Carlos Carrasco: "From my father we learned that dealing with the customer is paramount"

Itziar Lecea / Ciutadella – During the last Night of Tourism, the Carrasco Florit family, well known in Ciutadella for their hospitality business, received public recognition for their business career. It has been more than 40 years since Paco Carrasco and his wife Juana Florit have been "cutting stone", and now their children. This week we wanted to talk to the second generation, represented by Carlos Carrasco, who together with his brothers now runs the business, to see the differences between that small cafe that started it all and the Ses Voltes gastronomic space which, already consolidated , is one of Ciutadella's gastronomic benchmarks.

How did this award come to the family?
A while ago, the Tourism Promotion Foundation told us that they wanted to propose us for this prize, the Professional Trajectory in Tourism award, which is given by the Tourist Strategy Agency of the Balearic Islands, but they didn't say anything else either. Until, not too long ago, they contacted us to tell us that they had awarded it to us. It's an award that covers not only what the company is now, because it's been more than 40 years since our parents, Paco Carrasco and née Juana Florit, started the business.

How was this launch, to refresh your memory?
The first thing they had was a gift shop. Although the genesis of the business was the fact that our father sold his part of the business of a jewelry factory that he set up with his brothers, with the aim of putting a cafe with a very modern air to the era, with American touches. In fact, at the beginning, the premises also had recreational machines and games, in addition to being part of an ice cream shop. We're talking about the first half of the 80s.

When we children entered the company, our father went on to manage administrative matters, leaving the bar, where he worked for many years. It was at that time that we expanded the company with other premises, such as El Cuore in Cala en Blanes. Over time, however, we have realized that it is better to embrace the bad and make few good ones.

As the second generation of the company, you have seen this entire trajectory. What are you left with?
Work has been instilled in us since childhood. From that time, and from our father in particular, we learned that the most important thing is dealing with the customer. If we treat a customer well, they will come back, which is what he always told us and is a way of doing things that we have passed on to the room staff. Another of the things that, based on doing work, we have learned, is to maintain a good work environment. Having a bad atmosphere in a tourist company, where there are nerves and fatigue, is not good. For this reason, we always tell the workers that if there is a problem, we talk about it, that many things can be solved by talking. It's one of the keys to keeping staff for many years.

At a time when the lack of staff in the sector is a serious structural problem.
Yes, it is indeed a serious problem. But times and circumstances have changed a lot since I started. And since my father started, it doesn't even look the same anymore. For this reason, we try to set good conditions, make them clear from the beginning and get both parties to agree. Right now, hospitality is not a low-paying job, but it also has its ups and downs.

Do young people come in?
We have no other choice, because there are many people missing to do the work. Here, however, we try to systematize the work so that those who enter without knowing how to do almost anything, can start from the bottom and learn as they go. The most important thing is to maintain a good atmosphere, and if we put too many responsibilities on a new person from the first day, it is very easy for things not to go well.

Systematizing processes, and the technology we have today, helps us do the job much better than a while ago. Or, almanco, being able to live apart from work. Because, for example, the children who now run the business, we don't have enough life to do the work that our father did.

In what sense?
Our father and mother worked every day, every day of the week, for about 16 or 18 hours. And no days off. We all have days off now. It is necessary In this sense, we have also made great progress as a society.

What has the award meant for the family?
Obviously, a very big joy, because our work is recognized, but also the career that our father and mother started, which was dedicated to the kitchen. In addition, as she is the daughter of the bakery in Plaça d'Artrutx, she has always been good at making pasta and cooking, and between the two they were a team. For others, who now run the business, the award has been an impetus to move forward.