Horrified health chiefs say the millions of visitors who visit the holiday favourite each year deserve better and say many can’t cope when the islands are packed with visitors in the summer. Employing untrained staff and lack of professionalism is also blamed.
The dire situation has come to light as an investigation gets underway into how at least 33 people contracted the liver disease hepatitis A at a restaurant in the capital of Palma.
The premises were closed down for nine days.
Spanish newspaper Diario de Mallorca says 125 establishments were sanctioned during 2017. Two out of every three only just got through the inspections whilst 23 were closed for a period of time.
Two others were allowed to remain open but were ordered not to serve any type of product in which deficiencies had been detected. Fines imposed ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 euros.
“A tourist community cannot afford such statistics,” said head of the Food Security service, Margalida Buades.
The inspection campaign was carried out during the past year in restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, school canteens, residences and industries that prepare pre-cooked dishes. In total, 3,071 controls were carried out and 2,618 breaches were detected.
Health officials gave each one a rating of zero to five and 15 got the lowest score, deeming them “horrible”.
Fourteen restaurants received a score of one which equates to “dirty, not meeting the conditions but not a health risk to customers” whilst 275 got a rating of two which showed they had deficiencies but not quite as serious.
Half of the establishments (1,104) received a three point rating, meaning they just got through.
“The inspectors only feel comfortable in those facilities that get a score of four or five, that is, in those who present a good and even very good situation,” said Margalida Buades.
Four points went to 642 establishments (29% of the total) whilst there were just 157 (seven per cent) with five.
Health chiefs say only one out of every three businesses inspected (36 per cent) got good marks, something they looked on with regret.
Margalida Buades told Diario de Mallorca: “A territory that lives on tourism should make a radical change to this situation and make the grade of four and five in at least 60 per cent of the restaurants.”
The outbreak of hepatitis A was linked to the Palma restaurant after a doctor noted on December 10 two of his patients had both eaten there. Another person affected turned out to work there, followed by three other members of staff.
Public health inspectors officially declared an outbreak and the restaurant was visited on December 19 when a number of hygiene deficiencies were detected.
All of those affected are said to have recovered although new cases have not been ruled out because the incubation period ranges between 15 and 60 days.