By Andrew Ede
鈥淎ll blown out of proportion as usual.鈥 This was a comment for a news item headlined 鈥楢larm at Palma Airport after part of a roof collapses鈥, a comment, it鈥檚 worth pointing out, that wasn鈥檛 echoed by others. What had been blown out of proportion? The fact that there had been alarm? The fact that part of a roof had fallen? What would have been in proportion? Saying nothing? One accepts that reporting on events in Mallorca can indeed suffer from a lack of proportion. But this most certainly wasn鈥檛 an example of that. Were the CAEB Confederation of Balearic Business Associations, the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, the Balearic Government, tour operators all blowing things out of proportion in highlighting the incident of the collapsed roof as the final straw of complaints about ongoing work at the airport and the poor image this work has been conveying? Out of proportion? Glass and other material fell right by vending machines in the baggage reclaim area. Someone could have been seriously injured or worse. Had that happened, all hell would have been let loose.
To be fair, once the roof incident started its rounds of British media online reporting, a sense of proportion was somewhat dispensed with. But that is something which Mallorca (and anyone interested in Mallorca) should by now appreciate. And it won鈥檛 go away. Not so long as Mallorca drives up web traffic, which the island does probably more effectively than any other holiday destination on the planet.
It鈥檚 a small world, folks, a very small and a very rapid world, one in which news of a roof coming down travels way more swiftly than it takes to fly from a UK or German airport to Palma. And for good measure, the vapour trail brought with it the possibility of strike action in the Balearic hospitality industry. The one blemish in a cloudless, blue, western Mediterranean sky, the roof and strike trail struck at the image of Mallorca.
The roof and the less-than-appealing sight of work at the airport were of far greater concern than potential strike action. One hotelier said: 鈥淭he airport is eighty times worse than a hotel strike with minimum service levels.鈥 Government vice-president Antoni Costa pointed out that the government had written to the airports authority over two months ago in denouncing 鈥渄eficiencies鈥. The government was now 鈥減rofoundly concerned鈥. Tour operators alluded to a 鈥渓amentable image鈥, and it was the image that worried the hoteliers, other businesses and the government; not just the image of the airport but also one portraying Mallorca.
Scenes at the airport are seemingly detrimental every year. If these aren鈥檛 to do with building work, then they are of queues, or perhaps they are of taxi drivers having a fight with pirate transport operators, or of some poor homeless looking for a place to doss. Not great for the image, but then Mallorca knows a good deal about things that aren鈥檛 great for the image.
Magalluf at its most excessive may not have done any harm in terms of tourist numbers, but the excess had to be addressed. There have been clear efforts to reduce the possibility of harm and to present an altered image. Yes, it has taken public authorities time to catch up with private initiative, but perhaps we could all do with examining Magalluf that little bit more closely as a case study of collaboration that has enjoyed some success in managing image.
The airports authority AENA, for all it is 49% privately owned, remains a public entity, one controlled by the Spanish Government. AENA would of course deny this, but at times there is the impression of doing things that suit it rather than involving other stakeholders. Regardless of the revenue that the airport generates, it is understandable that there have been consistent calls for the regional government to be involved with the management. Would a local involvement assist in enhancing image? Maybe, maybe not, but principles of equal collaboration and of shared objectives, which one can argue have existed in Magalluf, can go a long way.
Likewise with the unions and their disagreements with the hoteliers. The UGT in particular have been spoiling for a fight for months. The union more or less said as much well before the collective bargaining agreement negotiations started. It is of course a classic union ploy to extract as much as possible from employers. But if there were to be seriousness about collaboration and managing image, why are the two sides not engaged in permanent talks?
An industry with upwards of 200,000 employees, who can equate to around 30% of the entire workforce in the Balearics, deserves rather more than attempting to shoehorn complex negotiations into three months. And without wishing to sound as if I鈥檓 defending the employers, the unions should be more willing collaborators in addressing absenteeism. That affects operations perhaps more than strikes with minimum service levels and doubtful participation. There will always be something that affects image, but there are ways of preventing or limiting the negative, and genuine collaboration is one of these.