CONCERNS that the influx of Spanish hotels will have negative repercussions on the environment and will drive down local prices in the tourism market have been dismissed as without foundation by Spain’s foreign minister Bernardino Leon.

“All these concerns in my opinion are baseless,” stated Leon in an exclusive interview with the Observer Tuesday at the home of the Spanish Ambassador in Kingston.

In the meantime, Leon, who was visiting the country on Tuesday, urged Jamaicans to embrace the new hotel facilities, noting that it was in the interest of investors to preserve the environment.

“We have in Spain the cleanest beaches in Europe and the richest biodiversity in Europe. We are aware that you have to offer more than beaches and hotels to visitors; you have to develop an environmentally-friendly industry, and our expertise is good for Jamaica,” said Leon.

“Tourists are not only interested in hotel rooms and swimming pools; they are also interested in clean beaches and rich nature,” he added.

Said the foreign minister: “Spain is one of the most important, if not the most important tourist destination in the world with 40 million visitors per year.” He said his country had vast experience in the hotel sector in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and was seeking to strengthen its economic and political ties with the English-speaking Caribbean.

He said more competition within the tourism industry would be good for Jamaica as it would result in “better quality (product) and a higher number of tourists”.

The foreign minister said it would make sense for Jamaicans “not to oppose these investments, but to make sure that they are environmentally friendly and abide by the rules of the country, so that more (investments) come in the future”.

Last year Jamaica welcomed 10,339 Spanish visitors, an increase of 46.8 per cent and a contributing factor to the island’s 4.8 per cent growth in arrival figures for last year when the country welcomed 1,414,786 stopover arrivals.

Paul Pennicook, the director of tourism, attributed the Spanish influx mainly to two new Spanish hotels that the Riu group opened in Negril – the Riu Tropical Bay and the Riu Hotel Negril.

Riu is currently building another hotel at Mammee Bay in St Ann, while ground was broken earlier this month to commence construction of the island’s largest resort – the 1,918-room Bahia Principe, another Spanish hotel.

Leon, during his brief visit, met with Prime Minister P J Patterson and Foreign Minister K D Knight.

He hailed Patterson as a “very important leader for this region and the international community for 14 years”.

“We share similar views about international problems and we hope that in the future he will keep playing an important role in the international community,” added Leon.

During his meeting with Patterson and Knight, Leon discussed the possibility of a meeting with Caribbean Community leaders.

“We are thinking of organising a summit of Caribbean leaders and the Spanish prime minister in Europe next year,” he said. A ministerial meeting in the Caribbean in 2007, and another summit in 2008 could follow, he said.

Cooperation on health and education issues, with the possibility of expanding the teaching of Spanish at the primary level with Spain’s assistance were among the agenda items.

On the matter of the proposed cut in the price of sugar to the European Union, Leon noted that Spain will support a longer transitional period for the struggling sugar sector and better compensation for the countries affected.

Leon, who is also visiting five other Caribbean Community member states as part of his tour of the region, said he expects Spain to become “the number one investor in Jamaica by 2006”.