Palma.Throughout July and August, a specially empowered inspectorate of the regional Tourist ministry is launching a campaign to track down tourist businesses who have failed to register with local authorities.
The purpose is two-fold. Firstly, illegal tourist activity, whether it be hotels, self-catering accommodation or other services means that the businesses are not paying tax to the government. Secondly, the government needs to ensure that the public are being provided with set minimum standards and that proper health and safety measures are applied.
The inspectorate's coordination director Jaime Martinez, said that all means by which such businesses might advertise themselves are going to be looked at, not just the internet. By that, he said we mean looking at brochures which tour operators might produce, along with travel agency and estate agency magazines. He explained that if illegal activity is allowed to flourish in tourist resorts, it could mean that the quality image of Majorca which the government is anxious to promote as its advantage over other tourist destinations may be tarnished.
Second homes
Martinez said that in recent campaigns of this nature, some 1'000 illegally operating businesses had been unearthed, many of them run by people who have had second homes on the island and who rented the properties out to holiday-makers.
Already this season, he said, 20 businesses have been earmarked for investigation. Martinez furthered that an important part of the work of the investigation team will be to revisit those businesses which have registered in previous years to see if they are up to scratch in meeting current standards laid down by the minimum standards law.
The regional hoteliers' associations are reportedly backing the campaign one hundred percent. It must be the case that all business, and not just some, should be subject to taxation and controls, a spokesman said.
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