The Mayor of Calvià, Carlos Delgado, went to Madrid, last Wednesday, to present to the director general of the Institute of Tourism for Spain (Instituto de Turismo de España -Turespaña), Antonio Bernabé, the Plan for Complete Renovation of the tourist areas of Calvià and ask for financial support from the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce (Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio) to be able to carry this out.

The Mayor, who had requested the meeting with the Secretary of State for Tourism, Joan Mesquida, explained to the director general of Turespaña that the said project, for which suggestions can be put forward in the month of November, be included in an action plan to be undertaken by the Mayor to revive the tourist sector. The Mayor explained the necessity and importance that such a plan, which includes huge projects like the theme park, the artificial coral reef, sports centre, or a museum of contemporary art, among others, be carried out, and he asked for the same treatment for Calvià that the reform project for Playa de Palma received, and that this be included amongst the pilot projects undertaken by the Ministry.

Calvià is the most important touristic municipality of the Balearic Islands, and has more hotel beds, more beaches, and the longest coastline, exceeding that of Playa de Palma by 568,42% (and 30 more beaches). Calvià has 59.634 tourist beds, which represents 14% of the beds for the whole of the Balearics and 20,75% of the whole of Mallorca, whilst Playa de Palma, including Llucmajor and Palma, has 41.042 beds. Furthermore, the Mayor explained that the municipality of Calvià has the same problems as any other "longstanding tourist resort". This is being addressed at Ministry level.

During the meeting financial support was requested of the Ministry, although the Mayor made it clear that irrespective of whether this help is given, next month he will carry out the brainstorming/think tank session for ideas for improvement and growth, which are vital to the tourist sector and combat the problems experienced over the last few years. We mustnt forget that the Town Hall has already started an action plan to attack the economic crisis, and amongst other measures advocates modification of the General Tourist Law, which includes certain aspects to create quality tourism, investment in this area and increase seasonality by way of differentiated and specialist products. These measures will be put in place in order to increase occupancy in all establishments, as well as enjoying further benefits by investing in tourist facilities and offering a quality product.

The Director General of Turespaña has indicated the steps to take in order to present this project to the Ministry, thus the Mayor of Calvià will again formally request a meeting with the President of the Balearic Government, Francesc Antich, during which the project will once again be presented and the support to carry it out be requested, therefore giving it the same importance as that of Playa de Palma.