Francesc Pons, restaurateur: “We must put our hand on our heart and consider what it really costs to come to Menorca”

Itziar Lecea / Ciutadella – The manager of Cas Cònsol, Francesc Pons, has seen how this high season has been a difficult one. Last-minute bookings, clients who don’t return, regular customers who stop reserving… and an average ticket price that is much lower than in the past three years. At the same time, costs continue to rise, and keeping a business afloat is becoming increasingly difficult for some establishments. Yet Pons’s reflection is a thoughtful self-criticism, one that includes not only the hospitality sector but also Menorca as a tourist destination.

Why is the season going wrong for the restaurant sector?
We thought we had the goose that lays the golden eggs, but we don’t. We lack infrastructure, and we’re not offering quality service for the prices we charge. It’s true that product costs have risen sharply, everything is more expensive, and that has pushed prices up. But I know hotels that have doubled their room rates in just one year. Flight tickets are also very expensive. And we restaurateurs must put our hand on our heart — we’ve contributed to this price escalation too.

Was the price increase on menus inevitable?
In our case, it’s influenced by product inflation, but also by the high cost of the little staff we have, since no one comes from outside because of the housing shortage. That means we must offer very good salaries to maintain a proper team. Staff costs have skyrocketed, and the new hospitality agreement doesn’t help. To keep a somewhat stable team, I’m forced to provide 9 or 10 months of work to everyone. Moreover, everyone wants part of their pay under the table, which complicates things even more. The season isn’t great, and it won’t be. We should reflect and focus on offering quality service, not just in hospitality.

Has the type of tourism changed?
People’s spending power isn’t what it used to be. The average ticket has dropped considerably. We’ve also noticed that people who spend the summer here because they have a second home — who used to come two or three times a week from the resorts — now come only once or not at all. This is also related to parking issues: long-time customers get tired of circling around and end up cancelling. We thought business would always go up, but that’s not the case. Many establishments blame the poor season on the pedestrianization of the Born, when in reality it’s just a weak season. You can see it in the customers’ level, which has dropped, while we keep raising prices. Across the board.

Do restaurant prices affect visitor arrivals?
We have to look at ourselves honestly and see what it really costs to come to Menorca. Flight prices without the resident discount are prohibitive. Even for people who own homes here and only have to pay for transport. I know of a couple with a villa — not short on money — who went to the Caribbean this year because an all-inclusive was cheaper than coming to Menorca. We saw the same at Easter: very few people with second homes came because it was cheaper to go to any European capital than to Menorca.

Are we scaring off national tourists with high prices?
Well, it’s not just the cost of getting to Menorca for holidays. It’s also the obstacles — for example, going to the beach. Many have no public transport; others are already closed early in the morning. The main road is chaotic, it’s never been improved, and I think it’s now obsolete. We don’t provide the services that match our prices. On a rainy day in Ciutadella, what can people do? What alternatives are there? Walk around the Born? We need new infrastructure that breaks the beach-restaurant-beach-restaurant routine. Attractive alternatives: shows, culture, activities… What we have now doesn’t work. And we should do it in a coordinated way among all municipalities, because if Ciutadella goes one way and Mahón another, it won’t work either.

Should that coordination be led by the administration or by businesses?
I think we should all come together to improve the situation instead of everyone going their own way — which has always been the case. There’s no consensus between the administration and the sector, nor even within the sector itself. We’ve tried several times to build stronger unity among restaurants, but it’s very difficult.