Humphrey CarterPalma09/01/2020 09:50
TW
3

Now that Spain has a government and will, I presume, sign off on a budget after a two year stalemate as soon as possible, the Balearics will finally receive all the money due from Madrid.

One can argue that much of that will have to go towards paying off the region’s public deficit which has grown due to a lack of state funding, however, perhaps it is time to consider temporarily lifting or reducing, maybe not scrapping, the tourist tax.

No one can disagree that over the past few years, prices across the board in the Balearics have risen.

The local population has felt the pain in the rise in the cost of living in its pockets so too have holiday makers, especially those who have been coming to the islands for decades.
Never mind mounting competition from other Mediterranean and North African destinations, there is a feeling from would be visitors, be they from the UK, Germany or even Scandinavia, that the Balearics is in danger of pricing itself out of the market.

And, should the U.S.-Iran crisis escalate, the price of fuel will rise and that will hit the airline and eventually the price of holidays.

Daily comments, or rather complaints, are posted on the Bulletin’s social media platforms about how expensive the region has become as a holiday destination. The hoteliers, the private sector, are unlikely to cut their prices, they are clearly just going to open later so perhaps the government should take a lead and ease the tax.