Name: Hotels on Spain's holiday islands given permission to reopen – even though nobody can reach them
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Hotels on Spain's holiday islands given permission to reopen – even though nobody can reach them

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otels in the smaller islands of Spain,&nbsp;including Formentera in the Balearics, and La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa in the Canaries, have been able to reopen from May 4 at 30 per cent capacity as part&nbsp;of a &nbsp;introduced by the Spanish government to get the country – and its vital tourism industry –&nbsp;back on track. There's a significant problem, however&nbsp;– travellers have no way of reaching them, even from mainland Spain.Larger islands such as Majorca will be able to reopen a week later, from May 11, in line with the rest of Spain, but&nbsp;Spanish citizens will only be able to travel between provinces at a later date in the de-escalation plan, potentially from June onwards, while international borders remain closed.The Majorca Hoteliers Federation and Association of Hotel Chains expressed “disappointment and stupefaction” in a statement, arguing that the de-escalation plan was unfeasible, as with no international flights there would be no business. Furthermore, the financial burden placed on large resort working at limited capacity, but with a full complement of staff, would prove untenable.However, Dierdre O’Connor, founder of luxury hotel information and booking portal&nbsp;MallorcanTonic, told The Telegraph she has seen a surge in online interest for luxury hotel holidays from the British, American and German markets and maintains an optimistic outlook. “Many hotels will consider offering flexible rates and relaxed booking conditions this summer and autumn, and some clients could see savings of as much as 20 or 30 percent on 2019 rates,” she said, adding that she feels “confident that there will be tourists coming to the island this summer and right through to December when the weather can be fabulous.”There has been talk of Majorca opening to Germans and Austrians in July, while&nbsp;Balearics Tourism minister Iago Negueruela said recently that travel to Europe’s most popular holiday islands might restart in August, with only about 25 per cent of the usual visitor numbers and UK tourists probably not among them.Cabau Hotels director Vanessa Cabau echoed these sentiments, saying: “There are still many uncertainties but we are very hopeful that tourists will be visiting Majorca and Ibiza this summer [...] Of course additional travel costs may have a negative effect on volume, and if that happens prices may need to be revised.”Pablo Carrington, Founding Partner of MARUGAL, which has boutique properties across Spain including the 30-room on Formentera (which is usually only accessible by boat from Ibiza), told the Telegraph: “Formentera is practically Covid-19 free and as per the government advice we could actually open [on] Monday. The weather is beautiful and the hotel is ready.“However, transport to and from the island is still very limited so unless our guests want to be dropped off [by] parachute, we will have to wait a few weeks before we can open.”Tour operator Tui recently announced that Majorca would be the number one choice for its clients in Spain once operations resumed, and many local hoteliers remain upbeat. Giovanni Merello, director of luxury five-star in Palma, the island's capital, will open on May 11 to local business travellers and is expecting to welcome overseas clients during the summer months. “Small luxury boutiques like ours that are very service-oriented will be able to offer greater flexibility to our regular high-end clients this summer. Reduced footfall will not affect us in the same way as large resort with many rooms and high overheads,” he said.Meanwhile Palma's luxury five-star Cappuccino Hotel, which will reopen at the end of May, reported new UK reservations for August. Other Palma hotels are waiting for international air travel to resume, while outside Palma, it is likely that some larger resort hotels will remain closed until Easter 2021, with some smaller establishments island-wide re-opening when international flights resume, hopefully later this summer.Abigail Lowe, who covers Ibiza and Formentera for The Telegraph, said: “For many, the cost of opening and running a business simply won’t be worth it, and recruiting staff will become an impossible task&nbsp;– as a result, we should expect many of our most loved haunts on the islands to remain closed this year. Over on Ibiza and it’s an even more complicated picture. The latest updates seem to suggest that no gatherings above 400 people (who must be seated) will be permitted, which will hit the clubbing industry hard.”According to the Spanish government, phase three of its lockdown exit plan, due in June, should see the opening of swimming pools and beaches, as long as the infection rate in Spain continues to drop.• Read more: The&nbsp;The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our.You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Find out more.Show commentsAdvertisementThe latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher CodesWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

otels in the smaller islands of Spain,&nbsp;including Formentera in the Balearics, and La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa in the Canaries, have been able to reopen from May 4 at 30 per cent capacity as part&nbsp;of a &nbsp;introduced by the Spanish government to get the country – and its vital tourism industry –&nbsp;back on track. There's a significant problem, however&nbsp;– travellers have no way of reaching them, even from mainland Spain.Larger islands such as Majorca will be able to reopen a week later, from May 11, in line with the rest of Spain, but&nbsp;Spanish citizens will only...

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Hotels on Spain's holiday islands given permission to reopen – even though nobody can reach them

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