for the Balearics, the Costas and the Canaries.
The rules of engagement suggest that 30% of finance for business modernisation has to be private. Some would argue that it should all be private, as these are not public-sector businesses, but the scale of the task of modernisation in resorts demands government intervention and government cash. The problem is that there seems so little of it.
The Balearics of course have a fundamental issue with national government over investment funding, but even were Madrid (of whatever political colour) to up this investment for tourism infrastructure, would it go to businesses? There's no guarantee that it would, as the resorts themselves need improvement and modernisation, while with Podemos in the equation, public funding going to the private sector would probably be a no-no: they've said that the tourist tax benefiting the hoteliers would be unacceptable, and they might well have the same attitude towards restaurants and clubs.
There are other funds, such as the Balearic tourism "bolsa" that was created from levies paid by hoteliers to legalise all the places in their hotels that hadn't been legal. This is used for resort improvements, but of a general nature. And then there will be the tourist tax, but it won't go into private hands.
There are other funds in the form of generous lines of credit from certain banks, but a key problem, as identified by Meliá's Mark Hoddinott in Magalluf is that bars and restaurants don't operate in the long-term. It's why convincing them of the merits of Magalluf's transformation and changing market profile is not easy. And that means that it isn't easy to convince them that there will be profitable returns on borrowing.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Private Tourism: Mallorca Tourist Board
The Fomento del Turismo is a strange old organisation; old being appropriate, given that it makes much of its being the oldest tourist board in Europe (founded in 1905). Its name in English, the Mallorca Tourist Board, suggests something official, yet it is a private and independent body. This independence doesn't stretch, however, to being of totally independent means. Its corporate members supply a goodly amount of funds, but the board also relies on government money. And right now, it isn't getting any.
The board now has a new president, the gaffe-prone Pedro Iriondo having stood down and having been replaced by Eduardo Gamero, the ex-director general of tourism during Jaume Matas' time as Balearics president.
Gamero is no doubt seeking to use his political connections to try and swing the current government around to a more favourable stance where the tourist board is concerned, though an association with Matas might not be that much of a positive with President Bauzá who has sought to distance himself from the Matas era.
The government has been playing hardball with the tourist board. It apparently owes the board nearly 300,000 euros and last year failed to enter into an agreement of collaboration. The board has been left to survive on its corporate funding, but now finds itself, like pretty much any other organisation in Mallorca, in a delicate financial situation, one that threatens to undermine its work in tourism promotion and specifically that which relates to its press services.
With money so short and especially money for tourism promotion, the government's budget having been slashed into virtual non-existence, the board doesn't have much of a case in going chasing limited public money. Or perhaps it does. The answer, either way, lies in what it does that the government doesn't.
One area of its work that does appear to differ to that of the government is in the organisation of articles that appear in the international press. To this end, its press centre is involved not just in supplying information but also in arranging for journalists to visit Mallorca, to put them up and hope that they end up writing something nice about the island.
This is a fair enough exercise, but if one considers tourism promotion as a whole, why is it that there are agencies of government and a private and independent body (the tourist board) engaged in otherwise similar activities? If the press centre work is so important, could it not just as easily be operated by the tourism ministry? You have to ask, therefore, why continue with the tourist board or also ask why not hand over to it responsibilities that the government currently has.
There is a feeling that the tourist board's history is what keeps it going. Undoubtedly, it was a hugely important organisation, before, that is, the government started to genuinely organise its own tourism promotion operation, which wasn't until the late 1980s with the establishment of IBATUR, the agency which has since been wound up because it was caught up in corruption scandals in the tourism ministry; IBATUR having now re-emerged as the ATB, the Balearics Tourism Agency.
With the best will in the world, and notwithstanding arranging for fine hotels or villas for journalists in which they can pen glowing pieces about Mallorca, the information element of the press centre isn't particularly remarkable. It is an exercise in pulling together bits of information, but it is an exercise that would not be beyond the abilities of one person sitting in a spare room in a house. In fact, I could do it and would be willing to do so at no doubt significantly less cost. On the credit side, the board reckons that its international press activities in totality bring in four million euros of economic benefit, though how it arrives at this figure and over what period, who knows.
The fact is that the tourist board has not always enjoyed the best of relationships with the government. The current lack of collaboration stems in part, one presumes, from the empty nature of tourism ministry coffers, but it isn't a complete surprise given the at-times strained relationship with previous administrations, and is less of a surprise as minister Delgado has had to wield the axe so dramatically.
The tourist board may have to face up to a future in which it really is independent insofar as its funding is all private. It cannot use 107 years of history as a means of justifying public money. If it is to get this public money, there has to be a clear agreement as to what it does and can do that the government cannot or could not.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The board now has a new president, the gaffe-prone Pedro Iriondo having stood down and having been replaced by Eduardo Gamero, the ex-director general of tourism during Jaume Matas' time as Balearics president.
Gamero is no doubt seeking to use his political connections to try and swing the current government around to a more favourable stance where the tourist board is concerned, though an association with Matas might not be that much of a positive with President Bauzá who has sought to distance himself from the Matas era.
The government has been playing hardball with the tourist board. It apparently owes the board nearly 300,000 euros and last year failed to enter into an agreement of collaboration. The board has been left to survive on its corporate funding, but now finds itself, like pretty much any other organisation in Mallorca, in a delicate financial situation, one that threatens to undermine its work in tourism promotion and specifically that which relates to its press services.
With money so short and especially money for tourism promotion, the government's budget having been slashed into virtual non-existence, the board doesn't have much of a case in going chasing limited public money. Or perhaps it does. The answer, either way, lies in what it does that the government doesn't.
One area of its work that does appear to differ to that of the government is in the organisation of articles that appear in the international press. To this end, its press centre is involved not just in supplying information but also in arranging for journalists to visit Mallorca, to put them up and hope that they end up writing something nice about the island.
This is a fair enough exercise, but if one considers tourism promotion as a whole, why is it that there are agencies of government and a private and independent body (the tourist board) engaged in otherwise similar activities? If the press centre work is so important, could it not just as easily be operated by the tourism ministry? You have to ask, therefore, why continue with the tourist board or also ask why not hand over to it responsibilities that the government currently has.
There is a feeling that the tourist board's history is what keeps it going. Undoubtedly, it was a hugely important organisation, before, that is, the government started to genuinely organise its own tourism promotion operation, which wasn't until the late 1980s with the establishment of IBATUR, the agency which has since been wound up because it was caught up in corruption scandals in the tourism ministry; IBATUR having now re-emerged as the ATB, the Balearics Tourism Agency.
With the best will in the world, and notwithstanding arranging for fine hotels or villas for journalists in which they can pen glowing pieces about Mallorca, the information element of the press centre isn't particularly remarkable. It is an exercise in pulling together bits of information, but it is an exercise that would not be beyond the abilities of one person sitting in a spare room in a house. In fact, I could do it and would be willing to do so at no doubt significantly less cost. On the credit side, the board reckons that its international press activities in totality bring in four million euros of economic benefit, though how it arrives at this figure and over what period, who knows.
The fact is that the tourist board has not always enjoyed the best of relationships with the government. The current lack of collaboration stems in part, one presumes, from the empty nature of tourism ministry coffers, but it isn't a complete surprise given the at-times strained relationship with previous administrations, and is less of a surprise as minister Delgado has had to wield the axe so dramatically.
The tourist board may have to face up to a future in which it really is independent insofar as its funding is all private. It cannot use 107 years of history as a means of justifying public money. If it is to get this public money, there has to be a clear agreement as to what it does and can do that the government cannot or could not.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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