On Monday the Island Councillor for Business Development, Joan Serra Mayans, revealed the plan for legalising unlicensed beds was being put on hold for the time being. The former Minister for Tourism, Miquel Nadal, announced the plans in 2008, in an effort to give businesses one final chance to make beds official before clamping down once and for all. However, according to Serra the current economic climate, plus the fact a reasonable price for each bed cannot be agreed, has led to the suspension of the idea. He said it was still on the cards and would begin when the time was right.
The Balearic Government was hoping to make between €70 million – €90 million from the idea, with each bed originally costing €4,000. However in his last Parliamentary session at the end of 2009, Nadal admitted just 155 beds had been legalised, out of a suspected total of 10,000 within the Balearics.
