The President of the Balearic government, Francina Armengol, came out fighting this morning firing a shot across the bows of Greece which is looking to steal a holiday march on the island.
"We will be the top holiday destination in the Mediterranean over the coming months," she said. Greece is preparing to welcome tourists from May 1 and is also looking to take a sizeable share of the British market.
"We have the lowest infection rate in the Mediterranean," she said this morning, underlining that the islands were a safe and secure holiday destination.
Activity will slowly restart, the president said, stressing that "the effect of each step will be checked before taking the next one". As with the whole of Europe, she added, "the vaccination programme on the islands has been accelerating".
Tourism Minister Iago Negueruela stated that the government is working to ensure that the islands are perceived as being safe and a quality destination. He referred to collaboration with island councils, the tourism sector, business in general and unions in defining strategies that will allow a restart of German tourism as soon as possible and with the maximum safety guarantees.
"Only in this way will the Balearic Islands once again be the tourism benchmark they have always been, as we demonstrated last summer when, despite the difficulties, we were the Spanish region which attracted the most foreign tourists in July and August."
The minister assured the German media that "the Balearics are working hard to recover demand as soon as possible". "The islands are a safe destination and our aim is to establish safe corridors with regions of Germany that guarantee the arrival of German tourists this summer."