Housing prices in Mallorca produce ‘patera apartments’ for tourist workers

appearance ‘patera flats’ a “tourist worker”very thorny subject Even for trade union organizations, it may mean that these workers accept these conditions so that they can find a place to sleep, and that their complaints are seen on the street when couples with young children are present.

One of the Balearic Islands union leaders says he has visited such properties in both northern Mallorca and Eivissa in the past few weeks and has been harshly critical of the overcrowding conditions he has been able to detect. are small in these houses.

Criticisms of the aforementioned organizations are twofold. in this chapter. First, to identify cases where bunk beds were added that far exceeded the number of residents for which they were designed, to increase the capacity of these homes. But also to demand compensation from workers who are illegal and in flagrant violation of the hospitality contract, such as giving up one of the weekly rest days in exchange for a room and also not paying monetary compensation.

As noted, cases ‘patera residences’ Those detected occur mainly in Eivissa and, in the case of Mallorca, in the northern and eastern parts of the island, as they are also more dependent on workers from other autonomous communities each year.

excessive workload

But unions’ fear is compounded by the admitted difficulty of unionism. many companies to find necessary workers to have complete templatesthis leads them to anticipate that current wage earners will want to make up for this gap by increasing their workload.

This last point not only presupposes a reduction in the quality of service to be provided, but may also involve a risk to the health of workers, just at a time when the islands’ tourism law is being amended. the goal, among others, of improving the working conditions of workers in this sector.

In this sense, it is noted that The Labor Inspection will have to play a key role over the next summer to identify these excessive workloads and any conditions imposed on employees in violation of the provisions of the industry agreement, to which the complaints that these organizations may submit will be attached. At this last point, the debate that needs to be opened on how to act in the face of the detected ‘patera circles’ does not hide.

In any case, no one doubts that the prices of rentals in Mallorca are up to date. a very serious obstacle to bringing workers from the peninsula, In addition, he added, the two years of limited activity due to the pandemic means that many wage earners are choosing to leave the hotel, restaurant or nightlife sectors and move into trade or construction, maintaining greater stability throughout covid, he added. .

homelessness

President of the Balearic Islands College of Realtors, Natalya Goodor confirm the problem exists. Because, during the pandemic, many homeowners stopped selling their homes during the tourist season, looking for stable tenants throughout the year, or opting for more profitable vacation rentals for foreigners, in addition to achieving a high rental value. that there are less risks as each stays for one or two weeks.

Natalia Bueno admits there are few housing offers for workers arriving on the islands For the summer, which explains why there are hotel companies that rent property for their employees. However, the head of the API agrees with unions that these employee overcrowding situations can be intolerable.