Many openings delayed due to council works

Joan Collins BARS, restaurants and hotels on Majorca have delayed their opening because of the failure of councils in tourist areas to complete improvement works, especially in Cala Millor, San Jordi and Porto Colom, according to the President of the Association of Restaurateurs of Majorca, Antoni Mas. In some towns the improvement work, due to be completed for the high tourist season, has gone on “longer than the local council had envisaged”. This has forced the bar and restaurant owners to delay the opening of their establishments, explained Mas. For his part, the President of the Balearic Shopkeepers Association (AFEDECO), Bartolome Servera, said that the area most affected by the works are the Borne and Calle Antonio Maura in Palma, although he did recognise that in Cala Millor many companies had complained. “It is always the same problem”, he said in reference to the works, “everyone is affected by the noise, closed roads and dust”. Servera said that in a meeting last Friday those in charge of the works in Palma promised to “tidy them up” before the end of May and stop them until after the summer to reduce the inconvenience. Mas identified this as the main cause of the “drop” which the tourist sector had suffered between Easter and the summer season. “Many owners will take advantage of this to finish reforms to their establishments before the summer. It is hoped that everything will be open by the end of May”. Mas agreed with Servera that there are good prospects for this season. “The sector is optimistic. More people came at Easter than last year. Another thing is what they spend. There is a tendency to spend less, mainly in areas with a high concentration of all-inclusive deals”, he said. In this respect he highlighted the rise in residential and nautical tourism, both with high amounts spent per day. “It is noticeable that these tourists have a high spending capacity. It suits us to support this type of tourism”, he said. He also mentioned families who bring their cars over from the Peninsula, a type of visitor who “comes to travel here, to spend”, in contrast to those who take “all-inclusive” deals.