The owners of the Hotel Formentor on Pollensa Bay, Emin Capital, are seeking a licence to build a heliport close to the redeveloped hotel. Emin wants guests to be able to reach the hotel by land, sea and air. There is already a concession to manage a small boathouse next to the steps to the hotel from the beach, and a heliport, says CEO Jordi Badia, would have a public interest as it could also be used by emergency services.
The former mayor of Pollensa, Tomeu Cifre, explains that the request for a licence dates from the period of his administration that ended in May this year. "Around a year ago there was a meeting with some consultants, which the municipal engineer and I attended."
Cifre adds that in order to avoid disturbance to the hotel and to residents, it was felt that the best location would be where waste from excavation work at the hotel was taken. "It's very close to the back of the hotel, in a place where it would not cause a disturbance. The work that would be needed would be minimal. The construction of a heliport could be a good thing for Pollensa so long as it is not misused; that it would not, therefore, be for a regular passenger transport service."
Obtaining a licence will not be easy. Most of the Formentor peninsula is classified as an ANEI natural area of special interest. There is also environmental protection in accordance with Balearic conservation law and as it is a site of (regional) community interest.
The granting of a licence would ultimately be a matter for Pollensa town hall, but a number of agencies would need to provide reports, e.g. the Balearic Environment Commission and quite probably the ministry of defence, given that the military base and aerodrome are not far from the hotel.
Where the town hall is concerned, the politics are quite different to when Tomeu Cifre was mayor. The current mayor is Marti March, whose PSOE party was one component of the main opposition group, Junts Avançam, which was headed by a former spokesperson for the environmentalists GOB, March's brother Miquel Àngel. Junts raised regular objections to the hotel redevelopment activity.