Programming for the Fitur international tourism fair in Madrid, the world's largest such event, is being altered because of the Cordoba train crash. The Andalusia Government announced on Monday that it would be cancelling its institutional agenda at the fair, as did Seville Town Hall. They followed the train company Iryo's announcement that it had cancelled. The forum always held by the Exceltur alliance of leading tourism/travel companies the day before the Wednesday start of the fair has been cancelled.
Late on Monday, the Balearic Government and the Council of Mallorca confirmed that their official presentations listed in the fair's programme would proceed as planned, although events including cooking demonstrations and a concert by Menorcan pianist Marco Mezquida have been cancelled.
So far, no political representatives from the Balearics have said they will not be attending. President Prohens, who cancelled her participation at another tourism forum on Monday, will lead a government delegation including the vice president, Antoni Costa, the tourism minister, Jaume Bauzà, and the minister for the sea, Juan Manuel Lafuente.
Companies due to feature at the Balearics stand include the Fergus Group, Garden Hotels and Zafiro Hotels. The ferry companies Trasmed and Grimaldi have cancelled their events.
The focus for Mallorca and the Balearics will be on culture as a means of reducing seasonality. The Council of Mallorca was due to be presenting the new east Mallorca hiking route and be holding a fashion show for the Moda Artesana de Mallorca (Mallorca Artisan Fashion) brand. These have been cancelled.
Palma Town Hall is normally represented at the fair. There has been some criticism of the town hall's decision to cancel events for the Sant Sebastià Fiestas in light of the tragic accident in Cordoba.
The fair is from January 21 to 25. The organisers have announced that there will be a minute's silence at 10.15am on Wednesday.