Hotel in the bay near Cala Fornells on Mallorca
Photo:
Andreas Lander/ DPA
Hotels and holiday resorts in Mallorca could soon look different.
The regional government of the Balearic Islands plans to improve working conditions for employees and make tourism more environmentally friendly.
This was announced by the regional head of government, Francina Armengol.
»The Balearic Islands will be the first tourism region in the world with a circular economy
be," said Armengol, according to the "Mallorca-Zeitung" at a tourism fair.
The approach envisages using resources such as water more sparingly and as repeatedly as possible.
A renaturation of Playa de Palma and a renewal of the beach promenade in Magaluf had already been announced in December.
There have long been considerations as to how hotels and restaurants could produce less waste.
However, the Balearic Islands are still a long way from an actual circular economy.
According to the politician, EU funds of 55 million euros are available for the ambitious program.
In the future, the hotel stars should not only give guests information about the facilities, comfort and service of the hotels, but also about environmental friendliness and the working conditions of the employees.
A total of around 300,000 new, height-adjustable beds are also planned for this purpose. They are intended to make the work of the mostly female employees easier by making changing the bed linen less physical. According to »El País«, 35 percent of accidents at work can be traced back to overexertion. The work in the hotels is considered to be physically demanding and often badly paid. Most recently, more than 20,000 cleaners worked on the Balearic Islands. Five years, at the latest six years, are planned for the changeover.
The regional government also wants to oblige hoteliers to measure the temperatures in all parts of the building and ensure good ventilation - even in those areas that are only accessible to employees. The measure should not only be useful in times of a pandemic, but above all it should also make working conditions easier in the summer months.
In order to receive hotel stars, the houses will also have to analyze their own resource consumption in the future. They are then asked to present a five-year plan to reduce energy and water consumption and a strategy for avoiding waste. Hygienic disposable packaging should no longer exist in the future. Subsidies are provided for the use of rainwater. In the future, restaurateurs will have to offer food that is produced as regionally as possible and generally identify the origin of their products. Oil heaters must be replaced with natural gas or electric boilers.
The Balearic Islands, which include Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca as well as Formentera and Cabrera, have long been trying to move away from the cheap image.
Instead of package tourists, the region would like to appeal more to environmentally conscious travelers.
Since 2016, visitors have had to pay a so-called eco-tax.
The corona pandemic had hit the residents of the Balearic Islands particularly hard.
According to aid organizations, poverty in Mallorca has almost doubled over the past two years.
Spain's central government not only wants to use the billions of euros in investments and EU aid to promote economic reconstruction, but also to change working conditions in the long term.
The holiday island plans that have now been announced fit this strategy.
Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz praised the plans of the Balearic Islands accordingly: »The labor reform gives the chambermaids a previously non-existent protection.
The draft law is an opportunity to further develop the economy while also thinking about the employees.«
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