Mister Blue Sky

Well absolutely no surprise. This has been the rainiest May on record. And this Saturday dawned with a return of grey skies and drizzle. The fourth weekend that will have suffered from poor weather. It seems like a long time ago that I said on the first of May that "the weather has put on its finest gown and has danced a tango of vivid blue". The first day of the season was ushered in with glorious weather and the optimism of a new season. Where did it all go? Into the drains and reservoirs and onto the gardens. And the optimism has been washed away with the rain. The season is in danger of going down the pan, and taking businesses with it. When you hear stories such as a bar that takes 15 euros over the course of an evening - in the main tourist area of Puerto Alcúdia - something isn't quite right.

Take away the sun and Mallorca is stripped of its life-blood. The rain of May tells us everything about Mallorca as a holiday destination, which is why all this talk and tank-thinking about tourism diversification is largely peripheral. It is the sun and therefore the sea and the sand that combine to make Mallorca, and no amount of golf and gastronomy will compensate. The poor weather throws into sharp relief the lack of genuine alternatives for the mainstream tourist, the one who wants his sangria warmed by the rays of the sun. What else is there really to do in places like Alcudia, Puerto Pollensa and Can Picafort? Very little in truth.

Of course one can see all this like they do in the UK when there is heavy snow. It happens infrequently enough to make the lack of provisions to deal with it excusable. So it is with poor weather here in summer. This May has been unusual. But if one looks at tourism as a whole, the summer and winter and therefore the other possibilities, the absence of genuine options for the mainstream tourist should, I believe, be at least one of the items on this think-tank agenda. I have said it before on this blog, and one only has to look at parts of mainland Spain and Portugal to understand that the lack of foresight in tourism planning here requires far more dynamic thought processes than are seemingly on display at present.

Mallorca, in a way, is like England of the Industrial Revolution. As it was at the forefront of mass tourism, it - like the new industrialism of England - had little in the way of a blueprint to go by. Just shove up some hotels and the sun will take care of the rest; that is how I imagine it might have been. But if you look at other places, and Portugal is a good example, they played catch-up by appreciating some of the lessons. Accordingly, Portugal has integrated developments which allow for much of the extra tourism that is constantly banged on about in Mallorca. The planned development of La Gran Escala near Zaragoza just emphasises the absence of integrated facilities that would enable not only winter tourism but also alternatives when the sun doesn't take care of the rest.

The rain and misery of May should be held up as a lesson to those who would fill the diversification void with a golf course or two that no one would want; except if it were part of a tourism campus or two or three. Blue-sky thinking is needed and not just an unthinking stare into the blue sky, whenever it finally returns.


QUIZ
Chain - "Wouldn't It Be Nice (Beach Boys) / Good (Nik Kershaw)". And, in similar vein (the odd word or two), how do you get from Nik Kershaw to Elton John? Yesterday's title - Morris Albert. Today's title - who?

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

Index for May 2008

All-inclusives - 29 May 2008
Andratx - 26 May 2008
Bars - 8 May 2008, 12 May 2008, 24 May 2008, 27 May 2008
Beaches - 2 May 2008, 9 May 2008
British Consulate - 30 May 2008
Cala San Vicente - 2 May 2008
Can Picafort - 2 May 2008
Canals - 19 May 2008, 21 May 2008
Chinese bazars - 17 May 2008, 20 May 2008
Corruption - 26 May 2008
Design - 3 May 2008
Eco tourism - 18 May 2008
Eurovision Song Contest - 25 May 2008
Events - 16 May 2008
Fiestas - 16 May 2008
Football - 12 May 2008, 22 May 2008
Garden Hotels - 15 May 2008
Hotels - 15 May 2008, 26 May 2008, 27 May 2008, 29 May 2008
Learned journals - 15 May 2008
Local authorities - 16 May 2008
London elections - 6 May 2008
Mayors - 6 May 2008, 26 May 2008
Music systems - 26 May 2008, 27 May 2008
Noise - 26 May 2008, 27 May 2008, 28 May 2008
Portobello Restaurant - 7 May 2008
Potatoes - 23 May 2008
Price - 29 May 2008
Puerto Pollensa - 7 May 2008, 9 May 2008, 10 May 2008
Racism - 14 May 2008, 21 May 2008
Restaurants - 4 May 2008, 7 May 2008
Road accidents - 19 May 2008
Road races - 5 May 2008
Roads - 9 May 2008
Romanians - 14 May 2008, 21 May 2008
Sa Romana Restaurant - 4 May 2008
Season - 1 May 2008
Shops - 17 May 2008, 20 May 2008
Slogans - 13 May 2008, 15 May 2008
Spanish television - 22 May 2008
Sunbeds - 2 May 2008, 7 May 2008
Toilets - 1 May 2008
Tour operators - 30 May 2008
Tourism statistics - 23 May 2008, 24 May 2008
Tourism strategy - 13 May 2008, 20 May 2008, 30 May 2008, 31 May 2008
Vamps Bar - 8 May 2008
Weather - 11 May 2008, 20 May 2008, 23 May 2008, 24 May 2008, 28 May 2008, 31 May 2008
Websites - 3 May 2008, 16 May 2008
Weddings - 8 May 2008