PROPERTY SEARCH
ARCHIVED - Balearic Islands scraps hotel freebies as part of new tourism law
Spanish island hotels will no longer be allowed to offer free shampoo, shower caps or soap
As if flights weren’t expensive enough, tourists travelling to the popular Balearic Islands will now have to fork out for toiletries that most take for granted as free in hotels, like shower caps, disposable razors, individual soaps and shampoo.
Hotels on the Spanish islands will now have to find less polluting alternatives to these single-use plastic containers and products as part of the new Law for Circularity and Sustainability in Tourism of the Balearic Islands.
With an eye on environmental and social sustainability, packs of disposable welcome products such as combs and toothbrushes that generate a large volume of waste and inevitably contribute to climate change will be eliminated. But as a happy side-effect, the regional government has pointed out that the measure will improve the working conditions of its cleaners and housekeepers considerably, since they won’t have to lug around carts loaded with these heavy items.
The law goes beyond personal care products though and will also affect the free food and drinks usually found in hotel rooms, such as bottled water, tea and coffee sachets and chocolates. And that’s not all, as stationery amenities like pens, notebooks and pencils will also be removed from rooms.
The move may appear extreme to holidaymakers, but it’s no great stretch to predict hotels and tourist accommodations all over Spain will soon follow suit, since single-use plastics have already been phased out in supermarkets. And many establishments across Europe have already ditched travel-sized toiletries for larger, more environmentally-friendly bottles attached to the walls.
The Balearic Islands have come under a lot of fire recently though for its tough approach to tourists. Late last year, Mallorca’s Director of Tourism, Lucía Escribano, unleashed a media frenzy at the World Travel Market in London when she implied the island was no longer interested in welcoming budget British travellers.
Image: Pexels
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268
