Ibiza growth

THEY’VE already opened four hotels in Mallorca this year… now the Leonardo group has opened a trio of new joints in Ibiza.

The hotels in San Antonio and two in Santa Eulalia means in just seven years the Israeli group has opened 17 joints in Spain.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword of major companies, the governing boards of professional associations and electoral lists. The draft law also states, however, that neither gender can have a presence that is below 40% nor above 60%. This means that in practice boards of directors made up exclusively of women will not be permitted.

The Equal Representation Law was first announced by Socialist Party Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in March, ahead of International Women’s Day. Ministers have now announced further details that had been approved, which will affect panels in the judiciary, such as the Constitutional Court, the Audit Court and the CGPJ legal watchdog. These bodies will also have to ensure that women account for at least 40% of members. Another of the modifications announced include a more flexible timetable to introduce the changes in the workforce. Companies listed on Spain’s Ibex 35 stock exchange, for example, will have to have a minimum of 40% female board members by June 2024.

Over the last year, the chain has bought eight hotels in the country, with six in the Balearic Islands.

The giant €165 million investment included the popular OD hotel, which is now the Leonardo Boutique Hotel Mallorca Port Portals.

The 77-room design hotel - popular with visiting DJs - has maintained its charm, while adding numerous stylish touches.

The company has reached a pre-agreement with the Sitcpla, Aacefsi and CCOO trade unions.

Its approval would mean a 5% wage increase this year, backdated to January 1, followed by rises of 4% and 2.5% in 2024 and 2025.

Although a deal has been reached, the Air Europa conflict with its pilots is still active.

Eight one day strikes have been called, following the four-days stoppage that took place at the start of May.

Lighting up

SMOKERS will soon be able to light up on bar and restaurant terraces.

The current ban on smoking was brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been in force ever since.

However, as the end of the global health emergency was declared over by the WHO last month, all Covid-related restrictions are to be dropped.

The strategy of the Balearics Health Service was to extend the current ban until the entry into force of the new National Anti-Smoking Law, which aimed to ban smoking on bars, restaurants and beach terraces.

However, Pedro Sanchez’s call for an early general election means the new law will not be passed any time soon. This means the Balearics government has no choice but to drop the ban.

Bumper year

WITH COVID-19 restrictions now a distant memory, the tourism sector in Spain is enjoying a bumper 2023.

According to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE), hotel stays were up 21% on the year before to 80.9 million during the first four months of the year. This exceeded the level seen in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Across: 1 Snag, 4 Boston, 8 Clowns, 9 Damson, 10 Demolish, 11 Core, 12 Meets, 13 Enemy, 17 Spew, 19 Exorcise, 20 Twilit, 21 Isobar, 22 Trashy, 23 Last.

Down: 2 New South Wales, 3 Gossip, 4 Buddha, 5 Semi-conscious, 6 Odour, 7 Fleece, 14 Mislay, 15 Gentry, 16 Social, 18 Power.

The INE figures show that there were 28 million hotel stays in Spain in April, which is an 11.5% rise on the year before.

For January to April of this year, there were a total of 80.9 million hotel stays.