Counting the cost in Mallorca

Jason MoorePalma14/04/2020 14:55

Everyone agrees that the Spanish government had little option but to introduce the lockdown. I suspect that it was not a decision which was taken lightly. The economic impact to the Balearics has been enormous. The Balearic government anticipates a 31% loss of GDP, equivalent to 9,270 million euros.

As for jobs the Balearic government believes that 147,000 will be lost. The local ministry for tourism doesn´t believe that the summer season will start for the tourist industry before August. The economic meltdown is one of the reasons why the central administration in Madrid has allowed so-called nonessential workers to return to work this week. It is a risky move by the Spanish government.

While the number of coronavirus cases continues to fall the death toll is still high and the situation is far from under control. But some thing had to be done and fast because otherwise the Spanish economy was in danger of going into intensive care. The return to work will not mean an instant economic bounce, far from it.

As the Balearic government has said... the summer season will not start until the summer is coming to an end. A nightmare scenario for many local businesses. Government aid has been promised and I hope it is forthcoming sooner rather than later.