Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora

In 2008, Sol Meliá added a new hotel in Tenerife to its portfolio, the Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora, the location of which does not affect any protected natural area nor environmentally sensitive areas, according to law 11/90 of 13 July on environmental protection.

Amongst the environmental considerations taken into account during the development of the hotel, the following are the most significant:

• The hotel is located some 100 metres from the coastline, and its development has not included any waterside developments.
• Integrated water cycle systems: production of fresh water through desalination plants, use of salt water for swimming pools and cooling systems, use of waste water for watering gardens.
• The hotel and its surroundings do not affect any of the Special Bird Protection Zones.
• In the area of energy efficiency, the lighting system uses low energy LED technology, estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,685 tonnes per year.

The Hotel Partial Plan will also mean the hotel will have a positive social impact mainly through:

• Increase in the number of parking spaces (500), substantially improving traffic flows in the municipality of Alcalá.
• Landscaping of the area closest to the city, currently in a very poor condition, increasing its environmental value and the leisure opportunities for the local population.
• Creation of an avenue for access to Alcalá and the Jaquita, improving their accessibility, mobility and traffic safety.

The development of the hotel also has the potential to generate indirect economic benefits for the region estimated at 150.1 million euros, bearing in mind:

• Investment in land: 24.1 million Euros, with a leak percentage of 40%.
• Investment in construction: 150.8 million Euros, with a leak percentage of 40% and a multiplying effect of 1.5 times.

The number of employees in the hotel itself is 550. The number of indirect jobs created by the hotel is estimated at 253, creating annual income of 4.5 million euros.

In parallel with the opening of the hotel, Sol Meliá signed a cooperation agreement with the Guía de Isora Town Hall to support local development through the promotion of employment and training. As part of the agreement, a Recruitment and Training Plan was implemented in which around 800 people took part.

ME Barcelona

At the end of the year, the Company opened a new five star hotel in the Catalan capital, the ME Barcelona, in which it has focused on actions to generate energy efficiency and savings. With regard to temperature control and sanitation:

• Installation of 4 coolers with a heat recovery system allowing water to be heated to 50ºC, and only needing the boilers for temperatures above that.
• Use of enthalpic systems for primary air treatment, achieving gains of ±5º C.
• Systems in rooms to turn off temperature control systems whenever they are unoccupied (except in suites).
• Swimming pool heated through solar panels.
• Treatment and filtering of waste water to be reused in WC systems.
• Installation of a flush interruption system in WCs.
• Use of recyclable material in the sanitation and distribution network.

The hotel has also applied new lighting and electricity criteria to encourage savings:

• Lighting management systems in corridors, public areas and rooms which allow reductions in electricity use through systems which detect the presence of people.
• Use of fluorescent or low energy lighting.
• Use of solar panels to feed the hotel low voltage network.
• Centralisation of cold stores in one single unit to reduce energy use.

In parallel, the hotel, designed by the French architect Dominique Perrault, has helped transform the new 22@ technology district which aims to renovate and revitalise an old industrial area in the city with new business- es, research, training and technology centres, as well as homes, other public facilities and gardens. The infrastructure plan is funded by a public investment of 180 million euros.

The development of the hotel also has the potential to create indirect economic benefits for the region after the investment made in the land purchase and construction of the hotel for 103 million euros. Of this amount it is estimated that the indirect repercussion in the area is 72 million Euros.

The number of employees in the hotel is 189 and the number of indirect jobs created by the hotel is estimated at 95, creating annual income of 2.3 million euros.