Just Say No (Or Yes)

There are some busy fellows at the Balearic Government’s environment commission. Yes and no. They have pronounced. The yes refers to Pollensa, the no to Can Picafort.

The “no” first. There is a problem of water treatment and sewage in Can Picafort (and Playa de Muro). A projected new plant has to be delayed, says the commission, because it would have involved dumping into the bay of Alcúdia. Someone has discovered that a European directive does not allow this in an area of special interest, in this case the bay, the bay that contains the beaches of Alcúdia, Playa de Muro, Can Picafort, Son Serra etc.

Is it just me or might this not have been thought about, even without the aid of a European directive? If not, then might a quick gander at the provisions of European or any other diktat not have brought this up earlier? Is there not something slightly unwired in the environmental thought process that there can be a hue and cry over burying a finca under fairways and bunkers (in the same area) and yet it takes a previously overlooked Brussels decree to raise an obstacle to polluting a bay used by thousands of bathers? Whatever. The current situation, according to Santa Margalida’s mayor, is “very serious” (Santa Margalida is the municipality in which Can Picafort is situated). It can give rise to conditions that create a bad image. I think we know what he’s talking about. Sewage is one thing, water treatment is the other. Playa de Muro, you may recall, has a problem with nitrates in its water. It is the existing treatment plant that covers Playa de Muro. Keep buying the bottled water.

And now the “yes”. For many years, some rundown houses abutting the Plaça Mayor in Pollensa have been just that – rundown. They have been so because the owners didn’t want to convert them in a fashion that they were being told to, i.e. as dwellings or as art or craft studios. Now, the environment commission worthies have given the green light to these owners to do with them as they do want, which is to turn them into “businesses” or … restaurants. Ah yes, more restaurants. What was I saying? No doubt they will all look very nice and make the square prettier, but more restaurants? There again, more craft shops would have been overkill. Personally, I admire dereliction; it has a satisfying air of authenticity. But I am not an environment commissioner, and unlikely to be so either.


QUIZ
Yesterday – “Too Much Too Young”, The Special AKA (aka The Specials). Today’s title – ignoring the bracket, from which educational establishment does this come?

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