Road To Nowhere

On the day that "The Bulletin" front-pages with a story about the possible reclaim of beach in Puerto Pollensa, in my inbox I have received a sort of appraisal of Puerto Pollensa - but more of that probably tomorrow.

Anyway, to this beach reclaiming carry-on. The coastal authority wallahs have this idea of ripping up the road that runs along the coast between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa. One presumes that this was, at one time, beach or at least scrubby dunes that formed a boundary with the little Albufera of Albufereta. The coasts overseers are, one has the impression, a group of revisionist, back-in-time, environmentally correct beardies who would rather see all beaches revert to their virgin state, untrammelled by anything of human manufacture and indeed untrampled upon by human foot. But in the case of this particular road, I am inclined to agree with them, doubtless for totally different reasons to the ones they hold. These, at least I presume, are to do with ecological sensitivity and sea defence and erosion and all the usual damage-to-the-environment suspects. Mine, however, have to do with the fact that not only is the road dangerous (witness the accidents along this stretch in the past) it is also a liability when a gale is blowing, the sea is rough and a small rock lands on the bonnet. Of course, were there to be a new "beach", do not expect for one moment that it would be somewhere with lines of sunbeds (not of course that there are any in Puerto Pollensa) and some beach bars serving welcoming cold drinks. No, it would be "rustic" and therefore piled high with all that attractive seaweed.

Of course, tearing up this particular stretch of tarmac begs the question: what, in terms of vehicular access, might replace it? Unless the eco-agitpropists are envisaging some form of human flight or the isolation, from each other (not necessarily a bad thing some might argue), of Puerto Pollensa and Alcúdia inhabitants, then there would need to be another road. Another road, another group of enviros objecting, and probably with due cause, as an obvious alternative would go straight through Albufereta. There is also the not small matter of why this wasn't raised a bit earlier, as the new road that connects the coast road to Puerto Pollensa by the Caprabo roundabout is just about ready for its inaugural drive. So any further road would have to at least meet up with a part of this new road, which would still leave some of it going nowhere. Then there would need to be at least some connections into the back of the likes of the Club Sol Apartments, unless they're planning on knocking them down while they're at it.

Reassuringly though, for those who might worry about the road being sanded-over by human-on-behalf-of-nature intervention, if the experience of the nearly new road is anything to go by, it will take 40 years before it happens, by which time the sea will have done it for them and washed the road away in any event. So let's not get too worried.


And for those of you who will have been wondering why no mention of the General Franco scuppered Cliff's chances story, go to Blog MV to find out why the General was quite right.


QUIZ
Yesterday's chain - Buzz Lightyear to Tim Allen (the voice of Buzz) to "Home Improvement" to Al, his partner in "Tool Time", to "You Can Call Me Al", Paul Simon. And so, how do you get from Paul Simon to "Summer of 69"? Yesterday's title was one of those is-it-not-Neil Diamond moments but wasn't. John Paul Young. Today's title? Old favourites of this quiz.

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