When it comes to sustainability, most people think of the environment and the protection of increasingly scarce resources.

The new tourism law in the Balearic Islands is not content with more energy efficiency, it is also about 300,000 hotel beds: According to the draft law of the left-wing regional government, they are to be replaced soon in order to protect the maids on Mallorca and the neighboring islands.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

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Within six years, the beds in the four and five-star hotels will be electrically or mechanically height-adjustable, so that the 20,000 or so "Kellys" no longer ruin their backs with their hard work.

Before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, there were around 200,000 women throughout Spain during the main season. 

"Las Kellys" is the name of the union of Spanish chambermaids, which was founded in Barcelona in 2016.

The name comes from "Las que limpian los hoteles", which translates to "those who clean the hotels".

It was the title of a book about the invisible women who clean up the mess left behind by many tourists before changing rooms.

Encouraged by the success of the book, the chambermaids first founded a Facebook group on the Internet, then a union with more than 4,000 members today.

Fighting for better working conditions, the Kellys are trying to remind hoteliers and holidaymakers that these women are the backbone of the Spanish hotel industry, and the backbone of the Spanish economy depends on their backbreaking work.

Chronic pain and many accidents at work

Sometimes more than thirty rooms they have to tidy up every day.

According to a union study, 70 percent of them suffer from chronic pain for which they regularly take medication.

Work accidents are increasing.

The socialist regional president Francina Armengol now used the large tourism fair Fitur in Madrid to present her plans.

After Corona, the Balearic Islands are trying to restart with a new tourism law that is not only ecologically but also socially sustainable.

The regional government wants to support the hoteliers in realizing their plans with 55 million euros.

This is only possible with the help of the EU.

With the “Next Generation EU” fund, Brussels wants to help Europe get back on its feet after Corona.

At the same time, the Balearic project fits into the major labor market reform that the left-wing minority government in Madrid is currently bringing through parliament.

For the chambermaids, the new law is an important milestone.

In the summer of 2019, they went on strike in Ibiza and Benidorm for the first time.

With their actions, they achieved that their physical strain injuries were recognized as occupational diseases.

Last summer they started a crowdfunding project called "I make reservations with the Kellys": With the almost 100,000 euros that came together, an online platform is to be created through which only hotels that meet the minimum standards for their staff can be booked that they employ permanently and not through subcontractors, as was increasingly the case in the past.

As a result, women in hotels would receive the agreed minimum wage of 1,200 euros – instead of an hourly wage of four euros gross for many subcontractors.

When hunting for the cheapest last-minute room, many tourists forget who pays the price in the end.

Hoteliers fear higher spending

The government in Palma sees itself as a "pioneer" with which it is setting new standards not only in Spain but also in Europe: water and energy are to be saved, more local products consumed and paper replaced by QR codes.

The Balearic Islands want to advertise themselves with better health protection for hotel employees in particular when the law comes into force later this year.

Regional President Armengol is already raving about a "historic change" that takes equal account of social, economic and ecological concerns.

The hoteliers are willing to cooperate, but point out the difficult and uncertain situation in view of the ongoing corona pandemic.

María Frontera, President of the Majorcan Hotel Association FEHM, warns that they will not be able to spend more on the planned “complete cultural change”.

So far they have only seen some guidelines of the new law, but not the fine print. 

The Kellys' enthusiasm is limited.

"That's good news.

But the four and five star hotels are only a minority and there is no change in the workload for women in the other hotels," spokeswoman for the union in Ibiza and Formentera, Milagros Carreño, told the radio station "Onda Zero".

The women have to keep rushing from room to room, often without a short break.

Milagros Carreño demands that the reform of working conditions should not stop with the beds.

Nobody can withstand this burden until the retirement age of almost 67 years.