It isn't of course meant to be 20 degrees in February. Yet it was yesterday. February is meant to be the month when we suffer for all our Mallorcan sins. The month when the gods of the good times either go on strike or take themselves off on their own jollies to Dubai (or somewhere like that) and abandon us to cold, rain and probably snow and to a period of numbing non-activity.
There is an absence of anything to do in February. If Carnival, dictated to by Easter, is shoved out of February and into March, which is the case this year, then, apart from a desperate case being made for Saint Valentine and his day of love, there's nothing. It is the month of the fiesta downtime, a recovery month following the Anthonys and Sebastians of January. It is the month when eyes are turned skyward, though they are not actually looking at the sky and figuring out if there is indeed rain about to descend; they are looking at pine trees and at the growing coconut shy cocoons of the caterpillars and figuring out when they are about to descend, either by plunging to terra firma or by crawling in procession along the branches and down the trunks of their accommodating pines.
It is a month of pretend tourism, one brought about by the cycling teams, about to race around the island in their own peloton procession, all but attached to each other like the caterpillars but moving at considerably greater speed before some detach themselves and hurtle towards a finishing line with a controlled winner (or loser) wobble.
It is the month of drill, saw, grinder, crane and the entire toolkit of renovation and even some new building. The sounds are those of palm fonds (those that have been left since the beetle did its worst) being lashed by the winds, of dry leaves scurrying across neglected terraces and of the constructor's work. Activity there is - for the brickie. The coal heap of builder slag by the Sol Alcudia has gradually reduced and been transformed into the shell of all-inclusive expansion. The struts of the Waikiki have been infused for its reformation. Restaurants, like the Don Vito and Sa Gavina, have evacuated tables and chairs and temporarily introduced cement mixers. What was the amusement arcade opposite the Big Banana has become yet another supermarket. How many supermarkets can be needed in one small area of a resort? Several, it would appear. But all this activity suggests that someone must be doing ok. The economy is not the slag heap it is alleged to be. There seems to be a lot of work. Seems but maybe it is an illusion.
This is February. A strange month that might typically be one of despair. The mild weather - surely we'll suffer, for if we don't, the reservoirs and wells might run dry - suggests otherwise for once, and perhaps it is mild weather that brings with it a renewed optimism. A new spring is about to come.
Showing posts with label Building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Building. Show all posts
Friday, February 07, 2014
Friday, December 14, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Hotel Formentor work aided by Pollensa town hall decision
Pollensa town hall has dropped a so-called special plan for Formentor in order that work at the Hotel Formentor can be allowed to proceed. The work envisages an increase in the number of places at the hotel and it should start before the end of next year.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
Monday, July 02, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Military base reclassification causes concern
Despite the town hall insisting that any building on the military base in Puerto Pollensa would have to meet with planning laws, opposition groups, reacting to the reclassification of the base by the national government which would mean that higher buildings could be developed, say that the base has ignored such laws in the past. The reclassification has raised once again the issue of civilian access to the base.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Build For Victory: Spanish plans
After the Partido Popular had won the regional elections last year, I had expected the coast road into Playa de Muro to be rumbling with great Panzer divisions of bulldozers heading to the Son Bosc finca in order to give the finca a good old and overdue golfing up. Oddly enough, there have been no bulldozers. Yet.
The ravishing of the environment is, one suspects, awaiting the master plan to be drawn up by the Madrid politburo and for the green light to be given for a spectacular un-greening of Mallorca. Great plans are due to burst out of PP governmental HQ; those for tourism, coasts and the environment that will, in many respects, be interrelated and that will, in all respects, cause great howls of protest from the environmental lobby. GOB, among the other enviro pressure groups, is going to be gobsmacked.
The filling of the lungs in preparation for the howls is already beginning, thanks to national environment minister Miguel Arias having signalled that environmental policy can only be sustainable if it is economically viable. This is sustainable environment doublespeak which places the economy at the head of the queue. Bye, bye, environment. Bye, bye, coasts. Hello, tourism. Hello, a new construction boom.
When all else fails with the Spanish economy, and it normally does, it is time to get building. A difference this time round is that the government won't be putting much the way of the building sites. The private sector is being called upon to act with fervent patriotism and construct for victory. Just take tourism, for example.
The politburo's tourism national plan is being pieced together. It is one to rejuvenate mature resorts, courtesy of the private sector, and it is one being overseen by Isabel Borrego, tourism secretary-of-state, otherwise known as the tourism secretary-of-state for property development. It really was a master stroke to appoint someone with a property law CV to the tourism ministry.
The tourism national plan, and as ever tourism gets labelled the motor of the economy as there isn't any other motor other than tourism's bedfellow, the construction industry, will not put up obstacles to the private sector. If it is going to construct for victory, the last thing it wants are any messy regulations getting in the way.
It is already happening. In Mallorca, although the regional government has yet to start converting the island into one huge privately funded building site, the procedures are being put in place and previous declarations that there would not be new tourism building being quietly forgotten. The political environmental defenders of the coalition of Mallorcan Socialists, the Greens and Entesa in Calvià is struggling to make its voice heard over that of the noise of the earthmoving machines and diggers in Magalluf, as the marina development of new hotels adds to what the coalition says is already an "over-exploited area".
No one in government is likely to take much notice of what the loony environmental left has to say for itself. At regional governmental level and especially at national governmental level, the various ministries are indistinguishable from each other. Joined-up government it most certainly is, the ministries joined at the hip in driving forward the national plans.
The economy needs a boost. Of course it does. But the question is to what degree national and regional governments will ride roughshod over environmental obligations. It is fair to say that things had probably gone too far in the environmental direction and to the hindrance of economic development, but are the coastal areas about to be subject to a relaxation of controls that might bring with them further damage of coastlines?
The Coasts Law is up for reform. It needs to be reformed, if only because its implementation has been so seemingly arbitrary, lamentable in the way in which its application has caught out victims who had innocently bought into developments, and has been pursued with a zeal that has bordered on fanaticism.
As ever, the argument against further coastal development and against a general un-greening of the environment through construction is that longer-term problems will be created. The governments are, it would appear, only interested in the short term and doing whatever is required to get the economy moving. But in so doing, a further problem can be created. It is exactly the same one that helped to bring Spain to its knees. A new construction boom, if it actually happens, would bring economic relief for a time. But then what? Another bust? And one that has taken the environment along with it?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The ravishing of the environment is, one suspects, awaiting the master plan to be drawn up by the Madrid politburo and for the green light to be given for a spectacular un-greening of Mallorca. Great plans are due to burst out of PP governmental HQ; those for tourism, coasts and the environment that will, in many respects, be interrelated and that will, in all respects, cause great howls of protest from the environmental lobby. GOB, among the other enviro pressure groups, is going to be gobsmacked.
The filling of the lungs in preparation for the howls is already beginning, thanks to national environment minister Miguel Arias having signalled that environmental policy can only be sustainable if it is economically viable. This is sustainable environment doublespeak which places the economy at the head of the queue. Bye, bye, environment. Bye, bye, coasts. Hello, tourism. Hello, a new construction boom.
When all else fails with the Spanish economy, and it normally does, it is time to get building. A difference this time round is that the government won't be putting much the way of the building sites. The private sector is being called upon to act with fervent patriotism and construct for victory. Just take tourism, for example.
The politburo's tourism national plan is being pieced together. It is one to rejuvenate mature resorts, courtesy of the private sector, and it is one being overseen by Isabel Borrego, tourism secretary-of-state, otherwise known as the tourism secretary-of-state for property development. It really was a master stroke to appoint someone with a property law CV to the tourism ministry.
The tourism national plan, and as ever tourism gets labelled the motor of the economy as there isn't any other motor other than tourism's bedfellow, the construction industry, will not put up obstacles to the private sector. If it is going to construct for victory, the last thing it wants are any messy regulations getting in the way.
It is already happening. In Mallorca, although the regional government has yet to start converting the island into one huge privately funded building site, the procedures are being put in place and previous declarations that there would not be new tourism building being quietly forgotten. The political environmental defenders of the coalition of Mallorcan Socialists, the Greens and Entesa in Calvià is struggling to make its voice heard over that of the noise of the earthmoving machines and diggers in Magalluf, as the marina development of new hotels adds to what the coalition says is already an "over-exploited area".
No one in government is likely to take much notice of what the loony environmental left has to say for itself. At regional governmental level and especially at national governmental level, the various ministries are indistinguishable from each other. Joined-up government it most certainly is, the ministries joined at the hip in driving forward the national plans.
The economy needs a boost. Of course it does. But the question is to what degree national and regional governments will ride roughshod over environmental obligations. It is fair to say that things had probably gone too far in the environmental direction and to the hindrance of economic development, but are the coastal areas about to be subject to a relaxation of controls that might bring with them further damage of coastlines?
The Coasts Law is up for reform. It needs to be reformed, if only because its implementation has been so seemingly arbitrary, lamentable in the way in which its application has caught out victims who had innocently bought into developments, and has been pursued with a zeal that has bordered on fanaticism.
As ever, the argument against further coastal development and against a general un-greening of the environment through construction is that longer-term problems will be created. The governments are, it would appear, only interested in the short term and doing whatever is required to get the economy moving. But in so doing, a further problem can be created. It is exactly the same one that helped to bring Spain to its knees. A new construction boom, if it actually happens, would bring economic relief for a time. But then what? Another bust? And one that has taken the environment along with it?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Let's Say It Like It Is
As hinted at yesterday, that appraisal of Puerto Pollensa, an appraisal offered through the eyes of visitors, in this case the parents of someone well-known to me who operates in both ports - Alcúdia and Pollensa. It is interesting as it is opinion somewhat removed from the everyday proximity of those who live here and comes from people who are - and I quote - "well-travelled and easily pleased". In a way, this is the latest in a series of instalments about Puerto Pollensa, one of the more recent of which was 17 April ("Wonderland"). That was far from uncritical of the town. Now, it is certainly not my intention to enter into some form of "get Puerto Pollensa" movement. Quite the contrary. But it so happens that the town does seem to be attracting more than its fair share of comment, much of it less than positive. Were I to receive similar for Alcúdia, I would share this as well, but it also so happens that I don't. I stress the on the "contrary", as the negativity disappoints and should inspire a movement of its own - to put one of Mallorca's finest resorts back on the right tracks. Appended to the email I received yesterday was a comment which said that "for a tourist resort that sells itself as family friendly and of a high quality, it better get ready for a big shock ... Pollensa Council needs to get itself sorted out or a lot of people will suffer". And this does rather encapsulate what is being said, and said quite widely, and has been said for a fair while now.
In a nutshell, what this appraisal brought forth were the opinions that there is building work everywhere, that if you stand back and take a good look it (the resort) is not that nice, it is just flats, and that the beach smells of poo. Of these, the whiff of excreta is not unique to Puerto Pollensa beach, but there has been something of an ongoing sewage problem in a part of the beach. But this is not or should not be a major issue. What is, is the transformation of the place. And all that building work is mainly to blame. It is difficult to any longer justify Puerto Pollensa's claim to the word "charming", with the exception of the pinewalk which my correspondents like.
The fact that these same correspondents agree that Alcúdia is a nicer place is not the first such comment along these lines that has come my way. That it is being said should make people take due note. It is not so long ago that such a statement would have been met with a degree of scoffing; not any longer though.
I have a suspicion that there is a malaise of complacency in Puerto Pollensa, both among the authorities and some who live there, but even among the latter there are stirrings, such as those comments aired by Garry Bonsall to "The Bulletin" the other day. But complacency I fancy there is, and it is a complacency founded on a reputation - one of a degree of exclusivity and of prettiness - that started to fade a while ago and continues to do so.
Puerto Pollensa has long judged itself a place of that ghastly term - quality tourism. I hate this description for its elitism and smugness. Moreover, it does not obtain to the extent that may well once have been the case. Stories of families of four who share one pizza are as common there as they are along The Mile in Alcúdia. Nevertheless, one of the the main differences between Puerto Pollensa and Puerto Alcúdia (apart from the obvious absence of a Mile in the former) is the far greater number of hotels in the latter. The proportion of holidaymakers staying in non-hotel accommodation in Puerto Pollensa is significantly higher than Alcúdia, a factor that does - still - lend a sense of exclusivity. My guess is that were one able to conduct a survey of wealth by unit of holidaymaker, Puerto Pollensa would still be - proportionally - a "richer" resort than its neighbour. But this only goes to emphasise the fact that the place no longer lives up to the type of reputation that attracted this category of holidaymaker in the first place. It comes back to complacency and questionable decisions. Many said that the arrival of Burger King a few years back was something of a nail in the coffin. I felt people didst protest too much, but maybe they had a point. Since then, there has been the Dakota-isation of the front line, and all that building. And let's not even go on again about the roads - it is not just Gotmar that has been neglected, try avoiding the holes along Roger de Flor and Pere Melia, just as starters.
Coming back to the email, the "shock" that might be in store for Puerto Pollensa could come from the "first journo who comes ... and does a write-up for 'The Mail' or some rag like that. Boom - drop in bookings - it's as easy as that." Better stop putting stuff on this blog then.
QUIZ
Yesterday's chain - Paul Simon to Art Garfunkel to "Bright Eyes", "Watership Down" and Richard Adams to Bryan Adams and therefore "Summer of 69". And so how do you get from the Groover from Vancouver to "I Will Always Love You". Yesterday's title - Talking Heads. Today's title - more old favourites; the line that precedes this is "living out in your town".
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
In a nutshell, what this appraisal brought forth were the opinions that there is building work everywhere, that if you stand back and take a good look it (the resort) is not that nice, it is just flats, and that the beach smells of poo. Of these, the whiff of excreta is not unique to Puerto Pollensa beach, but there has been something of an ongoing sewage problem in a part of the beach. But this is not or should not be a major issue. What is, is the transformation of the place. And all that building work is mainly to blame. It is difficult to any longer justify Puerto Pollensa's claim to the word "charming", with the exception of the pinewalk which my correspondents like.
The fact that these same correspondents agree that Alcúdia is a nicer place is not the first such comment along these lines that has come my way. That it is being said should make people take due note. It is not so long ago that such a statement would have been met with a degree of scoffing; not any longer though.
I have a suspicion that there is a malaise of complacency in Puerto Pollensa, both among the authorities and some who live there, but even among the latter there are stirrings, such as those comments aired by Garry Bonsall to "The Bulletin" the other day. But complacency I fancy there is, and it is a complacency founded on a reputation - one of a degree of exclusivity and of prettiness - that started to fade a while ago and continues to do so.
Puerto Pollensa has long judged itself a place of that ghastly term - quality tourism. I hate this description for its elitism and smugness. Moreover, it does not obtain to the extent that may well once have been the case. Stories of families of four who share one pizza are as common there as they are along The Mile in Alcúdia. Nevertheless, one of the the main differences between Puerto Pollensa and Puerto Alcúdia (apart from the obvious absence of a Mile in the former) is the far greater number of hotels in the latter. The proportion of holidaymakers staying in non-hotel accommodation in Puerto Pollensa is significantly higher than Alcúdia, a factor that does - still - lend a sense of exclusivity. My guess is that were one able to conduct a survey of wealth by unit of holidaymaker, Puerto Pollensa would still be - proportionally - a "richer" resort than its neighbour. But this only goes to emphasise the fact that the place no longer lives up to the type of reputation that attracted this category of holidaymaker in the first place. It comes back to complacency and questionable decisions. Many said that the arrival of Burger King a few years back was something of a nail in the coffin. I felt people didst protest too much, but maybe they had a point. Since then, there has been the Dakota-isation of the front line, and all that building. And let's not even go on again about the roads - it is not just Gotmar that has been neglected, try avoiding the holes along Roger de Flor and Pere Melia, just as starters.
Coming back to the email, the "shock" that might be in store for Puerto Pollensa could come from the "first journo who comes ... and does a write-up for 'The Mail' or some rag like that. Boom - drop in bookings - it's as easy as that." Better stop putting stuff on this blog then.
QUIZ
Yesterday's chain - Paul Simon to Art Garfunkel to "Bright Eyes", "Watership Down" and Richard Adams to Bryan Adams and therefore "Summer of 69". And so how do you get from the Groover from Vancouver to "I Will Always Love You". Yesterday's title - Talking Heads. Today's title - more old favourites; the line that precedes this is "living out in your town".
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
What About This Overcrowded Land
Further to the “Ultima Hora” piece about the Roman pottery remains in Puerto Alcúdia (27 October: Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect), the paper is now reporting that further sampling has been ordered to ascertain if the site near to the Coral de Mar hotel is indeed that of Pollentia’s port. At present there is an open mind, one possibility also being that the remains could simply be from dumped excavation debris.
Whilst archaeological intervention halts one residential building project, environmental intervention (or rather outcry) has not stopped another. In Cala San Vicente, the demolition of the old Can Colom in the Cala Molins part of the resort has started, much to the disgust of environmental pressure group GOB and others. In its place will be apartments and a swimming-pool that, according to GOB, will lead to the destruction of an important forest area. I don’t know. Instinctively I am on the side of the environmentalists, but the constant opposition is wearisome. There is a sense of here-we-go-again, that perhaps they doth protest too much, that every part of land is important in some way, that wolf is cried when there are bigger beasts to be wary of.
Also on the environment, and back to the plans I referred to on 6 November, I had a chat with an engineer from the power station in Alcúdia, asked him what was with all this stuff about relocating the power station. His reaction - one word, eight letters, begins with “b”. The investment that has already been put into the power station would be a strong argument for doing nothing, and as he also pointed out, it may be that they get a round to relocation in fifty years or so, when they’ll have to because of the rising water level.
Elsewhere, more doom-mongering. “The Bulletin” gives prominence to rising temperatures and drought, the “Diario” also to rising temperatures - an average of 4.83 degrees over the last 100 years in the Balearics - and lower total rainfalls but more torrential outbursts. The Balearic Government minister for the environment says that no-one is any doubt as to climate change, except for one politician, by whom I presumes he means Mariano Rajoy (24 October: It's My Party) who will doubtless be still insisting the Earth is flat while the waters lap around the perimeter of the Alcúdia power station.
QUIZ
Yesterday - New Musik. Today’s title - a line from one of the greatest of all environmental songs.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Whilst archaeological intervention halts one residential building project, environmental intervention (or rather outcry) has not stopped another. In Cala San Vicente, the demolition of the old Can Colom in the Cala Molins part of the resort has started, much to the disgust of environmental pressure group GOB and others. In its place will be apartments and a swimming-pool that, according to GOB, will lead to the destruction of an important forest area. I don’t know. Instinctively I am on the side of the environmentalists, but the constant opposition is wearisome. There is a sense of here-we-go-again, that perhaps they doth protest too much, that every part of land is important in some way, that wolf is cried when there are bigger beasts to be wary of.
Also on the environment, and back to the plans I referred to on 6 November, I had a chat with an engineer from the power station in Alcúdia, asked him what was with all this stuff about relocating the power station. His reaction - one word, eight letters, begins with “b”. The investment that has already been put into the power station would be a strong argument for doing nothing, and as he also pointed out, it may be that they get a round to relocation in fifty years or so, when they’ll have to because of the rising water level.
Elsewhere, more doom-mongering. “The Bulletin” gives prominence to rising temperatures and drought, the “Diario” also to rising temperatures - an average of 4.83 degrees over the last 100 years in the Balearics - and lower total rainfalls but more torrential outbursts. The Balearic Government minister for the environment says that no-one is any doubt as to climate change, except for one politician, by whom I presumes he means Mariano Rajoy (24 October: It's My Party) who will doubtless be still insisting the Earth is flat while the waters lap around the perimeter of the Alcúdia power station.
QUIZ
Yesterday - New Musik. Today’s title - a line from one of the greatest of all environmental songs.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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