Jurídicos y Administrativos

💰 Viajes El Corte Inglés proposes a reorganization plan, potentially moving up to 520 workers to the commercial network from central services, business travel, and MICE, while offering early retirement to 118 employees. The plan aims to reduce staff in oversized areas and strengthen vacation sector due to hiring difficulties. Negotiations with unions began, with the next meeting scheduled for January 21, and a 15-day deadline for agreement, extendable if agreed. This follows a February 2022 agreement for a maximum of 475 employee layoffs post-pandemic.

✈ Ryanair criticizes Aena for deceiving about fees, ignoring DGAC's 2021 resolution to freeze tariffs for five years. CNMC intervention keeps fees frozen in 2025, yet above DGAC's planned rates. Ryanair highlights Valladolid's passenger fees as higher than those at more efficient airports in Italy and Poland. Ryanair claims Aena's statement that they pay €2 per passenger at any Spanish regional airport is false. No new Ryanair bases in Spain since 2016 due to high fees; contrasts 8 million passengers in Málaga with zero in Granada. On December 13, 2024, Minister Puente acknowledged the failure of Aena's incentive schemes to increase regional traffic. Ryanair urges the Spanish government to break Aena's monopoly and let regional authorities manage airports to boost traffic, tourism, and employment.

✈ Lufthansa must continue offering fair prices to Condor for connections from German cities to Frankfurt, as ruled by the European Commission, to maintain competitiveness. Condor, once owned by Lufthansa and later Thomas Cook, struggled post-pandemic and post-Thomas Cook bankruptcy. A British investment fund acquired Condor, improved its fleet, and now successfully transports passengers from Germany to the U.S. and Caribbean via Frankfurt. Lufthansa, introducing its own airline Discovery and ending fair prices to Condor, faced legal challenges. However, the European Commission intervention mandates maintaining beneficial agreements for Condor temporarily while reviewing dominant airline agreements on transatlantic routes.

📌 In 2024, tourist housing (VUT) in 10 major Spanish cities including Málaga, Valencia, and Sevilla surpassed hotel offerings, growing by an average of 17.5% in capacity compared to just 2.9% for hotels. Valencia saw the highest rise in VUT with a 30.2% increase to 32,961 spots, while hotel growth in the city was 7%. Madrid, Alicante, Córdoba, Zaragoza, and Valladolid also experienced significant VUT growth. Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza had declines of 10.1% and 11%, respectively. Tourist homes contributed to 51% of the total overnight stays in 2024, raising concerns about local infrastructure capacity and public space saturation. Despite regulatory efforts, Exceltur calls for stronger rules to control the VUT market.

✈ Ryanair cuts over 800,000 seats at regional airports in Spain, including closures in Valladolid and Jerez, blaming Aena's high fees and ineffective incentive plans. Aena refutes, stating the average fee of €10.35 per passenger remains frozen from March 1 and is one of Europe's lowest. Despite Ryanair's 8.7% activity increase in Spanish airports in 2024, Aena warns their demands could breach Law 18/2014 and potentially be illegal or considered state aid by the EU. Regional airports offer incentives that can lower fees to around €2 per passenger.

🏩 Air Nostrum rearranged its payment schedule for the €111 million state aid received in May 2022, consolidating the return in 2028 instead of starting in 2026 with €30 million payments each year until 2028. This renegotiation with SEPI does not affect the principal or interest of the debt. Additionally, the airline repaid €61.5 million of a €133 million ICO loan by late summer 2024, with €44.2 million for debt and €17.3 million for interest.

🏡 El Gobierno español intensificará la vigilancia de pisos turísticos con un registro único a partir de julio. Se contratará a Mabrian Technologies por 98.000 euros anuales, financiado con fondos europeos, para rastrear plataformas como Airbnb y Booking y alimentar el Sistema de Inteligencia Turística con datos detallados. El monitoreo incluirá conteo de pisos, análisis de precios y valoraciones, y estará disponible a nivel de barrios para comunidades autónomas y ayuntamientos.

🏡 In Mallorca, 'okupas' targeted the closed Sol y Mar apartment in Cala Bona, leading to tensions. The Son Servera Local Police found roughly 30 occupants, including women and children, who had forced entry, stolen items, and caused significant damage. The squatters, claiming residence for over a month with food receipts, cited Spanish law protection against eviction without a court order. A desokupación company managed building access, allowing only property exits, sparking further tension. The apartment owner faced accusations of changing locks and cutting utilities.

🛈 Hoteliers in Spain resist the proposed 'Gran Hermano' tourist surveillance by Interior Minister Marlaska, vowing to collect only essential personal data upon hotel check-in, leaving reservation info to travel agencies and operators. The controversy persists two weeks after the draft ministerial order was published, which adds two more required data to the existing eleven, though stakeholders claim it exceeds thirty. Hoteliers argue the burden is excessive and risks breaching data protection laws, while travel agencies and rental car companies, like CEAV and Feneval, voice opposition and call for respect to normative hierarchy and data retention limits, with a deadline for objections set at January 21.

✈ In the US, two Boeing B727s, over 50 years old, fly for Vallejo Company and Towards Air, California, not serving regular passengers. The oldest commercial Boeing plane is a 50-year-old 737 from Nolinor Aviation, Quebec, Canada, formerly with Transavia, Holland. An Airbus A300 from Iran Air, 40.5 years old, is the oldest in Europe. Maldivian operates a 55.1-year-old De Havilland DHC6. Colombia has DC3s, 88 years old, flying regular routes; 163 DC3s exist, mainly for demos, with Aliansa still operating them.