It’s being reported that Paris St. Germain footballer Lionel Messi has bought a luxury hotel and then promptly fired the staff working there. Messi’s MIM Hotels Group has bought the Hotel Marítimo de Sotogrande on the marina in San Roque – the sixth propery acquired by the group.
Sotogrande is a high-end holiday destination and, given that the Argentine is well-known for his business acumen, is perhaps not a surprising purchase. However, what has happened next has been somewhat more newsworth; all the staff – 40 in total and some of which had worked there for decades – are said to have been fired.
In a statement to the media, the mayor of San Roque (Cádiz), Juan Carlos Ruiz-Boix, has gone on record as saying: “The hotel has a regular clientele, with families who spend the Summer there for more than 20 years and we are not going to allow the first decision to be the dismissal of great professionals, men and women who have the support of this mayor and who must be incorporated into their jobs.”
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you are reading this article anywhere other than on A Luxury Travel Blog, then the chances are that this content has been stolen without permission.
Please make a note of the web address above and contact A Luxury Travel Blog to advise them of this issue.
Thank you for your help in combatting content theft.
It is believed that the non-continuous permanent workers were fired in December, along with severance pay, but some reports suggest that the action taken may contravene EU labour law. The mayor has indicated that since then the City Council has been trying to contact the group to try to “analyze what happened” and arrange for these workers to get their jobs back.
The property is being renamed MIM Sotogrande Club Marítimo and will open its doors and its 45 rooms in April, according to the company’s press release.
