Black Coffee

Relax. It’s a day off. At least it is here. Pour yourself a coffee. It’s the second anniversary of this blog. Two today! Talking well with only the occasional tantrum.

The past twelve months have seen plenty of weather, plenty more road accidents, plenty more debate about the tourism market. These are blog staples. The past twelve months have also witnessed a growing climate-change and environmental concern, an outcry over the redesigned main road through Puerto Alcúdia, corruption, and strange stories of beach umbrella and sunbed subterfuge, of supermarket alcohol being priced in pounds, of masked men in Can Picafort and Crocs shoes in hospitals. The past twelve months have brought trivia in the form of the quiz, essay pieces (The Mile, street names, public toilets) and a growing interaction. To all those of you who take the time to communicate, a big thank you; it is most gratifying, whether you offer bouquets or brickbats, agree or disagree, get the questions right or wrong!


Moving on, or should that be moving up? How was the Balearic Government to tackle the problem of making available the “thousands of dwellings” that I spoke about on 26 October? Where land is a finite resource, the sky is infinite. Building up is the answer. The government is proposing to developers that, in return for building more apartments - upwards - they can sell them - downwards. More flats, lower prices. A brilliant intervention in the free market, or ...?

Meantime, the environmental group GOB is worrying that the government might not stick to its intention not to build on rural land. In fact GOB is doing a lot of worrying at the moment. The group has hit on the idea of an international internet campaign to pressurise the government into not granting licences for the development of the Son Bosc finca in Muro as a golf course. The principal worry - the site is Europe’s most important for a particular orchid, orchis robusta (from what I can make out it is the only one). So that’s the environmental threat I wondered about. Now we know.

Just what is GOB? The name crops up time and time again. Like many of the best organised pressure groups, GOB is relentless in its publicity and activity - gobby one might almost say. The initials stand for Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa - Balearic group for ornithology and the defence of nature. If you are interested, the website is www.gobmallorca.com.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Black Widow. Today’s title - it’s a song title; what association does it have with today? (Check yesterday for a clue.)

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)


Index for October 2007

Accident blackspots - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Albufera - 10 October 2007, 26 October 2007
Alcúdia v. Pollensa - 16 October 2007
Alcúdia commercial port - 22 October 2007
Alcúdia Fair - 3 October 2007, 6 October 2007
Alcúdia’s old power station - 27 October 2007
Animals - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007, 10 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Antich, Francesc - 26 October 2007
Architecture - 27 October 2007
Autonomy, Mallorcan - 29 October 2007
Balcony accidents - 9 October 2007, 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Balearic Government - 26 October 2007
Barcarés - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Bars - 15 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bats - 10 October 2007
Beatification - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bellavista (optician) - 17 October 2007
Can Picafort - 9 October 2007
Catholic Church - 28 October 2007
Charities - 3 October 2007
Christopher Columbus - 11 October 2007, 12 October 2007
Climate change - 21 October 2007, 24 October 2007
Coastal properties - 30 October 2007
Cooper, Sara - 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Día de la Hispanidad - 12 October 2007
Environment - 26 October 2007
Excursions - 8 October 2007
Expatriates - 18 October 2007
Franco, General - 28 October 2007
Golf - 26 October 2007
Gore, Al - 24 October 2007
Hallowe’en - 31 October 2007
Ham - 14 October 2007
Holes - 2 October 2007
Holidays - 12 October 2007
Housing - 26 October 2007
Island tour - 8 October 2007
Jamón serrano - 14 October 2007
Kissinger, Henry - 24 October 2007
La Victoria - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Local government - 30 October 2007
Local politics - 4 October 2007
Market saturation - 29 October 2007
Media - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Morer Vermell - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
National anthems - 4 October 2007
Newspapers - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
No Frills Excursions - 8 October 2007
Over-development - 26 October 2007
Pins i Mates Restaurant - 2 October 2007
Politics - 4 October 2007
Pollensa town hall - 30 October 2007
Pollentia - 27 October 2007
Prices - 29 October 2007
Property prices - 29 October 2007
Protected species - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007
Quality - 29 October 2007
Quality of life - 26 October 2007
Rajoy, Mariano - 24 October 2007
Restaurants - 2 October 2007, 22 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Road accidents - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Roman remains- 27 October 2007
Royal family - 4 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Rugby World Cup Final - 20 October 2007
Season’s end - 23 October 2007
Son Bosc - 26 October 2007
Spanish Civil War - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Spanish Government - 30 October 2007
Spanishness - 12 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Sunglasses - 17 October 2007
Taxes - 30 October 2007
Tennant, Jacqueline - 19 October 2007
Tornado - 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007
Tourism statistics - 24 October 2007
Tourism strategy - 26 October 2007
Tourist offices - 9 October 2007
Victoria’s Animal Refuge - 3 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Weather - 1 October 2007, 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 17 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007, 28 October 2007, 30 October 2007