Alcudia town hall is unusual in the Balearics in that it has always directed managed beach services itself.
Apart from the beach bars, which are concessions, this direct management means that the town hall - unlike others - is not faced with issues regarding concessionaire losses this summer. First deputy mayor, Domingo Bonnin, has responsibility for the beaches. He acknowledges that there will be some loss on investment made in sunloungers and parasols, but the return of some normality, even before borders are reopened, will mitigate this loss.
As it doesn't need to negotiate with concessionaires for these services, Alcudia is at something of an advantage this summer. The town hall has already come up with a plan for spacing sunloungers and for disinfecting them without risking there being any pollutants.
All the 'fijo discontinuo' workers involved with the beach services have been called back. On Monday, they will start the process of cleaning and preparing the beaches. Later, they will begin to instal the parasols. Authorisation is expected for this, and the town hall aims to reopen the beaches on 8 June in terms of providing services.
Under the recovery plan for the beaches, there will be a doubling of the space between sunlounger/parasol sets. The town hall has ruled out there being partitions. "It would be like entering a grill," notes Bonnin, referring to the heat these would create. There will be distances of eight and ten metres. "We have the space, and so we will do this unless there are new instructions."
The councillor recognises that the town hall is facing a "new and changing reality", and as part of this, there is the now almost daily information regarding services, such as instructions for the recruitment of lifeguards.