The storm clouds are gathering for Biel Barceló. The Més contracts affair, it needs stressing, is not in any way - allegedly or otherwise - on a scale of what once used to go on at the tourism ministry, but it nevertheless induces some uncertainty at the ministry at a time when it needs it the least.
In the bad old days of Unió Mallorquina control of the ministry, which lasted for much of the 2007-2011 administration until the party was kicked out of the ruling government pact, things got to such a pretty pass that the tourism industry barely knew from one day to the next who it was dealing with. Three ministers came and went until eventually PSOE took over and installed Joana Barceló for the final year or so of the administration. Along with the ministers, out also went various officials who were under suspicion.
The industry is used to the ministry's chopping and changing. It happens every four years. This turnaround can be dealt with because it's predictable. It's when things become unpredictable that the industry gets the jitters. And with the UM there was the specific issue of Mallorca and the Balearics being given a thoroughly bad name because of corruption. While the industry can carry on and does so regardless of politicians and political shenanigans, it - as with any other industry - prefers a state of calm and as much certainty as possible. Right now, there is too much uncertainty as it is, e.g. Brexit and any Catalonia effect, and heading towards the first major travel fair of the winter period - London's World Travel Market in November - there is the additional headache of the Més contracts.
Barceló can probably ride out the storm, despite calls for his head. President Armengol expressed her confidence in him earlier this week, which was probably more sincere than a football club chairman's vote of confidence in his manager, but there's no disguising the fact that his neck is potentially on the line. It also needs stressing that he personally hasn't been mentioned by the anti-corruption prosecution service, but the citing of the director of the Balearic Tourism Agency (Pere Muñoz) is too close to him for comfort. It starts to sound a bit like the UM revisited, and it starts to make Barceló appear like damaged goods.
The nub of the prosecutor's case against Muñoz is that a contract with a total value of 80,000 euros was split in such a way as to circumvent normal procedures for the awarding of a contract with that amount. There were two contracts for what was to have been a tourist survey. The argument presented by the ministry is that there was nothing untoward in this as the first contract (for a lower amount to Jaume Garau, the one-time Més campaign manager) was for the specification of the survey. The other contract was for the implementation, i.e. the conducting of the survey and its analysis. This was to a Madrid-based company. However, it is alleged that Garau exerted influence over Muñoz in order to ensure that this company got the contract, for which there was no public tender.
A peculiar aspect of this affair is that despite Muñoz having resigned, he hasn't actually gone. Apparently this is to be confirmed at a meeting of the tourism agency in London. Why? This makes no sense. Is Muñoz actually going to be in London? Whether he is or he isn't, Barceló needed to have distanced himself pronto and not let the matter drag on. As it is, the contracts case is hovering over him when he needs to be doing all he can to allay industry anxieties about a host of issues, only one of which is the doubling of the tourist tax, about which there is still a lack of clarity as to its application in the low season.
Showing posts with label Més contracts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Més contracts. Show all posts
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Saturday, October 07, 2017
Always The Tourism Ministry
During the PSOE-led government between 2007 and 2011, there were four tourism ministers. Three of them were with the now defunct Unió Mallorquina, which was brought down by corruption scandals. Two of the three - Francesc Buils and Miquel Nadal - were sent to prison. They are still there.
The tourism ministry was at the heart of much the corruption that engulfed that government. The UM was ultimately thrown out of the coalition by PSOE. Two agencies within the ministry - Ibatur (tourism promotion) and Inestur (tourism research) - were wound up as a result of the corruption. They were replaced by one new body - the Balearic Tourism Agency. Its current director, Pere Muñoz, now faces criminal proceedings. He is one of five people to be cited in the case of the Més contracts that were awarded to Jaume Garau, the party's campaign manager and "guru" for the 2015 elections. The tourism ministry is not the only one affected, as the other three officials (Garau is the fifth person to be cited) were from the transparency and culture ministry. But in the case of Muñoz, he is the only one still holding his position. He may not be for much longer.
The contracts affair, in terms of the money involved, is not in the same league as what the UM used to get up to. One has felt that rather too much has been made of it, but the political climate being as it is, any whiff of corruption is now pounced upon. And that brings the tourism minister and government vice-president, Biel Barceló, firmly into the equation. He hasn't been cited. Had he been, then all hell would have been let loose. But there are those who will now be gunning for him again - Podemos and the Partido Popular in particular.
To make matters worse, there are the accusations that the tourism director-general, Pilar Carbonell, acted in a favourable manner towards the Cursach Group. The versions of events differ. The tourism ministry offers one, the judge investigating Cursach and police corruption suggests that there is another. The ministry, and to therefore be fair to Carbonell, is right when it says that there are typically communications with businesses over the winter months regarding the expediting of building work. In this respect, it would have been no particular surprise that Carbonell was in contact with Tolo Sbert from Cursach.
As Cursach is involved, the case has inevitably been blown up, especially as the court account appears to suggest that a processing on behalf of Cursach (work at MegaPark) took only two weeks over a Christmas period from the time of contact between Sbert and Carbonell. The conversation between the two, reproduced in the media, is also somewhat damning insofar as it suggests how compliant Carbonell was. Més are themselves investigating what happened. And then there is also the fact that Carbonell has been summoned to appear in court later this month in a case involving a petrol station on the Son Bugadelles industrial estate in Santa Ponsa. This refers to a time when she didn't have any public office.
All of this is now circling around Biel Barceló. Muñoz is an old friend and political sparring partner. Carbonell wasn't his first choice as director-general; Garau was. He needs all of this like a hole in the head, given what he has on his plate in tourism policy terms and that he is due to be in London next month for the World Travel Market. Meanwhile, the knives are being sharpened.
The tourism ministry was at the heart of much the corruption that engulfed that government. The UM was ultimately thrown out of the coalition by PSOE. Two agencies within the ministry - Ibatur (tourism promotion) and Inestur (tourism research) - were wound up as a result of the corruption. They were replaced by one new body - the Balearic Tourism Agency. Its current director, Pere Muñoz, now faces criminal proceedings. He is one of five people to be cited in the case of the Més contracts that were awarded to Jaume Garau, the party's campaign manager and "guru" for the 2015 elections. The tourism ministry is not the only one affected, as the other three officials (Garau is the fifth person to be cited) were from the transparency and culture ministry. But in the case of Muñoz, he is the only one still holding his position. He may not be for much longer.
The contracts affair, in terms of the money involved, is not in the same league as what the UM used to get up to. One has felt that rather too much has been made of it, but the political climate being as it is, any whiff of corruption is now pounced upon. And that brings the tourism minister and government vice-president, Biel Barceló, firmly into the equation. He hasn't been cited. Had he been, then all hell would have been let loose. But there are those who will now be gunning for him again - Podemos and the Partido Popular in particular.
To make matters worse, there are the accusations that the tourism director-general, Pilar Carbonell, acted in a favourable manner towards the Cursach Group. The versions of events differ. The tourism ministry offers one, the judge investigating Cursach and police corruption suggests that there is another. The ministry, and to therefore be fair to Carbonell, is right when it says that there are typically communications with businesses over the winter months regarding the expediting of building work. In this respect, it would have been no particular surprise that Carbonell was in contact with Tolo Sbert from Cursach.
As Cursach is involved, the case has inevitably been blown up, especially as the court account appears to suggest that a processing on behalf of Cursach (work at MegaPark) took only two weeks over a Christmas period from the time of contact between Sbert and Carbonell. The conversation between the two, reproduced in the media, is also somewhat damning insofar as it suggests how compliant Carbonell was. Més are themselves investigating what happened. And then there is also the fact that Carbonell has been summoned to appear in court later this month in a case involving a petrol station on the Son Bugadelles industrial estate in Santa Ponsa. This refers to a time when she didn't have any public office.
All of this is now circling around Biel Barceló. Muñoz is an old friend and political sparring partner. Carbonell wasn't his first choice as director-general; Garau was. He needs all of this like a hole in the head, given what he has on his plate in tourism policy terms and that he is due to be in London next month for the World Travel Market. Meanwhile, the knives are being sharpened.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Aena: Listening With Silence
It will be of absolutely no surprise to discover that last week a politician came out with something only partially linked to reality, but even so, what do we make of Biel and the Aena thing? B.B.B., Beleaguered Biel Barceló, had dragged Aena bigwigs (including its president) in for a chat. Things, Biel said afterwards, were fairly positive. Aena was listening to the government, which, for the record, comprised Biel, his oppo at tourism, Pilar Carbonell, and the Pons fellow from transport.
While Aena may have been listening to him (and them), it doesn't seem that they were listening to Aena. During the gathering, according to Biel, the airports authority had very kindly said that there will not be more flights per hour at Palma this summer. This, at any rate, was the first report. It was subsequently modified to Aena had said there won't be any increase this year, which was before Aena themselves realised that they had better speak up. They had said no such thing. They did not promise that there will not be more flights per hour this summer.
How was it that the different government representatives all appeared to have misheard what Aena had said? One guesses that the meeting was in Castellano, so possibly they were a bit slow on the uptake. But one doubts it. They do, after all, get enough practice with Castellano when going off to Madrid to harangue ministers over finance, residents' discounts and what have you. So what was the cause of the misunderstanding? Had Biel just imagined they'd said it, or what?
More peculiar than the apparent misreporting of Aena's words was the total silence from the massed ranks of the rest of the government. Yet, when Aena had first let it be known that more flights per hour were likely, you couldn't keep any of them from having prolonged rants, especially Biel. The increase would, more or less, mean the end of civilisation in Mallorca as we know it. Or it would at least lead to everything collapsing and no one being able to move because of the sheer volume of touristic humanity.
This time, though, not a dicky bird. Why was that, do you suppose? Was it a case of protecting Biel. With the police now hovering over the Més contracts and spying potential irregularities of the possibly corrupt variety, Biel is clinging to the political raft. It was better, therefore, for it to have appeared that Biel had extracted an Aena promise, and then keep mum when it emerged that he hadn't.
The silence, given the prospect of ever greater saturation of tourists, was even more surprising because for most of last week various authorities were taking it in turns to shut things down, like roads leading to beauty-spots and beaches. The way things are going, tourists appear destined to find their every attempt to make it to the coasts blocked by members of the local plods barring their way and brandishing access-denied notices. This of course assumes that there are any roads open that enable them to get as far as ones with road blocks. Yesterday, there weren't any open. Bloody cyclists all over the place and out for one massive bike ride across the island - all 6,000 or so of them.
Index for April 2017
Aena and flights at Palma - 30 April 2017
April start of the season - 1 April 2017
Aurora Picornell - 26 April 2017
Biel Barceló - 17 April 2017
Convair at the airport - 12 April 2017
Davallament - 13 April 2017
Environmental commitment - 20 April 2017
Expatriates - 25 April 2017
Fanny Tur - 9 April 2017
Holiday rentals - 7 April 2017, 18 April 2017, 22 April 2017, 29 April 2017
Jaume Garau and Més - 5 April 2017, 11 April 2017
Kelvin MacKenzie - 16 April 2017
Mediterranean culture - 15 April 2016, 21 April 2017
Palma auditorium - 3 April 2017
Palma, La Palma ... - 10 April 2017
Podemos and their bus - 24 April 2017
Pollensa villas' legality - 4 April 2017
Rules and traditions - 6 April 2017
Ruth Mateu (Més) resignation - 2 April 2017
Sex and Mallorca - 28 April 2017
Too many cars - 27 April 2017
Tourist information offices - 8 April 2017
Tourist tax - 19 April 2017
Wine exports to the USA - 29 April 2017
Zombies and Spanish defence - 23 April 2017
While Aena may have been listening to him (and them), it doesn't seem that they were listening to Aena. During the gathering, according to Biel, the airports authority had very kindly said that there will not be more flights per hour at Palma this summer. This, at any rate, was the first report. It was subsequently modified to Aena had said there won't be any increase this year, which was before Aena themselves realised that they had better speak up. They had said no such thing. They did not promise that there will not be more flights per hour this summer.
How was it that the different government representatives all appeared to have misheard what Aena had said? One guesses that the meeting was in Castellano, so possibly they were a bit slow on the uptake. But one doubts it. They do, after all, get enough practice with Castellano when going off to Madrid to harangue ministers over finance, residents' discounts and what have you. So what was the cause of the misunderstanding? Had Biel just imagined they'd said it, or what?
More peculiar than the apparent misreporting of Aena's words was the total silence from the massed ranks of the rest of the government. Yet, when Aena had first let it be known that more flights per hour were likely, you couldn't keep any of them from having prolonged rants, especially Biel. The increase would, more or less, mean the end of civilisation in Mallorca as we know it. Or it would at least lead to everything collapsing and no one being able to move because of the sheer volume of touristic humanity.
This time, though, not a dicky bird. Why was that, do you suppose? Was it a case of protecting Biel. With the police now hovering over the Més contracts and spying potential irregularities of the possibly corrupt variety, Biel is clinging to the political raft. It was better, therefore, for it to have appeared that Biel had extracted an Aena promise, and then keep mum when it emerged that he hadn't.
The silence, given the prospect of ever greater saturation of tourists, was even more surprising because for most of last week various authorities were taking it in turns to shut things down, like roads leading to beauty-spots and beaches. The way things are going, tourists appear destined to find their every attempt to make it to the coasts blocked by members of the local plods barring their way and brandishing access-denied notices. This of course assumes that there are any roads open that enable them to get as far as ones with road blocks. Yesterday, there weren't any open. Bloody cyclists all over the place and out for one massive bike ride across the island - all 6,000 or so of them.
Index for April 2017
Aena and flights at Palma - 30 April 2017
April start of the season - 1 April 2017
Aurora Picornell - 26 April 2017
Biel Barceló - 17 April 2017
Convair at the airport - 12 April 2017
Davallament - 13 April 2017
Environmental commitment - 20 April 2017
Expatriates - 25 April 2017
Fanny Tur - 9 April 2017
Holiday rentals - 7 April 2017, 18 April 2017, 22 April 2017, 29 April 2017
Jaume Garau and Més - 5 April 2017, 11 April 2017
Kelvin MacKenzie - 16 April 2017
Mediterranean culture - 15 April 2016, 21 April 2017
Palma auditorium - 3 April 2017
Palma, La Palma ... - 10 April 2017
Podemos and their bus - 24 April 2017
Pollensa villas' legality - 4 April 2017
Rules and traditions - 6 April 2017
Ruth Mateu (Més) resignation - 2 April 2017
Sex and Mallorca - 28 April 2017
Too many cars - 27 April 2017
Tourist information offices - 8 April 2017
Tourist tax - 19 April 2017
Wine exports to the USA - 29 April 2017
Zombies and Spanish defence - 23 April 2017
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