Should We Stay Or Should We Go?

Well the Los40 story isn’t going away and I’m glad so many more people are asking questions. Last week it was the opposition parties in Parliament and this past week it’s been the Mallorca Hotel Federation. The Federation are arguing that the Government has received money from the EU to battle Environmental and Tourism investments in 2022 which was where they were going to allocate the Tourist Tax. So why the need to charge the tax next year? Personally I think it would be a great marketing tool. “We’re welcoming you back to the Worlds number 1 holiday destination tourist tax free!” The Hoteliers are questioning whether the tax is being spent in the right way and not for what it was originally brought in for. They have never liked it since it was brought in and as we know they hold a big sway here as they employ so many people. Their mood probably wasn’t helped by the Government Spokesperson and Tourism Minister, Iago Negueruela, who said “They should be more prudent and responsible.” “The money from the ecotax has been allocated to Covid this year for hotels, airport access controls and measures to help open up tourism.” Well as that is the biggest industry on the island and the only way of getting people off of the furlough scheme then that would seem pretty obvious to most people out there. 

I am totally in agreement for people to decide whether or not they want the vaccination. It should be a choice and 80% of Mallorca’s population have taken the choice to be double vaccinated. However through various conversations I’ve had with friends and family, one question came to mind this week that I would be interested to know the answer. Before Covid arrived how many of us out there looked at what a tablet or medicine actually contained after we’d been prescribed it by a doctor? Or did we just take it and wait for the improvement? We drink, eat and breathe things that are probably not good for us on a daily basis without knowing it, so I do wonder why people think that taking the vaccine is a risk. Not taking it though also means there is the possibility of infecting the more vulnerable people around us. I remember when they first banned smoking in public areas and the outcry at the time it created here. Spain had a heavy smoking population and some might say you can’t compare but as a non smoker it was a relief to not have to walk into somewhere and breathe in secondary smoke. As I said the choice is yours. 

With all the concentration on Covid, thousands of people aren’t being treated for other ailments. Macmillan Cancer Support said this week that they estimate that over 50,000 people in the UK with cancer who have not yet been diagnosed because of the disruption caused by Covid. A further 24,000 people are facing long delays to their treatment even after diagnosis. To date in the UK there have been less than 50 cases of the Omnicron variant and yet there have been press conferences, travel restrictions, a change in the mask rules and for me a total over reaction. Can that be right? 

I was sent something this week which was quite ironic. DELTA OMNICRON is an anagram of MEDIA CONTROL. You decide. 

The biggest problem is the not knowing. In just over two weeks we and I imagine thousands of others are supposed to be going back to the UK for Christmas but right now we’re not sure if we will be able to or not. Last year the decision was made long before now that we couldn’t go back and we were able to make plans. We have flights booked, we have to book PCR tests, we’ve a car booked, hotels booked, football tickets booked, dinners booked and two kids that are desperate to go back and see our families for the first time in nearly two years. If they’re going to change the goalposts in two weeks, to be honest I’d rather know now. The problem is even the so called “experts” I don’t think know, but you’d think nearly two years down the line someone actually would. I find myself reading and hanging onto the positive news rather than the negative, it’s the glass half full in me. Hopefully it will be ok in the end. 

Take care everyone and enjoy your Weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com