Sancho: “To be brave is not to raise the eco-tax in Ibiza, it is to legislate to put an end to the illegal renting that generates 90% of the problems”.

We arranged the interview with the president of Fomento del Turismo de Ibiza, Alejandro Sancho, on the occasion of the award received last week at the Government’s Tourism Night and the recent awarding of the contract with which the Consell de Ibiza wants to recover the lost ground in the family tourism segment.
Before the meeting, there was a surprise in the Parliament with the increase of the eco-tax for the months of June, July and August announced by Marga Prohens without prior notice and behind the back of the grandiloquent table of dialogue for tourism, which has been shown that it is neither for tourism, at least the regulated one, nor is it useful for dialogue, at least with the tourism sector. The manager of Ibiza Leisure, José Luis Benítez, and the vice-president of the Caeb in Ibiza, José Antonio Roselló, have already warned that the increase of the eco-tax is not the way forward.
In addition to the controversial measure of the Government of the PP, we value with the also commercial director of Invisa Hoteles, other issues of interest to the Ibiza tourism industry in the following parts of the interview : -Theimportant and at the same time reviled by certain sectors of society of the role of leisure in Ibiza. -Thecontradiction of raising the eco-tax and wanting to recover the family tourism and the health of Fomento del Turismo. Sancho sits on Thursday before La Voz de Ibiza demonstrating at all times that he knows perfectly the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the most representative entity of the tourism sector in Ibiza.
Not in vain, all sensibilities are represented and has demonstrated throughout the 90 years of history total independence from the public authorities.
It has been in office for five years and has learned its lesson.
That is why he says only what he wants to say and keeps quiet about everything he has to keep quiet, even though he would like to say it too.
And he does it with finesse so as not to leave any issue unaddressed or unanswered. The president of the Govern, Marga Prohens, has announced this week an increase of the eco-tax for the months of June, July and August.
What is your assessment of this measure?

-It is a total surprise.
It has long been said in speeches that it is time to be brave.
And this is not the bravery we expect, since they are paying the just for the sinners with this measure.
It is clear to everyone that the current imbalance, which should not be denied, comes from the unregulated supply.
So we must be brave in legislating and directly attacking the focus of 90% of the problems we currently have.

And, moreover, you have to do it quickly.
Try to strike as soon as possible.
The Government has opted for the easy option, which is to burden with obligations all those who are acting correctly.
The problem is localized.
Evidently efforts are being made, but the efforts are insufficient today.

We also call for a consensus between employers and the public sector in a single direction.

-The Government has formed a dialogue table with almost a hundred entities to address the problem of the feeling of saturation.
However, it has unilaterally taken a decision of this caliber by surprise and without anyone’s consent.

-That is the way it is and it is not a good way to start a dialogue table.
The dialogue table is there to listen to all parties with all interests represented and then take a series of actions.
Taking initiatives without listening to the parties has a high risk and a high cost.

The mere announcement of the increase already has a negative impact.
And we know the negative impacts, we have paid for them.
We have come from very complicated situations, such as the pandemic, which we forgot very quickly and which has shown that we are a very resilient sector.

But not everything is acceptable; there are many other actions that would be much more valid than burdening those who act legally with more obligations.

-Extra obligations that make the destination less competitive.
The regulated supply is punished and the unregulated supply is rewarded, which will continue without charging ecotax and, thus, will enjoy a little more competitive advantage.
It seems like the world upside down.

-Illegal supply is so deeply rooted in all sectors on the island of Ibiza that it is a very worrying phenomenon.
It not only affects the supply of accommodation, but also many other sectors, such as transport, nautical charters, leisure…
As for accommodation, it generates discord among the resident society because the balance has been lost.
I insist that we must attack in a forceful way and in a period of no more than three years the illegal offer.
Everything else will not only not help but will be negative.

What effects will the increase in the eco-tax have for June, July and August?-As I said, the first impact is negative?-Because of the distrust it creates between the business sector and the Government?

-Also, but not only.
There are outbound markets that are in recession, that have suffered and that many still have a couple of years left in a complicated situation.
News of this caliber puts us at a disadvantage with other Mediterranean destinations.
It is nonsense.
This is not the measure we need.

Will hotel prices be lowered to compensate for the increase in the eco-tax?

-If they don’t lower costs, which is the case, they can’t lower prices.

-Is it going to generate less tourism in the months of June, July and August?

-In some segments, yes.
There are sectors that we want to promote more, which are families, who come with tighter budgets and longer stays.
This is going to affect them.
In this way, we are putting more obstacles in their way and we are raising the cost of their vacations.

-We will address this issue of family tourism in another part of the interview.
Let’s continue with the tourist rental. A legislative amendment was approved a year ago and it was announced that it would allow the closure of tourist apartments, which was received with great satisfaction by the sector.

-Unfortunately, that is the case.
It is true that more important sanctions are coming in than those of a few years ago and that everything that can be done is being done.
But the volume of unregulated supply is so high that much more resources are needed.
And we need to see results in the market in the short term.
There is a widespread feeling of resignation, a general malaise in everyone and in society, the employers and, I believe, in the administrations as well.
This can return to being a destination as we have always proposed: sustainable, of quality and in balance between tourists and residents.

-What legislative measures are needed to have more effective instruments than the current ones?

-From Fomento del Turismo, we have submitted our proposal to the administrations.
To violate the private domicile is something that up to now, even with evident proofs, is very complicated.
New ways have been opened through urban sanctions and that is very good. The problem is that these are slow measures when we need to act fast.

“We see that there are people who have been reporting illegal supply situations for years, obvious situations, and still no closures are reached. People are tired and hurt.”

-In La Voz de Ibiza we spread a paradigmatic case of a block of neighbors who had been denouncing two tourist apartments all summer, which became famous because, in addition, some tenants recorded themselves throwing water on the residents, poor teenagers who were having a birthday party and did not bother anyone.
The neighbors felt helpless because neither the Consell nor the Local Police of Ibiza nor anyone gave them an answer despite the collective clamor and indignation.

-In the entity we see it every day through our members, we are very transversal and we have representation in practically the whole island.
We see that there are people who have been denouncing situations for years, obvious situations, and still we don’t reach the closure.
People are tired and hurt.
Illegal supply has proliferated in the last decade and generates most of our problems in Ibiza.
For example, we find hundreds of caravans that are not the root of the problem, they are a consequence of a previous problem.
How can it be that someone wants to come here to work and cannot find a place to live?

-It has been ruled out that the Constitution can be changed and that the domicile is no longer inviolable, something that seems fine to me if we think about the consequences that it could have to cease to be inviolable.
However, the Government has in its hands to do much more, to involve the Tax Agency, changes in the Law on Urban Leases and in the Law on Activities? Do you miss a greater involvement of the State in this problem?

-All the administrations have to do more.
We have to start from common sense and what cannot be is that in the last few years we have legislated in terms of occupancy of rooms in the regulated offer and then we have apartments in which eight people are put, eight people who do not pay the eco-tax, who are not controlled by the Police, who bother the neighbors, who destroy the urban policies….
We have to do more.

-There was a few days ago an anti-tourism demonstration by an entity that excludes police officers and is described as “radical” by Prou, and which was supported by the PSOE, which called for a ban on activities such as cruises, private jets, car rentals, villa rentals… but did not demand legislative changes from the Government to strengthen the fight against illegal tourist rentals.

-The demonstrations show that there is a malaise and we cannot ignore it.
The focus has to be to put an end to the origin of 90% of the problems generated by tourism in Ibiza, which is the illegal offer.

We are punishing the tourist who goes through all the regulated offer, which we are also punishing.
This hurts us all because it is the economic engine of the Pitiusas.
What we have to defend is the balance between economic activity and residents.
There is no more and we have to work with all the parties involved.

Fomento de Turismo is at everyone’s disposal.