Balearics to make sustainability measures legally binding
James ChappleTourism businesses in the Balearics will be required, by law, to implement sustainability measures as part of a new €55 million tourism strategy designed to drive innovation in the field.
The Balearic government’s aim is to make the destination wholly sustainable; all tourism businesses will be required to have a circularity plan, setting out how they plan to contribute to the overall objective of the strategy.
Other aims include changing how hotels are categorised and classified, with sustainability playing a much larger role in these ratings. Limited plastic and paper use, prioritising locally sourced food and optimising water and energy usage will be prioritised.
Balearics president Francina Armengol said the new laws and strategy would advance a transformation "which has been in the running for some time", and encourage "a more inclusive and sustainable form of economic growth".
Armengol added the strategy would further relieve any tensions between workers, residents and tourists, and bolster public-private collaboration. Businesses’ circularity plans, meanwhile, will centre around nutrition, water use, including making use of rainwater, waste management and adoption of clean energy.
Hotels will be legally required to install double push buttons on toilets and water-saving devices in sinks and bathtubs, and on shower taps. Single-use bathroom items will be banned, while all paper handouts will be replaced with QR codes. Hotels will also have to replace any oil-fired boilers with natural gas or electric-powered ones.
Additionally, starting next year, all hotel beds must be upgraded to elevating models to reduce workplace accidents and injuries for hotel staff, a move that will see 300,000 beds replaced benefiting more than 20,000 workers.
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