The workers' canteen at Palma Airport, closed since March, is unlikely to reopen any time soon. A failed tender process for its management explains why. The airports authority AENA offered the concession for zero euros. There were no bidders. And that was because whoever took the canteen on would have faced an outstanding debt of more than €400,000 in social security payments alone.
The debt is the legacy of the company that used to have the contract, Menins 96 S.L. It managed the canteen for three years. Now facing bankruptcy proceedings, it is suggested that it hadn't been paying the rent to AENA, perhaps for all of the three years.
Rubén Torres, sole administrator of Menins, defends himself against accusations, saying that everything is in the hands of the bankruptcy administrator. As to the idea that the company had in effect been a squatter (because of rent non-payment), he explains that the tender, which is subject to judicial review, did not include the rent. "The truth is, I would liked to have continued operating the canteen at reasonable prices. But there were many interests when the tender was put out. AENA's tentacles are very powerful."
The union representative for the canteen workers, Soledad Vargas of the UGT, estimates that the 22 staff are owed a total of some €70,000 in unpaid salaries. She says: "No-one wants the canteen. Although it has been recently renovated, no-one wants it."
As for all the airport workers, they are either having to pay airport prices or bring their own food and drink. Vargas notes that in the canteen there were bocadillos, "made with a lot of love", for four euros, and there was a menu for eight euros.