Four years of power delay has cost local businesses millions

THE four year delay in denationalising the electricity sector in the Balearics has caused “the annual loss of 6000 million euros” to local companies, excess costs that companies on the mainland of Spain do not have to bear. The President of the Chamber of Commerce of Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera, Miquel Lladó, publicly condemned the status quo yesterday.
For Lladó, the electricity sector is “one of the keystones of business competition” and “the second most important area of spending in the tourist sector”. These themes have occupied specialists from the Chamber of Commerce for five years. After an audience with the Balearic President, Jaume Matas, Lladó announced that he has made an official request to the Islands' government for the Chamber of Commerce to be included in the special Commission set up to oversee the smooth running of the energy supply system. It is believed that the work already carried out by the Chamber of Commerce in this field could be of value. In spite of the fact that the Chamber has still not quantified the losses suffered by the business sector following the power failure in Majorca last Monday, it is getting together “the maximum amount of information” in order to “accurately evaluate its impact”, Lladó explained. Angered by the excessive costs incurred by the Islands' businesses, he did not refrain from criticising the delay in the control of the Islands' electricity supply. He pointed out that it is the view of the Special Balearic Regime (REB) that the cost of power supply in the archipelago should not be higher than other regions in the rest of Spain. In spite of this, “we are currently having to bear higher costs and this is undermining our competitiveness” insisted Lladó.