When Anger Takes Over: Mallorca and cycling

Saturday was the Mallorca 312 cycle race, so-called because it involved covering a course of 312 kilometres in length. On an island that is nowhere near this length in any one direction, that meant a fair old amount of road needed to be covered. Covered and closed. In fact, it wasn't a race as such. The term "prueba" explained much: a trial. One that tested the over 4,000 cyclists and tested the patience of many people on the island.

Some municipalities which were affected were more upset than others. Mayors and the Council of Mallorca are now said to be going to get together in order to try and limit the inconvenience caused by various sporting events. They will identify ones of major importance, thus implying that those of lesser importance might have to be ditched.

The argument goes, and it's reasonable, that it is only one day. A problem with this argument, however, is that isn't only one day. Not if another event follows hot on the heels. While Mallorca 312 affected a wider area of the island than this coming weekend's Ironman, there are parts of the island affected by both. Playa de Muro was more or less closed on Saturday. It will be again on Saturday. Access to Alcudia was virtually impossible for some hours on Saturday. Alcudia will be shut next Saturday.

So, one day only for each event, but two days in the course of a seven-day period, to which can be added the inconvenience of the closure of the road into Alcudia's port from Magic all next week. It is understandable if some people get rather hacked off.

Both 312 and Ironman bring in good business. I am well aware of the fact that there are certain businesses which suffer because of Ironman (a Saturday's trading is in effect lost because clients cannot get in to the port area), but in general there is an economic advantage. This shouldn't be under-estimated and nor should the benefit to Alcudia as a sports tourism destination be under-played. There is a lot of good that comes from such events.

But try telling some people this when they will perceive legitimate reasons for being annoyed by the inconvenience, loss of trade and inability to move around freely. There is also, one cannot help but get the sense, an increasing resentment of cycling - one element of Ironman, the reason for Mallorca 312 and the source of so much early-season tourism.

This resentment comes from different sources, one of which is other tourists, such as those who were left with luggage searching for their hotels at the weekend. But most of all it comes from residents. Looking at comments on Spanish newspapers, it was very clear that those defending the Saturday event were in a minority.

Perhaps it is a reflection of social media and the ease with which people can vent their frustrations, but the level of resentment shown towards cyclists in general (the regular tourist type as well as those taking part in the events) has not been like it is now. Saturday may have represented a turning-point. Or it should do. The island's authorities (and many businesses) are treading a thin line between reaping the benefits of cycling and the attitudes of the island residents. Cyclists are increasingly characterised as some form of foreign invasion force. Why should the island shut down just to let foreigners ride their bikes?

How can there be a reconciliation? It's difficult to know. But one fears that the resentment is going to boil over at some point. There is a great deal of irrationality voiced by cycling opponents, just as there is a great deal of obnoxious behaviour by cyclists. The passive actions of the Council of Mallorca and others in issuing advice and recommendations are insufficient. The local authorities have to be aware of this irrationality and this behaviour and take measures to prevent there being ugly incidents and matters getting out of hand.

There is a great deal of good from cycling and from cycling events and others. But there is a downside, a significant one. In a word, it is anger. And anger does no one any good.

The Need For Ironman

If you live in Puerto Alcúdia or are currently on holiday in the resort, you might find tomorrow that you can't go anywhere. Not by car at any rate. Well, leave the car at home for once. Leave it parked somewhere where you wouldn't normally have parked it, because you will have been informed that you had to park somewhere else.

You will know why you can't get around. At eight o'clock, a mass of athletic humanity will take to the waters off the Xara beach by the marina in order to splash its way along a 1.9 kilometre swimming course. The fourth edition of the Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3 triathlon will be underway.

To say that the triathlon divides opinion is putting it mildly. Indeed, to hear most opinion, you would form the impression that a majority of people are dead against it. Not because they have anything against triathlons, just that they can't stand the inconvenience that the event causes. NIMBY. Or should it be NIMTR? Not in my tourist resort.

The closures of roads mean, for instance, that the carretera from Playa de Muro to the Magic Roundabout is shut until 3pm. But the closures aren't confined to tomorrow. The carretera from the roundabout into the port has been closed since Tuesday, handily right on time for the traffic coming into Alcúdia for the market. As usual, it was bedlam.

Inconvenience is not confined to residents and motorists. There is that which tourists have to endure as well. Arguably, the greatest negative of Ironman can be seen in the sight of tourists being dropped off well away from their hotels and having to schlep considerable distances with their luggage. They aren't just crossing a road, they are, in some instances, embarking on a major trek. It is not a satisfactory state of affairs and nor is it satisfactory that tourists who are going to the airport need to be picked up several hours before they would normally be, if it so happens that road closures mean that coaches can't get to their hotels. And this inconvenience doesn't only affect Alcúdia; Puerto Pollensa is also affected.

While information about closures, parking restrictions and what have you is extremely good, it doesn't mollify those who are put out. But are the complaints (apart from those which affect regular tourists, which really need to be addressed) justified? It is only one day, except for the several days that the port road is closed.

What Ironman highlights is the very real difficulty in reconciling residential and tourist co-existence. Or the very real difficulty that this has become. Alcúdia is one of Mallorca's more striking examples of how a tourist resort was developed. The project to reclaim a vast area of wetland and build the main tourism centre was every bit as ambitious, in a different way, to the project which realised Playa de Palma. But it was one that combined residential and tourist accommodation. It was perfectly suitable for the days when tourism meant comparatively little. It required hotels, bars and beach, and that was pretty much it. The two - residents and tourists - could co-exist in perfect harmony.

But tourism has come to mean very much more. Ironman is tourism in the sense that it is sports tourism, a whole niche of diversification that is designed to add kudos and to be a positive additional contribution to the local economy. Not everyone sees this positive, but it exists, of course it does. The thousands of athletes, trainers, families, personnel from the organisers all have to stay somewhere. They all have to buy stuff (and let's not hear that because they are athletes, they don't frequent bars; that's simply not the case). There is the intangible benefit as well, one by which the profile of Alcúdia (and Mallorca) is raised internationally. Ironman is a good thing.

Tourism diversification has disrupted the one-time harmony, but it has been diversification brought about by necessity. I'm not for one moment suggesting that I don't share the frustration caused by inconvenience, but there is a great deal of merit to Ironman. It is an event which might also be seen in the context of the growth of urban sporting occasions, such as city marathons. These all cause inconvenience, but they are part of a well-established trend that brings economic benefits.

There is, nevertheless, a legitimate question as to how much inconvenience should be suffered. The May Ironman is now no longer the only international triathlon event. There will be another triathlon in Alcúdia at the end of September. A full one. But it is not a question with an easy answer, unless one believes these events should not be staged. I believe they should be, and I welcome them. My greatest concern is for the regular tourists who are put out. Tourism diversification is fine, but the bread-and-butter, ordinary tourists should not be forgotten or be left to lug cases some great distance.

At Your Inconvenience: Alcúdia's Ironman

When the staging of the first Ironman triathlon in Puerto Alcúdia was announced, it was said that the event would bring various benefits. Among these would be the promotion of Alcúdia as a sports tourism destination, a means of giving a boost to low-season tourism and the generation of revenues for local businesses thanks to all the participants, helpers, exhibitors and visitors.

The first event, in 2011, came, and it was very much a novelty. There hadn't been an event of such a scale before. 3,000 participants, 1,500 helpers, 20,000 visitors. Of these figures, the one that stood out was for the visitors. It stood out because it was both hard to believe that there would be this number and who they might have been. If they were from other parts of the island, then they would have the devil's own job getting into Puerto Alcúdia on the day; the roads were mostly closed. Three events on, and the novelty has now started to wear off. Questions are being asked.

There are unquestionably benefits from the Ironman event. It may indeed help to put Alcúdia more on a sports-tourism map and it does produce business in the early weeks of the tourism season that would otherwise not be produced. There are the doubters who say that triathletes, rather like cyclists, are of little value to businesses (these being bars and restaurants). They are too damn healthy to be chucking volumes of beer or beef down their necks. Not so. As with cyclists, there are triathletes who are quite capable of indulging themselves.

The business generated by Ironman is spread around; it isn't only Alcúdia which benefits from hotel guests or from consumers in restaurants and shops. There are also training camps, not necessarily directly linked to the Alcúdia event, but which are offered in the weeks before the event. Local hotels are the base for these camps. But business which really can benefit, other than hotels, is that in the port area. As ever, the spoils of events are gained by the port or the old town; never by other parts of Alcúdia, such as the main tourist centre. For those who don't benefit and even for those who do, but who face the challenge of disruption, the inconvenience of Ironman has now become more than just a little tiresome.

Closing a main road into the port for a whole week is far more than just a bit of an annoyance. Despite it only being early season, it is still season. And that means that there are an awful lot more people and a lot more vehicles than when it isn't season. The tailbacks have now become a major headache. Someone, somewhere can probably put a number to the benefits of Ironman, but can someone, somewhere put a number to its downsides?

Putting up with road closures for a day is something that can be accepted, but when one road closure creates the chaos that it has for as long as it has, then it is right that questions are being asked. The inconvenience manifests itself in different ways. For bars and restaurants, as an example, they can suffer because deliveries cannot be effected. Or because they are delayed considerably. And for all the claims of benefits to tourism, what about ordinary tourists?

Because of the problems with getting into Puerto Alcúdia, especially on the day of the event, what do you suppose happens to tourists who might be coming or going? Saturday is, after all, a fairly heavy change-round day. One thing that happens is that tourists can be expected to have to get off transfer coaches and then make their own way. Not just across a road but a considerable distance. These are tourists with luggage. Those who may have small children. Those who have been up since early in the morning.

It isn't only tourists in Puerto Alcúdia. In Puerto Pollensa, where involvement in Ironman is only minimal because the cycling leg passes through it, tourists have been told that they would have to leave for the airport seven hours before their flights. Seven hours!

There seems to be precious little concern being shown for those who are affected by Ironman. Alcúdia town hall will doubtless reiterate the benefits, declare the event a great success and look forward to next year's. But the town hall's credibility is taking a heavy knock. The laying of the blue asphalt over the stones on the beach path (used for the running stage) has been met with what has bordered on outrage. There is no other reason for the blue path, so most people believe, other than to meet demands of Ironman. The town hall claim differently, but this just compounds the degree to which its credibility is being shaken. It is surely no coincidence that a blue path along the beach, one that will be filmed and look nice for certain promotions (by Ironman), looks very similar to the blue matting for the triathlon transition area. Colour co-ordination.

Ironman may well bring benefits, but pandering to its every need and wish and the thumbing of the nose to those who are put out is not what might have been expected three years ago. The event needs re-thinking.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Any Old Iron: The triathlon

"You look neat. Talk about a treat. You look so dapper from your napper to your feet."

The words of Harry Champion's music hall song, "Any Old Iron". There will be any old number of athletes looking neat, from their nappers to their feet, in their helmets, vests, speedos, shorts and shoes when three thousand of them take to the waters and streets of Alcúdia and other parts of northern Majorca in just over a week's time. The first Ironman 70.3 triathlon will be staged on 14 May.

Three thousand participants, 1500 helpers, 20,000 visitors. Of these, perhaps only the first will be accurate. They are having trouble attracting helpers, and as for the visitors. Well, possibly. But if there are 20,000, where will they come from? Day-trippers from elsewhere on the island, one imagines. Assuming they can get anywhere near the place.

The triathlon will last from eight in the morning till five in the evening. The professionals will not need anything like this length of time, but some will. As a result, for much of the day the town and resort of Alcúdia will be in virtual lockdown. The main roads will be closed, as will be the back streets of residential areas. Very little will be able to move unless it has two feet or a bike and looks dapper in its any old Ironman attire.

For a week leading up to the event, one part of the main carretera into the port of Alcúdia will also be shut. They need to prepare, in order to house the athletes and their bikes, in order to put up temporary structures, such as showers. Getting around Alcúdia in the lead-up to the day and on the day itself is going to be difficult, which is putting it mildly. And on the day, with so many roads closed, how are these visitors meant to make their way in?

The Ironman is a huge boost for Alcúdia, not necessarily because of tourists coming to watch the event itself, as these, in any number, would seem unlikely, but more because it puts the resort on the map of sports tourism, an ambition the town, together with adjoining resorts on the bay of Alcúdia, has harboured for some time. In terms of publicity alone, it is a thoroughly worthwhile event.

The downside of it is the level of disruption and inconvenience. But does this matter? It's only one day, after all, unless you include that bit of the main road that is affected for several days.

In the scale of sporting events that require some streets, the Ironman is a drop in the bay of Alcúdia. It is hardly a London Marathon or a Monaco Grand Prix. But complaints there will be and complaints there are.

In strictly productive terms, any disruption to road systems is negative. When you have a town to all intents and purposes shut for a whole day, even if it is a Saturday, then there is a loss of productivity. Whether gains will be made from those visitors who do manage to break through the cordons and which compensate for any losses, real or imagined, we will find out. But the moaning is less rational than this. It is just a case of being put out.

The Ironman is not the only sporting event to disrupt local traffic. Two cycling races in the space of three weeks caused roads to be closed. But not for long. The delays were perhaps half an hour at most. An inconvenience, yes, but unless it's a matter of life or death (and there is admittedly an issue with this), it should be tolerable in the wider scheme of things.

Alcúdia, Playa de Muro and other resorts want the type of sports tourism that Ironman brings. If they want it, then there has to be an acceptance that there will be some disruption. You can't have it both ways.

The key issue, though, is whether such tourism does in fact translate into more business for local bars and restaurants in addition to hotels which will accommodate athletes. And there will be plenty who will say that it doesn't. For the longer term, however, the first Ironman could be the start of future opportunities that will be real enough. Then they might be talking about a treat.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.