New agreement is latest step in the reform of Playa de Palma

At the signing were the Minister Joan Clos; the leader of the Balearic Government, Jaume Matas; the President of the Council of Majorca, Maria Antonia Munar; and the Mayors of Palma and Llucmajor, Catalina Cirer and Tomas Munar respectively.

After the signing, Clos commented that this was an “innovative initiative” as “it is the first time that the Ministry has signed an agreement with local administrations to promote a reform plan to improve one of the stars of our national tourism industry.

He added that the Ministry had “committed itself to give economic help, and to work to design a better future for its well known destinations”, and commented that, in the case of Palma, it is a case of “seeing the compatibility” between the beach and the attractions in the city, taking into account that Palma is the capital of the region.

After saying that “it is a star among world tourist destinations” he said that “the time has come to do this reform, to keep up with the new characteristics of tourist demand today”.

He commented that the reform was seeking to renew the attractiveness of the area so that it would be “attractive, unusual, special, unique and exceptional”, and he highlighted that the objective is “to contribute to all year round tourism” so that the 38'000 hotel places in the Playa de Palma could be better used.

Matas commented that the Playa de Palma “is going to be improved in the medium term thanks to the 101 proposals initiative” which was formulated a couple of months ago by the different associations taking part in the project, and said that “it is difficult to quantify the total investment”.

He added that it was an “emblematic tourist place, one of the most important in all of Spain”, with nearly five kilometres of beach, some 38'000 hotel places, 122 restaurants, 206 cafeterias, 238 bars, 30 discos and 164 shops”.

He added that this was a sector which employed 12'500 people.