“It is good that energy saving measures are being taken against climate change, but, on a practical level for day-to-day operations, it is complicated to comply with them. Now we have the temperature at 24 degrees and it is difficult to maintain comfort in the store”. So says Jordi Sala, of the Wesselton jewelry store, after the first day of the Government‘s new energy saving plan. And, as he explains, “the difference between territories has not been taken into account”.
He refers to the fact that, in the case of Ibiza, it is a tourist area that practically lives on tourism, so he believes that “a moratorium should apply” to comply with the new measures to regulate air conditioning and the switching off at night of the window lights. “In other areas of the peninsula where they do not live on tourism it is more understandable, but here it seems to me that they are cosmetic measures. I am not against energy saving, but you have to think things out for the long term,” he adds.
In the case of this store, Sala points out that there are many spotlights to illuminate the jewelry display cases, which increases the temperature inside. In addition, “when the customer enters the store, at first it’s fine because of the contrast with the street, but if they stay more than five minutes they are then get hot,” he adds.
Meanwhile, the sales assistant of an optical store in the Marina, Lidia Rodriguez, says that even with the air conditioning thermostat at 16 degrees she can not pun down her fan that she uses at counter. “They ask us now to close the doors, but this is what allows the air to flow more and people to enter the store,” she says.
As for the ‘blackout’ of the shop windows at 10pm, Rodríguez maintains that it depends on the company’s head office, which normally turns it off at midnight, when they close.
Different energy saving measures for different cases?
More critical is Ariadna Juan, a sales clerk in one of the clothing stores in the neighborhood. “Do I have to stay from ten o’clock at night until one o’clock in the morning, when I close, with the window lights off while the discos, hotels, etc. can be illuminated everywhere?”, she asks indignantly.
The young woman says that her business only works in the seasonal months, so turning off the visible face of the premises can go against sales. She feels the same way about regulating the temperature inside. “I have the air at 16 degrees, they ask me to increase it by at least 11 degrees, but in hotels tourists can have it all day as they want,” she regrets. She calls the energy saving plan “a joke”.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.