A Ray of Hope for Summer 2021

The news has been tough reading for us here in the Balearic Islands over the last few weeks but finally we have had a couple of items of good news.

Firstly, business and government leaders in the Balearics made an announcement that went under the radar. Not only did they say that they are pushing for the Islands to get back to business at the end of March 2021 to prepare for an early easter but they also explained that they will recommend that tourists do a PCR test at origin but if they don’t then a quick test will be given at ports and at airports on arrival.

This is a very significant development as for the first time we are seeing a specific strategy put in place. There will be some logistical details to iron out but the right noises are being made about the need to get the Balearic tourist economy back up and running by working with the virus rather than waiting for a miracle cure which brings me nicely to the next piece of positive news.

A vaccine trial from Pfizer and German company BioNTech has produced very positive results with a 90% success rate. This is only 1 of 11 vaccines currently in the final stages of testing and its early days but is another glint of hope that some form of solution to the global pandemic is not a million miles away. Governments and scientists are urging caution so we shouldn’t celebrate too soon but it’s clearly a step in the right direction.

Many Ibiza residents are already in financial difficulties after the stop-start summer and it’s unimaginable what would happen if we had another one similar so these 2 pieces of news gives us hope that summer 2021 will happen on some level. As we tip toe back it might not be the mass tourism model that we have previously seen but we have to start somewhere and something is better than nothing.

There’s a long way to go but theres’s also 5 months until the start of the summer so plenty of time for these 2 things to solidify and form into definite propositions to regain customer confidence and to get the Balearic economy back into action. It will be a long road to recovery but any significant morsel of positivity is always more than welcome.