'We're baffled and exasperated' – Majorca reels, but Britons are still booking
Hotel managers and tour operators in Majorca have expressed their ire after the UK's 'bombshell' decision to take Spain off its 'safe list' and demand visitors quarantine upon their return.
The travel plans of potentially thousands of British holidaymakers were thrown into turmoil yesterday with the decision by the UK government to include both the Balearics and Canaries in its new 14-day quarantine ruling for those returning home from Spain.
Furthermore, unexpectedly last night, the FCO included the Spanish islands on its list of non-essential destinations to visit, inflicting further damage on Majorca, a leading holiday destination for Britons. Ironically, with such a low coronavirus infection rate per capita, the golden isle is now seen as one of the safest places in Europe to visit this summer.
Following a fractious start to the normally buoyant summer season, many island hoteliers had only just re-opened their doors to visitors. Ulisses Marreiros, general manager of luxury five-star hotel, La Residencia in Deia in northwest Majorca, where not one case of the virus has been recorded, expressed frustration. He said: “We opened last Friday and the next evening the new ruling was announced. It was a complete bombshell. We rely heavily on the UK market and naturally cancellations followed swiftly. We are being as flexible as possible with our cancellation policy and on a positive note, many loyal clients are still coming in spite of the restrictions.’
Meanwhile in Palma, Miguel Feliz, general manager of deluxe five-star, Sant Francesc Hotel Singular, said: “Historically in July and August, the UK is our number one market so this has come as a real blow. We were one of the first hotels to open in the capital and have assiduously followed health and safety protocols for the benefit of our guests. We had sincerely hoped that the UK would make an exception for the Balearics given that it is such a safe destination at this time but that appears not to be the case.”
In the port of Soller close to the Sierra de Tramuntana mountains, Roo Lucas, co-owner of Bonnie Lass Charters, whose classic yachts recently featured in Netflix series, White Lines, told The Telegraph: “The knee-jerk decision to inflict quarantine on British travellers returning to the UK is baffling. As a business trying to plan ahead, the lack of consistency is woeful. Here in Soller we have no cases of the virus so our clients are understandably confused. With the FCO now including the Balearics on its non-essential travel list, it is unlikely that tourism can be salvaged for the rest of the season.”
Miguel Amengual, marketing director of the Pure Salt luxury hotel brand which has properties in the popular beach resorts of Playa de Palma and Port Adriano, endeavours to remain sanguine. “I’m in touch with several tour operators and we feel it isn’t at all fair that the Balearics have been included in the new quarantine and FCO ruling. All the same, there is a lot of lobbying going on and who knows, even at this late stage, with luck, the situation might change.”
While the Balearic tourism industry continues to entreat the UK government to reverse its decision, holiday companies such as luxury online site, MallorcanTonic, founded by Deirdre O’Connor, remain cautiously optimistic. She said: “It’s just like getting the car started and finding it’s run out of petrol. It is currently an exasperating scenario. All we can do now is to cross our fingers and hope that by some miracle, there will be an easing of regulations given the very low number of coronavirus cases in the Balearics.”
