Isha Sesay
A FINANCIAL report has revealed that over 35,000 jobs will be lost in the Balearic Islands due to the coronavirus crisis.
The bleak analysis was published by Spanish bank BBVA and highlights the thousands of jobs lost this year.
The bank forecasts that this will result in a considerable number of people failing to find other work.
This will raise the region’s unemployment level which is predicted to stand at 17.3% by the second quarter of 2021.
This is an increase of more than 5% from the same period in 2020.
Analysis also revealed that those under the age of 35-years-old will have suffered the most in regards to losing their jobs this year.
Men and women have however been affected equally.
Interestingly, when looking back at the 2008 financial crisis, men were impacted more in the region.
The report was presented by BBVA economist Miguel Cardoso and regional director David Conde in a telematic meeting organised by the Balearic government.
Conde said: “The health crisis has impacted the Balearic Islands considerably and it has hit the region tremendously hard.”
The Balearics are among the worst hit in Spain by the COVID-19 pandemic, ranking highest for unemployment in the entire country with its GDP also falling by a historic 40.5% in the second quarter of 2020.
Conde continued that ‘recovery would be very difficult’, and that ‘the economy would not be at the same pre-crisis level until at least 2022, but more likely in 2023’.
Cardoso stressed that the recovery, which ‘is already underway’, will depend on three important factors.
This includes the effectiveness of the vaccine that is developed, the protocols implemented to install confidence to visitors and the use of special European funds.
“The existence of the Pfizer vaccine brings optimism and will be the key for the recovery of the tourism sector,” said Cardoso.
This hope has already been voiced by the Balearic government and business unions, with the vaccine being hailed as the ‘saviour of the industry’.
Government spokesperson Pilar Costa called the breakthrough ‘a light at the end of a very dark tunnel’, pledging that ‘at the minimum, the vulnerable and healthcare professionals would be protected by May’.
Mallorcan hotelier Gabriel Escarrer also expressed his delight after his hotel chain Melia experienced a historic rise of 37% on the Spanish stock market last week.
The Executive Vice President and CEO declared the vaccine as ‘the announcement of the century’.
