SUNTICIPATION
As the economic gloom deepened in the UK, and tourist destinations around the world braced themselves for a difficult summer, there appeared hope in the form of an ABTA survey. According to the Holiday Value Report released by the Association of British Travel Agents the recovery from recession will depend on whether Brits take a holiday this year.
The survey showed 66 per cent of the UK enjoyed a big emotional high from a summer holiday and nearly 50 per cent believe the break from routine is a vital way of escaping the current economic downturn, with Brits also rating the value of summer holidays three times higher than pay rises.
The survey also allayed some fears this would be a summer of late bookings, with only nine per cent of holidaymakers claiming they would leave their booking until the last minute.
However, most will still remain price sensitive with 50 per cent prepared to spend up to £500 on flights and accommodation and only eight per cent prepared to pay more than £1,200. The holiday also remains the most prized annual purchase at 37 per cent, compared to its nearest contender of a new car at 15 per cent.
The author of the report, psychotherapist Christine Webber, claimed: "Having something to look forward to like a holiday often helps us focus more on current tasks. Booking a holiday gives us an emotional lift.
The nation is suffering from collective stress at the moment and holidays are one way of keeping the UK on an even keel. Everyone has to think long and hard about what they spend, but holidays are still firmly in the family budget."
Webber has coined a new phrase, “sunticipation”, which is the feeling a person gets once a holiday is booked and until the first ray of sunshine hits their face. This, she says, is what will help pull the UK out of its current slump.
The report went on to reveal that only five per cent of those questioned said they val-ued sex most about their holidays, with 18 per cent preferring culture.
However, Ignacio Vasallo, Director of the Tourist Office, was not so optimistic and claimed British tour operators had been trimming back their programmes to Spain and reducing the number of hotel beds contracted due to local market conditions. He said the weak pound was damaging sales, and that holiday firms would have to offer huge discounts in order to attract visitors, although he added that the Balearics was not doing as badly as other destinations in Spain.
The positive news came as the UK officially entered into a recession in its fourth quarter after suffering its steepest quarterly decline in almost 30 years. Government statistics released on Friday showed that the economy shrank by 1.5 per cent in the final quarter of 2008, the worst performance since 1980, when the country was suffering from high unemployment under Margaret Thatcher. This decline, added to that seen in the previous month means the country is officially in recession.
As employment rose to nearly two million, Marks & Spencer claimed it would be closing 27 stores and cutting more than 1,000 jobs.
However, as Gordon Brown announced yet another bail-out package for the banks, any hope that the crisis would only have major consequences in the financial sector were obliterated when the official figures showed contractions in every sector except agricul-ture.

AROUND THE ISLAND
Blown Away
Winds reaching 122 kmph brought chaos to the island over the weekend with a total of twelve flights cancelled as well as various ferry crossings. The wind started to pick up on Friday evening, but was at its strongest during Saturday morning. In total there were 53 incidents across the island according to the emergency services, 14 of which took place in Ibiza Town, seven in San Antonio, 17 in Santa Eulalia, seven in San Juan, and eight in San Jose.
San Antonio was again the worst hit with the wind coming in from sa Conillera beaching 18 boats by 9 a.m. on Saturday. However, as the wind continued by the end of the day there were a total of 30 left stranded on s’Arenal beach, whilst five had sunk during the bay. Rescue workers stayed in the area most of the day to ensure there was no danger to human lives, and at least one person was rescued from their boat during the morning.
In the rest of the municipal there were several fallen trees, whilst certain areas were left without electricity after a fallen tree brought down a cable line.
It was a similar story in all of the other municipalities with trees and metal fencing the most common culprits. However, whilst many vehicles were damaged by flying objects, there were no reports of any personal injuries.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said on the mainland where, sadly, four children were killed and several others injured near Barcelona when the roof of a sports centre collapsed in high winds. As gusts reached up to 160kmph there were a total of twelve deaths around the country, according to media reports.
The children, who had been playing baseball outside, had gone in to the sports hall in Sant Boi de Llobregat to shelter from the wind when the roof and some of the walls collapsed. All were between nine and twelve years old.
Elsewhere a 52-year-old woman died in Barcelona on Friday night when she was crushed by a collapsed wall. Another woman died on Saturday in the Castilla region when a door, lifted by the winds, crashed into her. Meanwhile, in Galicia a sergeant of the Guardia Civil was killed by a falling tree as he directed traffic.

Fitur Begins
The island’s councillor for tourism, Pepa Mari, spoke on Thursday about the specific details of the Fitur exhibition which gets underway today (28th January) in Madrid. The international tourist fair will have more than 13,000 exhibiting companies this year from 170 countries/regions.
Mari thanked the five Town Halls on the island for once again agreeing to combine promotion under the umbrella of “Ibiza”, with the slogan for this year being – “Ibiza, the best place to forget about the crisis.”
The councillor revealed a chef from the island would be taken along to the five day event, and would prepare some of the island’s delicacies three times a day for visitors to try.
The promotion will also involve a tribute to all those famous people who have chosen Ibiza over the years for its glamour and tranquillity, and try to show the island has a special place in the heart of most.
The island’s sporting events, especially those over the Easter break, will also be publi-cised.
Meanwhile, Mari confirmed she has yet to read the Marketing Plan which has been de-veloped for the Balearic Tourist Board by a private company at a cost of €300,000. The plan gives Mari’s department €2,856,000 to spend on the promotion of the island over the next year.
The councillor was said to be surprised by a specific budget in the plan for the promotion of golf. She confirmed her department had not asked for this, adding that she was unsure whether it would be used for this purpose or spent on the marketing of another area. The Balearic Government confirmed the company carrying out the plan had spe-cifically put €142,800 in the detailed list of the budget for the promotion of golf on the island.
According to the Government’s Minister for Tourism, Joan Mesquida, numbers of foreign visitors visiting Spain this year will be between two and 2.5 per cent down on last year, and similar to figures registered in 2006.

Climate Change
The director of the Meteorological Centre in the Balearics, Agusti Jansa, claimed scorch-ing temperatures would return again in 2009. The average temperature over the last 30 years on the island is 18º, although in recent years the tendency has been for a slight rise each year, a trend which was broken last year as the average fell to 17.9º helped by an abnormally mild July and August. However, the hot temperatures are set to return over the next few years, with Jansa claiming last year was merely a blip to the trend of global warming.Despite the wet weather in November and December, average rainfall in 2008 was down by 20 per cent on the previous year, with Jansa explaining that besides May, No-vember and December all the other months had been significantly drier.

Paid in Full
A spokesman for those working in the island’s casino confirmed all of the employees had been paid up to date. To the surprise of most, the Ibiza Gran Hotel announced vol-untary bankruptcy just eight months after first opening its doors. However, this will not affect the casino or restaurant, which are both based within the hotel. A representative for the workers confirmed everyone had been paid their salaries in December, whilst pointing out that the casino had been open on the island for more than 30 years, and that employees had always been paid every month.

Hotel Pleas
The Hotel Federation of Ibiza and Formentera has pleaded with the Island Council and the various Town Halls to ensure public building work does not take place during the summer season, including May and October. The calls come as the Town Halls on the island announced their projects for 2009, which are to be undertaken thanks to the addi-tional funding offered by the Central Government to try and get the economy moving once again.
The president of the association, Juanjo Riera, said it was important that the work an-nounced did not interfere with the arrival of tourists.

Judicial Walkout
History was made on Wednesday after a meeting of the eleven judges based on the island ended with the announcement of a one-day strike in protest at the insufferable conditions at the capital’s Law Courts. During the meeting nine judges voted for the strike action, with two abstentions.
The decision came after a meeting between all of the judges in the Balearics ended with the decision to wait before taking any further action. However, Ibiza decided enough was enough, whilst those in Palma, Manacor, Inca and Mao will meet again in February to decide if they are to take further action.
The strike has been called for 18th February and will last for 24 hours, although Judge Jose Espinosa said they would be willing to call it off if certain promises were made.
The Law Courts on the island have been subject to rats, floods and sewage leaks over the last two years with neither the previous or current administration taking any action to resolve the situation. He continued that what the judges wanted was modern, efficient facilities to ensure citizens were given the best service possible.
Figures revealed over the weekend showed there had been an increase of 50 per cent in cases heard in Ibiza over the last ten years, whilst the facilities have remained the same.

Maybe One
Island councillor, Miquel Ramon, confirmed on Wednesday that although his admini-stration had not ruled out the building of another golf course, there was simply not room for more than one more. The clamour for two or three more courses has grown in re-cent months, as the various administrations and business community look at ways of improving the island.
Ramon pointed out that the current golf course (which includes both an 18-hole and 9-hole course) did not bring in a great deal of tourism, and that the only part of the devel-opment which had been successful was the property which had been built close to the area in Roca Llisa. He finished by saying there was simply not the land to build more than one more course, although he has yet to declare his favourite area for such a project.

Airport Finish
The Government in Madrid confirmed last week that the second phase of work currently underway on the island’s airport would be completed during the second semester of the year. The work began back in June 2007 and when completed will have cost a total of €35.6 million.

I’m off
The controversial hotelier behind Grupo Playa Sol, (GPS), issued a statement last week claiming he would stop investing on the island with immediate effect. The decision comes, according to the press release from Fernando Ferré, because of the constant visits of inspectors, something which no other group on the island has to put up with. The statement continues that the group will now start to invest in Mallorca and other European cities. This had always been a part of their plans for the future, but has been accelerated by the lack of support received in Ibiza.
The statement also denied the group had been fined €3,982,000 for two serious irregu-larities concerning employees. However, despite the denials, the authorities confirmed the fines had been issued and GPS were fully aware of them.

Taxi Demands
The various taxi associations on the island met with representatives of the Balearic Government on Wednesday. During the meeting the spokesman for the associations, Joan Mari, asked that no more temporary licenses be granted for this summer. He said that in 2008 a total of 60 permits were granted, all for a two-year duration. He claimed this was sufficient, and said the associations would be against the issuing of any additional permits.
Mari also asked for the Balearic Government to introduce new laws governing their sec-tor, which they want introduced by 2010.

Italy Top Poll
A recent survey into the nationality which the Spanish most liked was topped by Italy with 36 per cent of the vote. Surprisingly, the French came second with 27 per cent - a significant increase from last year’s figures, with the Portuguese in third with 21 per cent, the Germans in fourth with 18 per cent, and the Brits in fifth with just 13 per cent of the vote.

National Geographic
A documentary by National Geographic, in conjunction with Endesa, the country’s largest electricity producer, showing the impact of global warming is to begin in February. The first film of its kind about Spain was presented in Madrid last week and will be shown on the National Geographic channel from 1st February. “Climate Change in Spain: a challenge facing everyone” is a ten-programme series which will concentrate on stories from ten different regions of Spain. The first to be shown will involve the Balearics and the effects to the regions sea-bed, and the annual campaigns to clean and protect it

OAP Vacations
Four hotels in Cala de Bou and one in San Antonio will open next month for the Imserso tourists. The five hotels expect to receive a total of 1,600 pensioners in the first month, as they try to claw back the losses of November when they received just 1,100 tourists through the Imserso programme, which offers heavily subsidised holidays to pensioners. The hotels to open are the Bergantin, Hawaii, Els Pins and Pinet Playa in Cala de Bou, and Es Pla in San Antonio.

IBIZA TOWN
Fabrication Claims
The Roque Lopez scandal hit the headlines once again on Tuesday after three prominent members of the PSOE party accused him of inventing the story. Laura Carrascosa, Julian Calderon and Juan Navarro all told the judge investigating the bribery claims that it was their belief Lopez had made up his version of events in order to discredit the candidate for the presidency of the Island Council, Xico Tarres, and further his own political ambitions.
The scandal broke just weeks before the elections, when Roque Lopez accused the PSOE-ExC candidate (Tarres), and other key members of the party of accepting bribes from a property developer in return for being awarded the majority of the work involved in the Eivissa Centre project, which aims to give the capital a complete facelift.
Carrascosa told press that Lopez had a burning desire to run in the campaign for the presidency of the Island Council, adding that he would stop at nothing in his mission. She said this involved a campaign to discredit Tarres, the man who stood in his way.
However, she did admit that Lopez had spoken to her about the bribes in private con-versations, although she claims she never believed the stories.
Navarro questioned the motives of the former party member, claiming he never under-stood why the accusations were leaked to the press just weeks before the election. Why, he asked, had Lopez not gone to the authorities months before when he first became aware of the scandal.
President Tarres is due to appear before the judge on 9th February to explain his side of the story, and defend himself against the accusations made against him.

Parking Options
The deputy mayor of Ibiza Town, Santiago Pizarro, revealed the Town Hall was search-ing for new car parks after the closure of those in es Pratet by the owners of the land, following a dispute with the authorities. He continued that people were now starting to use the car park next to GESA which involved a ten minute walk into the centre, adding that the Town Hall was studying the possibility of car parks close to the roundabouts of ses Figueretes and Santa Eulalia.
He admitted that those who were suffering the most were the people that worked in the capital, as they could not afford to pay for their cars to be stationed in the blue-zone all day, and that it was only during the day that there were severe problems in finding a space.

SAN ANTONIO
Bribery Scandal
Up to six property developers have admitted to paying the detained civil servant working at the Town Hall bribes, in order that he did not report irregularities in building work which they were carrying out. It is now up to the judge to decide if he is to call all of them as witnesses, and possible criminal proceedings against the developers in question have not been ruled out.
The San Antonio employee, whose job it was to control building projects and ensure they were being constructed according to the permits granted, was investigated by his boss after rumours continued circulating into possible illegal practices. His superior visited several building sites where a number of developers admitted to paying bribes in exchange for the defendant turning a blind eye to specific irregularities. Although the exact details of the bribes are not known, the single maximum payment is not thought to have exceeded €3,000.
Meanwhile, the opposition party claimed there were still over 400 cases of illegal building projects which still needed to be resolved, claiming there was a clear lack of control within the municipality.

For Sale
Michel Cretu’s lawyer confirmed over the weekend that the music producer had put all of the properties he owns on the island up for sale. The decision comes as the Town Hall announced work on the demolition of the property would begin soon. The properties were bought during the last 20 years, and were not rented but used by the producer’s friends and family whilst visiting the island.

New Police Force
The Town Hall of San Antonio officially launched its new community police service which it hopes will bring contact between the two closer in 2009. Five officers will be made available for the service which has been trialled for the last six months, and was officially launched on Monday.
Two officers will be made available in San Antonio, one in ses Paises, and two in San Rafael. Their jobs will include maintaining contact with the local community and busi-nesses, to ensure an increase in security and public service.

SANTA EULALIA
Pair Arrested
The Guardia Civil has made a total of two arrests in connection with the threats received by senior members of the Town Hall of Santa Eulalia, one of whom is a police officer working in San Antonio. Officers are also trying to locate a third man, a property developer, they believe to be the ringleader.
The arrests revolve around an illegal extension which was being built at a house in Cala Mastella. The developer carrying out the work was said to have received a heavy fine and work was stopped six months ago. However, in December both the mayor, Vicent Mari, and his deputy, Mariano Juan, each received a package containing a letter and a CD. The disc contained a conversation between Mari, Juan and a third person about the lack of a permit at a specific property. No more details were given about the contents of the CD, although the letter read “We are all up to our necks in it,” before going on to demand permission to continue building in Cala Mastella, in addition to €120,000 to keep quiet about supposed municipal irregularities.
The property developer first tried to bribe the third man in the recordings, an engineer who had worked on a number of projects for the Town Hall. However, he refused to pay the hefty sum being demanded. Motivated by the closure of the house he had been working on, the developer then turned his attention to Mari and Juan, and sent both of them a letter threatening to reveal a series of municipal “irregularities” if work was not allowed to continue on the chalet. The incident was immediately reported to the Guardia Civil, who began an investigation which resulted in a police officer and another being arrested on Wednesday. Mari later claimed he was the victim of a Mafioso-style group and that he had feared for his life and that of his family.
The arrested police officer, who was immediately suspended, at first denied any in-volvement, but after being shown video footage of him in the post office at Jesus, admit-ted to sending the packages. The second arrested man, described as an expert in audio technology, denied he had anything to do with making the recordings, or that he had secretly taped telephone conversations. Both were temporarily released by the judge hearing the case, although they are unable to leave the country.
Although the identity of the police officer remains a secret, sources close to the case claimed he has worked in San Antonio for the last 15 years.
The property developer was said to have run away from the island, with some claiming he was in the Dominican Republic.

CRIME & INCIDENTS
Interrupted Sleep
Fourteen people had to be evacuated from the state refuge after a fire broke out close to the building. The island’s security representative from Madrid, Sofia Hernanz, an-nounced that initial investigations showed the fire had begun in a car parked close to the Caritas centre. As the blaze spread to other vehicles at around 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, it also affected the building where 13 homeless people and one social worker were sleeping at the time. The dining room was also affected, as well as a storeroom with around a tonne and a half of clothes destroyed through smoke damage.
It is believed the blaze could have been started intentionally, although nothing has yet been confirmed.
Both the sleeping quarters and dining room were reopened on Thursday, with those affected being housed in hostels during the interim. However, there will still be a sub-stantial bill to repair the damage caused to the building. Those wishing to help Caritas can do so by donating money to their account in any La Caixa bank – 2100-1405-54-0200087671.

FINANCIAL NEWS
Cheap Money
Last week the Government launched its “Plan Renove” programme which it hopes will breathe life back into the economy. The scheme will allow businesses involved in the tourist sector to obtain loans of up to €1 million. Those able to apply will include various different types of businesses from hotels to restaurants and travel agents. Those wish-ing to participate will be able to borrow the money at interest rates of just 1.5 per cent through the Central Government’s ICO programme. The money can be paid back over a period of between five and twelve years, with an interest only option available for the first two years. However, only €400 million has been made available for the whole coun-try this year, and so those wishing to participate have been urged to act quickly. To receive more information people will need to contact their local bank which will be ad-ministering the programme.

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