It's My Party

If it’s Monday it must be Palma, or rather it was. Ah, the life of a world figure bringing his gospel to the masses with the help of a fair-sized wad of folding notes. Al Gore duly pitched up at a conference for family businesses in Palma and gave his views to a select group of the worthy. Nobel Prize or no Nobel Prize, there is something that worries me about Al Gore, but that is not for here. More importantly, his evangelistic climate-change message has not met with universal agreement. Notably, the leader of the Partido Popular nationally, Mariano Rajoy, questioned the whole problem of climate change. Seemingly, he bases his opposition on the opinion of his cousin who works as a physicist at the University of Seville. Now, I am sure there is more to it (at least I would hope there would be), and I have no reason to query the cousin’s qualifications, but for a politician (who could be Spain’s leader this time next year) to use this opinion strikes me as a tad thin. It is stronger than quoting the opinon of a bloke he met in the pub, but one does expect a little more from leading politicos.

Anyway, back to Al Gore. The former US vice-president came, he spoke and he went. Like many of his fellow (tourist) countrypeople, it was a case of ticking off another place, albeit that he didn’t hang around to get a few snaps. I wonder if Al really knew who he was talking to. I say this as I have a Henry Kissinger story that is similar. Some years ago in my then publishing role, I attended a management conference in New Orleans. Kissinger was the keynote speaker. It became clear as he was speaking that he didn’t know what the conference was all about; just gave us his speech on whatever it was and was off, save for a short press conference which I attended. The members of the press were thin on the ground - a handful of local hacks and a TV crew, myself and a journalist colleague from the UK. The conference stuttered along, so I stood up to ask what I doubtless thought was some searching question (I cannot remember what it was). When I announced who I was and where I was from, Kissinger interrupted me, asking: “What are you doing HERE?” I wanted to reply: “Well, I might ask what YOU are doing here?”, but thought better of it. I bring this up because, big splash though Gore’s visit has made, it would have probably meant little to him. Just another day, just another speech.


To other matters. Another disappearance, this the curious case of Sara Cooper who has gone missing from her hotel in Cales de Mallorca following the fall from a fifth-floor balcony of her daughter Gianna. The little girl is out of danger, but the mother ... her body has now been found at Cala Domingo.

And tourist figures ... Mallorca registered over 83% hotel occupancy in September, the highest in Spain. Intriguingly (though we are talking percentages here), the two parts of the island that did the best were not Calvia nor Alcúdia nor Pollensa, but Santanyí in the south-east and Capdepera in the north-east. Whatever.


QUIZ
Yesterday - The Zombies. Today’s title - what connection does this have with Al Gore? The answer is not the Democratic Party, but a singer.

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