Morning high (8.03am): 11.2C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 6
Three-day forecast: 10 April - Sun, 21C; 11 April - Sun, 18C; 12 April - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Northwest 3 to 5.
Fine, bright morning. The miserable and cold weather of yesterday is gone, and for today and the next few days the forecast is for good, sunny conditions. All set fair then for today and tomorrow's boat show and gastronomy event in Puerto Alcudia.
Evening update (21.00): Nice. High of 19.5C.
Saturday, April 09, 2016
Questions Of Illogic: The tourist tax
The draft for the law on the tax for touristic stays and sustainable tourism (the final version has yet to appear on the Official Bulletin) makes numerous references to items of legislation, both Balearic and national. One item it does not refer to is the revision of Article 78 of the 1992 law on the "impuesto sobre el valor añadido" - IVA. This revision was made in March 2012. At around the same time, the Catalonian parliament was approving the tax for touristic stays, which was introduced in November that year. The national government's amendment was well-timed, more than just coincidental. It established the basis for applying IVA (VAT) to a tourist tax, or rather THE tourist tax, as Catalonia was the only part of Spain that was proposing one; it is still the only part of Spain which has one, though the Balearics will shortly join it.
Had it been any region of Spain other than Catalonia that was bringing in a tourist tax, it is a moot point as to whether Article 78 would have been revised in the way that it was. But it was revised. A leading hotelier in Barcelona observed that it seemed somewhat illogical to have a tax on a tax, but Catalonia was obliged to comply with Article 78.
Biel Barceló, the tourism minister, says that it is illogical that a tax raised in the Balearics should be subject to a national tax. He may well think this, but he knew full well that there was such a national tax. The announcement of the application of IVA may have taken some by surprise, but it would have been no surprise to the government. It has known about it all along. Yet, when it came to the drafting of the legislation, there was no mention of IVA. It might strike some as strange that legislation of a tax nature should overlook a tax element.
It is only now, when the government is getting around to communicating information regarding the tax, that it has chosen to give the full story. It is disgraceful for it to only be doing so now. It is equally disgraceful for Barceló to keep referring to small amounts of money - a few cents in the case of the IVA element, he has said. The amounts may not be great, either the tax itself or the IVA add-on, but one person's small amount is another person's not so small amount. It's an insult. Barceló and others would do well to remember that the industry it so dearly wishes to now sustain was originally built with money from ordinary working people.
The IVA admission is, unfortunately, just another example of how poorly the tourist tax has been managed. As someone not opposed in principle to a tax, it has been the obfuscation, the vacillating as to its purpose, the simplistic references to "small amounts" and the interminable sustainable clap-trap that has led to a revision in attitude. And one can add, for good measure, the fact that the Balearic tax will represent a greater burden for the taxpaying tourist than Catalonia's does.
The hoteliers, meanwhile, see the same illogic as expressed by the Barcelona hotelier. What is the justification for applying IVA to the tourist tax? What service is subject to tax? The service of the regional government's unofficial tax collectors, i.e. the hoteliers and other accommodation providers? Only the national government can say, which is of course a convenient cop-out for the regional government. Don't blame us, blame Madrid. Maybe, but then Madrid didn't introduce a tourist tax. It just changed the IVA rules to ensure it got a bit more revenue for itself from an administration it wasn't friendly with (Catalonia) and will now get some more from an administration with which diplomatic, financial relations have all but broken down.
Had it been any region of Spain other than Catalonia that was bringing in a tourist tax, it is a moot point as to whether Article 78 would have been revised in the way that it was. But it was revised. A leading hotelier in Barcelona observed that it seemed somewhat illogical to have a tax on a tax, but Catalonia was obliged to comply with Article 78.
Biel Barceló, the tourism minister, says that it is illogical that a tax raised in the Balearics should be subject to a national tax. He may well think this, but he knew full well that there was such a national tax. The announcement of the application of IVA may have taken some by surprise, but it would have been no surprise to the government. It has known about it all along. Yet, when it came to the drafting of the legislation, there was no mention of IVA. It might strike some as strange that legislation of a tax nature should overlook a tax element.
It is only now, when the government is getting around to communicating information regarding the tax, that it has chosen to give the full story. It is disgraceful for it to only be doing so now. It is equally disgraceful for Barceló to keep referring to small amounts of money - a few cents in the case of the IVA element, he has said. The amounts may not be great, either the tax itself or the IVA add-on, but one person's small amount is another person's not so small amount. It's an insult. Barceló and others would do well to remember that the industry it so dearly wishes to now sustain was originally built with money from ordinary working people.
The IVA admission is, unfortunately, just another example of how poorly the tourist tax has been managed. As someone not opposed in principle to a tax, it has been the obfuscation, the vacillating as to its purpose, the simplistic references to "small amounts" and the interminable sustainable clap-trap that has led to a revision in attitude. And one can add, for good measure, the fact that the Balearic tax will represent a greater burden for the taxpaying tourist than Catalonia's does.
The hoteliers, meanwhile, see the same illogic as expressed by the Barcelona hotelier. What is the justification for applying IVA to the tourist tax? What service is subject to tax? The service of the regional government's unofficial tax collectors, i.e. the hoteliers and other accommodation providers? Only the national government can say, which is of course a convenient cop-out for the regional government. Don't blame us, blame Madrid. Maybe, but then Madrid didn't introduce a tourist tax. It just changed the IVA rules to ensure it got a bit more revenue for itself from an administration it wasn't friendly with (Catalonia) and will now get some more from an administration with which diplomatic, financial relations have all but broken down.
Friday, April 08, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 April 2016
Morning high (7.39am): 12.2C
Forecast high: 14C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 9 April - Sun, 17C; 10 April - Sun, 18C; 11 April - Sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 occasionally 5 backing Northwest in the afternoon.
Cloudy start and rain is a possibility. Picking up by later on and introducing a pattern of settled, sunny weather for the next few days.
Evening update (20.30): Well, that didn't go according to plan. Persistent rain for much of the day, never heavy, and cold - down to eight or so degrees. The sun finally put in appearance and boosted the high to 12.4C.
Forecast high: 14C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 9 April - Sun, 17C; 10 April - Sun, 18C; 11 April - Sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 occasionally 5 backing Northwest in the afternoon.
Cloudy start and rain is a possibility. Picking up by later on and introducing a pattern of settled, sunny weather for the next few days.
Evening update (20.30): Well, that didn't go according to plan. Persistent rain for much of the day, never heavy, and cold - down to eight or so degrees. The sun finally put in appearance and boosted the high to 12.4C.
From Mallorca To Panama
Panama is a Central American republic which has gifted to the world a canal and a hat. In more general terms, its global impact is limited. It doesn't possess a national football team of any note, which might spread its name further, and hasn't been responsible for any international musical genre. In the relatively recent past, global attention was paid to it on account of General Manuel Noriega, a military ruler for whom corruption and abuse of human rights weren't options but ways of life. When the US finally invaded - Operation Just Cause - Noriega was removed from power, flown to the US, put on trial and sentenced to 40 years for, among other things, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Since then, Panama has become a more stable society, one mostly ignored by the world. Until now. To its canal and its hat, it has now added its papers. The world has also become familiar with a law firm called Mossack Fonseca, a firm that everyday folk around the globe would never have heard of. Less than everyday folk, however, knew a great deal about it. Panama itself is one of the chief tax havens cited, albeit that it lags some distance behind the British Virgin Islands. The Bahamas, the Seychelles, paradises in one regard have been revealed to be paradises in another - the Spanish refer to a tax haven as a "paraíso fiscal".
While the leaks have claimed Iceland's prime minister, cited the father of Britain's PM, implicated the president of Russia and have led to Swiss police interest in the headquarters of Uefa, they have also landed rather closer to home in Mallorca. Two of the island's major hotel chains have been forced to issue statements in respect of dealings with Mossack Fonseca. The Escarrer family (Meliá Hotels International) administered from 1985 a trust through Mossack Fonseca which looked after the wealth of the hotel chain's founder and president, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá. Meliá says that in line with Spanish government measures the situation has been "regularised" for a long time, with overseas bank accounts being declared to the tax authorities.
Luis and Carmen Riu Güell of Riu Hotels & Resorts had at least two offshore companies registered in Panama, which were linked to Mossack Fonseca. Riu says, however, that the association with Mossack Fonseca ended some years ago. It has stated that it complies with tax laws in both Spain and Panama. It might be noted that Riu has two hotels in Panama. As such, there now being bank accounts and registered companies would not be unusual. These are, says Riu, legally constituted companies.
It needs stressing that there is nothing to suggest any wrongdoing on behalf of Meliá, Riu or family members. But the leaking of their Panama connection could really not have come at a worse time. Or put it another way, it couldn't have come at a better time for certain politicians. Laura Camargo of Podemos was one of the first to put her Panama hat on. The matter will be taken to parliament next week. President Armengol will be asked what measures the Balearic government will be proposing to investigate what quantity of money has "allegedly" been "stolen" from the islands. She needs to be careful what she says, one can't help feeling.
Inevitably, the affair is being linked by Podemos to what Camargo describes as "serious cases of labour exploitation" in the Balearics. It is the accusations of exploitation plus the demonising of the hoteliers, especially the large ones, that make the Panama papers such a Godsend for Podemos. As it also is for David Abril, the most vocal of anti-hotelier Més voices. The large hotel chains should now cease giving lessons and advice in respect of tourism policy, he says. While the hoteliers have been campaigning against the tourist tax, they have been "diverting millions to Panama through phantom companies in order not to pay tax here". Even the town hall in Palma is having its say. Neus Truyol, the Més deputy mayor for ecology, wants the state to investigate cases of alleged tax fraud suggested by the Panama papers.
It might be noted that there are others mentioned in the papers. One of them is King Felipe's aunt, Pilar de Borbón, the sister of the former king, Juan Carlos. And in the case of the royals, her name appearing among the leaks is also less than opportune. One aspect of the ongoing Nóos trial is that Princess Cristina's husband was involved in diverting money to tax havens via the companies that he and ex-business partner, Diego Torres, set up.
The Panama papers will continue to throw up revelations, as potentially damaging as any from Wikileaks. Spain got away relatively lightly with Wikileaks, but now, and regardless of how correct affairs were or may have been, the political atmosphere is different. There are some who will smell blood.
Since then, Panama has become a more stable society, one mostly ignored by the world. Until now. To its canal and its hat, it has now added its papers. The world has also become familiar with a law firm called Mossack Fonseca, a firm that everyday folk around the globe would never have heard of. Less than everyday folk, however, knew a great deal about it. Panama itself is one of the chief tax havens cited, albeit that it lags some distance behind the British Virgin Islands. The Bahamas, the Seychelles, paradises in one regard have been revealed to be paradises in another - the Spanish refer to a tax haven as a "paraíso fiscal".
While the leaks have claimed Iceland's prime minister, cited the father of Britain's PM, implicated the president of Russia and have led to Swiss police interest in the headquarters of Uefa, they have also landed rather closer to home in Mallorca. Two of the island's major hotel chains have been forced to issue statements in respect of dealings with Mossack Fonseca. The Escarrer family (Meliá Hotels International) administered from 1985 a trust through Mossack Fonseca which looked after the wealth of the hotel chain's founder and president, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá. Meliá says that in line with Spanish government measures the situation has been "regularised" for a long time, with overseas bank accounts being declared to the tax authorities.
Luis and Carmen Riu Güell of Riu Hotels & Resorts had at least two offshore companies registered in Panama, which were linked to Mossack Fonseca. Riu says, however, that the association with Mossack Fonseca ended some years ago. It has stated that it complies with tax laws in both Spain and Panama. It might be noted that Riu has two hotels in Panama. As such, there now being bank accounts and registered companies would not be unusual. These are, says Riu, legally constituted companies.
It needs stressing that there is nothing to suggest any wrongdoing on behalf of Meliá, Riu or family members. But the leaking of their Panama connection could really not have come at a worse time. Or put it another way, it couldn't have come at a better time for certain politicians. Laura Camargo of Podemos was one of the first to put her Panama hat on. The matter will be taken to parliament next week. President Armengol will be asked what measures the Balearic government will be proposing to investigate what quantity of money has "allegedly" been "stolen" from the islands. She needs to be careful what she says, one can't help feeling.
Inevitably, the affair is being linked by Podemos to what Camargo describes as "serious cases of labour exploitation" in the Balearics. It is the accusations of exploitation plus the demonising of the hoteliers, especially the large ones, that make the Panama papers such a Godsend for Podemos. As it also is for David Abril, the most vocal of anti-hotelier Més voices. The large hotel chains should now cease giving lessons and advice in respect of tourism policy, he says. While the hoteliers have been campaigning against the tourist tax, they have been "diverting millions to Panama through phantom companies in order not to pay tax here". Even the town hall in Palma is having its say. Neus Truyol, the Més deputy mayor for ecology, wants the state to investigate cases of alleged tax fraud suggested by the Panama papers.
It might be noted that there are others mentioned in the papers. One of them is King Felipe's aunt, Pilar de Borbón, the sister of the former king, Juan Carlos. And in the case of the royals, her name appearing among the leaks is also less than opportune. One aspect of the ongoing Nóos trial is that Princess Cristina's husband was involved in diverting money to tax havens via the companies that he and ex-business partner, Diego Torres, set up.
The Panama papers will continue to throw up revelations, as potentially damaging as any from Wikileaks. Spain got away relatively lightly with Wikileaks, but now, and regardless of how correct affairs were or may have been, the political atmosphere is different. There are some who will smell blood.
Thursday, April 07, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 April 2016
Morning high (7.53am): 11.8C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 6
Three-day forecast: 8 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 9 April - Sun, 15C; 10 April - Sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 5 to 6 easing North 3 to 4 by the afternoon.
Lighter morning than yesterday. Might be some rain knocking around this evening. In between, sunny spells and the wind down, though still a bit rough at sea.
Evening update (20.00): Reasonably sunny, reasonably warm. High of 18.9C.
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 6
Three-day forecast: 8 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 9 April - Sun, 15C; 10 April - Sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 5 to 6 easing North 3 to 4 by the afternoon.
Lighter morning than yesterday. Might be some rain knocking around this evening. In between, sunny spells and the wind down, though still a bit rough at sea.
Evening update (20.00): Reasonably sunny, reasonably warm. High of 18.9C.
Going By The Clock: Spanish days
They're talking time again. It's one of those topics that possibly only the Spanish can talk about. Time is a national pastime. Rather like the weather is for the British. How strange that it is the same word in Spanish: "tiempo".
Mariano Rajoy, of whom it might be suggested that he is running out of time, has said that if he were to remain premier, then he would change the working day and the basis of time. The day would end at six in the evening (or is it afternoon?), while Spain would revert to the time when it was fully in time with British time (and Portuguese time, oh, and Canary Islands' time).
These discussions crop up frequently; usually when there's been the loss or gaining of an hour - spring forward, fall back. But these are discussions that the man and woman in the street (or more appropriately the bar) would have. Politicians can talk about such things at any time.
Rajoy has previously had it in mind to make changes to time. In 2013, the matter came before Congress, but only now, when Rajoy is merely acting at being a prime minister, has he stated clearly his preference to legislate. If he's still holding out for another crack at an election, does he think this might be a vote-winner? Would a nation be swayed by being told to go home at 6pm or by Greenwich Mean Time? Perhaps it would be. It might be noted that Ciudadanos (C's), would-be usurpers of some of the traditional PP support base, made changing time an electoral pledge. Is this how it works? Time is an issue between right and left? If I had the time to plough through the several hundred items in the Podemos programme, I might be able to verify that it is or it isn't.
Abandoning Central European Time (CET) and aligning the clocks with the British does make geographical sense. Apart from the Balearics and bits of the eastern part of the mainland, Spain lies to the west of the Meridian, as of course do Portugal and the Canaries, the only part of Spain that goes it alone time-wise. But in the time debate, this seems a diversion. What really exercises politicians and those who devote great energies to researching time is the working day. This is linked with CET, but the actual time system may not fundamentally make a great deal of difference. Do people in the Canaries operate according to different daily patterns to other Spaniards? One would very much doubt that they do. Culture is culture, and Spanish time culture is pretty homogenous, regardless of whether the clocks are set according to CET or British Summer Time.
The accepted norm for the Spanish working day is that it starts at 9am takes a break at 2pm, resumes at 4pm and ends at 7pm. But accepted norms are only normal enough. The working day can and does extend to 8pm or 9pm. So it is the lateness of this end plus the two hours off (which can be more) that are under the microscope, as also is a work culture - in certain situations - which demands being seen to be working late, however unproductive this might be.
It is productivity that is really at the heart of the time debate. Hence, why a political party with pro-business ambitions like the C's would embrace a need for time change in order to boost output and work efficiency and effectiveness. Politically, although Congress made no real move on the issue in 2013, a parliamentary commission was to be established, and it was to be guided by the national commission for the rationalisation of hours: yes, there really is such a body. It itself has been influenced by the work of Professor Nuria Chinchilla, probably the foremost expert on the subject. She has been banging the drum for change for years, the result of her being the IESE Business School's director for the centre for work and the family.
Her argumentation is indisputable. If people work late, don't eat until 10pm, watch prime time TV (that doesn't start until 10pm), go to bed at 1am or 2am but still get up and go to work for nine in the morning, then the nation is in a permanent and collective state akin to jetlag. From a productivity perspective this makes no sense.
Of course, not everyone follows such a routine, just as not everyone follows a work pattern which conforms with a norm. Nine to five in the UK or US has long been no more than a guideline. Work is work, and the working day is dependent upon all sorts of factors. As a general principle, however, the Rajoy time change has much merit. But what about the culture? Working days, Greenwich Mean Time can be subject to legislation, but who can legislate for culture?
Mariano Rajoy, of whom it might be suggested that he is running out of time, has said that if he were to remain premier, then he would change the working day and the basis of time. The day would end at six in the evening (or is it afternoon?), while Spain would revert to the time when it was fully in time with British time (and Portuguese time, oh, and Canary Islands' time).
These discussions crop up frequently; usually when there's been the loss or gaining of an hour - spring forward, fall back. But these are discussions that the man and woman in the street (or more appropriately the bar) would have. Politicians can talk about such things at any time.
Rajoy has previously had it in mind to make changes to time. In 2013, the matter came before Congress, but only now, when Rajoy is merely acting at being a prime minister, has he stated clearly his preference to legislate. If he's still holding out for another crack at an election, does he think this might be a vote-winner? Would a nation be swayed by being told to go home at 6pm or by Greenwich Mean Time? Perhaps it would be. It might be noted that Ciudadanos (C's), would-be usurpers of some of the traditional PP support base, made changing time an electoral pledge. Is this how it works? Time is an issue between right and left? If I had the time to plough through the several hundred items in the Podemos programme, I might be able to verify that it is or it isn't.
Abandoning Central European Time (CET) and aligning the clocks with the British does make geographical sense. Apart from the Balearics and bits of the eastern part of the mainland, Spain lies to the west of the Meridian, as of course do Portugal and the Canaries, the only part of Spain that goes it alone time-wise. But in the time debate, this seems a diversion. What really exercises politicians and those who devote great energies to researching time is the working day. This is linked with CET, but the actual time system may not fundamentally make a great deal of difference. Do people in the Canaries operate according to different daily patterns to other Spaniards? One would very much doubt that they do. Culture is culture, and Spanish time culture is pretty homogenous, regardless of whether the clocks are set according to CET or British Summer Time.
The accepted norm for the Spanish working day is that it starts at 9am takes a break at 2pm, resumes at 4pm and ends at 7pm. But accepted norms are only normal enough. The working day can and does extend to 8pm or 9pm. So it is the lateness of this end plus the two hours off (which can be more) that are under the microscope, as also is a work culture - in certain situations - which demands being seen to be working late, however unproductive this might be.
It is productivity that is really at the heart of the time debate. Hence, why a political party with pro-business ambitions like the C's would embrace a need for time change in order to boost output and work efficiency and effectiveness. Politically, although Congress made no real move on the issue in 2013, a parliamentary commission was to be established, and it was to be guided by the national commission for the rationalisation of hours: yes, there really is such a body. It itself has been influenced by the work of Professor Nuria Chinchilla, probably the foremost expert on the subject. She has been banging the drum for change for years, the result of her being the IESE Business School's director for the centre for work and the family.
Her argumentation is indisputable. If people work late, don't eat until 10pm, watch prime time TV (that doesn't start until 10pm), go to bed at 1am or 2am but still get up and go to work for nine in the morning, then the nation is in a permanent and collective state akin to jetlag. From a productivity perspective this makes no sense.
Of course, not everyone follows such a routine, just as not everyone follows a work pattern which conforms with a norm. Nine to five in the UK or US has long been no more than a guideline. Work is work, and the working day is dependent upon all sorts of factors. As a general principle, however, the Rajoy time change has much merit. But what about the culture? Working days, Greenwich Mean Time can be subject to legislation, but who can legislate for culture?
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 April 2016
Morning high (7.40am): 14.3C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 7 April - Cloud, sun, 17C; 8 April - Cloud, sun, 14C; 9 April - Sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 6 to 7. Waves of three metres.
Windy old morning. Alerts out for wind and poor coastal conditions. Should be reasonably sunny later though.
Evening update (20.45): Remained quite windy. Sunny spells. High of 18.2C.
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 7 April - Cloud, sun, 17C; 8 April - Cloud, sun, 14C; 9 April - Sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 6 to 7. Waves of three metres.
Windy old morning. Alerts out for wind and poor coastal conditions. Should be reasonably sunny later though.
Evening update (20.45): Remained quite windy. Sunny spells. High of 18.2C.
In Search Of Balearic Innovation
What does Biel Barceló do with himself? He does have a great deal on his plate. Tourism, the tourist tax and the tax on the tourist tax. That's enough of a job for one politician, you might think, but Biel is also vice-president, which requires him being involved in all manner of things unrelated to his ministerial portfolio. And this portfolio also means innovation and research.
Looking at reported activities since last summer on the government's web page for the vice-president and minister for innovation, research and tourism, one finds comparatively little devoted to the innovation and research components. There are one or two activities where the worlds of his portfolio collide. Take 10 February this year. An agreement signed with the university for a collaboration on touristic innovation. One of its principal ingredients is a project for Big Data aimed at the segmentation of markets for niche tourist products - cultural tourism, health tourism, cycling and so on.
Yet there is nothing which might be described as major when it comes to innovation and research: certainly nothing comparable to the introduction of the tourist tax and to the other tourism dilemmas he is confronting, e.g. the regulation of holiday rentals. Might one conclude, therefore, that Biel has taken on rather more than one minister can handle? One might well do so. But the innovation stuff was a Biel project even before he landed in government last June. This is because it is very much the stuff of left-wing political agendas. Which is not to hint at anything critical. Quite the contrary. But glance at general and/or electoral programmes for Podemos and an often forgotten precursor to Podemos, namely Partido X, and you will find a great deal of prominence given to innovation.
Joy and wealth through innovation. This might be a slogan of the left. Innovation has an egalitarian feel to it. Wealth will be distributed thanks to it. Economies will be diversified because of it. Quite possibly. But much depends on how innovation is defined, what it is and what it actually means, what returns can be made on it. The greatest of returns come from different sources. They emerge from an unfettered spirit of entrepreneurialism, supported by a mentality geared to success and risk-taking as well as by an educational system which provides the knowledgeable raw material. They come also from Big Capitalism, the keepers of vast wealth with access to ever more from investors and debt and equity capital. Typically, they do not come from the state, unless the state is under strict centralised control.
For Barceló, an amalgam of tourism and innovation is a major step on a roadmap (they love roadmaps in current Balearic public administrations) to the Holy Grail of his much spoken-of new economic model. This is a model with a great deal to commend it. If, that is, we knew what it was and what it might look like. This is not a model which has shape, which is stuck together with glue and allowed to set before it is painted. It is a model of the abstract. Intangible, undefined.
For all the talk of a new model and of innovation, it's not as though we haven't been here before. In its rawest sense, innovation demands finance. It isn't simply a thought process. Flesh in an economic manner has to be applied to the bones of creative thinking.
Back in 2005, the amount which the Balearic government (the Matas government) dedicated to innovation and development (or R&D, call it what you like) was 183 million euros. The Antich administration which succeeded it was one that arrived in a flurry of talk about innovation. It was to be a big thing, just like new railways were to be, and we know what happened to those. Yes, there was crisis, and when recession hits there are things which are hurled from the window - research being one of them. But Balearic investment in R&D collapsed to a greater degree than other regions. By 2009, the amount had fallen to 55 million euros. It hasn't recovered. The overall level is now pitiful.
The report from the EAE Business School into R&D investment by Spain's regions makes for grim reading. The Balearics are bumbling along at the bottom of the league table. The principal industries - hospitality and construction - provide vastly lower levels of investment than those of oil, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and IT/telecoms.
The Balearics are caught in an economic vice of industries which, while they can be and are innovative, do not embark on programmes that generate major shifts in terms of economic welfare, returns on investment and wealth distribution. They don't have the need to. They are not those types of industry. So where does Barceló's innovation come from? Where does his economic model come from? Perhaps he can tell us.
Looking at reported activities since last summer on the government's web page for the vice-president and minister for innovation, research and tourism, one finds comparatively little devoted to the innovation and research components. There are one or two activities where the worlds of his portfolio collide. Take 10 February this year. An agreement signed with the university for a collaboration on touristic innovation. One of its principal ingredients is a project for Big Data aimed at the segmentation of markets for niche tourist products - cultural tourism, health tourism, cycling and so on.
Yet there is nothing which might be described as major when it comes to innovation and research: certainly nothing comparable to the introduction of the tourist tax and to the other tourism dilemmas he is confronting, e.g. the regulation of holiday rentals. Might one conclude, therefore, that Biel has taken on rather more than one minister can handle? One might well do so. But the innovation stuff was a Biel project even before he landed in government last June. This is because it is very much the stuff of left-wing political agendas. Which is not to hint at anything critical. Quite the contrary. But glance at general and/or electoral programmes for Podemos and an often forgotten precursor to Podemos, namely Partido X, and you will find a great deal of prominence given to innovation.
Joy and wealth through innovation. This might be a slogan of the left. Innovation has an egalitarian feel to it. Wealth will be distributed thanks to it. Economies will be diversified because of it. Quite possibly. But much depends on how innovation is defined, what it is and what it actually means, what returns can be made on it. The greatest of returns come from different sources. They emerge from an unfettered spirit of entrepreneurialism, supported by a mentality geared to success and risk-taking as well as by an educational system which provides the knowledgeable raw material. They come also from Big Capitalism, the keepers of vast wealth with access to ever more from investors and debt and equity capital. Typically, they do not come from the state, unless the state is under strict centralised control.
For Barceló, an amalgam of tourism and innovation is a major step on a roadmap (they love roadmaps in current Balearic public administrations) to the Holy Grail of his much spoken-of new economic model. This is a model with a great deal to commend it. If, that is, we knew what it was and what it might look like. This is not a model which has shape, which is stuck together with glue and allowed to set before it is painted. It is a model of the abstract. Intangible, undefined.
For all the talk of a new model and of innovation, it's not as though we haven't been here before. In its rawest sense, innovation demands finance. It isn't simply a thought process. Flesh in an economic manner has to be applied to the bones of creative thinking.
Back in 2005, the amount which the Balearic government (the Matas government) dedicated to innovation and development (or R&D, call it what you like) was 183 million euros. The Antich administration which succeeded it was one that arrived in a flurry of talk about innovation. It was to be a big thing, just like new railways were to be, and we know what happened to those. Yes, there was crisis, and when recession hits there are things which are hurled from the window - research being one of them. But Balearic investment in R&D collapsed to a greater degree than other regions. By 2009, the amount had fallen to 55 million euros. It hasn't recovered. The overall level is now pitiful.
The report from the EAE Business School into R&D investment by Spain's regions makes for grim reading. The Balearics are bumbling along at the bottom of the league table. The principal industries - hospitality and construction - provide vastly lower levels of investment than those of oil, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and IT/telecoms.
The Balearics are caught in an economic vice of industries which, while they can be and are innovative, do not embark on programmes that generate major shifts in terms of economic welfare, returns on investment and wealth distribution. They don't have the need to. They are not those types of industry. So where does Barceló's innovation come from? Where does his economic model come from? Perhaps he can tell us.
Tuesday, April 05, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 April 2016
Morning high (7.40am): 15.2C
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 6 April - Cloud, sun, wind, 17C; 7 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 8 April - Cloud, sun, 153C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 4 increasing North 5 to 6 by the afternoon.
Grey morning and a grey day on the cards. Rain likely. The wind getting up from the north later. Rather iffy until Saturday when there should be more settled conditions.
Evening update (20.45): Not great. The sun tried at times and then gave up. Some rain but only light. High of 18.8C.
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 6 April - Cloud, sun, wind, 17C; 7 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 8 April - Cloud, sun, 153C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 4 increasing North 5 to 6 by the afternoon.
Grey morning and a grey day on the cards. Rain likely. The wind getting up from the north later. Rather iffy until Saturday when there should be more settled conditions.
Evening update (20.45): Not great. The sun tried at times and then gave up. Some rain but only light. High of 18.8C.
Quotas, Intrigues And Government Crisis
All governments have their moments of crisis when inner tensions arise. Dismissals, reshuffles, even resignations will occur. They are not in themselves unusual. Within the most rigid and disciplined of governments there are disagreements, spats and also intrigues. The moments of crisis are often self-induced rather than brought about by outside events.
During the periods in office of the two Balearic governments prior to the current one, there were times of upheaval. The "pact" of 2007 to 2011, which comprised PSOE, the PSM Mallorcan socialists and the old Unió Mallorquina (UM), was an amalgam of incompatible convenience. PSOE was the arbiter, caught between two parties which, because of their competing claims on Mallorcan nationalism but from very different ideological perspectives, hated each other. It didn't help PSM humour that the UM nabbed some high-profile ministries - tourism and environment. (Want to know why Més now have these ministries in the current government? There's your answer.)
The crisis that engulfed the pact government wasn't, remarkably enough, because of the inherent conflict. It came about because the UM was consumed by corruption charges. They were to eventually prove too much even for a docile president like Francesc Antich. He booted the UM out, with some sixteen months left of the legislature.
The regime of José Ramón Bauzá had, at its outset, nothing of this in-built tension. One party, the Partido Popular, was governing with a majority. For all this, however, it was a government which spent most of its period of office in a state of crisis. After just a year, the first health minister, Carmen Castro, resigned. Personal reasons, it was said. A few months later her replacement, Antoni Mesquida, also resigned. Personal reasons were initially cited. Then we found out the real reason. Austerity and cutbacks to the health service were too much for this brother of PSOE's Joan, currently in charge of "special projects" in Calvia.
The finance minister, Pep Aguiló, left the following May, sacked because Bauzá needed to sacrifice him. The so-called green taxes, aimed at large retailers and car-hire agencies, threatened to deprive Bauzá of a significant support base in the Balearic business community. The taxes were dropped.
Next to go was Rafael Bosch, the education minister. It was his sacking that was to eventually expose the tensions within the PP. Bosch was not the advocate of trilingual teaching and anti-Catalanism that Bauzá wanted. His departure arguably signalled the eventual end of Bauzá. The remaining two years were 24 months of chaos, fall-outs and recrimination.
Bauzá was quite different to Antich. He was an authoritarian who sought to impose discipline but failed to. Antich was more the diplomat, all the time having to balance the conflicts that he had been party to in forming the pact. The same can now be said for Francina Armengol. But she heads a quite different type of government. One party, Podemos, isn't even part of government. It remains outside, pulling strings, determining policy and sniping at the government when it suits it to do so. However, Podemos is not the reason for the crisis that has broken out in the Armengol administration because of the resignation of culture, transparency and participation minister Esperança Camps.
Nine months into government and its first victim has been claimed. There were rumblings about Camps, her effectiveness, the fact that she wasn't a politician as such when appointed, her continuing to live in Valencia and her apparent lack of knowledge of the "realities" of the Balearics. Some of which begs the question as to why she was appointed in the first place, but it was this appointment which uncovers the divided nature of the Armengol administration. We had thought (and will continue to think) that Podemos is the wrecking crew, but how much thought had we given to Més?
In itself Més is a coalition, but not just of the PSM, the Greens and the one everyone forgets, Entesa. It is a coalition between Mallorca and Menorca. Camps was a Més Menorca appointee. It made her and ultimately it broke her. She faced rebellion because her senior officials simply didn't rate her, but she might have survived had it not been for the intrigues within Més in Menorca.
She was also an appointment based on the unwritten island quota system for ministerial positions. Bauzá hadn't concerned himself so much with this. When Castro, from Ibiza, resigned, she wasn't replaced by someone else from Ibiza. The quota system is far more evident with the Armengol government; just another aspect of coalition, if you like.
Armengol is asking Més to come up with a replacement with "weight" for Camps. It will probably be Més Menorca which makes the nomination. That way all the constituent parts of government are kept sweet, meaning that all the factions and the intriguers are kept happy. It's a recipe for crisis. Don't bank on it not repeating itself.
During the periods in office of the two Balearic governments prior to the current one, there were times of upheaval. The "pact" of 2007 to 2011, which comprised PSOE, the PSM Mallorcan socialists and the old Unió Mallorquina (UM), was an amalgam of incompatible convenience. PSOE was the arbiter, caught between two parties which, because of their competing claims on Mallorcan nationalism but from very different ideological perspectives, hated each other. It didn't help PSM humour that the UM nabbed some high-profile ministries - tourism and environment. (Want to know why Més now have these ministries in the current government? There's your answer.)
The crisis that engulfed the pact government wasn't, remarkably enough, because of the inherent conflict. It came about because the UM was consumed by corruption charges. They were to eventually prove too much even for a docile president like Francesc Antich. He booted the UM out, with some sixteen months left of the legislature.
The regime of José Ramón Bauzá had, at its outset, nothing of this in-built tension. One party, the Partido Popular, was governing with a majority. For all this, however, it was a government which spent most of its period of office in a state of crisis. After just a year, the first health minister, Carmen Castro, resigned. Personal reasons, it was said. A few months later her replacement, Antoni Mesquida, also resigned. Personal reasons were initially cited. Then we found out the real reason. Austerity and cutbacks to the health service were too much for this brother of PSOE's Joan, currently in charge of "special projects" in Calvia.
The finance minister, Pep Aguiló, left the following May, sacked because Bauzá needed to sacrifice him. The so-called green taxes, aimed at large retailers and car-hire agencies, threatened to deprive Bauzá of a significant support base in the Balearic business community. The taxes were dropped.
Next to go was Rafael Bosch, the education minister. It was his sacking that was to eventually expose the tensions within the PP. Bosch was not the advocate of trilingual teaching and anti-Catalanism that Bauzá wanted. His departure arguably signalled the eventual end of Bauzá. The remaining two years were 24 months of chaos, fall-outs and recrimination.
Bauzá was quite different to Antich. He was an authoritarian who sought to impose discipline but failed to. Antich was more the diplomat, all the time having to balance the conflicts that he had been party to in forming the pact. The same can now be said for Francina Armengol. But she heads a quite different type of government. One party, Podemos, isn't even part of government. It remains outside, pulling strings, determining policy and sniping at the government when it suits it to do so. However, Podemos is not the reason for the crisis that has broken out in the Armengol administration because of the resignation of culture, transparency and participation minister Esperança Camps.
Nine months into government and its first victim has been claimed. There were rumblings about Camps, her effectiveness, the fact that she wasn't a politician as such when appointed, her continuing to live in Valencia and her apparent lack of knowledge of the "realities" of the Balearics. Some of which begs the question as to why she was appointed in the first place, but it was this appointment which uncovers the divided nature of the Armengol administration. We had thought (and will continue to think) that Podemos is the wrecking crew, but how much thought had we given to Més?
In itself Més is a coalition, but not just of the PSM, the Greens and the one everyone forgets, Entesa. It is a coalition between Mallorca and Menorca. Camps was a Més Menorca appointee. It made her and ultimately it broke her. She faced rebellion because her senior officials simply didn't rate her, but she might have survived had it not been for the intrigues within Més in Menorca.
She was also an appointment based on the unwritten island quota system for ministerial positions. Bauzá hadn't concerned himself so much with this. When Castro, from Ibiza, resigned, she wasn't replaced by someone else from Ibiza. The quota system is far more evident with the Armengol government; just another aspect of coalition, if you like.
Armengol is asking Més to come up with a replacement with "weight" for Camps. It will probably be Més Menorca which makes the nomination. That way all the constituent parts of government are kept sweet, meaning that all the factions and the intriguers are kept happy. It's a recipe for crisis. Don't bank on it not repeating itself.
Monday, April 04, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 April 2016
Morning high (7.57am): 9.1C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 5 April - Cloud, 18C; 6 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 7 April - Cloud, sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 3 to 4, possible fog patches until midday.
Fairly cloudy start. Not a lot of sun anticipated today. Quite warm though. Tomorrow is looking like a washout.
Evening update (20.00): High of 20.3C. Sunny spells but mostly light cloud. Also quite windy.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 5 April - Cloud, 18C; 6 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 7 April - Cloud, sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 3 to 4, possible fog patches until midday.
Fairly cloudy start. Not a lot of sun anticipated today. Quite warm though. Tomorrow is looking like a washout.
Evening update (20.00): High of 20.3C. Sunny spells but mostly light cloud. Also quite windy.
Paradise Enjoys A Boom
This paradise, as far as foreigners were concerned, only genuinely began to be discovered in the early years of the last century. Those who arrived tended to congregate together. They made the then suburb of El Terreno in Palma one of their main enclaves. It was here that the American writer Gertrude Stein lived for a time. And it was Stein who was to immortalise the Mallorcan paradise in the words she said to Robert Graves: "It's paradise, if you can stand it."
Stein's words still seem curious. What did she really mean? It was as though there was a catch to paradise. Or was there? The words are equivocal: they can be interpreted in different ways. But that was Stein for you.
For the most part, the foreigners who came and who were also writers painted word pictures of this Mediterranean paradise in paradisal terms. There weren't among them the criticisms that George Sand had made. And besides, Sand had come to Mallorca decades before. Her Mallorca was that of the late 1830s, not of the first years of the twentieth century.
The foreign writers came for different reasons. Some wrote guide books, others wrote stories. There were also journalists, introducing Mallorca to a world that was almost totally ignorant of the island. Among them were Americans, writing for an audience that knew very little about Europe let alone an island in the Mediterranean.
These writers and indeed other foreign residents (mainly British, French and also American) began to colonise other parts of Mallorca, and none more so than Puerto Pollensa. Some time in the future I hope to be able to explain quite why there was the foreign community in Puerto Pollensa, as it's a story - as far as I'm aware - that hasn't ever been explained. The painters we know about, but they were typically from Mexico and South America or from Catalonia. Of the British and Americans, we know very little, other than about the famed visitors, such as Agatha Christie, rather than residents.
Spain held a particular fascination for the Americans, and Ernest Hemingway was the clearest example of a writer who explored the culture of the country. In something of the mould of Hemingway was an American journalist who came to Puerto Pollensa in 1932. He would file copy for US publications and he also wrote for "The Daily Palma Post". His name was Theodore Pratt, Ted Pratt.
I have asked around, though getting an answer is, as might be expected, proving difficult. Are there any recollections of Ted Pratt? Where, my curiosity makes me wonder, did he live? It was in a cottage in Puerto Pollensa. That much is for sure. But which one? Maybe it isn't there any more. The cottage, however, is important to the Ted Pratt story. In 1933, the cottage was besieged by angry Mallorcans.
In July of that year, an article appeared in "American Mercury". The author was Ted Pratt. Its title was "Paradise Enjoys A Boom". Pratt was in Mallorca at a time when there was a boom, a tourism boom. The island was discovering tourism in ways that it hadn't previously. New coastal urbanisations were being developed or planned. The British and American residents of Puerto Pollensa were a key market to be added, it was hoped, to a wave of golf tourists for the island's first ever golf course in Puerto Alcudia, which was created in 1934. By that time, Ted Pratt had gone.
Pratt's article was utterly vicious. There were some things he liked and admired, such as the local brandy, mushrooms and handicraft - embroideries in particular. Otherwise, and he had lived in Puerto Pollensa for a year when he wrote the article, he attacked the people, the food, the wine, the mountains: you name it, Ted had it in for it.
He might have thought that no one in Mallorca would read the article. Well, they did. In translation. "Ultima Hora" got hold of it, and there was outrage. Ted Pratt and his wife were forced to leave Puerto Pollensa. They took refuge in Palma but were then "advised" to get off the island. He had chosen to attack paradise, and for that he could not be forgiven.
* Photo of Theodore Pratt some years after he was in Mallorca.
Sunday, April 03, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 April 2016
Morning high (7.25am): 8.1C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 4 April - Cloud, 21C; 5 April - Cloud, 16C; 6 April - Cloud, sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southeast 3 to 4.
Better morning and should be a better day. The forecast for the week isn't that great though.
Evening update (19.15): Pleasant. High of 21.6C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 4 April - Cloud, 21C; 5 April - Cloud, 16C; 6 April - Cloud, sun, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southeast 3 to 4.
Better morning and should be a better day. The forecast for the week isn't that great though.
Evening update (19.15): Pleasant. High of 21.6C.
Silvia Cano's Army
Fred Karno, aka Frederick John Westcott, was the man who invented slapstick comedy. It was he who made the custard pie in the face famous. He lent his name to a phrase - Fred Karno's Army - used to denote a chaotic organisation. Silvia Cano did not invent slapstick. But in other regards, she shares something in common with Fred, not least - the most splendidly fortunate of circumstances - her surname. It sounds just like Fred's moniker.
Silvia, it needs to be pointed out, is not some sort of Mallorcan stand-up. She is a master (sic) of contemporary philosophy and also an expert in the psychosocial aspects of domestic violence. Furthermore, she is an avowed member of the sisterhood. All of which led many to wonder quite why she had launched the type of custard pie in the face that she did. She wasn't having a laugh, one needs to make clear. Her particular custard pie was aimed at a different type of sisterhood (and indeed brotherhood), that to be found within the orders of the Catholic faith. In fact, one might suggest that Silvia was rubbing the pie in the faces of the entire Catholic establishment.
In addition to her various other qualifications, Silvia is the general secretary of PSOE in Mallorca, a kind of right-hand (or left-hand) woman to sweet and friendly Frankie Armengol, president of a chaotic organisation sometimes referred to as the Balearic government. In her gen-sec capacity, Silvia offered her thoughts about local telly. Specifically, she was questioning the continuing live transmission of Sunday mass from Palma Cathedral by the public broadcaster, IB3. "Pornography," suggested Silvia, "also has its public". With this utterance, the pie was launched, swiftly followed by any amount of stuff hitting the fan.
As always, one needs to place her comment in context. She went on to add that no one would think to put sex programmes on public telly. What she most certainly was not suggesting was that mass should be replaced by some dodgy video with porn actresses dressed as nuns enjoying pleasures of the flesh with a group of midgets. But the context didn't matter. It was the porn reference which did.
There was something of the John Lennon Beatles are more famous than Jesus moment about all this. Lennon was of course totally misrepresented. As has been the case with Silvia. Misrepresentation or not, critics rounded on her. How, for instance, could a fully paid-up member of the sisterhood even think to mention porn? This was one line of attack. Had she said football instead it wouldn't have been half as bad. But no, it was porn. And so not long after she had offered her thoughts, Change.org was in full petitioning mode. It was being demanded that she retract her comments and issue an apology for having compared the Eucharist to YouPorn (or some such).
Silvia has thus far refused to apologise, maintaining that it's all down to interpretations made by others. Which is true, but unfortunately such interpretations do get made, even if they are out of context, while it was also unfortunate that the timing of the row should coincide with the Fred Karno-style chaotic organisation as displayed by the departure of someone else from the ranks of the sisterhood: the government's Esperança Camps discovered that all hope had run out and she resigned.
Silvia, it needs to be pointed out, is not some sort of Mallorcan stand-up. She is a master (sic) of contemporary philosophy and also an expert in the psychosocial aspects of domestic violence. Furthermore, she is an avowed member of the sisterhood. All of which led many to wonder quite why she had launched the type of custard pie in the face that she did. She wasn't having a laugh, one needs to make clear. Her particular custard pie was aimed at a different type of sisterhood (and indeed brotherhood), that to be found within the orders of the Catholic faith. In fact, one might suggest that Silvia was rubbing the pie in the faces of the entire Catholic establishment.
In addition to her various other qualifications, Silvia is the general secretary of PSOE in Mallorca, a kind of right-hand (or left-hand) woman to sweet and friendly Frankie Armengol, president of a chaotic organisation sometimes referred to as the Balearic government. In her gen-sec capacity, Silvia offered her thoughts about local telly. Specifically, she was questioning the continuing live transmission of Sunday mass from Palma Cathedral by the public broadcaster, IB3. "Pornography," suggested Silvia, "also has its public". With this utterance, the pie was launched, swiftly followed by any amount of stuff hitting the fan.
As always, one needs to place her comment in context. She went on to add that no one would think to put sex programmes on public telly. What she most certainly was not suggesting was that mass should be replaced by some dodgy video with porn actresses dressed as nuns enjoying pleasures of the flesh with a group of midgets. But the context didn't matter. It was the porn reference which did.
There was something of the John Lennon Beatles are more famous than Jesus moment about all this. Lennon was of course totally misrepresented. As has been the case with Silvia. Misrepresentation or not, critics rounded on her. How, for instance, could a fully paid-up member of the sisterhood even think to mention porn? This was one line of attack. Had she said football instead it wouldn't have been half as bad. But no, it was porn. And so not long after she had offered her thoughts, Change.org was in full petitioning mode. It was being demanded that she retract her comments and issue an apology for having compared the Eucharist to YouPorn (or some such).
Silvia has thus far refused to apologise, maintaining that it's all down to interpretations made by others. Which is true, but unfortunately such interpretations do get made, even if they are out of context, while it was also unfortunate that the timing of the row should coincide with the Fred Karno-style chaotic organisation as displayed by the departure of someone else from the ranks of the sisterhood: the government's Esperança Camps discovered that all hope had run out and she resigned.
Saturday, April 02, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 April 2016
Morning high (8.13am): 11.6C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 3 April - Sun, cloud, 21C; 4 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 5 April - Rain, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
Grey start but should improve during the morning. Tomorrow expected to be quite warm as the breezes switch southerly.
Evening update (20.45): Picked up eventually. High of 17.7C.
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 3 April - Sun, cloud, 21C; 4 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 5 April - Rain, 15C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
Grey start but should improve during the morning. Tomorrow expected to be quite warm as the breezes switch southerly.
Evening update (20.45): Picked up eventually. High of 17.7C.
The Follies Of Youth: Tourist tax
You need to be careful that things don't come back and bite you. In a multimedia era, even one at the end of the last century, there may be something lurking which can cause embarrassment. Ask Inma Benito, the president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation and one of the principal opponents of the tourist tax.
A clip was hauled out from the film archives of Spanish television earlier this week. The year was 1998. It featured a researcher from the University of the Balearic Islands: Inma Benito. She was involved with tourism courses in Menorca at the time and in the clip she says that it would be positive if a tourist tax were to be introduced. There was a market disposed to paying a tax. The price had to be reasonable, but the market would be willing to pay it. Indeed, a market that was not well disposed towards a tourist tax would not be interesting for the Balearics.
Oh, the follies of youth. Benito has laughed it all off. After twenty years in the hotel and tourism sector one sees things differently. She hadn't remembered saying it. There again, she hadn't had any opportunity to study a tax.
Well, it was twenty years ago (or eighteen to be exact) and opinions can and do change, especially when you have been a career administrator with the hoteliers federation for as long as Inma has been. But there was one aspect of what she said which did rather touch a nerve: it was the thing about not being interested in a market that was not disposed to paying a tax. The unspoken message here was one that was widely discussed at the time and was to be a backdrop to the introduction of the old eco-tax: the "quality" of the tourist.
The insinuation of what this meant was not to be lost on the German market in particular, especially when Maria Munar was championing greater quality among the tourist class. And associated with this was the whole issue of tourism numbers. It is remarkable how things just keep coming around. In parliament on Thursday the issue was raised once again. Does the government wish to place a ceiling on the number of tourists? Biel Barceló has suggested that it does, while on another occasion having said that it would not be feasible to do so.
Benito's pro-tax declaration was not the only interesting aspect of this trip down television lane. There was also Francesc Antich (PSOE), to become president in 1999, referring to the need for a tax in order to change the model of growth. For that, one can read Biel Barceló's present-day change of economic model.
The narrative hasn't changed, only certain people's opinions. Inma is often photographed laughing.
A clip was hauled out from the film archives of Spanish television earlier this week. The year was 1998. It featured a researcher from the University of the Balearic Islands: Inma Benito. She was involved with tourism courses in Menorca at the time and in the clip she says that it would be positive if a tourist tax were to be introduced. There was a market disposed to paying a tax. The price had to be reasonable, but the market would be willing to pay it. Indeed, a market that was not well disposed towards a tourist tax would not be interesting for the Balearics.
Oh, the follies of youth. Benito has laughed it all off. After twenty years in the hotel and tourism sector one sees things differently. She hadn't remembered saying it. There again, she hadn't had any opportunity to study a tax.
Well, it was twenty years ago (or eighteen to be exact) and opinions can and do change, especially when you have been a career administrator with the hoteliers federation for as long as Inma has been. But there was one aspect of what she said which did rather touch a nerve: it was the thing about not being interested in a market that was not disposed to paying a tax. The unspoken message here was one that was widely discussed at the time and was to be a backdrop to the introduction of the old eco-tax: the "quality" of the tourist.
The insinuation of what this meant was not to be lost on the German market in particular, especially when Maria Munar was championing greater quality among the tourist class. And associated with this was the whole issue of tourism numbers. It is remarkable how things just keep coming around. In parliament on Thursday the issue was raised once again. Does the government wish to place a ceiling on the number of tourists? Biel Barceló has suggested that it does, while on another occasion having said that it would not be feasible to do so.
Benito's pro-tax declaration was not the only interesting aspect of this trip down television lane. There was also Francesc Antich (PSOE), to become president in 1999, referring to the need for a tax in order to change the model of growth. For that, one can read Biel Barceló's present-day change of economic model.
The narrative hasn't changed, only certain people's opinions. Inma is often photographed laughing.
Friday, April 01, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 April 2016
Morning high (7.17am): 12.2C
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 2 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 3 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 4 April - Cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6.
Cloudy and there has been a spot of rain. Mostly overcast today with the prospect of showers. Quite windy as well. Better over the weekend.
Evening update (23.15): More than just showers. Persistent rain, especially this evening and quite heavy in parts. A high of 13.4C this morning around 10am and the temperature went down after this.
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 2 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 3 April - Cloud, sun, 18C; 4 April - Cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6.
Cloudy and there has been a spot of rain. Mostly overcast today with the prospect of showers. Quite windy as well. Better over the weekend.
Evening update (23.15): More than just showers. Persistent rain, especially this evening and quite heavy in parts. A high of 13.4C this morning around 10am and the temperature went down after this.
The Problem With The Balearic Young
Some years ago, a parent (English, married to a Mallorcan) told me that if she had a choice the family would move to Palma from Puerto Pollensa. Her concern was with her son's education. The city, Palma, was serious in a way that Puerto Pollensa was not. The education to be received there might have been good enough. But where was that education leading? The local kids, she explained, observed how things were in Puerto Pollensa: the summers of beach and having a good time. The summer had a hold. Education wasn't so important. Why worry too much with it when summers would mean bar and other seasonal jobs which would fund the fun of summer. Education was caught in a vice of summertime ethos.
These were remarks made pre-crisis. One positive aspect of crisis was that it addressed the lamentably high school dropout rate among Balearic sixteen-year-olds. Puerto Pollensa was not the only place to be affected by the abrupt disruption of that easy life of summertime. Staying on at school became more attractive. But despite this, the Balearics still lag well behind the rest of Spain in this regard - ten percentage points behind a national average of 95% of 16-year-olds who stay on at school. The actual school failure rate also shows a ten per cent difference: 32% as opposed to a national 22.
The problems with an underperforming state education system in the Balearics are well known and have been much discussed. While fingers might be pointed in the direction of politicians and teachers (their organisations more than individuals) and more crucially the system itself, none can be held wholly to account. There appears to be a more deep-seated malaise - a social one that is linked inextricably to the nature of the job market.
The Gadeso research foundation has reported this week that 21.4% of those aged between 20 and 24 fall into the category of the "ni-ni", someone who neither works nor studies. In comparative terms, the Balearics are not as bad in this regard as with school performance: the national rate is 20.6%. They presumably find their way into the unemployment statistics. The Labour Force Survey for the final quarter of 2015 placed this at just under 45% for this age group. The rate is very much worse for the 16 to 19 group below it: getting on for 75%.
Seasonality obviously influences fourth quarter figures, but it is this - seasonality - which explains so much. It isn't only the young who are affected in a harmful fashion, but they are harmed more than most.
Crisis put the opportunities of the young into sharp relief and most certainly not only in the Balearics and Spain. But it gave rise to some extraordinary disruption. Away from the Balearics there was the case of the town of Benalup in Andalusia, a community all but destroyed when the construction industry collapsed and took with it great numbers of young people who had left school to work in the industry, had been earning very good money, bought properties with cheap mortgages, only for it all to suddenly and devastatingly go Benalup.
To address the problem of unemployment among the young there, training courses were introduced. As with Mallorca, these training courses have provided a glut of people with qualifications as, for example, web and graphic designers. An economy cannot, however, survive on design. How many designers does any one economy actually need?
Of ministers in the current Balearic government, there is one who seems to be doing his work diligently. He is the employment (and trade) minister, Iago Negueruela. His is arguably the most difficult of the portfolios of government. He is variously charged with tackling job-market seasonality, working conditions and contracts, diversification of the economy and of course unemployment full stop. But his is not work that is in isolation. It is tied in with Biel Barceló's tourism (and innovation and development) ministry and Marti March's education ministry. At more distance, but also important, is Vicenç Vidal's agriculture portfolio. Why this? There is a serious deficiency in the number of young people in the agriculture sector.
Farming, though, is no more a game-changing panacea for youth unemployment woes than is Barceló's desire for innovation. Nor is the youth guarantee work scheme for which Negueruela is responsible. The take-up is nothing like he would hope that it would be. Nor, might it be said, will be government coercion - aimed principally at the hoteliers - to introduce higher-paid and full contracts. Even a left-wing regime can interfere or intervene only so much in the workings of the market.
One wonders, though, how much of an improvement the government can make. Is it the case that there is an attitudinal problem, as the parent from Puerto Pollensa suggested? Is this the nature of the beast? If so, it is a beast that Mallorca has bred.
These were remarks made pre-crisis. One positive aspect of crisis was that it addressed the lamentably high school dropout rate among Balearic sixteen-year-olds. Puerto Pollensa was not the only place to be affected by the abrupt disruption of that easy life of summertime. Staying on at school became more attractive. But despite this, the Balearics still lag well behind the rest of Spain in this regard - ten percentage points behind a national average of 95% of 16-year-olds who stay on at school. The actual school failure rate also shows a ten per cent difference: 32% as opposed to a national 22.
The problems with an underperforming state education system in the Balearics are well known and have been much discussed. While fingers might be pointed in the direction of politicians and teachers (their organisations more than individuals) and more crucially the system itself, none can be held wholly to account. There appears to be a more deep-seated malaise - a social one that is linked inextricably to the nature of the job market.
The Gadeso research foundation has reported this week that 21.4% of those aged between 20 and 24 fall into the category of the "ni-ni", someone who neither works nor studies. In comparative terms, the Balearics are not as bad in this regard as with school performance: the national rate is 20.6%. They presumably find their way into the unemployment statistics. The Labour Force Survey for the final quarter of 2015 placed this at just under 45% for this age group. The rate is very much worse for the 16 to 19 group below it: getting on for 75%.
Seasonality obviously influences fourth quarter figures, but it is this - seasonality - which explains so much. It isn't only the young who are affected in a harmful fashion, but they are harmed more than most.
Crisis put the opportunities of the young into sharp relief and most certainly not only in the Balearics and Spain. But it gave rise to some extraordinary disruption. Away from the Balearics there was the case of the town of Benalup in Andalusia, a community all but destroyed when the construction industry collapsed and took with it great numbers of young people who had left school to work in the industry, had been earning very good money, bought properties with cheap mortgages, only for it all to suddenly and devastatingly go Benalup.
To address the problem of unemployment among the young there, training courses were introduced. As with Mallorca, these training courses have provided a glut of people with qualifications as, for example, web and graphic designers. An economy cannot, however, survive on design. How many designers does any one economy actually need?
Of ministers in the current Balearic government, there is one who seems to be doing his work diligently. He is the employment (and trade) minister, Iago Negueruela. His is arguably the most difficult of the portfolios of government. He is variously charged with tackling job-market seasonality, working conditions and contracts, diversification of the economy and of course unemployment full stop. But his is not work that is in isolation. It is tied in with Biel Barceló's tourism (and innovation and development) ministry and Marti March's education ministry. At more distance, but also important, is Vicenç Vidal's agriculture portfolio. Why this? There is a serious deficiency in the number of young people in the agriculture sector.
Farming, though, is no more a game-changing panacea for youth unemployment woes than is Barceló's desire for innovation. Nor is the youth guarantee work scheme for which Negueruela is responsible. The take-up is nothing like he would hope that it would be. Nor, might it be said, will be government coercion - aimed principally at the hoteliers - to introduce higher-paid and full contracts. Even a left-wing regime can interfere or intervene only so much in the workings of the market.
One wonders, though, how much of an improvement the government can make. Is it the case that there is an attitudinal problem, as the parent from Puerto Pollensa suggested? Is this the nature of the beast? If so, it is a beast that Mallorca has bred.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 31 March 2016
Morning high (7.50am): 21.8C
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 1 April - Rain, 16C; 2 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 3 April - Cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 5 occasionally 6 veering West-Northwest 3 to 5 around midday.
Somewhat cloudy start and very warm. Bright later, but cloud returning as tomorrow's forecast has deteriorated again; it is due to be wet.
Evening update (20.45): High of 26.3C. Rain on its way. Let's hope it's not dirty rain. Sahara having been hovering over us, it might be.
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 1 April - Rain, 16C; 2 April - Cloud, sun, 15C; 3 April - Cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 5 occasionally 6 veering West-Northwest 3 to 5 around midday.
Somewhat cloudy start and very warm. Bright later, but cloud returning as tomorrow's forecast has deteriorated again; it is due to be wet.
Evening update (20.45): High of 26.3C. Rain on its way. Let's hope it's not dirty rain. Sahara having been hovering over us, it might be.
Corruption, But It's Our Corruption
The foreign (British) media is all over Mallorca like a rash again. For once this isn't a rash of acute misbehaviour with a dash of herpes and its transmission embedded for all time on social networks. This is a good rash, if there can be such a thing. One that's oozing and gushing eruptions of stardom - Mallorca is the star - rather than the evacuations of the sensationalist superficiality of poisoned skin. Mallorca is the star because the media (some of it) affirms this. Or at least La Fortaleza, an ice-cream in Soller and a restaurant in Deya have attained stardom. It is fortunate that editing should choose to identify locations with subtitles, albeit generically (Mallorca as opposed to, say, Formentor). Useful also that Roper should say that he will soon be back in Mallorca sipping thirty-year-old Scotch. (Not so, Mr. Roper.) His palace will return to the abnormal normality of vast wealth out of the reach of the regular hoi polloi, save for the four days a year when it can be admitted to admire the lawns but not take photos. A star indeed and almost as distant as stars (heavenly ones, rather than those on film).
While Mallorca's star is waxing, there is always someone seeking its waning. From the same media collective comes the stare of an iris and the pressing of keys of a Jonathan Pine spoiler style. Is this coincidental or a determined counterpoint to the love blossoming courtesy of "The Night Manager"? The BBC (James Badcock) has alerted its website readers to the "corruption clean-up" in Majorca (and it is interesting to note that the BBC maintains the J Majorca)*.
Reading this, I felt vaguely defensive. I also took issue. Since when has Majorca had a deputy mayor? Jesus Jurado (Podemos) is a vice-president of the Council of Mallorca. That's that cleared up. Then there are Cristina and Iñaki not daring to use the Marivent as their base during the trial. For the record, the palace is used twice a year. More importantly, Cristina is not entitled to use it anyway. When the old king abdicated, she ceased to be a member of the Royal Family: nothing to do with the trial, just the way that royal protocol would have it - her sister also lost her status. Moreover, does anyone seriously think that the King and the Royal Household would have allowed her and Iñaki anywhere near the Marivent when the foreign media (not only British) is all over the trial like a separate rash?
The defensiveness arose because this was primarily, as the "corruption clean-up" headline words suggested, about Mallorca's corruption cases. It's not that there's an issue with foreign media rummaging around in the island's soiled linen. Just a question - why now? Why now list the roll of dishonour stretching as long and as far back as the Soller Tunnel and coming more up to date with Matas and Iñaki? Was there anyone in the world unaware that the King's sister had briefly appeared before the Palma beakery?
So, the article tells us that a couple of dozen Partido Popular and Unió Mallorquina members are either in or have been in the slammer for corruption. And the point is? It's nothing new. Indeed, so old is it that the Matas investigations date back to late 2007 (earlier, if one accepts that "caso Andratx" in 2006 was the trigger for the whole domino effect that eventually knocked over Matas). Judge Castro first took a keen interest in Nóos and Iñaki as long ago as 2010.
It needs to be pointed out that nothing new or significant of a corrupt nature has emerged in Mallorca in the recent past. With one potentially major exception, which the article ignored. There could well yet be politicians named and embroiled in the police corruption affair. Otherwise, the likely candidates for filling the courtrooms in the future are linked to the ongoing investigations surrounding Sr. Matas. The PP HQ funding and Son Espases (which might even prove to the daddy of them all) were both Matas family affairs.
The "clean-up" referred to seems to be one driven by the deputy mayor of Majorca (sic) and colleagues in Podemos. That was an implication drawn from the article. While there's no denying the Podemos zeal in this regard, it is convenient to overlook what happened under Bauzá. He should be given some credit for having sought to change the PP and its ethos, even if it wasn't entirely successful. (There are one or two still knocking around; no names mentioned.)
The clean-up is underway and was so under Bauzá. It will move forward with the creation of the Anti-Corruption Office - so long as this doesn't become a dobbers' charter. The past we know about. Yes, it exists in the present of the trials, but it's our corruption. It's being dealt with.
*http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35864527
Index for March 2016
Blai Bonet - 28 March 2016
Brexit and attitudes towards expats - 3 March 2016
Camping San Pedro - 23 March 2016
Car parking and beaches - 30 March 2016
Corruption - 31 March 2016
Education pact - 10 March 2016
Esperança Camps - 27 March 2016
Fijo discontinuo - 15 March 2016
Germans, tourist tax and sewage - 11 March 2016
Holiday rentals - 5 March 2016, 12 March 2016
Investiture debate - 4 March 2016, 6 March 2016
Josep Truyol Otero, film pioneer - 21 March 2016
Mallorca tourism model - 24 March 2016
Medical faculty in Mallorca - 2 March 2016
Miquel Ensenyat and German right-wing - 20 March 2016
Puerto Pollensa pedestrianisation - 26 March 2016
Renewable energy in Mallorca - 16 March 2016
Royal texts - 13 March 2016
Senior officials' appointments - 1 March 2016
Slingshot - 14 March 2016
Spain's government - 8 March 2016
Tourism statistics - 22 March 2016
Tourist tax - 9 March 2016, 19 March 2016, 25 March 2016, 29 March 2016
Tramuntana mountains' marketing - 17 March 2016, 18 March 2016
Woolworth in Palma - 7 March 2016
While Mallorca's star is waxing, there is always someone seeking its waning. From the same media collective comes the stare of an iris and the pressing of keys of a Jonathan Pine spoiler style. Is this coincidental or a determined counterpoint to the love blossoming courtesy of "The Night Manager"? The BBC (James Badcock) has alerted its website readers to the "corruption clean-up" in Majorca (and it is interesting to note that the BBC maintains the J Majorca)*.
Reading this, I felt vaguely defensive. I also took issue. Since when has Majorca had a deputy mayor? Jesus Jurado (Podemos) is a vice-president of the Council of Mallorca. That's that cleared up. Then there are Cristina and Iñaki not daring to use the Marivent as their base during the trial. For the record, the palace is used twice a year. More importantly, Cristina is not entitled to use it anyway. When the old king abdicated, she ceased to be a member of the Royal Family: nothing to do with the trial, just the way that royal protocol would have it - her sister also lost her status. Moreover, does anyone seriously think that the King and the Royal Household would have allowed her and Iñaki anywhere near the Marivent when the foreign media (not only British) is all over the trial like a separate rash?
The defensiveness arose because this was primarily, as the "corruption clean-up" headline words suggested, about Mallorca's corruption cases. It's not that there's an issue with foreign media rummaging around in the island's soiled linen. Just a question - why now? Why now list the roll of dishonour stretching as long and as far back as the Soller Tunnel and coming more up to date with Matas and Iñaki? Was there anyone in the world unaware that the King's sister had briefly appeared before the Palma beakery?
So, the article tells us that a couple of dozen Partido Popular and Unió Mallorquina members are either in or have been in the slammer for corruption. And the point is? It's nothing new. Indeed, so old is it that the Matas investigations date back to late 2007 (earlier, if one accepts that "caso Andratx" in 2006 was the trigger for the whole domino effect that eventually knocked over Matas). Judge Castro first took a keen interest in Nóos and Iñaki as long ago as 2010.
It needs to be pointed out that nothing new or significant of a corrupt nature has emerged in Mallorca in the recent past. With one potentially major exception, which the article ignored. There could well yet be politicians named and embroiled in the police corruption affair. Otherwise, the likely candidates for filling the courtrooms in the future are linked to the ongoing investigations surrounding Sr. Matas. The PP HQ funding and Son Espases (which might even prove to the daddy of them all) were both Matas family affairs.
The "clean-up" referred to seems to be one driven by the deputy mayor of Majorca (sic) and colleagues in Podemos. That was an implication drawn from the article. While there's no denying the Podemos zeal in this regard, it is convenient to overlook what happened under Bauzá. He should be given some credit for having sought to change the PP and its ethos, even if it wasn't entirely successful. (There are one or two still knocking around; no names mentioned.)
The clean-up is underway and was so under Bauzá. It will move forward with the creation of the Anti-Corruption Office - so long as this doesn't become a dobbers' charter. The past we know about. Yes, it exists in the present of the trials, but it's our corruption. It's being dealt with.
*http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35864527
Index for March 2016
Blai Bonet - 28 March 2016
Brexit and attitudes towards expats - 3 March 2016
Camping San Pedro - 23 March 2016
Car parking and beaches - 30 March 2016
Corruption - 31 March 2016
Education pact - 10 March 2016
Esperança Camps - 27 March 2016
Fijo discontinuo - 15 March 2016
Germans, tourist tax and sewage - 11 March 2016
Holiday rentals - 5 March 2016, 12 March 2016
Investiture debate - 4 March 2016, 6 March 2016
Josep Truyol Otero, film pioneer - 21 March 2016
Mallorca tourism model - 24 March 2016
Medical faculty in Mallorca - 2 March 2016
Miquel Ensenyat and German right-wing - 20 March 2016
Puerto Pollensa pedestrianisation - 26 March 2016
Renewable energy in Mallorca - 16 March 2016
Royal texts - 13 March 2016
Senior officials' appointments - 1 March 2016
Slingshot - 14 March 2016
Spain's government - 8 March 2016
Tourism statistics - 22 March 2016
Tourist tax - 9 March 2016, 19 March 2016, 25 March 2016, 29 March 2016
Tramuntana mountains' marketing - 17 March 2016, 18 March 2016
Woolworth in Palma - 7 March 2016
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