Biel Day And Tourism Apocalypse

It was one of those intense "debates", the sort where there are invited speakers who do a great deal of speaking and not a lot of actual debating, and the theme was our dear old friend, the holiday let. They've not invited me back. Not since, as a debater, I debated - vocally and in public - which planet the representative from the tourism ministry and indeed the then tourism minister, Jaime Martínez, were on. Never mind, there's another minister now, of whom the same question can be asked. More of him below.

Anyway, the debaters included Javier Blas, a lawyer whose Mastermind subject is holiday lets. He knows everything there is to know on the subject, which is a great deal more, therefore, than most inhabitants of the ministry. To cut to the chase, Javier believes laws on lets - the Balearic tourism law and the national Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (conveniently referred to in English, for all those English speakers who can't pronounce the law, as the tenancy act) - are both less than adequate, a point on which, one fancies, there is general agreement, except among those who drew up either of the laws: Jaime Martínez, for example.

It was a debate that was useful in reminding us all that nothing has been done by the current Balearic government to alter this unsatisfactory state of affairs. With the mad rush - one that seems to be getting more insanely rapid - to introduce the tourist tax, Jaime's successor, Biel Barceló, appears to have completely forgotten that he said the holiday lets thing would come before the tourist tax thing. Needs must, one supposes. As the Balearics are theoretically bankrupt, the government has to lay its hands on the first thing it can that happens to be lying around untaxed - tourists sprawled on a beach, in this instance.

It was of course all too good to last. We'd heard nothing from Biel on the tax for at least, erm, a week, and then he went and spoilt it all by upsetting everyone by apparently implying that from the start of next summer's season, a family of four on a fortnight's holiday will be handing over in the region of 100 euros. Or maybe it will be less. And maybe it'll be paid when checking in at a hotel. Or maybe not. Or maybe it won't be introduced next year. Or maybe it will. And maybe it'll be spent on tourist infrastructure. Or maybe it won't be. Don't worry though, Biel clearly knows. Just like the ministry sorts know all about laws on holiday lets.

The urgency to introduce adequate legislation to deal with private holiday accommodation has been made all the more urgent by what we must call the collaborative economy, a euphemism, where some are concerned, for renting out accommodation without the slightest intention of paying tax on it. While Biel seems to be neglecting the subject, someone who isn't, of all people, is the Pope.

On Portuguese radio the other day, Pope Francis said that religious congregations which have the odd empty convent or whatever knocking around can't simply turn it into a hotel or hostel and expect not to pay tax on income it generates. The "business" would not be "clean", he suggested, in letting monks know that they can't shove the takings into their back pockets. (Do monks have pockets? Perhaps not.) The Pope, clearly in tune with the new age of the collaborative economy, must be concerned that the odd convent might turn up on Airbnb.

As the collaborative economy seems so determined to take over tourism accommodation, be it convent or other, perhaps next Sunday should be renamed. Rather than World Tourism Day, it should be World Collaborative Economy Day, though in the Balearics it might be more appropriate to name it Biel Day. And as Cala Millor is where they celebrate world tourism more than anywhere else (the resort's tourist fiestas week starts tomorrow), Biel should get himself along. Meet and greet the tourists. Oh, by the way, have I told you that next year you'll be forking out a couple of euros a night for yourself, your good lady wife and the kids? Yep, Biel Day it should be. Tourism apocalypse beckons. There'll be no more tourism fiesta days. Party's over.

We Are The World, We Are The Tourists

Today is a good day to be a tourist. If you are, then consider yourself well and truly a part of World Tourism Day. This, dear tourist, is your day. Moreover, this is your day when you also contribute to sustainable energy. You are a tourist in the brave new world of environmental and resource righteousness. Let the words of Ban Ki-moon, the secreatry-general of the UN inspire you: "tourism is especially well placed to promote environmental sustainability, green growth and our struggle against climate change through its relationship with energy". (Oh and if you're wondering about the "secreatry" bit, this is how it is spelt on the World Tourism Day website; never mind, eh.)

What happens on World Tourism Day? Do tourists the world over join hands, form a global human chain and partake in a worldwide karaoke? To borrow from USA For Africa - "We are the world, we are the tourists, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving", with the giving being in the form of massive renewable energy subsidies provided by Spain. 

Were there such an international singalong, it would be organised from Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, where this year's World Tourism Day is being staged. And how very apt that it is. The UN's World Tourism Organisation is based in Spain (Madrid to be precise) and Spain is both a force in world tourism and a pioneer in renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaics, "in which we are number one in the world, and wind power, where we are number two".

This quote comes from someone who should know about the relationship between tourism and energy (as the UN secreatry-general has pointed out). They are the welcoming words of Spain's own José Manuel Soria López, the minister of industry, energy and tourism; oh, and the former president of the Canary Islands, to boot. How doubly fortuitous that the minister should be so familiar with the host location of World Tourism Day and be a minister responsible for both energy and tourism, this year's theme. It's almost as if this year's World Tourism Day had been arranged with him in mind.

At a time when Spain is being shown up as a case study in how not to run a modern economy, it is good that José Manuel should be able to cast the country in a more positive light for once (a positive light supplied by renewables of course). However, as I mentioned in January: "The recent history of developing alternative energy sources has been a shambles. A much-heralded national plan for a green economy has backfired spectacularly. It has driven up the cost of energy and has created little or nothing by way of new sources. Indeed, central-government policy has been such that getting on for fifty separate projects for solar energy on the Balearics have been rejected."

But don't just take my word. Try the words of César Molinas, a writer, economist and one-time MD of Merrill Lynch in London, who in a forthcoming book talks about the "renewable energy bubble": "Spain represents two per cent of world GDP yet it is paying 15% of the global total of renewable energy subsidies. This absurd situation, which was sold to the public as a move that would put Spain at the forefront of the fight against climate change, creates lots of fraud and corruption. In order to finance these subsidies, Spanish households and businesses pay the highest electricity rates in all of Europe, which seriously undermines the competitiveness of our economy. Despite these exaggerated prices, the Spanish power system debt is several million euros a year, with an accumulated debt of over 24 billion euros that nobody knows how to pay".*

So, that good is Spain at being a pioneer in renewables, they provide very little and cost an absolute arm and a leg. Still, as it is World Tourism Day, it is reassuring to know that tourists in other parts of the world are benefiting from Spain's renewable energy subsidies ("so let's start giving"). That's something for José Manuel to brag about, though he probably won't.

Of course, he can put it all down to the previous lot if something has gone slightly wrong with the renewables strategy, whilst neglecting to thank them for having put Spain on the path to a green economy (even if it has been an unmitigated disaster).

But, I hear you say, let's not worry about all this, what is there to do on World Tourism Day? Well, you can get into some museums and such like for free and in Playa de Muro there are all sorts of things to do - like beach volleyball, building sandcastles, and tasting wines. All of it energetically sustainable no doubt and all of it in the name of world tourism.

* César Molinas, "What To Do With Spain?", quoted from "El País" (English), 12 September: http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/09/12/inenglish/1347449744_053124.html


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