How Mallorca hotel giant is dealing with the property crisis
International news
Palma-based hotel chain Melia is buying property to accommodate seasonal workers who can't afford to rent in tourism hot spots as a housing crisis risks causing labour shortages in the country's tourism industry, its CEO Gabriel Escarrer said.
Melia, Spain's biggest hotel chain, has bought a former hostel in Minorca and is looking to make further acquisitions in Ibiza and Mallorca as well as in the Canary islands and on the Spanish mainland to house its workforce during the summer high season, Escarrer said in an interview.
Buying housing is a radical solution for Melia, which in the past two years has been forced to accommodate some staff in hotel rooms to prevent them from quitting, Escarrer said.
But for many hotel owners, giving workers a home is not an option, Ramón Estalella, general director of Spain's hotels group CEHAT.
"Not everyone can afford (to provide) housing and a salary for their staff. It is not a widespread solution," he said.