All is not well in the tourist industry. Queues at passport control at Palma airport, the British government and the local tourist industry launch a campaign to try and stamp out the bogus claims for holiday compensation, and Calvia town hall ponders taking legal action against a leading British tabloid which criticised the local police force.
We are in the middle of a busy summer season with millions of people coming to our shores, but in the case of the compensation claims and the passport nightmare, these are very British problems. It is only the British who face the delays at airport passport control because Britain didn’t sign the Schengen Agreement on open borders.
The airport authority yesterday said that additional resources were being put in place to help resolve the situation, but unions representing police officers said that there was a shortage of officers and that the interior ministry in Madrid is to blame because they are in charge of police. Whoever is to blame, this problem needs to be resolved and fast. On the compensation claims at last positive action is being taken because this was a real nightmare. There was even talk that British tourists could be banned from all-inclusive holiday deals. British tourism does appear to be in the spotlight this year. This is a great shame. Action on the bogus compensation claims should have been taken earlier and the interior ministry should have resolved the passport problem.