Your weekly news catch-up in Mallorca

When Mallorca gets busy, it can be guaranteed that there will be issues at the airport. At present, attention isn’t centred on queues for passport control but on the annual conflict because of “pirate” transport and on the comparatively recent phenomenon of cars parking on the arrivals access road rather than using car parks when picking up. One says comparatively recent, as there were certainly complaints about this last summer. Nothing was done at the time, while action adopted just before Easter appeared to be in response to the amount of media publicity that was given to the queues of cars, the tailbacks on to the motorway and the possible risks.

The installation of barriers blocking off the outside lane was supposed to have solved the problem. Unfortunately, it hasn’t, as there have been queues on the inside lane and hard shoulder instead. It is a truly ridiculous situation, one caused by the apparent unwillingness to pay the low amounts for exceeding the fifteen minutes of free parking at the arrivals express car park or for using the main car park.

Just as ridiculous are the efforts to prevent the problem. Airport security personnel have been deployed in an attempt to get drivers to move on, but these guards have no authority other than to inform drivers; they can’t make them move. The union representing the guards has denounced the situation to the National Police, the implication being that the airports authority Aena has been expecting the guards to take stronger measures. Aena, for its part, has said that under no circumstances should there be “confrontation” with drivers.

Could the police not sort all this out? Well no, and that’s because there is no agreement between Aena and Palma town hall for providing police service at the airport. The town hall receives no payment and so the police only go to the airport in the event of emergencies. What about Tráfico? Perhaps, but that might depend on arrangements that may or may not exist with the Guardia Civil.

The town hall once proposed, unsuccessfully, that there should be thirty minutes free parking rather than fifteen. Might this be a solution? Only if thirty minutes were long enough. Ultimately, and while there are criticisms that Aena is only interested in generating revenue, the situation boils down to a selfishness on behalf of those drivers who appear to feel that they are entitled to cause problems for others.

Pirate transport operators at the airport

There have been clashes between taxi drivers and pirate transport operators on numerous occasions, and the taxi drivers once staged a several-hour stoppage by way of protest. Tensions are once more said to be mounting at the airport, the Balearic Transport Federation pointing to the “massive” presence of pirate operators and demanding that the government is “as forceful as possible” in applying regulations and eradicating illegal activity.

There are different types of pirate operation - private cars used as taxis, private transport operators and licensed taxis from outside Palma. Absolutely no one supports the private cars, but there have been calls for non-Palma taxis to be allowed to pick up and for freer competition to let private transport do likewise. At present, they can collect but only if they have prior bookings.

Against this background of conflict, there is also the memory of last summer, when public transport (buses and Palma taxis) were overwhelmed by demand. Aena, it would seem, has hit on a way of trying to prevent this “saturation” while at the same time addressing the demand for greater competition and legitimising private transport operations. It is to tender for services from the airport to resorts, but it is unclear - as yet - as to how this could function. There are the government regulations regarding prior bookings, while the government will surely view this as competition to its Aerotib services.

The Aviba association of travel agencies, which supports the Aena plan, has said of any taxi opposition that “it is clear that if they cannot cope, we must give room to more competition”. Yes, and in this regard there are the constant calls for Uber and similar to be allowed to operate in the Balearics. This said, an Uber driver could potentially run into difficulties at the airport as the government’s prior booking requirement is 24 hours.

Shortage of taxis

In Calvia, there are renewed fears of a shortage of taxis this summer. Last year, according to one hotel receptionist, there were fights between tourists who had been waiting an age for a taxi.
Marga Prohens, the leader of the Partido Popular, the main opposition party, has been expressing her criticisms of the government, saying that it has done nothing to ease the problem.

It might be recalled that tourism minister and government spokesperson Iago Negueruela insisted a couple of weeks ago that there wouldn’t be any problems with taxi services or other transport being “overwhelmed” this summer. “We believe that everything will be fine," he said, adding that there is “one of the best transport networks” from the airport.

Controlling illegal holiday lets

Negueruela’s ministry transferred various responsibilities to the Council of Mallorca at the start of last year. These included tourism inspections, and a tougher approach against illegal holiday lets, believes the manager of the Habtur holiday rentals association, Maria Gibert, is having a desired effect. The supply of illegal lets has decreased, the publicity given to inspectors’ tactics having acted as a deterrence, one that Habtur fully supports.

It has meanwhile been confirmed just how strong a presence licensed holiday rentals have in Pollensa. Latest figures from the National Statistics Institute indicate that there are 2,811 registered holiday rental properties in the municipality - 23% of all dwellings. These are almost one thousand more than the second municipality, Alcudia with 1,872 and 16% of total dwellings. Buger has the highest percentage. Its 190 registered properties equate to 26.9% of all dwellings.

Employment satisfaction but recruitment problems

With his employment minister’s hat on, Iago Negueruela would doubtless have been satisfied with findings from recruitment company Adecco’s monitor of employment opportunities and satisfaction. This shows that the Balearics rank second in the country in terms of working conditions. There are five measures for this monitor, one of them being pay. The Balearics and the Canaries registered the highest increases in average salaries in 2022 - in the Balearics it was 1,729 euros per month - but Adecco notes that there was an “ERTE effect”. There was more pandemic furlough in the two island regions than anywhere else and this lasted longer than in other regions. Salaries had therefore been “depressed” for longer.

Since the pandemic, employment figures in the Balearics have been very positive, and in one sector - restaurants - recruitment is reported to be up 20%. While this reflects the anticipation of an “excellent tourist season”, it is also because restaurants don’t want to find themselves in the situation they were last summer. There was a shortage of staff, and one way of preventing this, says the CAEB restaurants association, is to give contracts for the whole season. In the past, there was temporary hiring for the Easter period, but restaurants are now offering contracts from April to the end of October.

A different sector - transport - is meanwhile voicing its concern about personnel shortages. Hauliers in the Balearics say they need up to 200 more drivers. Coach operators reckon they require another 100. The hauliers association says the situation is “critical” and is warning that supplies could be affected. It also wants subsidies to help cover the cost of getting the appropriate qualification - the whole process for passing tests and obtaining licences can be as much as 4,000 euros.

Housing not a concern for foreign buyers

Housing, it has been said often enough, will be a major issue at next month’s election. But a good number of home owners in the Balearics are unlikely to go anywhere near a polling station or indeed be the least bit concerned about housing. Figures from the College of Registrars for 2022 show that 6,419 out of a total of 17,826 home-buying transactions didn’t require a mortgage. Of all foreign buyers, 83% were cash buyers. This compared with 36% of Balearic citizens.

The figures also indicate that the average price of a home was something in excess of 230,000 euros, a valuation very close to what a 100 square metre flat in Palma’s Pere Garau district now costs (226,000). Previously not that desirable, “gentrification” and foreign interest has led to a 41% increase in prices over the past 18 months.

The most polluting cruise ship of all

Finally, it was reported that the super-luxury Scenic Eclipse II will be in Palma later this month. With a maximum capacity of just 228 passengers, this is most certainly not a vessel in the mega-cruise ship category. One that is getting on for that category, with capacity for just 2,500, is the AIDAbella. Data compiled by the Council of Mallorca’s Sustainable Tourism Observatory indicate that this is the most polluting ship that comes to Mallorca. Its CO2 emission while in Mallorca’s territorial sea is equivalent to that of 19,087 cars.