Pioneering new legislation has been approved in Spain which aims to promote the modernization and transformation of the hospitality sector across the Balearic Islands and requires companies to take important steps forward on labour rights and environmental sustainability.
Developed in discussion with trade unions including IUF affiliates Federación de Servicios CC.OO. and FESMC UGT, key elements include:
- A four-year moratorium on new tourism establishments to combat mass tourism and the depletion of natural resources
- Beginning in 2023, hotels will be required to install elevating beds as a health and safety measure for hotel housekeepers
- By 2024, hotels must have a five-year “circular economy action plan” on sustainability and carry out annual assessments or face fines
- Additional protections for workers around workloads, heat stress, and outsourcing
Silvia Montejano, General Secretary of CC.OO Servicios Balearic Islands branch, emphasized, “This law improves the quality of employment and occupational health.” José García, General Secretary of FESMC UGT, stressed, “For the first time workers in the hotel sector are being taken into account; until now it seemed that nobody was working, that there were only employers.”
