Recharging point for electric cars

14 June 2010

PALMA City Council has officially opened a battery recharging point for electric cars in the underground municipal car park in Via Roma. It is the first of six points which the Council plans to set up, one for each of the city's districts. Mayor Aina Calvo was in the spotlight yesterday in a demonstration of how to use the recharging point which can also top up the batteries of electrically-powered motorbikes, bicycles and wheelchairs. As well as the service being totally free for two years, those cars or bikes which use the recharger will be able to have two free hours of parking. Read Full Article

Holiday costs falling

07 June 2010

TOUR firm Thomas Cook has revealed where holiday spending money goes the furthest in its Cost of Living survey 2010. Costs have dropped in a number of locations, including mainland Spain, the Canaries and Balearic Islands. Daily costs in Morocco, meanwhile, come to just £29.42 - nearly £20 cheaper than the UK. The ever-popular Egypt and eastern Med favourite, Turkey, continue to be great value for money mid-haul destinations, while India remains the cheapest destination overall, with a beer costing just 68p. The Balearic Islands came out at £38.36, cheaper in 2010 by £4.14. Read Full Article

Cost of renting property went up in Balearics last month

31 May 2010

THE cost of renting a home in the Balearics last month rose by 0.42 percent in comparison with prices in April 2009, real estate agency watchdog, "facilisimo.com" reported yesterday. The increase in the Islands which rose to an average rental of 8.37 euros per square metre, said the watchdog puts the region as the fourth costliest in Spain. The top three are the Basque Country where renting costs 10.71 euros per square metre, Madrid (10.13 per sq.m.) and Catalonia (9.36 per sq.m.) Read Full Article

Retailers want an end to street vendors

24 May 2010

THE Federation of Balearic Retailers, Afedeco, is calling for a continued police presence in Palma to prohibit illegal street vendors in key shopping areas such as Calle San Miguel, Jaime II and Plaza Mayor. It is deplorable said one source from Afedeco yesterday, that the practice is on the increase right in front of the shop windows of legal, tax paying retailers. Read Full Article

Sunny spell heralds higher temperatures

17 May 2010

FROM this weekend onwards, sunnier and warmer weather is going to set the scene for the rest of May but the Balearics could still be prone to occasional showers, Angel Rivera, spokesman for the National Weather Agency (AEMET)said yesterday. Rivera said that today is the start of what he described as a "slow recovery" in stability of weather conditions, although he said there will be some rainfall in the Mediterranean on Wednesday. Temperatures, he said, will start to rise due to the presence of an anticyclone hovering over the Atlantic ocean and may quickly reach 30 degrees Centigrade in some southern parts of the country. Read Full Article

Hoteliers braced for a summer of discounts and last minute bookings

11 May 2010

THE 915 members of the Majorcan Hotel Federation are braced for a summer of discounts and late bookings. The summer season officially got under way last Saturday, May 1, but the volcanic ash lock down led to a wave of forced cancellations and some of Europe’s main tour firms have yet to start operating a full service. According to Majorcan Hotel Federation sources, many hoteliers are going to be offering discounts of up to 30 percent throughout the summer, including during the peak summer season months of July and August. Read Full Article

STARS COME OUT FOR PIRATES PREMIERE IN AID OF GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL

03 May 2010

A treasure chest of top British celebrities will be attending tonight’s Pirates Adventure Premiere in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital in Magalluf. Claire Sweeney, Nicky Clarke, Sue Cleaver, Peter Stringfellow and surprise guests from Eastenders are just some of the top names who will be helping Pirates raise money for the world famous children’s hospital in London. Read Full Article

Low cost airlines maintain height against regular airlines in Balearics

26 April 2010

LOW cost airlines brought 601'069 passengers to Palma during the first quarter of the year, an increase of 0.6 percent on the same period in 2009, Central Government reported yesterday. It was a very different picture though for regular airlines who could muster no more than 58'349 for journeys to Palma from January to March this year, a year-on-year decrease of 18.3 percent. Read Full Article

MAJORCA TOP FOR SPRING HALF-TERM

19 April 2010

HOLIDAYS-DIRECT UK yesterday announced their most popular destinations during the UK's Spring half term holiday week, with Turkey, Paris, Majorca and Crete being top choices for many families in Britain. With the summer holidays not far away, families are rushing to book an extra week's holiday in Spring half term Holiday to make the most of their time off and keep the children amused. Read Full Article

MEASURES TO TACKLE RECESSION

12 April 2010

SPAIN introduced more measures aimed at helping the country emerge from a bitter recession yesterday, but unions criticised them as falling short of what was required to kickstart the economy.

The 24 measures include a cut in sales tax on projects aimed at refurbishing houses and loans of up to 200'000 euros for small and medium-sized businesses. Read Full Article

EASTER BOOKINGS ON THE INCREASE

05 April 2010

Hoteliers in Mallorca have claimed that bookings for this Easter were between 5-10% higher than the same period last year seeming to indicate that there is a light at the end of the tunnel in relation to the recession. However, Antonio Horrach, the President of the Majorcan Hoteliers Federation said yesterday that although hotels were between 65 and 70 percent full for Easter, the increase on last year was the same as the degree to which hoteliers had dropped their prices this year (between 5 and 10 percent.)

MORTGAGE LENDING SLIDE SOFTENS

29 March 2010

Spanish mortgage lending fell less sharply in January than in December, even though demand and credit conditions remained tight, suggesting no significant pick up for some time. January mortgage lending for housing totalled 6.06 billion euros, 5.5 percent lower than a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute said yesterday. That was down from the 10.37 billion euros loaned in December, but smaller than the 10.2 percent fall recorded in that month.

SNOW STORMS IN MALLORCA, WHATEVER NEXT?

22 March 2010

Forget packing a bikini and flip flops, British holidaymakers in resorts across the Med have seen some of the worst weather in 50 years. Blizzard conditions have caused temperatures in the likes of Venice, Majorca and Biarritz to plummet. Roads were closed as up to four inches of snow fell across Mallorca and many residents and holidaymakers stayed indoors. Good news is that all is OK again now with temperatures back up to 18 degrees centigrade with no snow in sight!

36 MILLION EURO INVESTMENT IN PORT OF PALMA

16 March 2010

The Port of Palma is going to be extended to accommodate large cruise liners thanks to a 36 million euros investment and will include a 12,600 square metre breakwater. The work will involve extending the already-existing jetties by around 50 metres and the construction of two docking areas, each some 380 metres in length and 30 metres wide. Depth of water at the moorings will reach 12 metres.

DOOM AND GLOOM ON THE HIGH STREET

08 March 2010

Despite quite successful winter sales, Mallorca's high streets are still feeling the effect of the Global recession and high unemployment on the island. The latest retail sector report published by the small to medium sized business association yesterday, reveals that 73 percent of Majorca’s shop keepers - seven out of every ten - claim that last month’s takings were well down on February last year. 58% of Palma shop keepers have been hit by a down turn in takings while outside of the capital, the figure is as high as 88%..

CAR FOR HIRE. MAYBE NOT!

01 March 2010

Over the past 18 months, getting your hands on a hire car in Mallorca has not been easy due to the fact that there simply is not enough hire cars to go around! According to the BVRLA (British Vehicle Renting and Leasing Association), holiday makers need to book their cars early this year as there is going to be another shortage of cars this Easter and Summer.

POSITIVE NEWS FROM SPANISH TOURIST BOARD

22 February 2010

Economic growth and the back end of the recession in key countries such as germany and the UK have made for positive tourism forecast figures in the Balearics this summer with the number of bookings looking very promising. Balearic hoteliers meanwhile are anxiously waiting to see the results from the Travel Fair in Berlin which is scheduled for 10th to 14th March. It will not be until then that they will know the tour operators’ forecasts for bookings for each of the islands.

OPTIMISM OVER FULL SUMMER SEASON

16 February 2010

The 970 businesses belonging to the Island's Hotel Federation are extremely confident that all hotels will open from 1st April this year to coincide with Easter week. At present only 15% of Mallorca's hotels are open which is around 150 hotels with 37,500 beds. From 1st April, this number will increase to 250,000.

POSSIBLE EASTER STRIKE AT AIRCRAFT TRAFFIC CONTROL

08 February 2010

Air Traffic controllers in Spain are threatening industrial action over proposed pay cuts which could disrupt travel over the Easter period. It was recently revealed that Spanish air traffic controllers, once they have put in for overtime, are the highest paid in Europe and the government responded by announcing pay cuts of nearly 40 percent. Talks between the unions and the Spanish Airport and Air Traffic Control Authority (AENA) broke down earlier this week and the Easter strikes appear to be going ahead.

BALEARIC UNEMPLOYMENT WORSE THAN FEARED

01 February 2010

Unemployment figures on the Balearics are worse than initially feared with a recent report stating that there are now 112,400 people out of work with the region suffering the sharpest rise in job losses in Spain during 2009. The rate of unemployment in the Balearics for 2009 was 19.54 percent, 0.7 percent higher than the Spanish national average and nearly double the 10 percent rate of unemployment in the eurozone.

BA BOOSTS CAPACITY ON MAJORCA FLIGHTS

18 January 2010

British Airways (BA) has confirmed that it will offer higher capacity on its new flights to Majorca and Ibiza this summer, less than a month after announcing the routes. The new services will be launched from London City airport in May. During July and August, frequency will be increased from three to five weekly flights to Majorca and three to four services a week to Ibiza.