Child theme index:

Interview with Albert Pinya, Majorcan artist and “creative humanist”.

The name Albert Pinya is synonymous with success. Born in Palma, Mallorca, in 1985, Pinya is one of Mallorca’s most active artists young, alert, polite, and extremely charming. Generally speaking, his work draws on an intentional, ironic naivety with which he manages to dismantle the perverse structures of reality. He has rapidly developed an identifiable signature style, incorporating codes from popular culture, comic books, illustration and a meditated naive aesthetic that conceals a precise treatment of the themes he explores. Pinya defines himself as a “creative humanist” because the focus of his obsession is the study of how human beings relate and connect to their surroundings.

Albert, what inspires you?

Everything that is part of life inspires me. Obviously, some themes are more recurrent than others the interest in “agro-power”, for example, the ultra-local dimension, and poetry, always poetry. I particularly like those influences that refer us back to our ancestry and back to the land, those that come from peripheral cultures and rural life. Today, it seems to me that they provide some of the most valid responses to today’s modern societies – victims of excess and abuse of new technologies – not just in the pictorial sense, but as a question of personal attitude. That’s why I reclaim the ancestral nature of things. Curiously, in some sectors of the art world, certain lobbies are set on the idea of -destroying” or “murdering” painting, saying, “Painters should be in archaeological or prehistoric museums” or, “Painting is an anachronism”, or that contemporary artists today have to be video-artists or digital photographers or transvestites… There’s a lot of stupidity out there, we know that. Technological art casts no shadow. And we live in a world in which everything has shadows and ghosts. And I don’t intend to abandon them.

Could it be said that the message of your work is to reflect on where human beings come from?

One of my obsessions focuses on observation and on the study of how human beings relate and connect to their surroundings. Though I must admit I tend to be more interested in how human begins function socially rather than individually. I am constantly looking for answers to the diverse conflicts that surround us. And I think that should be one of the basic functions of the contemporary artist. The insatiable capacity to challenge and reevaluate existence, history and, for that matter, life itself. Or as Sanchez-Castillo would say, “And what is the role of the artist? To demonstrate contradiction. That crack through which a doubt is created.” Amen.

Your work received an ARCO [International Contemporary Art Fair] award. What did winning the award mean to you?

Well, to be honest, when I received the award, I didn’t know it existed. The repercussions were huge and I understood that it was an important recognition. In any case, awards are somewhat anecdotal. It’s the trajectories that are important.

Why do you think people criticise some of the works presented at art fairs like ARCO?

I think one of the big problems, apart from the voracious ignorance that exists, in Spain above all, is that the public professes to want to understand everything it sees. And an emotion cannot be rationalised. In art, intuition is more important than reason. As in poetry.

Have you ever been afraid to make a mistake?

Error and failure are part of the creative process. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. If you don’t take risks, you don’t win.

What is your relationship with Joan Buades?

Joan is passionate about contemporary art and that is the principal bond between us. I like him because he is a person with a great sense of humour, which is a quality I value above many others. It is fundamental. At my age, I could be his son, but I feel sure that, if we were closer in age, we would be accomplices in many other things.

What are you working on at the moment and what are your projects?

I finished 2015 exhausted from the maximum effort that went into four individual exhibitions during the year. At the Allegra Ravizza gallery (Lugano, Switzerland), the Cervantes Institute in Berlin and Milan, and also an artist’s book in collaboration with the poet Ángel Terrón, edited by Edicions 6a Obra Gráfica of Palma de Mallorca. Of the projects I-m currently working on, two” stand out. The first is a project based on the “Tots els sepulcres” [All the sepulchers”] trilogy by the poet Jaume C. Pons Alorda, which will culminate in an exhibition as part of the Leselenz Poetry Festival in the city of Hausach in Germany next June. The poet himself will curate the exhibition along with the festival curator, José F. A. Oliver. On the other hand, in parallel with this show, the poet Jaume Manur and I are involved in an editorial project that deals with fauna and the different species indigenous to Mallorca, in another attempt to connect poetry, painting and, very importantly, teaching units that can be used in schools.

And how do you prepare for all this?

Just like any person in my situation. By staying focused, being very alert, having patience and also, mainly, a lot of dedication and persistence. Art = Life

How do you see yourself over the next five years?

I can’t tell you, I’m afraid. Things live in me, not in time. And in me, everything is present.

A regenerative activity after a long, hard day’s work

Caresses, hugs and kisses.

Your favourite Mallorcan dish and the person that does it best

“Cheeks of black pork” made by the chef María Solivellas.

A drink your home can never be without

Laccao [a Mallorcan brand of chocolate milkshake].

The image that best embodies happiness in your childhood

The Boomer chewing gum that my father would buy me every Saturday afternoon at the village shop.

A historical figure you would have liked to meet and why

Dracula. Because he is like painting. He dies and comes back to life.

The quality you most admire in a person

Enthusiasm.

Albert Pinyas is never far away from…

His fascination with Twin Peaks.

Previous interviews:

Miquel Roca: “Suicide is the major cause of death in under-35’s”.

Franz Kraus:“The country people of Mallorca are the real gardeners behind the hotel industry”.

Interview with Miquel Roca Bennasar, psychiatrist, professor and researcher at the Universidad de Illes Balears

Miquel Roca Bennasar is a psychiatrist, professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychology of the Universidad de les Illes Balears, Neuroscience Area Coordinator for the university’s Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS), and Senior Researcher of the ‘Prevalent mental disorders in primary health care’ research group.

As author and editor, he has published ten volumes on psychopathology and psychopharmacology, and more than 85 articles in international journals. In this interview, Roca Bennasar explains the health issues that cause mental illness and talks about the major changes needed to bring about true progress in the field of psychiatry.

– Miquel Roca, how do you currently spend your professional time?

– It’s divided between lecturing, research and health care. Research on Spanish and international projects.

– In your long career, you have had dealings with Bufete Buades and, in particular, you have forged a close relationship with its director, Joan Buades. Which of these relationships is most important to you?

– Fortunately, in my life I haven’t found myself involved in any legal disputes requiring the firm’s services (laughter), but we have worked together with Real Mallorca and other sport-related leisure activities. Aside from that, I also enjoy totally personal relationships with members of the firm, with artistic and gastronomic tastes in common.

– In relation to the current crisis, what are the mental health issues most affecting the Spanish population?

– The mental health issues are the same as those before and after the crisis, but during the crisis they have become more acute. We are mainly talking about depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as those disorders that stem from the use of toxic substances. Those are the major disorders. The most prevalent are the depressive and anxiety disorders, which are very common in the general population, probably little recognised as such because there is still a stigma attached to them that makes people think they are illnesses that should be glossed over, concealed, disguised or kept from view, despite all the research demonstrating that the impact they have on the individual, the family, society and the economy is huge. For example, we are now seeing the repercussions of depression on daily function, which includes academic and work performance. In other words, there is a social, economic and collective impact on top of the suffering on a personal level.

– Is Mallorca any different with respect to these kinds of complaints or are its inhabitants, generally speaking, affected by the same kinds of illnesses as in the rest of Spain?

[roto lado=”left” texto=”During the crisis we have seen an increase of 7 – 10% on pre-crisis figures in consultations for mental disorders” ]

– Yes, fortunately there are no differences. The prevalence parameters for mental illnesses in the Balearic Islands are comparable with the rest of Europe. In fact, a number of myths exist, for example, the belief that Menorca is an island of frequent suicides. We have already published, researched and anlaysed this and it is not true. It’s a myth, but people insist that the notorious Tramuntana winds drive people to suicide, which is false. The rate of suicide, the gravest repercussion of a mental illness, is the greatest parapsychological issue facing the health care system. If you look at the under-35’s, the major cause of death is suicide. It used to be traffic accidents, but since those have reduced significantly, the major cause of deaths in the under-35’s today is suicide. The figures for the autonomous region of Menorca are similar to those for the rest of Spain. If we analyse the situation before and during the economic crisis, however, we can see the impact that mental health has had on primary health care consulations. During the crisis we have seen an increase of 7 – 10% on pre-crisis figures in consultations for mental disorders, and in care for people with mental disorders. Now we will repeat the same study in order to compare and contrast the three periods. What we have observed is that, during the crisis, mental health has had the most impact on primary health care consultations, since in a situation of economic crisis that is where the repercussions are produced. I think it will be necessary to implement significant changes to health care services if we intend to lessen the impact. The only preventative recommendations for these mental illnesses are that people take exercise, eat well and avoid toxic substances, though that continues to be complicated for young people.

– Are public resources sufficient to treat mental illnesses?

– All the research shows they are not, and they are not for many reasons, because mental health care doesn’t require a lot of technological resources. There are no great surgeons; psychiatrists work with the same instruments they have been using for two centuries. It is a question of personal listening and of time. It is inexpensive, yet mental illnesses continue to be those that have the most impact, individually, socially and collectively. When a person arrives at a hospital with a complaint that could indicate, say, a cardiac problem, doubtless they would be subjected to a series of examinations, tests, imaging tests and so on. By contrast, in psychiatry you have to give an immediate answer without access to any such resources. We play with a lot of subjectivity and very little objectivity in the diagnostic process. In our case, psychiatry has been taken out of psychiatric hospitals and put into general hospitals, and at the moment the aim is that patients who need to be hospitalised spend as little time as possible in hospital, returning to their families and society at the earliest opportunity. As a model, this is absolutely correct: no to psychiatric hospitals, better general hospitals with short stays and early return to community and family But the community and the family are in all-out crisis. There are times you have a patient who is hospitalised, you discharge them but they have no family in the area, the closest relative is many miles away, or they don’t have anybody at all. This is by no means to say that we should go back to the old model, this is the correct model, but it has many pitfalls because in the old days families were better able to look after a mentally ill person. The family model we have now is one with its members spread across the globe, and for a patient with, for example, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, this can be very complicated.

[roto lado=”right” texto=”Psychiatry has been taken out of psychiatric hospitals and put into general hospitals, and at the moment the aim is that patients who need to be hospitalised spend as little time as possible in hospital”]

– You have published books and articles internationally, how do you see the role of psychiatry in the coming years?

– I think it will be defined as a medical speciality in which there is a lot of research which needs to be translational. In other words, all the research being accumulated on mental illness needs to be quickly translated into benefits for the patient. I believe that is the challenge for psychiatry. Right now we are still tied to research systems that only allow us to use new technology in research itself, and we need to take the step of applying that research to the clinic and our patients. It is complex, but progress is being made in pharmacogenetics and in more personalised medicine, where clinical research and epidemiological data are being combined with genetic and biological data in order that these can be translated into benefits for patients. In that sense, psychiatry has still got a considerable amount of fascinating work to do in order to improve.

A regenerative activity after a long, hard day’s work

Reading. Someone once said that reading any page of the Encylopaedia Britannica is a cure for any ill.

Your favourite typical Mallorcan dish and who made it best

Pa amb oli (bread with olive oil) and bread with sobrasada (cured pork sausage made with paprika). My mother used to make it, now I make it myself.

Palma has been voted the best city in the world to live in. The second best, in your opinion, is…

London. London is THE city, with that emphasis.

A drink your home can never be without

Red wine, naturally.

The image that best encapsulates happiness in your childhood

The sea in summer.

A historical figure you would have liked to meet and why

Michel de Montaigne in his castle at Bordeaux.

The quality you most admire in a person

It used to be intelligence, but now that I’m older it’s kindness and altruism. I’ve changed my mind on that.

Do you read the press in print or have you gone digital?

Both. Human life these days is reading the print version over breakfast with a coffee and reading tomorrow’s online version last thing at night.

Miquel Roca is never apart from…

Any book.

Franz Kraus: “The country people of Mallorca are the real gardeners behind the hotel industry”

Interview with Franz Kraus, manager of Sa Fàbrica de Gelats and Fet a Sóller

Franz Kraus came to Sóller in the 90s. He opened “Sa Fàbrica de Gelats” with two employees and two years later he created “Fet a Sóller” which currently employs between 70 and 150, both directly and indirectly.

Franz studied in the United States and Germany, and after finishing his degree he worked as the manager of a multinational food company. He then moved to Sóller in order to work as a project consultant for a German company. Sometime later, he left the job to create the food factories. In this interview, Franz talks to us about his early days, projects, and why Fet a Sóller has become an unprecedented success as a company that emphasises the best of Mallorca’s countryside.

– Franz, what is it about Sóller… Why did you leave your native Germany?

– I had quite a lot of success in the food industry in Germany when I took the decision to move to Mallorca. I was always clear about the fact that I would have my own business one day. I came to Mallorca because I had met my wife and we made the decision to settle here. I also consider myself to be Latino, so I feel more at ease in the south of Europe than in the north. I have been here for 26 years, I really like the way of life here.

– What were the early days like in Sóller in the business world right in the middle of Serra de la Tramuntana?

– We had to tread very carefully. From the moment I arrived, I assessed the potential of Sóller, the riches that nature provides and what we could do. At the start, I spent 7 years working as a consultant for the agri-food industry in Europe. In 1994 I created Sa Fabrica de Gelats and in 1996 I set up Fet a Sóller. I began by myself, but now I have partners because the business is now too large to manage alone.

– Why did you start in the ice cream sector? Is it a passion or a business?

– I began in Mallorca for two reasons. Firstly, because I found a niche in the ice cream sector and secondly, because, in addition to being an economist, I am also an ice cream maker. Everything I know about ice creams I learned in my native Germany, because I worked there as an ice cream maker when I was studying.

– How did Fet a Sóller come about?

– Fet a Sóller is a marketer of Sóller’s regional products, but all over Europe. It originated as a concept for creating food products, not only ice cream, because ice cream, just like wine, is a product that is not essential, but which has its niche in the market. The ice cream is Majorca has always been a disaster and that is why I began to work with the two brands, and of course that forced me to leave my job as a consultant. We currently have 70 people that work with us and who are on our pay roll. We also have agreements with several companies -cooperatives- in Sóller, El Consell, and occupational workshops. In short, I would say that in total we have 150 people working for the company.

– How did your relationship begin with Bufete Buades?

– It was a coincidence. Juan Buades participated in a debate at the Economic Circle in Majorca. We met one another there and he told me that he was surprised to meet Germans that did not fit the normal stereotypical vision people have on the island.

– What do you attribute the success of your company to?

– No new company, apart from those that have a unique idea for the world, like Google, can reach a target alone. I think that, in order for a company to have success, the important thing is perseverance, knowledge and humility when you reach a goal. The creators are not the only ones that have success, so too do employees and lots of other people. It is like football; you need a solid team to progress. On the other hand, I think that the potential that Sóller had in this case, somewhat forgotten during Spain’s dark era, and also due to a lack of new paths, made me set my aim on involving everyone in the project. The knowledge was already there but it lacked a driving force to get things going. At the beginning I had to convince people to believe me, but I have demonstrated it especially because I trustworthy, and in society it is extremely important that people keep their word. I think that any business person has to create employment and over the last few years, we have created 50 jobs in a town like Sóller. Nobody from Mallorca works here, only locals, because in Sóller we are the “aliens” of Mallorca: we have to pay a toll tunnel, the most expensive in the world and that is like a border. Unfortunately, none of the parties that have governed have been able to free us of that border. Now it seems that the current government of Francia Armengol is going to free us, giving us free access to the rest of Mallorca, thus providing us with a normal way of moving around so that we can grow and hire employees from the rest of Majorca.

[roto lado=”left” texto=”in Sóller we are the “aliens” of Mallorca: we have to pay a toll tunnel, the most expensive in the world and that is like a border”]

– What advantage does your company have in relation to other multinationals and what is it like to compete with them?

– In our case, we are a group of food companies. I have a personal philosophy: food is a product that helps you to survive in life, it is not a product to fill your stomach. Multinationals want to fill stomachs and their pockets. I mean, food is the first medicine that we take each day. We are educating our clientele so that they always bear this in mind and remember that food is the first medicine that we supply our body with, and that anything we eat has to help our body to function, it is very straightforward. An example of this can be found in the marmalades that are produced and sold in supermarkets: they contain citric acid preservatives, pure chemicals, while we take the more complicated route because we use natural ingredients such as strong lemon juice. The other difference is that multinationals have more financial power, but at Fet a Sóller we have the support of suppliers because they view us as the saviours of their economy. In our case, we plan in the long term, over years, so that farmers have time to plan with the fixed income they will receive from their harvest. Before the harvest, farmers know the volume that will be purchased and the amount that they can earn. The price that we pay is higher than in the countryside of Valencia, for example. We do that because we have an underlying policy, which is to try and recover and defend the Mallorcan countryside so that it can have an added value for tourism, because if it doesn’t work there is no tourism. The country people of Mallorca are the real gardeners behind the hotel industry, our idea is to be more productive, we can also make a living within tourism while having quality. The word quality is very versatile, everyone talks about it, but what really is it? Our quality is about having a product that is suitable for the body, and not full of chemicals, that is quality. If we meet the expectations of consumers thanks to the taste, then we have perfect quality. Quality is poor for example, when you consume processed foods, that is poor quality because its only purpose is to fill your stomach and then illnesses emerge. Almost 95% of lemon ice creams from multinational companies have never come into contact with a lemon, they are just created with citric acid. At our company it is forbidden to use citric acid, when we sell lemon ice cream, it is flavoured only with real lemon.

– What advice would you give to someone that wants to embark on a business venture in Majorca? How do you create a formula for success?

– I have no right to sit and hand out advice, but if someone asks me, I would say that the first thing you need is humility. Secondly, before you open your mouth and say “in my country things are done in such a way”, you have to look at things first here, and assess the different way of doing things in Mallorca. When that person has got to know and taken a closer look at society, that is when they really learn. Ghettos are not good, we know that life in Mallorca is difficult but you have to make an effort to get to know it, and then only after doing that, I would advise investing. Mallorca is not the third world; we are in Europe.

– Currently, having a client is a treasure, what is the key to keeping them?

– A client is always an asset but the key question is who has access to the client. Companies have to work on the same level as their clients. You have to be honest, and tell the truth because if you tell lies the client will end up finding out. We now use the internet to work on international exportation. 50% of our direct sales are with our clients, I mean, everyone that thinks it is possible to work with platforms such as Amazon is wrong. In those cases, you don’t have access to the end customer, because Amazon manages everything and you always live with the fear of losing everything. It is essential for any business to have direct access to buyers, know when a client is happy or not, and what to do in each of those scenarios. Another thing that is important for any company is research and constant renewal in order to keep evolving.

[roto lado=”right” texto=” It is essential for any business to have direct access to buyers”]

– In a company with such an extensive trajectory, there must have been good and bad moments, what can you tell us about them?

– 99% of business people, especially at the start of the first 10 years, have to calculate that their idea will not work. They need to have a plan B or C in order to change the strategy when things are going badly. The key is knowing if you are going to survive or not. Survival is success. For many people money is success, but this is gratification. You may earn more than others but really, success is about surviving and being able to grow in markets where almost everything exists. Internet is something new that has been around for about 15 years, however for me it is like a pencil: it is not for selling, it is a path, a means, a tool, however the ideas and creations of markets have to be made by humans.

– Mr Kraus, what are your challenges for the future beginning with 2016?

– We have a plan for the next five years, each year we add one to the future plan. It is continuous, our goal for this year is to build the headquarters of our company. We invest money in order to have a decent infrastructure to use a base for business in the future, located in a town in Sóller with a freed tunnel that is no longer a border. Fet a Sóller is a Sóller-based company because our employees live here, but we are a Mallorcan company in an international market. 50% of sales come from the European Union and 50% come from the Balearic Islands. Our goal is to grow with quality, to create foods that are good for the body, for people that really want to enjoy a Mediterranean diet.

[roto lado=”left” texto=”Success is about surviving and being able to grow in markets where almost everything exists”]

– Is it profitable to invest in Sóller?

– Sóller, along with Palma, is the most historic and prettiest town on the island. This is thanks to the people of Sóller and their spirit, for the last 150 years, they have gradually created fortunes and invested them into making their town beautiful. What other town has a train, such a highly concentrated level of modern architecture, as well as people that are slightly crazy, different, international and liberal? That is the way people in Sóller are. However, at the same time it is difficult to live behind the mountains with a different climate and have the intellectual ability to speak different languages such as Mallorquín here, and Spanish…those are things that you cannot fake. Anyone that wants to invest here has to think about the way they are going to do so, namely, in a neo-capitalistic way or in line with social capitalism, thinking with their heart. In my case, I do everything with heart, I don’t understand success without heart. That is the greatest source of joy. I recommend that people who want to invest in Sóller do so humbly and tread carefully. Above all, they should learn the language, which is the same as what northern countries request of newly arrived immigrants. You have to learn the language here. I speak the language, even if I make some errors, but I am getting better every single day. You have to show an interest in the language, be able to communicate, because if you only speak English or German then you miss out on the cultural riches of the people here and will never be fully acknowledged by the people of Mallorca.

arse, porque si solo comunicas en inglés o en alemán pierdes la riqueza cultural de la población de aquí y nunca van a encontrar el agradecimiento de los mallorquines.

Interview with Andreu Rotger, chairman of the Cercle d’Economia de Mallorca

Andreu Rotger is the current head of one of the benchmark independent entities on the island as a result of its cooperation and involvement in revitalising and modernising economic life on the island, the Cercle d’Economia de Mallorca. Rotger (Alaró, 1949) is a civil engineer who is a keen supporter of the ongoing adaptation of production processes, both in private companies and in other areas of society in general. After beginning his career working on major infrastructures, dams, tunnels and roads, he spent a major part of his professional life in the energy sector, specialising in organisational development and change management. He finished off his career as Managing Director of Gesa-Endesa, a position which he held until 2011.

How would you rate this year as chairman of the Cercle d’Economia?

One of the most interesting things has been the work of the committees and particularly the work prior to the regional elections. This very interesting work was carried out across all the committees in order to see how we would like to be governed as citizens. We are an institution which is independent in both political and business terms, and we do not aspire to be a political party or to govern, but we do aspire to be able to express how we would like to be governed. That is why the Cercle d’Economia was host to all the leaders of the political parties, and it was extremely interesting to see the presentation of our work with regard to the future government and to check the position of each party with respect to the points we put forward. We were not interested in each political party coming to do a rally or a speech, what we wanted was to know their overall position with regard to socio-economic measures.

If anyone is unaware of the tasks of the Cercle, can you describe for us its main tasks in favour of the economy of the Balearic Islands?

We are not a forum made up exclusively of economists, as we cover a whole range of professionals who are truly keen to analyse, debate and contrast different thoughts in a pluralistic manner from the point of view of citizens’ multiple interests.

The Cercle is an independent institution that does not accept any grants from the government or from anybody else, and it therefore has no need to defend party or business interests. Based on that independence, our objectives can evolve depending on how society itself evolves. At this time, and unfortunately for quite a while now, one of the issues that most concerns us and takes up our time is our region’s system of financing, which is currently insolvent. The region has a debt of 9 billion euros, when the annual budget stands at a little over 4 billion euros, i.e., the debt is more than double the budget, and for many years now the region has not had the ability to generate a surplus and the debt interest has been eating away at our finances. We are therefore in an extremely complicated situation and our response is to argue for a fairer system of financing, and we have been working on this for quite a while and we continue to do so in order to bring out a civil society manifesto. Our hope and desire is that the civil society will support our manifesto demanding a fairer tax system. It makes no sense that a region which provides almost 6% of its GDP to other regions then has the lowest resources available in all of Spain to satisfy the same needs as the other regions. Something is clearly wrong, and the Cercle will continue to demand a change in the system of financing, not only relating to income but also with regard to expenditure. When a family or a company is in financial difficulty, it searches for new income but it also attempts to streamline its spending. We do not support cuts, but we do support efficiency; we cannot spend one single euro on anything that is not a priority and a necessity. In this regard, the WHO, for example, indicates that in Spain, and we suppose that the Balearic Islands are no different, between 20% and 40% of spending is inefficient. If this is the case, and we have no reason to think that this region is an exception in this regard, we must work on efficient ways to reduce spending, not only in health, but in all other areas, such as education, social services and all public companies so that the money collected from the taxpayers’ pockets is invested not only in a strictly correct way free from any hint of corruption, but also on a well prioritised basis.

What objectives has the Cercle d’Economia and its chairman set for the coming years?

At this time, and more than ever, we need a system of parties committed to consensus and to representing citizens’ interests and not their own party interests. We are concerned about corruption and the reform of the Electoral Law. But we are also concerned about education, indeed the Cercle d’Economia worked towards reaching a social agreement for education, the economic situation for employees, with over 50% of young people unemployed, and the extremely precarious employment conditions. To take an obvious example, 25% of contracts have a duration of one week or less. A responsible and democratic society must consider all these issues very seriously. The Cercle is in favour of consensus in the essential issues – health, education, employment and the economy – and who could possibly think that the first thing a party should consider when entering government is to repeal the laws of the previous government? And I am not saying this because of the situation we have seen in recent months. Considering the creation of a tourist tax thinking that the next government might repeal it is of no help at all to the economy and the system of this country. Citizens should require all political parties to show greater responsibility in this aspect, and I insist, all political parties.

On a more personal level, tell us about your experience as an executive and as a civil engineer and what you believe to be the main needs of the Majorcan business sector

I have had the good fortune to lead various projects, remaining on average no more than 4 or 5 years in the same project. This, together with the development of the private companies has allowed me to work on the merger of different companies. One of the most striking aspects, and one that I have had to learn a great deal about, is change management, which is currently a very topical aspect that requires a lot of work. In this regard, I believe, and this matches up perfectly with what we were saying before about the consensus of political parties, that a truly good employee must nowadays have a certain willingness to manage change and a marked capacity for adaptation.

A second aspect which from my point of view is essential in the current business context relates to efficiency and ongoing improvement. I have worked extensively in benchmarking, which is simply the process by which we analyse how things are done, now not only in your own house but also in everybody else’s, in order to compare yourself with the competition or with third parties and to take those with better results than you as benchmarks, analysing those who develop the best practices to then attempt to apply them in your particular context. It involves being permanently up-to-date with how others are improving and trying to apply and enhance the knowledge that you can deduce from what others are putting into practice. That attitude of humility and constant analysis is extremely interesting.

How would you describe your relationship with Bufete Buades? How far does it date back?

It is clearly because Joan Buades was the chairman of the Cercle d’Economia and therefore my predecessor, although not directly, and if it were only for this reason we would already have many things in common. In addition, the relationship with Bufete Buades, and specifically with Joan even at this time when he does not have a direct link to the Cercle, is good and we have sometimes asked for his cooperation and he has responded enthusiastically. For example, as a case in point, Joan Buades recently participated as the moderator in a panel discussion which we organised and which was attended by foreign business people resident in Mallorca, with an extremely interesting final result for the audience.

How do you interpret what might be the immediate future for the island’s economy?

We are living in the best of all worlds from a macroeconomic point of view, in the sense that having come out of a major recession we are basically sustained by the tourism sector and our competition is, in a manner of speaking, in worse condition for many reasons. This places us in a distorted situation, but also one which we have worked hard for because you get nothing in life for free. Nevertheless, the circumstances are in our favour and it would be a serious mistake just to stay where we are.

We are at a crossroads, I would say, because this is the perfect moment to change direction in some aspects: our GDP per capita is falling systematically, dropping from one of the highest incomes per capita in Spain to positions around the average. Productivity is falling and we have been more concerned about profitability, with an approach to the macroeconomy in recent years in which profitability has been placed above productivity. I believe that we need to turn to focusing on productivity, with more emphasis on R&D and education, which is something that is not happening at the moment. We spend 0.36 % on R&D, one of the regions in Europe which least invests in innovation (the one which invests most, a Belgian region, invests 7.8%). We are not doing too well in productivity and we are having many problems in education. A regional education minister from the People’s Party recently said that we are undergoing a national emergency in education, and we believe that we have a lot of work to do in this regard which needs to be carried out intensely and quickly so as not to miss the boat.

Our socio-economic model has evolved. It is necessary to know where you come from and not to disparage the great potential which the Balearic Region has, but it is clear that we need to diversify. However, we need to do so with intelligence and training, and that is why education is a basic pillar to drive everything in this regard.

Apart from the tourism sector, what sectors are undergoing greater growth and recognition inside and outside our islands?

The work has started, and an increasing number of people are showing interest in the positive signs coming from agriculture, health tourism and the innovation associated with scientific and technological entrepreneurs in fields such as medicine and biology. In an island such as ours, we cannot aspire to develop a large industrial sector, because it is relatively incompatible due to our size, but we can be optimistic about telephone and communication services and the strengthening of services for senior citizens, which is a very important field, both due to necessity and as a driver of change in the economy.

Has the Cercle d’Economia detected any increase in the interest of foreign capital in establishing its investments and businesses in Majorca?

I believe that we have a series of advantages and also of disadvantages. We need to know what they are in order to strengthen the former, and not to lose them, and to correct the latter.

The advantages of the Balearic Islands for European business people, and this is what they have told us in the Cercle, include the safety and quality of life enjoyed on this island, which do not exist almost anywhere else. In addition, as Utz Claassen recently said, it is the most European region of Europe as citizens from the entire continent live together here in an easy and natural manner. Nevertheless, we have some very significant unresolved matters, such as the red tape, as we have been told by the foreign business people we have spoken to. But it is not only them, a recent report places us as the fourth worst autonomous region for doing business based on four indicators: the amount of red tape and the time necessary to create a company; the same for changing a name or selling a company; also for carrying out a construction project (houses, hotels, factories etc), and the time necessary to connect to the electricity grid. In the first three indices, the Balearic Islands is among the three worst regions, and the overall calculation places it in the fourth from last position.

It is very difficult for business people in general, and foreigners in particular, to set themselves up here. In addition, we have a decisive handicap which is the island’s regional framework: we need to develop a regional financing system and a special framework for the islands. This last point should be aimed at removing the disadvantages for citizens and companies of living on an island, which almost creates a situation of unfair competition.

The surcharge for importing or exporting is very significant as it directly affects a company’s decision on whether or not to set up in a region, both for selling its products outside the region, and also if it needs to import raw materials. In the case of tourism, the only important thing is the customers, as the raw material – the sun and nature – are already here, which, of course, is not the case for most sectors.