I’m A Political Man

Alcúdia’s mayor, Miquel Ferrer, may have moved a step closer to becoming the new leader of the Unió Mallorquina (UM), the nationalist party whose exiting leader is now president of the Balearic parliament. Until quite recently, it had looked as though Miquel Nadal (from Palma) would be that new leader (as noted on 13 November: Part Of The Union), but he has picked up his ball and withdrawn from the succession race - for now at least - citing dirty tricks on behalf of his two main rivals, Ferrer and Guillem Ginard of Campos. No matter where it is, a familiar story of political in-fighting.

Ferrer denies that there is a split between Palma and the rest of the island in the context of this political battle, but - retaining some caution ahead of the final decision perhaps - he has stated that his “obligation is to Alcúdia”, whatever that might mean. I don’t know Ferrer personally, but I have seen him often enough. I have said before that a strength of the local nature of Mallorcan and Spanish politics is that the mayor is visible. Inevitably, there are those who don’t have a good word for him, both in the town and elsewhere; a commentator in “Ultima Hora” describes him as a “born conspirator”. Perhaps so, but how many politicans are not.

This statement of obligation does though hint at the existence of a Palma/rest of island divide, and it reflects a facet of Mallorcan society that many visitors would be unaware of. It is hardly surprising that the island’s and indeed the Balearics’ main city should be a focus, but there are often rumblings about Palma-centricity at the expense of other parts of the island, and it is not Palma alone, as the perception is one of Palma and its rich neighbour Calvia (Magaluf, Santa Ponsa etc.) versus the rest.

Whatever the truth of the political intrigue, I quite hope that he does secure the leadership; and then let’s see the strength of his obligation.

Meantime, Ferrer has a diversion in the redevelopment of the old power station (27 October: Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect). It is a not insignificant diversion; a diversion of some 21 million euros in fact, the level of financing needed to bring it into being as an arts and science museum. Am I alone in finding it slightly odd that the architect pitch process has been undertaken and completed without financing of some sort in place?

Another local difficulty limps on - the Son Bosc golf course project in Muro next to Albufera (26 October: And They’re Messing With My Heart). A technical report argues against the licence to develop the golf course as the bulk of it would fall within a protected area. Seems pretty clear then. But there are local politicians who want to go ahead; the UM locally supporting it (which is quite intriguing as one would assume the nationalists would be against). The ongoing debate about Son Bosc does raise an issue of wider consequence. Golf is one of those things that has been promoted as a future tourist winner for the island (winter tourism and all). Other parts of the island have been declared no-go areas for golf courses, and one suspects that further mooted projects would run into similar objections. The Son Bosc case is quite important as it highlights the tension between environmental concern and economic development, which is perhaps the greatest issue facing Mallorca.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Chris Isaak. Blue? Puerto Azul - azul is blue. Today’s title - line from a song by? Famous blues group of the ‘60s.

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