El Caribe newspaper says that the Spanish travel conglomerate Globalia Corporation is behind the intent to slice 4 million square meters from the National Park of the East, a protected area. The newspaper explains that Globalia is lobbying the Dominican Congress for approval of an initiative that would legalize the use of the land for the construction of 1,200 rooms. In 2001, a similar effort was attempted, but floundered under pressure from environmental and tourism groups. The newspaper mentions that President Mejia then signed two decrees, one dated 30 August 2000 and another dated 7 November 2000, whereby the 4 million square meters would be allotted to the planned hotel construction.
El Caribe says that interest in the hotel project was revived after the Executive Branch sent a bill to the Senate on 14 January to exclude sections 20-A and 24-A (containing the 4 million square meters purchased by Globalia in 1999) from the National Park of the East. The bill contends that the role of the Dominican government is to promote the development of tourism nationwide to capitalize on the fact that it is a leading hard-currency generator. Opponents of the hotel development expressed concern after a Spanish travel magazine published statements made by Globalia president Juan Jose Hidalgo, who said the government had given them the green light to proceed.
El Caribe reports that the Ministry of Environment has independently from the President’s Office expressed its opposition to the partitioning of the park area on the grounds that until the Sector Bill of Protected Areas goes through, the limits of the protected areas cannot be varied, as this is a requirement established in Environmental Law 64-00, according to a statement from the Ministry of Environment itself.
Senator Juan Morales, who is vice-president of the environmental commission of the Senate currently studying the bill, supports the exclusion of the property from the national park’s conservation status.
The National Hotel & Restaurant Association, which oversees the top hotel associations in the country, and the Consorcio Ambiental Dominicano, which assembles leading environmental associations, both oppose the construction of hotel rooms on park land, arguing that to do so would set a precedent for the continuing commercial development of national parks in every part of the country. The groups feel that the preservation of the national parks should instead be seen as protecting an asset for the development of tourism nationwide.
Globalia Corporation is the leading travel conglomerate in Spain and holding company of the airline Air Europa, which flies to the DR from Spain. Globalia is also connected to the travel agencies of Halcon Viajes and Viajes Ecuador (with over 1,150 outlets throughout Spain and Portugal), tour operator Travelplan, and the low-cost car rental company pepeCar.com. Globalia also operates hotels in Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife and Tunisia.
For more information on the plea to resist hotel development in the park areas, see http://dr1.com/travelnews/archive/2004/tnews020304.html