Bosses in the bar, restaurant and hotel industry in Majorca have warned that the impact of tourists tightening their purse strings this summer has had a nasty impact
The hospitality scene of a Spanish holiday hotspot is on the brink, with hundreds of bars and restaurants facing closure after experiencing their bleakest season since the pandemic.
Bosses in the bar, restaurant and hotel industry in Majorca have warned that the impact of tourists tightening their purse strings this summer has had a nasty impact. The restaurant association PIMEM-Restauracion has sounded the alarm, citing a triple threat: a scarcity of skilled workers, soaring staff and operational costs, and plummeting sales.
Association president Cesar Amable has pinpointed the spike in travel and accommodation costs, particularly airfares, as a major blow to the industry and other key sectors this summer. “The average stay has been shortened and the budget of tourists has been limited, thus penalising the extraordinary expenses of the trip, a situation that has ended up confirming the least profitable season in recent years, a pandemic period aside,” he lamented.
Some restaurateurs want to be able to pay their workers less, arguing for a bespoke hospitality agreement to separate their terms from those of hoteliers – a move already seen in other Spanish regions like La Rioja, Madrid, and Guipuzcoa. They argue that the salary hikes are unsustainable for an industry which has seen its revenue drop by about 20% compared to the previous season. Given the minimum wage is just 1,050 euros in Spain, that suggestion is unlikely to be popular.
They’ve highlighted that since 2018, a collective agreement has pushed staff costs up by 25.3%, while menu prices have only increased by 10% over the same timeframe.
“There is a huge gap between hotels and restaurants; I think it’s very good that hotels raise prices as much as they want to raise them, but there are many things that differentiate us,” stated Mr. Amable, who cautioned that the decrease in revenue this season will likely lead to an early closure of numerous businesses situated in Mallorca’s tourist areas and throughout the archipelago. He warned, unless a new agreement is reached: “We restaurateurs have a very bad future.”
The situation in Majorca – as with many destinations that are reliant on tourism – is complex. While business owners may welcome the arrival of more and more visitors with increasing amounts of money, locals may be less keen when they see the price of their homes and dinners rising as a result.
The local authority in Majorca is taking action to crack down on unscrupulous second homeowners on the island, which some have highlighted as a part of the problem. They are now facing a severe crackdown, with stiff fines and authorities threatening to switch off their water and electricity supply. This drastic strategy is the latest weapon deployed by the island’s council as part of a wider effort to increase available housing and make rents more affordable for locals, aiming to curb the issue widely described as “tourist massification”.
