Barcarès

Following on from the previous piece (4 September: Serenity), this is the article that has appeared in "Talk Of The North", with special thanks to Anne Marie, who isn't actually name-checked at the end of the article, but who was instrumental in getting me to see Barcarès in a rather different way.


Barcarès - Nothing Happened

"Do you know anything about the development of the little port?" She shakes her head. Does her colleague know anything? Not as such. It's in the paper, I say. In the "Diario". They look. Oh yes. Another colleague comes. They all look. How often does Barcarès get mentioned in the local press? Never probably. Except on that day, and now - here. "If you find out anything, let us know." I'll write about it, and am writing about it here - now. Maybe it's because the Hotel More isn't really in Barcarès that no-one knew. It's in Morer Vermell, though where Morer Vermell starts and Barcarès finishes, who knows. Not that it's far. Nothing's far on the little coastline from La Marina to Manresa. Like the Red Rum bar. "Do you know anything about the development of the little port?" He shakes his head. Elaine's not in till the evening. I'm not sure that's the answer I'm looking for. Doesn't matter.

At the little port, the old velas latinas are barely bobbing. The sea is as flat and smooth as bluey-grey silk stretched on a cutting table. In the haven, there is minimal motion. On the harbour walk is Joan, unmistakably Mallorquín, squat, wide, carrying the evidence of many long lunches. "Do you know anything about the development of the little port?" Not as such. It's in the paper, in the "Diario". There are meant to be steps every ten metres, he says. Around the harbour. It's not the answer I'm looking for, nor is the explanation that the lack of steps in the port area of Alcúdia in front of Bodega d'es Port and the tabac is dangerous. "How many years has the port been here?" I ask. He's in his seventies. He used to play around the little port when he was a child. It was here before the one in Bonaire.

In the portakabin office, there is a young official wearing a smart ports authority t-shirt. "Can you tell me something about the development of the little port?" There's a piece in the paper about it, in the "Diario". "Is there?" I can go to the town hall and see the plan, if I want. Oh no, not necessary: the plan is on the table in front of him. There's to be another ramp, like the one that's already there, and a permanent little office, he explains. The residents are unhappy, say I, despite the fact that no-one seems to know about the development. The new ramp will stop them swimming, and the office will be a visual blight apparently, or so they say. He answers but doesn't need to. I step outside. It's a story about nothing. The planned development is hardly a development at all. The new office would just replace the temporary one.

Because nothing happens in Barcarès, the slightest whiff of a story, of some change is bound to excite. If excite is the right word. Excitement and newsworthiness would amount to a headline along the lines of "man gets up in morning". Nothing happens in Barcarès because there is nothing there to happen. The better story, I realise, is that the development of the little port is a story about nothing happening. In Joan's seventy-odd years, the day they come and build the new ramp will probably be the first thing that's happened for more than half a century.

This is a blissful morning in September. The only noises are those of an outboard cutting across the bay of Pollensa, sixties music from speakers in Red Rum, some kids swimming and a dog in the water barking at fish. No-one bothers about dogs by or in the water. Another bounds through the seaweed that has been washed up and has dried on the small and sea-eroded man-made decks that need close observation to appreciate that they are not rocks.

Barcarès is non-resort Alcúdia; backwaters, sideshow Alcúdia. It is perfect in its lack of pretension and ostentation, in its comatose Mediterranean atmosphere and in its compact and understated Mediterranean architecture. The older villas are white-washed, the shutters blue, green, brown or white. The more modern ones have low gates, neat gardens, baby palms, deep-green grass criss-crossed with hoses or with sprinklers supplying the hissing of summer lawns (if I can steal that image). They are toy-town, model village Mediterranean. An orange-walled building has the appearance of a British customs house. It is a complicated structure of angular blocks. It could have been made from Lego, like the rest of Barcarès. Maybe that's why nothing happens; it isn't actually real.

That's probably it. Barcarès is the Alcúdia dream time, an otherworldly world away from the roar of The Mile. Someone once sent me an email about Barcarès. She said that it was her favourite place in the whole world; that it has a "calm enchantment". On a blissful September morning, you can understand why. Barcarès. A story about nothing happening, and nothing does happen. And that's how it should be.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Beach Boys, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXif3HvtpNg.

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

The Bellevue Interview

As trailed on here, below is the result of the interview with the assistant director of Bellevue. This has now been published in "Talk Of The North", so as an additional archive, here it is. The first part is the feature itself and this is followed by some history and facts.


Realism At Bellevue
"Every day we think of how we can improve our product." To read some of the criticisms levelled at the Bellevue hotel complex, one might find that hard to believe, but listening to assistant director Syb Sijbertsma one does believe it. "Ridiculous," is his assessment of some of the things that are trotted out on the internet.

The web consumes much of our discussion time. "There is a danger with the internet. It creates too high a level of expectation." This is expectation not just of what Bellevue might have to offer but of what any hotel or destination can provide. "It used to be an adventure," the holiday that is. "But not now." Accordingly, hotels are compared with others, and in the case of Bellevue a false impression can be created through inaccuracies or through unreal expectations.

At Bellevue they are clear as to what their product is, but often it becomes distorted, not least by some tour operators who do not inform their customers correctly. The holidaymaker needs to "experience things for himself" and be realistic. As an example, we touch on a familiar criticism as to length of queues. The main restaurant can cater for 1000 at a sitting. If everyone comes at the same time, then there are bound to be queues. At Bellevue they know this, but the message does not always get across.

We have to take a step back. Back to why I felt it important to hear the Bellevue story. There were a number of factors, not least the criticisms that one read on the internet, the rumours that one constantly heard and the apparent lack of communication by the hotel in addressing these. Then there was the sheer scale of Bellevue - it is the largest holiday complex in Spain - its importance to the economy of Alcúdia and its almost iconic status. Moreover, what occurs at Bellevue is not wholly unique as it is indicative of what is occurring in the mass tourism holiday market across Mallorca and not just in the north of the island.

But let's get back to that apparent lack of communication. On Syb's computer screen are comments from the review site "Trip Advisor". Contrary to what I had believed, these are taken very seriously. However, there is frustration. While he can respond with information, that is all he can do: no opinion, no sense of criticising a poster. "If you sit with people who have a problem, you can explain and then they are normally happy. The internet is not the same." "There is always something to pick on at Bellevue," be it cleanliness, the queues, safety or even mosquitoes.

We take a walk around the complex. Five thousand people and you have to expect some litter. Yet the impression is far from unfavourable despite the lack of consideration that leads to Syb picking up discarded plastic cups or wrappers. He is, as he puts it, "manic" about collecting litter. In the middle of the afternoon, pool sides are full of guests with cups and plates. It is not just the assistant director who cleans up, there are staff everywhere in a constant battle with abandoned containers. Behaviour is an issue. He admits that it has got worse. And not just where litter is concerned. He relates stories, none of them repeatable, but they all add up to making his job far broader than just that of a manager or a strategist. He is also social worker, family counsellor, mediator. A background as a physical education instructor is perhaps useful in being able to deal with certain situations.


The fires
We take a look at the burnt-out lift in Minerva 2. The health and safety criticism is one that annoys him. It was one bandied about after the two fires. I study the specification for the hotel, note the ticks for items such as smoke detectors and alarms. "The tour operators come every year and see for themselves. They are always happy." Were they not, they wouldn't send their clients to Bellevue. He doesn't wish to go into the issue, but the TUI decision to pull out of Bellevue was not related to health and safety. "There weren't any fires for years, then two. Similar circumstances surrounding both." He cites theories as to possible origins of the fires, but they are a police matter so I am not about to repeat them.

The fires, however, were indicative of how the internet can inflame, as it were, the situation. He is critical of those whose first impulse is to go onto a review site and disseminate what is not wholly accurate. "The fires were dealt with in a perfect way," he says. The first fire, in Minerva 1, attracted more attention than the second, partly because the alarms did not sound. He explains that if there is a fire or smoke - and there was a lot of smoke and very little by way of flames with the first fire - an alarm goes off at reception. There is a five-minute delay before the alarms go off, enabling staff to investigate the nature of the fire. In the case of Minerva 1, it was under control. To have sounded the alarms would have made the situation worse by causing more panic. The Minerva 2 fire involved more flames, and the alarms were set off in this instance. One has to understand, Syb explains, that there are over 15 false alarms every week, which is why they have the system they do.

To see what was said on the internet, it was easy to form an impression as to a lack of information, but an office was set aside for four days after the fires to handle guests' queries or concerns, while there was also a press relations facility established. In terms of both safety and communications, he is satisfied that the incidents were handled well.


Responsibilities and all-inclusive
Back in Minerva 2, from a room on the eighth floor you get an impression not just of the size of the complex but also the setting. It is extraordinary. One can see the length of the Lago Esperanza and appreciate just how big that is. Across the sea and bay of Alcúdia are the mountains of Artà. I wanted to talk about responsibility, the responsibility that Bellevue has to the local community. It is the physical splendour of the immediate surroundings that informs this responsibility, the hotel's part in maintaining the beauty of the environment and in the plans to upgrade the lake area. There are other responsibilities, I suggest, and so we come to the local community and businesses.

What of all the rumours that fly around? Bellevue is being sold, Bellevue is closing, Bellevue this and Bellevue that. Is there a responsibility to respond to them? Not really, he says. Alcúdia is a small town, one in which all sorts of rumour spread quickly. To make statements might simply make matters worse, as though they would imply that there was some truth to the rumours when there never is.

And what of the impact of changes at Bellevue, most obviously all-inclusive (AI) packages? It is Syb's turn to want to take a step back. From the time Bellevue really took off as a holiday complex in the early '80s, its clientele would leave the site and patronise the bars, restaurants and shops that grew up along and off The Mile. Syb is unequivocal. "Some people got really rich on it." But things have changed. He sees no responsibility for this change. "A hotel is a hotel. We do what we do."

The AI side of the Bellevue product has grown significantly. From trialling it in 2005, it has grown to the extent that it now comprises over half the number of guests. Of a maximum occupancy this year just shy of 5100 guests, around 2800 are staying on an AI basis. "We're being pushed into it," he concedes. The crisis, as much as anything, has contributed to a rise this year from a maximum of 2000 AI guests in 2008. Despite this, he is not particularly in favour of AI, and the reasoning for this is based on the service that can be offered. "AI is like a basic family car, when you would really like to be offering a Mercedes. It's impossible on a 3-star basis." He draws a comparison with the Caribbean where costs are that much lower, allowing branded products to form part of the AI offer and far greater levels of staffing. Spain is that much more expensive. You come back to that level of expectation. Bellevue is at the limits as to what it can achieve in terms of providing AI in its restaurants, and there is an acknowledgement that some re-organisation and development will need to occur in order to comply with the diktats of the tourism ministry in terms of the space per guest. So, AI could grow more, I ask. Yes. Might Bellevue become totally AI? Maybe, he replies, but counters this by suggesting that AI could be cyclical and that it could fade away as tourist needs and demands change.

I return to the local businesses. "It was all so easy in the past," he explains. Syb constantly refers to product, and he is critical of some who have paid too little attention to their product or quality. "Other businesses will still come in," he believes in answer to the question about the impact along The Mile. "They will offer products that people want." The hotel itself has had to adapt to a changing market; this is all a part of that thinking every day as to how they can improve. He sees some evidence of businesses doing this as well. It is necessary that they do. Despite the possibility that AI is indeed cyclical, Syb says starkly that "it is AI or nothing".


Bellevue history and facts
The Bellevue complex was built between 1972 and 1974 by the same German developer behind what are now the Club Mac hotels. The Siesta apartments were sold off separately in 1974 and the Bellevue apartments were put on the market as a form of time-share option. That was the plan, but it didn't work. Between 1974 and 1983 there was little activity at Bellevue, the complex being in the hands of the bank Banesto. In 1983 the first hotel company was formed, effectively creating the complex as it now is. But there were several years of changes in the actual running of the complex until 2000 when Hotetur in partnership with My Travel took over and Banesto finally left the scene. For five years the arrangement with My Travel gave the hotel guaranteed places, but in 2005 Hotetur bought out My Travel's stake which had amounted to a minority holding of 49%.

Bellevue comprises 17 separate accommodation blocks which stand on an area of 200,000 square metres. There is facility to house over 6000 guests, but the maximum occupation in 2009 is around 5100, down on the 5500 of 2007. This can be explained partially by economic conditions but also by smaller family units. There are five different types of board category, the most popular being self-catering and all-inclusive. Around 400 staff are employed at the complex.

While the buildings are now quite old, the apartments themselves are maintained to good standards. I saw an example of each category. While they might be cramped for larger groups, they generally have ample space with kitchen units, bathrooms and toilets; the actual sizes are, respectively, 25, 35 and 45 square metres for studios and one and two-bedroomed apartments. In total there are 1468 apartments. The impression is that they are clean, functional and safe.

The breakdown of nationalities has changed this year. The main market is British at around 65 to 70%, down around 20%, but compensated for by an increase in other groups - Scandinavian, German, French and Dutch. Internet bookings are a vital part of the hotel's operations, and these can rise as high as 80%.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Razorlight, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3aAt22Y7QQ.

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

And The Nominations Are ...

Oh dear, oh dear. One does have to be so careful.

The bar owners and bar staff of Alcúdia form a close community; they are a community within a community. Competition there may be, but mostly everyone knows each other, and many are good friends. This sub-community is alive with what has reached, absurdly you might think, the status of a cause célèbre (actually it hasn't, but do excuse a touch of hyperbole). It all stems from what, at first reading, seemed a pretty innocent piece in "Talk Of The North". If you're not up to speed with this, and many of you will be of course, the piece was in response to a question as to whether there were any good bar staff and waiters in the British bars and restaurants of Alcúdia. Yes, came the answer, and five bars and five bar owners/staff were named. It was at this point that levels of umbrage began to be taken.

There has been, in my opinion, some selective reading of this piece. What it actually says is "here's 5 of the best" (and then names them). What it does not say is "here are the five best". The implication is that the best amount to more than five. Six, seven, twenty, fifty, however many. The piece concluded by asking "who would you nominate?". On the face of it, therefore, here was a positive expression of examples of good service (but not exclusively these five) together with a request for the readership to name their own good servants. All good participative stuff, you might think.

However, selective reading notwithstanding, the interpretation placed on this by some is that other bar staff/owners/whoever are not good, or as good. To compound this apparent affront, the piece is headlined and footed with the words "watch and learn", which mean, one supposes, that the others should draw lessons from the (by-now) famous five. That is certainly an interpretation doing the rounds, one made, for example, and in a measured and perfectly reasonable way, by John Santana on the Barfly blog (and John, as many will attest, has a deservedly good reputation).

This may not have reached the levels it has were it not for another factor, and that is that the author of this piece is "John Nelson". I put the name in inverted commas, unsure as I am if this is actually a nom de plume. Whatever the case, herein lies perhaps the greatest problem. People do not know who John Nelson is. I am told that only a handful of people do. This anonymity has led to the creation of a Facebook entry asking "who the hell is John Nelson?".

"Talk Of The North" acts as a sort-of community newsletter. The word "community" is important, and the community is not that big. Its very smallness and tight-knit nature give rise to the rapid dissemination of rumour, of information (both correct and incorrect), and of pleasure or annoyance. And the internet has made this dissemination that much more rapid and the information more available; indeed without it, one could argue that the "famous five" case would not have developed a certain momentum.

A counter view, and one expressed to me, is that perhaps there are not that many who have taken umbrage at the piece; it is recourse to the internet that generates more heat than might have been the case and conveys the impression of something more important than it actually is.

Whatever the real situation, and setting aside what may be construed as some good publicity for certain bars over others - especially in the current climate - the crux of all this does perhaps boil down to two things. One. As nature abhors a vacuum, so communities abhor not knowing - in this case, the vacuum of anonymity, i.e. who the author is. The author may be of the wider community, but he appears to be apart from it as well. Two. The mere fact of naming people and bars makes the whole thing personal. Though it was not intended to be personal in a different sense, that of implying criticism of others, this is how it has been perceived. And within the small community of Alcúdia's British bars and bar staff, to be seen to be taking sides with certain bars and staff, even if this was not intended, is almost bound to have repercussions. One should not lose sight of the fact, however, that this was one person's opinion, and it is an opinion he is entitled to offer. Perhaps it could have been couched differently and, if so, therein lies the fault of the piece, nothing more. Let it not be denied, furthermore, that reaction has been provoked. Negative some of it, but not necessarily a totally bad thing.

One does have to be careful. Praise for some is criticism for others. There again, let's not get carried away. Had this been about the five worst, then there really would have been grounds for a stink. Who would you nominate?


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Billy Ocean, "Get Outta My Dreams": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d0rDz3PKX0.

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

Stop The Press - 2

Following on from yesterday ...

The size of the British market determines, to a large extent, the nature of the local media. Criticism that is sometimes levelled at it needs to be tempered by an understanding of this size, the resources that can be justified in serving the market and the advertising revenues that can feasibly be obtained.

Of the three "newspapers" that appear in the north, only one, the free fortnightly "Talk Of The North", is focussed solely on the region. The other two, the also free "Euro Weekly" and the for-sale "Majorca Daily Bulletin" are island-wide, though where the former is concerned, it's a case of partly island-wide and largely Costas in terms of content. As for distribution, the two free publications seem to be roughly on a par. My understanding is that "Euro Weekly" circulates 8,000 copies on the island (this certainly was the case; it may have changed). If one assumes that a thousand are diverted to the north, the same number as "Talk Of The North", then both meet their objectives. For two thousand British residents, one can also assume an average of two per household. A thousand is adequate.

"The Bulletin" has greater penetration, largely by dint of being daily. The actual sales figures for the northern area I don't know, but one can start to get an idea by looking at the audited figures. On the OJD site, these are given. They might surprise you. For the year 2008, "The Bulletin" had an average net circulation (sales, one takes this to mean) of 3,839 (the figure for average print run is higher). My understanding for this is that the one-eighth principle does not apply, and that the sales in the north are proportionally quite a bit higher. The sales figure does not, however, reflect readership. It is not unrealistic to believe that the readership number is some five times the actual sales. It is also worth noting that we are talking here of an average. In summer, the sales are over 6,000, quite a number of them - contrary to widely held opinion - to tourists; indeed, the paper is sold through some hotels.

While the figures do seem low, are they really that surprising? Put them in the context of the figures for the Spanish dailies produced in Mallorca. Ultima Hora's average circulation was 36,260; the Diario's 22,653. Once again, they may seem low, but there are factors to bear in mind. As with "The Bulletin", there is the readership equation, given that these papers are all easily available in bars, while one has to acknowledge the popularity of the main Spanish papers, such as "El País" (to say nothing of competition from the Catalan press). In the same way, one has to consider the British dailies like "The Sun" when assessing the circulation of "The Bulletin".

However one interprets these sales, the fact is that the markets, British and Spanish/Mallorcan, are not huge by any means. You can begin to work out for yourselves what this all means in bottom-line terms. "The Bulletin" sells for one euro. From that, you can take out 4% for IVA and any costs for production, distribution, staffing etc. That a monthly subscription to the paper would mean a receipt of a third less, you can see that there is not a vast budget to play with, advertising revenues notwithstanding. The point about this is that, when criticisms are levelled, one has to appreciate the true business picture.

One also needs to appreciate the scale of the effort that is involved with any publication: copy generation, advertising selling, chasing up, layout and print preparation and distribution. For "The Bulletin", the latter is handled through the established distribution network to retailers. "Euro Weekly" and "Talk Of The North" are basically boot-of-the-car jobs. The distribution alone is time-consuming and attracts its own costs, not least in terms of fuel.

Is it all worth it, then? The answer is still yes, if only because communities, be they British across the island or in the north alone, have demonstrated a demand for them. But these very communities are also all too ready to criticise. 'Twas ever thus with publishing. More than anything, everyone has a sense of ownership and an opinion where a publication is concerned. It should do this, it should do that; shouldn't do this, shouldn't do that, blah, blah. Any editor or publisher would want to do more or do something differently, but it all comes back to resources, and the size of the market and what it is willing to pay (or not).

This all said, it has been a mystery to me quite how the German publications on the island can all be so much superior - in every respect: size, layout, content and weight of advertising. There are two paid-for weeklies - "Mallorca Zeitung" (the "Diario" camp) and "Mallorca Magazin" ("Ultima Hora" and "The Bulletin") - and a freebie "El Aviso". The German market is bigger than the British, double the size perhaps, but is still not vast. However, a clue can be found if one goes to the website for "Mallorca Magazin". It states the paper's circulation figures. At their height, there is an average circulation (sales one assumes) of 31,850 with 8,500 subscriptions. How can this be? Other clues lie in "Auflagengebiet" (circulation area) and "Verkaufsstellen" (sales points). The former includes not only the Balearics but also Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Holland. The latter contains an extensive list of train stations, airports and bookshops in German towns and cities. Is "The Bulletin" on sale at Paddington Station?

The German market is different in one major respect. The Germans treat Mallorca not so much as a holiday destination but as another part of the Bundesrepublik. The fascination with Mallorca is regularly reflected in television shows and with weather reports. Mallorca is a way of life to many Germans in a way that it is not for the British. Or maybe this is wrong. Because there is much evidence to suggest as close an affinity with Mallorca among the Brits as with the Germans. And that evidence comes from the internet. Which brings me to ...

To follow.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title (and today's) - Prince, "Batdance": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLlQpc8D2Kc
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)

Sometimes (Leicester Piggott)

You may know that if there is one thing that drives me nuts it is the Alcúdia is like Blackpool comparison. Turn this around. If you were to say that Blackpool is like anywhere, where would you choose? With a degree of certainty, I can say that you would not choose Alcúdia. If it can't work in reverse, how can it work in forward? The answer is that it can't, because it isn't. If Alcúdia is like anywhere, other than Alcúdia, it is in fact like Leicester. True, Leicester is not by the sea, it is not a resort, people do not go there on holiday, it does not have a Mile, it does not have Roman ruins, a mountainous range, a first-rate marina, too many supermarkets called Eroski or, perhaps oddest of all, as far as I'm aware, a bar called Linekers. It does, though, have a football team and a rugby club, as does Alcúdia. Despite all those things being absent and the tenuous link through sport, it is still comparable with Alcúdia. Why? Well, ask yourselves this. Why is it that every other person you stumble across seems to have come from Leicester or Leicestershire? Even those who might appear to have no connection whatsoever with the city or the county, turn out not to have come from, say, Hertfordshire, but from Leicestershire.

And for the same reason, i.e. the numbers who have deserted and pitched up in the middle of the Med, after Leicester, Alcúdia is like Hull. Now, Hull may seem to have slightly more that is similar than Leicester, but that is purely down to the presence of the sea. Alcúdia does not of course have a river: Hull does, a black one, as I recall. Or maybe it was just the glowering skies that had turned an otherwise turquoise Humber into the colour of night.

I daresay that this will provoke someone to tell me that in fact Alcúdia is more like West Bromwich or Hemel Hempstead, which would of course be absurd; well in the case of West Brom certainly. Alcúdia is rarely to be found on fire, which is the case with West Bromwich; well it was on the one and only occasion I happened to go there. Hemel Hempstead, on the other hand, which may also have suffered its own local difficulty with fire, has, more importantly, its own magic roundabout, but God forbid they were to attempt anything on that scale in Alcúdia, given the difficulty that the locals have with simple, single, straightforward roundabouts as opposed to anything that resembles the Olympic rings. Then there will be the north-eastern lobby for Newcastle or Darlington and even that for the whole of Wales, and that really would be ridiculous. How could a town in northern Mallorca be like an entire country? It's not as if there are any sheep in Alcúdia. Well not normally on the beach at any rate.

But when the tourist authorities have the bright idea to go and put on a "show" in Manchester as a means of promoting Mallorca, how much thought have they applied? Perhaps there are parts of Mallorca which are identifiably Mancunian, but not Alcúdia. They should have put on that show in Leicester city centre.


Talk Of The North - Part Two
No sooner to close than Phoenix-like resurrected. Ann confirms that it will be re-launched under new ownership. So there you go. You will still all be able to talk in the north and of it as well, especially all those from Hull if not Leicester.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Captain Beefheart, "Moonlight On Vermont" from "Trout Mask Replica". Today's title - erm, well, about all I could think of with a Leicester flavour, not that it was that Leicester. This has been here before, but it's a cracker; oh and they were/are a Manchester group.

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

That Old-Time Religion

Easter has arrived, and it is time for some old-time religion and the religious production of hotel occupancy statistics, followed by expressions of an oh Godly nature or with a nod in the direction of the anti-God - "like hell it is". Delving into the reports, one discovers that, despite the weather being if not quite of a biblical flood style then of a rather damp nature, in Alcúdia the occupancy is pretty much like last year: roughly a third of the hotels operating and with an 85% take-up. Or so it's being said. But if so, then one might pray that a trend of mirroring 2008 numbers throughout the season would be a Godsend. Amen to that, we would all say; well, those of us who say "amen", which I tend not to.


The ongoing madcap stop-go situation that is, may be or may not be the golf development on the Son Bosc finca in Muro has taken a further twist. "The Diario" is saying that a report by experts from its own ministry has seemingly been ignored by the Balearic Government's environment ministry. That report warned that certain natural habitats and flora would be demolished. Moreover, these habitats would be lost, in contravention of a national Spanish law that places the onus on autonomous regions, such as the Balearics, to ensure that this doesn't happen. The paper makes, without comment, a link between the mayor of Muro, who supports the development, and the minister; that link being that they have a political party in common. It also says, once more, that the town hall is including the development in tourist material, despite the fact that not only does it not exist but work has not even started. That aspect is bizarre, to say the least . The ministry, for what it's worth, is casting doubt as to the "validity" of the report.

I confess I have rather lost the plot where the various reports and legal references to Son Bosc are concerned. But I seem to recall mentioning something about this ministry report in the past. Or maybe I didn't. It really is an unholy mess, which does rather go to prove, as with that other nonsense, the issuing of building licences, how too many levels of government can just confuse things no end. Muro town hall, the Balearics' ministry, the national government. You can probably toss in the European Commission, the European Parliament, the UN, the United Federation of Planets as well as, I daresay, the odd vested interest.


Talk Of The North
Some will already know that the current issue of "Talk Of The North" is to be the last. Economic situation and cuts to advertising, and all that. Few publications are immune, be they national dailies or a local fortnightly. It's a shame. It was a worthwhile project, especially in the sense of fostering a community identity. I would like to extend my best wishes to Ann; indeed I have done so.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Here are some middle-aged men who really should know better: Sex Pistols (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvxrYm4nxXY). Today's title - well, not the original of this, but which occasional and crazy hero of this blog once referenced this. Clue: captain, my captain, and it's not Robin Williams.

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