It’s the buzzword: sustainability. Especially after the approval of the decree law on February 11 by the Consell de Govern, which contains the word in its title (Urgent measures for the sustainability and circularity of tourism). Everyone, including the Administration, wants to be sustainable, until they see the bill for what it costs to be so, according to the president of the Pimeef Construction Association, Consuelo Antúnez, who was clear on the matter yesterday during the round table entitled ‘Sustainable construction and tourism in Ibiza and Formentera’, held at the Club Diario de Ibiza as part of the ‘V Jornada Caminos hacia la Sostenibilidad’ and moderated by the president of the Pitiusa branch of the College of Architects of the Balearic Islands, Carmen Navas-Parejo: “Are hotel business ownsers aware of the use of sustainable materials? do they ask for them? In general, economy is the priority. They see investment in sustainability as an expense, not as an investment”.
It happens to hoteliers and to everyone, said Antúnez. Now there are more solar panel installations “because the price of electricity has risen”, but before the recent exorbitant rise, few invested in this development. Antúnez recounted the case of a developer who rejected thermal insulation on the windows because he thought it was expensive, but when he saw the subsequent bill for air conditioning he realized that it would have been worth it. In construction “there is, therefore, no clear trend” towards sustainability “because people are not aware,” says Antúnez: “From Pimeef we have made agreements on this matter, but in the end people look at the budget. If the project is more expensive, it is not done that way”.
“We all value sustainability as something essential. But we have to try to strike a balance between sustainability and cost. We need public collaboration”.
As to whether the tourism sector is committed to making reforms aimed at sustainability, the Balearic Islands president of the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers, Alicia Reina , answered yes, although she did have some reservations: “We all value sustainability as something essential. But we have to try to strike a balance between sustainability and the cost it may have. We need public collaboration,” she said. In that sense, she said that there is a an “outcry in the sector for the tourist tax to be used to make hotels sustainable”, as requested, for example, by the Pitiusa Hotel Business Federation.
In search of the lost ark
According to businessman Daniel de Busturia, the round table should have been titled differently: “In search of the lost ark, lost on Ibiza years ago. Measures must be taken to correct the unsustainability to which the island has been subjected for so many years,” he said. In this sense, he believes that a commitment to sustainability will pay off: “Travellers are more inclined to visit where this is taken into account. We need to think about this on the island. In his opinion, it is simply “marketing, because people will travel where ecological sensitivity is respected”.
“Travelers are more inclined to go where this is taken into account. We need to reflect on that on the island.”
“Sustainability is all the rage. And we find ourselves in an attempt to return to the origins. But our priority is the short-termism of the bill. We don’t see beyond that. We are short-sighted in that respect,” said Reina, who nevertheless insisted that the Pitiusan hotel sector has been immersed in this change for years: “It has always been one step ahead in that respect. We try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible, even small business owners. We love the island and our dream is to have a hotel with zero emissions, but that requires making trade-offs so that the company is also economically sustainable”.
In this sense, the president of the Hotel Managers Association pointed out that the Tourism Law “discourages“, because “creating more sustainable buildings will mean a reduction of 5% in hotel beds. They penalize us instead of providing incentives. And for doing the right thing.” “That is a confusing message from the Govern”, he continued, “which disorients us”. That’s when that dream of having a zero-emissions hotel “comes crashing down.”
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.