The former concessionaires of the Formentera beach bars, known as “chiringuitos“, have called a protest for what they consider the “death of the traditional model” in these licences, after learning that, according to the provisional assessment that has made the contracting board, none of the tenders submitted by the previous managers have achieved the best rating and, therefore, would not get the concession.
The call is for a minute of silence in front of the headquarters of the Consell de Formentera, in the Plaza de la Constitució in Sant Francesc, next Thursday at 6:15pm.
“In recent years Formentera’s tourism and business model has been changing, with more and more investment funds and business groups concentrating more and more companies in fewer and fewer hands, with less economic capillarity,” reads the call for a minute’s silence, which has been circulated on social media.
“The traditional and familiar economic model of the island is in danger”, they warn, and assure that “the last nail in the coffin has been the tender of the chiringuitos, where economic offers have taken precedence over the projects and the traditional way of running them”.
“The traditional and familiar economic model of the island is in danger, the last nail in the coffin has been the tender of the chiringuitos”, they warn
The note points out that the chiringuitos are a “strategic segment of tourism” and that if this process goes ahead, “part of their uniqueness and essence” will be lost.
Although the concessions have not yet been granted, according to the evaluation of the first six of the eight chringuitos, two of which have not yet been scored by the Contracting Committee, they will all change hands.
In all cases the starting prices have been far exceeded. The most striking is the case of the chiringuito in Cala Saona, whose starting price was 20,000 euros and for which the Ibizan company Mar y Sal SL has offered 173,500 euros per year.
But it is not the only one, the offers in general have quadrupled the starting prices and there are cases such as the chiringuito Caló de Mort, managed by Bartomeu Escandell for 45 years and that went for 17,000 euros and for which the best score was obtained by an entrepreneur of Albanian origin for 34,000.
The scores of two chiringuitos, the Pirata Bus and La Franja, are still to be announced.
The interested parties have ten days to present the relevant claims.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.