July start to tourist season recovery on Spain holiday islands Ibiza and Mallorca says Balearic Island President

THE tourist season in Spain’s holiday islands Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Formentera will start to recover in July, the Balearic Island President told the regional parliament on Wednesday.
Commenting in response to a barrage of questions from opposition parties, the Socialist Francina Armengol said she trusted there would be some kind of gradual reactivation of the tourism sector activity next month, when Spaniards are allowed to travel around the country and are able to fly to the islands.
She defended her administration’s efforts to speed up the recovery of tourism on the islands, and said it has the backing of the Spanish government, which she stressed is well aware of the major blow the coronavirus crisis has dealt to the tourism sector and which has pledged to establish a specific assistance fund for the industry.

She also pointed to the commitment by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to a “specific conference” to address the challenges facing the Balearics in trying to get its vital tourism sector back on its feet.
The regional president referred specifically to the “pilot project” for bringing in the first German tourists to the Playa del Palma and highlighted the direct communications with German state governments on establishing safe “air corridors,” which would allow for the return of tourist flights.
She also referred to an agreement in the pipeline with industry associations and trade unions.
Armengol said Germany’s announcement of its intention to allow its citizens to safe destinations from June 15 was very good news for the islands.
“We can present ourselves as a destination which knows how to control this illness and which has high levels of safety,” she maintained.
She also insisted that the closure of the islands hotels and ports meant the pandemic had been less severe on the archipelago than elsewhere in Spain, and would now allow for opening back up again before other parts of the country.