The tourism school now finally due to arrive in Alcudia

The number of years was therefore up for debate, but what wasn’t was the fact that Alcudia town hall had ceded land to the Balearic government to build a school of hospitality and tourism, something now being referred to as an Integrated Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Professional Training.

There was a grand signing ceremony on Wednesday. Mayor Barbara Rebassa was joined for the occasion by the minister of finance and external relations, Rosario Sánchez, the minister of education and professional training, Martí March, and the minister of tourism, Iago Negueruela. There was also the director-general of finance and external relations, Aina Galmés, and a notary. All was signed absolutely properly and in front of a quarter of the cabinet, plus a director-general.

Formally signing over land to build on isn’t the same as actually building on it. The PP may just be right in expressing some scepticism, but the government and the town hall administration will insist that there is no need for this. The building will go ahead. The project has been declared one in the regional interest, a mechanism for speeding matters up and quite possibly sidestepping any planning inconvenience that might create an obstacle to construction.

The land, all 4,479 square metres of it, is on the C. Pollentia. It’s where the Feria de Abril has been held in the past. Close to the outer reaches of the Roman excavations, there has been some issue with its classification. There always is. But any stumbling block in this regard should be removed by the regional interest declaration. However, might construction just possibly run into snag? It’s that proximity to Pollentia. What if they unearth something of archaeological importance?

They’ll be hoping that they won’t. The PP may have referred to three years and Carme Garcia to four, but you can multiply these by six to get to an approximate length of time there has been talk of this tourism school. Yes, it’s been on the table for years and years. Finally, it looks as if there will be a school. And why?

There has been a demand for such a school from both the education and tourism sectors. Although professional (vocational) training has been available in Alcudia for many a year, there has been a lack of space and of facilities. For Alcudia and the area, the school is looked upon as means of contributing to “an improvement of the productive fabric” (to quote the government). The educational offer will be broader than it currently is, as there will be additional focus on languages and IT, among other things.

The land was destined at one point, and this would be twelve or thirteen years ago, to have been a new site for a Pollentia museum. That will now go on the finca on the other side of the cemetery road opposite the Roman town, it having been acquired for 1.1 million euros. When will that development be? Who can say. When will the tourism school, or rather the Integrated Centre, begin to rise up? In under three or four years, opposition parties will trust.