Morning high (7.05am): 22.2C
Forecast high: 33C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 12 July - Sun, 29C; 13 July - Sun, cloud, 26C; 14 July - Cloud, sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East-Southeast 3, locally 4 by the evening.
It's due to be a bit of a whopper today temperature-wise. An advice out for high temperatures again, meaning that 35 or higher is on the cards. Cooler tomorrow, all things being relative.
Evening update (20.00): High - Sa Pobla - of 36.6C.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Keeping Pollensa Clean: It's never easy
Another spot of bother in Pollensa. This time it's not one involving tourists (and residents) getting agitated about - choose as applicable - ice-cream kiosks, beach services, poor quality semi-pedestrianisation work or semi-pedestrianisation work, period. It's all to do with the municipal services agency, Emser, a body that is not unfamiliar with the occasional controversy.
A year or so ago the Balearic High Court ruled that the existing contract for Emser's cleaning service should be annulled. It was (may still be) with a joint venture organisation consisting of three firms. An appeal against this contract had been launched by two other companies, both of them rather better known than the three with the contract - Melchor Mascaró and FCC.
The contract had been in place for some five years by then, its announcement made with a bit of a fanfare and vehicles parked in Pollensa's Plaça Major with accompanying dignitaries, such as the then mayor, Joan Cerdà, and a selection of workers. Challenges to contracts do, it has to be said, take their time, and the court's decision came at an awkward moment for the town hall: the new administration was only just being put together following the May municipal election.
There was further awkwardness. The town hall couldn't just stop the service, as there would obviously have been no street cleaning. A new contracting procedure needed to be undertaken. Whether it has been, I'm unclear.
Soon after the court's ruling, Pollensa favourite awkward squad - the Alternativa per Pollença - was having a go at the Emser management over alleged "malpractice" in hiring of staff. This had arisen, the Alternativa suggested, because the previous town hall administration under Tomeu Cifre (when he was still with the Partido Popular) was "not a great lover" of transparency when it came to things like managing public services.
The latest problem has to do with Emser's fleet of vehicles, which include the rubbish-collection trucks. Worker representatives at Emser have denounced the company to the employment ministry's inspectorate and to the social security. This is because, they say, the ITV (MOT) of "many of the vehicles" has expired. It's probably as well that these vehicles aren't travelling along certain stretches of motorway where there are hidden cameras which check on expired MOTs therefore.
Furthermore, Emser is said to be paying less than diligent attention to hygiene standards and labour rules regarding overtime. The worker representatives say that they will withdraw their "denuncias" if the town hall sorts things out quickly. The Alternativa, never slow off the mark in demanding transparency, has called for a company which is "efficient, democratic and transparent": the Alternativa is none too impressed by the level of transparency being displayed by the left-dominated administration of Junts Avançam.
Well, maybe there will be some solution. The councillor for Emser matters is Andres Nevado, the very same delegate for Puerto Pollensa who has found himself in the eye of the various storms to break out over the Moll. He was recently in Germany looking at new trucks for the rubbish-collection service. At least those would be ok with their MOTs, one would think, though their purchase will doubtless raise some further issue of transparency. Which is not to suggest for one moment that there would be anything wrong; only to suggest that the Alternativa is bound to find some reason to question the transparency.
That's Pollensa; that's how they do it. Never in a straightforward manner.
A year or so ago the Balearic High Court ruled that the existing contract for Emser's cleaning service should be annulled. It was (may still be) with a joint venture organisation consisting of three firms. An appeal against this contract had been launched by two other companies, both of them rather better known than the three with the contract - Melchor Mascaró and FCC.
The contract had been in place for some five years by then, its announcement made with a bit of a fanfare and vehicles parked in Pollensa's Plaça Major with accompanying dignitaries, such as the then mayor, Joan Cerdà, and a selection of workers. Challenges to contracts do, it has to be said, take their time, and the court's decision came at an awkward moment for the town hall: the new administration was only just being put together following the May municipal election.
There was further awkwardness. The town hall couldn't just stop the service, as there would obviously have been no street cleaning. A new contracting procedure needed to be undertaken. Whether it has been, I'm unclear.
Soon after the court's ruling, Pollensa favourite awkward squad - the Alternativa per Pollença - was having a go at the Emser management over alleged "malpractice" in hiring of staff. This had arisen, the Alternativa suggested, because the previous town hall administration under Tomeu Cifre (when he was still with the Partido Popular) was "not a great lover" of transparency when it came to things like managing public services.
The latest problem has to do with Emser's fleet of vehicles, which include the rubbish-collection trucks. Worker representatives at Emser have denounced the company to the employment ministry's inspectorate and to the social security. This is because, they say, the ITV (MOT) of "many of the vehicles" has expired. It's probably as well that these vehicles aren't travelling along certain stretches of motorway where there are hidden cameras which check on expired MOTs therefore.
Furthermore, Emser is said to be paying less than diligent attention to hygiene standards and labour rules regarding overtime. The worker representatives say that they will withdraw their "denuncias" if the town hall sorts things out quickly. The Alternativa, never slow off the mark in demanding transparency, has called for a company which is "efficient, democratic and transparent": the Alternativa is none too impressed by the level of transparency being displayed by the left-dominated administration of Junts Avançam.
Well, maybe there will be some solution. The councillor for Emser matters is Andres Nevado, the very same delegate for Puerto Pollensa who has found himself in the eye of the various storms to break out over the Moll. He was recently in Germany looking at new trucks for the rubbish-collection service. At least those would be ok with their MOTs, one would think, though their purchase will doubtless raise some further issue of transparency. Which is not to suggest for one moment that there would be anything wrong; only to suggest that the Alternativa is bound to find some reason to question the transparency.
That's Pollensa; that's how they do it. Never in a straightforward manner.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 July 2016
Morning high (6.55am): 22.3C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 11 July - Sun, 33C; 12 July - Sun, 28C; 13 July - Sun, cloud, 25C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3 locally 4 during the afternoon.
A hotter day on the cards today, and quite possibly hotter still tomorrow. Cooling down a bit from Tuesday, the forecast suggests.
Evening update (21.30): High of 35.3C.
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 11 July - Sun, 33C; 12 July - Sun, 28C; 13 July - Sun, cloud, 25C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3 locally 4 during the afternoon.
A hotter day on the cards today, and quite possibly hotter still tomorrow. Cooling down a bit from Tuesday, the forecast suggests.
Evening update (21.30): High of 35.3C.
The Forgetfulness Of Clubs' Finances
Clubs are suddenly very much in fashion - news fashion, that is. The police and the tax agency have made them so. One of them is Amnesia, the Ibiza club that regularly features among awards for the best club in the world and which has been with us since the start of the 1970s. Amnesia, more than any other club, gave Ibiza its club reputation. It now looks as if it might acquire a different reputation.
Over recent days, the club and other property belonging to its owner, Martin Ferrer, have been raided by the Guardia Civil. The operation was ordered through a combination of an investigating judge in Ibiza, the tax agency and the Guardia Civil's central operations unit. The judge has since issued an order to "block" a total of sixteen properties belonging to Ferrer, meaning that they cannot be sold or their assets transferred. The scope of the operation is such that it involves property as far away as Leon on the mainland, where Ferrer has a house in Crémenes and various others.
The raid on Amnesia, which was over two days, extended to the opening of bank safe deposits. At least two million euros have been found. Ferrer was arrested but has been released, much to the perplexity of the prosecution service which had called for his precautionary detention and that of others. Nevertheless, the Guardia's criminal police and the tax agency believe they have the documentation they need and so it will not be altered or somehow disappear. Tax fraud and money laundering are the main charges that prosecutors are levelling.
The nature of the operation is such that Guardia detectives were moved in from Mallorca. Virtually no officers in Ibiza have been involved. At the room they have occupied at the Ibiza headquarters, the first thing that was done was to change the lock. A preliminary estimation by the tax agency of the level of alleged fraud is nearly five million euros. This figure relates to only two years - 2012 and 2013 - and this particular investigation was sparked by an anonymous tip-off directed principally against the former chief financial officer of Amnesia and related companies, Josep Aymar, with Ferrer also implicated.
The case has been several months in the unfolding. The prosecution service, on receipt of a report from the tax agency, lodged it was the court back in October. There had been a period of investigation prior to this, with the anonymous information and the facts it offered having been scrutinised.
The operation against Amnesia is not an isolated one. In fact it falls under a massive nationwide action. Dubbed "Operation Chopin", a total of 87 clubs were raided across Spain when officers from the Guardia, the National Police and the Mossos in Catalonia moved in early on Saturday morning at times when the clubs were closing: in the case of Amnesia, it typically closes at 7am. Among these clubs were other well-known ones in Ibiza - Space and Privilege - as well as BCM in Magalluf. Chopin is thus a major operation against potential tax fraud that embraces much of the elite of Balearic and Spanish nightlife.
The scale is enormous, the coordination of the action impressive. There were four clubs in the Balearics that were raided, but elsewhere there were as many as twenty (in Valencia), sixteen in both Catalonia and Galicia and ten in Andalusia. Together these clubs represent some twenty per cent of the entire turnover of Spain's nightlife sector. But what actually is the turnover? That's something for investigators to identify. Approximately 75% of revenue is cash.
As to Ferrer, it is not the first time that he has been the focus of an investigation. There was one in 2011 related to VAT returns five years previously. His involvement with Aymar is said to have been financially disadvantageous to him in that there were poor investment decisions, such as the Amnesia Barcelona project. An allegation is that the debt and interest that needed to be paid for that resulted in the diversion of funds in order to service the repayments; this represented, therefore, a loss for the tax agency, which is a polite way of saying that a fraud was committed.
Where does this all lead to? It's impossible to say. This is an investigation into a sector in which cash dominates. Establishing alleged trails of money laundering therefore becomes central. Unravelling them will not happen overnight; say between 12 midnight and 7am, when a club would be open.
Over recent days, the club and other property belonging to its owner, Martin Ferrer, have been raided by the Guardia Civil. The operation was ordered through a combination of an investigating judge in Ibiza, the tax agency and the Guardia Civil's central operations unit. The judge has since issued an order to "block" a total of sixteen properties belonging to Ferrer, meaning that they cannot be sold or their assets transferred. The scope of the operation is such that it involves property as far away as Leon on the mainland, where Ferrer has a house in Crémenes and various others.
The raid on Amnesia, which was over two days, extended to the opening of bank safe deposits. At least two million euros have been found. Ferrer was arrested but has been released, much to the perplexity of the prosecution service which had called for his precautionary detention and that of others. Nevertheless, the Guardia's criminal police and the tax agency believe they have the documentation they need and so it will not be altered or somehow disappear. Tax fraud and money laundering are the main charges that prosecutors are levelling.
The nature of the operation is such that Guardia detectives were moved in from Mallorca. Virtually no officers in Ibiza have been involved. At the room they have occupied at the Ibiza headquarters, the first thing that was done was to change the lock. A preliminary estimation by the tax agency of the level of alleged fraud is nearly five million euros. This figure relates to only two years - 2012 and 2013 - and this particular investigation was sparked by an anonymous tip-off directed principally against the former chief financial officer of Amnesia and related companies, Josep Aymar, with Ferrer also implicated.
The case has been several months in the unfolding. The prosecution service, on receipt of a report from the tax agency, lodged it was the court back in October. There had been a period of investigation prior to this, with the anonymous information and the facts it offered having been scrutinised.
The operation against Amnesia is not an isolated one. In fact it falls under a massive nationwide action. Dubbed "Operation Chopin", a total of 87 clubs were raided across Spain when officers from the Guardia, the National Police and the Mossos in Catalonia moved in early on Saturday morning at times when the clubs were closing: in the case of Amnesia, it typically closes at 7am. Among these clubs were other well-known ones in Ibiza - Space and Privilege - as well as BCM in Magalluf. Chopin is thus a major operation against potential tax fraud that embraces much of the elite of Balearic and Spanish nightlife.
The scale is enormous, the coordination of the action impressive. There were four clubs in the Balearics that were raided, but elsewhere there were as many as twenty (in Valencia), sixteen in both Catalonia and Galicia and ten in Andalusia. Together these clubs represent some twenty per cent of the entire turnover of Spain's nightlife sector. But what actually is the turnover? That's something for investigators to identify. Approximately 75% of revenue is cash.
As to Ferrer, it is not the first time that he has been the focus of an investigation. There was one in 2011 related to VAT returns five years previously. His involvement with Aymar is said to have been financially disadvantageous to him in that there were poor investment decisions, such as the Amnesia Barcelona project. An allegation is that the debt and interest that needed to be paid for that resulted in the diversion of funds in order to service the repayments; this represented, therefore, a loss for the tax agency, which is a polite way of saying that a fraud was committed.
Where does this all lead to? It's impossible to say. This is an investigation into a sector in which cash dominates. Establishing alleged trails of money laundering therefore becomes central. Unravelling them will not happen overnight; say between 12 midnight and 7am, when a club would be open.
Saturday, July 09, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 July 2016
Morning high (7.05am): 23C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 10 July - Sun, 31C; 11 July - Sun, 30C; 12 July - Sun, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4.
Another warm night, one that the Aemet met agency describes as "tropical" because the temperature exceeds 20C. There are some patches of cloud in the sky first thing, but today should be a lot clearer than yesterday and not as sweltering.
Evening update (19.30): High of 31.4C.
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 10 July - Sun, 31C; 11 July - Sun, 30C; 12 July - Sun, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4.
Another warm night, one that the Aemet met agency describes as "tropical" because the temperature exceeds 20C. There are some patches of cloud in the sky first thing, but today should be a lot clearer than yesterday and not as sweltering.
Evening update (19.30): High of 31.4C.
What's The Left's Problem With Fiestas?
Mancor de la Vall, as noted here on 2 July, is not the only village or town where issues have arisen with the organisation of fairs and fiestas because of the actions of left-wing town halls. Mancor's had to do with the lack of a licence for music concerts at the rooms used by the cultural association Arrels. Before a last-minute agreement was reached, it had looked as though last November's Esclata-sang mushroom fair would not go ahead, the Més-led administration having refused to give permission for the concerts.
There are now two further cases. In Calvia village they celebrate Sant Jaume each year (25 July). The residents' association has long organised the fiestas, the agreement dating back to the days of PSOE mayor Margarita Nájera (in office from 1991 to 2003). This agreement was subsequently ratified by the two PP mayors who succeeded her: Carlos Delgado and Manu Onieva.
Responsibility for fiestas at Calvia currently lies with one of the deputy mayors, Israel Molina. He is from Si Se Puede Calvia, a version of Podemos in the municipality, which is part of the administration headed by PSOE mayor Alfonso Rodríguez. Molina has decided to break the agreement, one by which the residents' association had been receiving 28,000 euros each year to organise the Sant Jaume fiestas and others, such as the Christmas market.
Molina's argument is that there needs to be an open tender to decide who organises the fiestas. The residents' association says it won't enter the tender contest because it fears there won't be the same level of budget as previously. It notes that other associations in Calvia have said that they won't enter the contest either because they accept that the residents' association is the organiser. The consequence - unless some other solution is reached - is that the town hall will have to assume responsibility for organisation; otherwise there won't be any Sant Jaume fiestas.
In Port Soller, the cultural association has expressed its annoyance with the town hall over arrangements for Sant Pere (now finished). It says that it won't be organising the fiestas in future, citing lack of support from the town hall: the association has identified an absence of financial assistance and failure to grant permissions. The councillor in charge of fiestas, Laura Celià of Més, says that fiesta organisation has to meet with demands under law. One of these demands may well explain the fact that the fireworks were missing this year.
This is not the first time that Celià has been at the centre of a rumpus over fiesta arrangements. It was she who insisted to changes for the May Moors and Christians (Es Firó). These entailed the closing of bars in the main square during the climax to the battle - the bars had to open stalls in another square - and limits to numbers in the square (identified by wristbands).
Do these examples all point to anti-fiesta policies by some left-wing administrations? The first thing to say is that PSOE doesn't appear to have any issues. It is the further left that does. A second point to make is that, as the Arrels association in Mancor had believed, it might be thought that a grouping like Més with its Mallorcan nationalist identity would be all in favour of fiestas and their traditions.
The fact is that they may indeed be all in favour, but the four cases - Mancor, Calvia and the two in Soller - indicate a rigorous application of rules. For Més and Podemos offshoots there can't be any even hint of flouting rules, of favouritism, of not going by the book: that's the sort of thing that the PP (and PSOE) have been doing for years. These rules relate to the fastidious insistence on tenders and to health and safety, the latter being something that has rarely been diligently observed in the past.
The Calvia case has echoes of a different reason for a tender: licences to operate a business activity. It therefore is not dissimilar to the Gelats Valls ice-cream kiosk issue in Puerto Pollensa. A left-wing administration has gone by the book in saying that permission cannot just be simply rubber-stamped and extended year by year, as has been happening. The left wants to be seen to be working to the letter of the law, even if it angers the locals.
Might there be other examples of fiestas being affected? Quite probably. There are numerous local associations who essentially run fiestas, or parts of them, for town halls. There are also the health and safety and indeed animal welfare issues. If the regional government ever gets round to definitively approving its reform of the 1992 animal protection legislation, might fiestas such as Pollensa's Sant Antoni be jeopardised? The use of the cockerel at the top of the pine is currently permitted because it is a tradition that is over one hundred years old (the definition for use of live animals during fiestas under regional law). But if it is deemed to suffer under the reform, then what?
There are now two further cases. In Calvia village they celebrate Sant Jaume each year (25 July). The residents' association has long organised the fiestas, the agreement dating back to the days of PSOE mayor Margarita Nájera (in office from 1991 to 2003). This agreement was subsequently ratified by the two PP mayors who succeeded her: Carlos Delgado and Manu Onieva.
Responsibility for fiestas at Calvia currently lies with one of the deputy mayors, Israel Molina. He is from Si Se Puede Calvia, a version of Podemos in the municipality, which is part of the administration headed by PSOE mayor Alfonso Rodríguez. Molina has decided to break the agreement, one by which the residents' association had been receiving 28,000 euros each year to organise the Sant Jaume fiestas and others, such as the Christmas market.
Molina's argument is that there needs to be an open tender to decide who organises the fiestas. The residents' association says it won't enter the tender contest because it fears there won't be the same level of budget as previously. It notes that other associations in Calvia have said that they won't enter the contest either because they accept that the residents' association is the organiser. The consequence - unless some other solution is reached - is that the town hall will have to assume responsibility for organisation; otherwise there won't be any Sant Jaume fiestas.
In Port Soller, the cultural association has expressed its annoyance with the town hall over arrangements for Sant Pere (now finished). It says that it won't be organising the fiestas in future, citing lack of support from the town hall: the association has identified an absence of financial assistance and failure to grant permissions. The councillor in charge of fiestas, Laura Celià of Més, says that fiesta organisation has to meet with demands under law. One of these demands may well explain the fact that the fireworks were missing this year.
This is not the first time that Celià has been at the centre of a rumpus over fiesta arrangements. It was she who insisted to changes for the May Moors and Christians (Es Firó). These entailed the closing of bars in the main square during the climax to the battle - the bars had to open stalls in another square - and limits to numbers in the square (identified by wristbands).
Do these examples all point to anti-fiesta policies by some left-wing administrations? The first thing to say is that PSOE doesn't appear to have any issues. It is the further left that does. A second point to make is that, as the Arrels association in Mancor had believed, it might be thought that a grouping like Més with its Mallorcan nationalist identity would be all in favour of fiestas and their traditions.
The fact is that they may indeed be all in favour, but the four cases - Mancor, Calvia and the two in Soller - indicate a rigorous application of rules. For Més and Podemos offshoots there can't be any even hint of flouting rules, of favouritism, of not going by the book: that's the sort of thing that the PP (and PSOE) have been doing for years. These rules relate to the fastidious insistence on tenders and to health and safety, the latter being something that has rarely been diligently observed in the past.
The Calvia case has echoes of a different reason for a tender: licences to operate a business activity. It therefore is not dissimilar to the Gelats Valls ice-cream kiosk issue in Puerto Pollensa. A left-wing administration has gone by the book in saying that permission cannot just be simply rubber-stamped and extended year by year, as has been happening. The left wants to be seen to be working to the letter of the law, even if it angers the locals.
Might there be other examples of fiestas being affected? Quite probably. There are numerous local associations who essentially run fiestas, or parts of them, for town halls. There are also the health and safety and indeed animal welfare issues. If the regional government ever gets round to definitively approving its reform of the 1992 animal protection legislation, might fiestas such as Pollensa's Sant Antoni be jeopardised? The use of the cockerel at the top of the pine is currently permitted because it is a tradition that is over one hundred years old (the definition for use of live animals during fiestas under regional law). But if it is deemed to suffer under the reform, then what?
Friday, July 08, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 July 2016
Morning high (6.19am): 23.1C
Forecast high: 32C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 9 July - Sun, cloud, 28C; 10 July - Sun, 30C; 11 July - Sun, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Mainly East 3.
That was a warm night. And today is due to be particularly warm. There is an alert for high temperatures. The forecast suggests it will not be as cloudy as had been predicted yesterday, but cloud there will be. Rain or storm risk seems to have eased.
Evening update (20.00): It was cloudy for much of the morning. Sunny later but with a haze. High of 34.9C.
Forecast high: 32C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 9 July - Sun, cloud, 28C; 10 July - Sun, 30C; 11 July - Sun, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Mainly East 3.
That was a warm night. And today is due to be particularly warm. There is an alert for high temperatures. The forecast suggests it will not be as cloudy as had been predicted yesterday, but cloud there will be. Rain or storm risk seems to have eased.
Evening update (20.00): It was cloudy for much of the morning. Sunny later but with a haze. High of 34.9C.
Reviving Alcanada's Power Station
Let's go back in time to days of plenty and projects for which money grew on relics of Mallorca's glorious industrial heritage. Over twenty million had been earmarked for "a clearing in the wood", the name given to the plan for the power station by the winning architects. It was to be a museum of arts and sciences, opened up to the shore and sea and incorporating the very much older defence tower (eighteenth century). It was, furthermore, to have become a reference point both for tourism and for culture in the north of Mallorca. No one ever actually explained how.
The idea wasn't that bad. It still wouldn't be that bad. This is because something, anything needs to be done with the old power station. It's looked after up to a point, but has of course long ago ceased to be used. When they built Es Murterar, some kilometres away by Albufera, there wasn't a plan for the old power station. It was simply left to rot, while the workers who had rented the cottages of the Poblat Gesa found that the urbanisation was allowed to rot as well.
Poblat Gesa will at some point become a shining beacon of residential redevelopment, Endesa cashing in on real estate inherited from the purchase of Gesa over thirty years ago. Gone will be an element of industrial heritage: an urbanisation which served the power station and which had officially been opened with due ceremony by the Generalissimo. The last thing that residents of the revived Poblat will want as a blocked sea view will be a rotting old power station. Time to rethink.
They were there last Tuesday. The Council of Mallorca's councillors for culture and infrastructure. They were examining this ruin. It is recognised as having industrial architectural value under a special plan, which is under a further plan - the land plan of Mallorca - which has spawned another plan, that for areas of landscape intervention. So many plans, so little product.
Under the architect plan, much of the power station would have remained. There's no point in valuing industrial architecture, if you then proceed to knock it down. Hence, and for example, the chimneys would continue to rise, ominous dual erections on the Alcudia coastline, prominent landmarks to be admired by those arriving on luxury small cruise ships docking at Alcudia's "boutique" port. Like the sometime-in-the-future residents of the Poblat, the high-purchase-power passengers demand an agreeable vista. Something, anything has to be done.
The "clearing in the wood" was greeted with some fanfare. Here was the future for the Alcanada power station. The future was very soon on hold. Then there was no future. It wasn't actually economic crisis that scuppered it. Even before crisis truly took a grip, there was an issue with the funding. The then mayor of Alcudia, Miquel Ferrer, said so: money didn't grow on old relics after all. That was in early 2008. Crisis did of course arrive. The power station was not deemed worthy of the millions, billions that the Zapatero government was tossing around under its "E" plans to environmentally buy Spain out of crisis (what crisis, as Zapatero didn't actually say but intimated). There was to be no governmental largesse for the power station.
Maria Salom, the president of the Council of Mallorca during the previous administration (2011-2015), once definitively said that nothing would be done with the power station. But these are different times. These are cultural heritage times of an alternative regime. In fact, the councillor for culture at the Council, Francesc Miralles, seems a decent chap, one who does have a genuine interest in combining culture with tourism. He hasn't, however, said what might happen with the power station. Museum possibly, but there is no clear statement about the future of the clearing in the wood.
One can but hope. The power station cannot simply be allowed to continue in its now decades-long limbo. Might it be a beneficiary of tourist tax revenue? Over twenty million would be a lot: roughly a quarter of annual collection. The regional government says that the tax won't be used for major projects; rather, a series of mini projects. But some revenue could go the power station's way. Don't rule it out.
However the funding might be for whatever the new plan might be, one hopes that this plan is more clearly explained than the last one. More clearly thought through in terms of what a museum (were it to be so) might entail, in terms of who actually might want to visit it and in terms of the return on investment.
* Photo from the abandoned Poblat of the power station taken a few years ago.
Thursday, July 07, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 July 2016
Morning high (7.06am): 21.2C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 8 July - Cloud, 32C; 9 July - Sun, cloud, 29C; 10 July - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3.
Another good day coming our way, with temperatures in parts into the thirties. There is an advice for high temperatures tomorrow, suggesting they could edge into the mid-thirties, and also a forecast for heavy cloud. A storm might just be possible.
Evening update (19.30): High of 33C.
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 8 July - Cloud, 32C; 9 July - Sun, cloud, 29C; 10 July - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3.
Another good day coming our way, with temperatures in parts into the thirties. There is an advice for high temperatures tomorrow, suggesting they could edge into the mid-thirties, and also a forecast for heavy cloud. A storm might just be possible.
Evening update (19.30): High of 33C.
The Dysfunctional Town Hall: Pollensa
The bickering between the current administration in Pollensa and the grouping formed by ex-mayor Tomeu Cifre Ochogovia, Tots per Pollença, appears to have no limit. Cifre, who has had some legitimate reasons to take the administration (Junts Avançam and the UMP, Unió Mollera Pollencina) to task, such as with the beach services, seems intent on keeping up a barrage of complaint and criticism. The latest, related to the cost of maintenance for a municipal sea rescue vessel, has led mayor Miquel Angel March to demand that Cifre withdraw "serious accusations of misappropriation of funds".
March seems to have good grounds for making this demand. The amount involved is in any event small - 6,800 euros - on repairing a vessel that is over ten years old, and it corresponds to two years' worth of such repair, according to the town hall. The spending is apparently in line with that which the ex-mayor, when still a Partido Popular politician, would have authorised. The lifeboat service as a whole costs the town hall around a quarter of a million euros per annum: the maintenance of a vessel is, as March points out, pretty important.
Given the apparent pettiness of this, what does it tell us about Pollensa's politics? They have long been fraught at a town hall that has become a byword for dysfunctionalism, but there are at present some specifics. Cifre, more than just opposing, which he is of course entitled to do and should do, seems to have an agenda to challenge the administration on everything. Perhaps it is because he cannot accept that he is no longer (or not at the moment) mayor, which he has been on two occasions. Or does it have to do with his cousin, the councillor for urban planning with a very similar name?
It has been said to me that there is some disquiet where March is concerned in that he doesn't show strong leadership. The suggestion is that the real power at the town hall is Tomeu Cifre Bennasàr, the cousin of Tomeu Cifre Ochogovia. He, Bennasàr, has been involved with town hall politics for some years; he's been around the block. The same cannot be said for March. As former spokesperson for the environmentalists GOB, he was selected as mayor as an independent, though his politics would closely align themselves with the eco-nationalism of Bennasàr and Més. With GOB, March would have been well used to the politics of confrontation: this is, after all, what GOB engages in. But running a town hall is a very different proposition to heading an environmentalist pressure group, even for the son of a one-time Pollensa mayor, which March is.
It would be stretching things to say that the fighting is all due to some form of family feud, but it might be recalled that the ground rules were laid at the very first council meeting after the municipal election last year. Ochogovia challenged Bennasàr's compatibility for his responsibility for urban planning. An architect by profession, it was claimed that there could (would) be a conflict of interests. March, in so many words, told Ochogovia to stop trying to stir the shit.
Against this background, we have the suspicion that a plot for a vote of no confidence in the Junts was being hatched. The Alternativa per Pollença, not officially part of the administration but crucial to its existence as it lent support to allow it to govern, alleged recently that the UMP councillor, Andres Nevado, was talking with Cifre Ochogovia and others (the PP and El Pi opposition councillors) about such a no-confidence vote. Nevado denied this, pointing out that a meal which involved some business people and opposition leaders was one to which he had invited various friends, such as Cifre Ochogovia.
There may indeed have been nothing more to the meal gathering, but votes of no confidence do happen and do lead to changes of administration. There was one in Manacor not long after the municipal election in 2015. There has been another in Maria de la Salut. If nothing else, the mere suspicion raises a question as to how strong the Junts-UMP alliance really is, given that the UMP is politically well to the right of most of the Junts make-up.
The confidence word has, since the Alternativa raised its suspicions, been voiced in another context, and also by the Alternativa. It is seeking to have its confidence in the administration restored, as it is not standing by agreements that facilitated the Alternativa's support and so selection of March as mayor. These specifically have to do with what the Alternativa argues is a failure to comply with demands for transparency and participation: both pillars of the Alternativa's philosophy since it was created.
The overall impression, therefore, is that of an administration which is shaky. There again, one could say the same of the previous administration, the one before that, and ... . Dysfunctional. That's Pollensa.
March seems to have good grounds for making this demand. The amount involved is in any event small - 6,800 euros - on repairing a vessel that is over ten years old, and it corresponds to two years' worth of such repair, according to the town hall. The spending is apparently in line with that which the ex-mayor, when still a Partido Popular politician, would have authorised. The lifeboat service as a whole costs the town hall around a quarter of a million euros per annum: the maintenance of a vessel is, as March points out, pretty important.
Given the apparent pettiness of this, what does it tell us about Pollensa's politics? They have long been fraught at a town hall that has become a byword for dysfunctionalism, but there are at present some specifics. Cifre, more than just opposing, which he is of course entitled to do and should do, seems to have an agenda to challenge the administration on everything. Perhaps it is because he cannot accept that he is no longer (or not at the moment) mayor, which he has been on two occasions. Or does it have to do with his cousin, the councillor for urban planning with a very similar name?
It has been said to me that there is some disquiet where March is concerned in that he doesn't show strong leadership. The suggestion is that the real power at the town hall is Tomeu Cifre Bennasàr, the cousin of Tomeu Cifre Ochogovia. He, Bennasàr, has been involved with town hall politics for some years; he's been around the block. The same cannot be said for March. As former spokesperson for the environmentalists GOB, he was selected as mayor as an independent, though his politics would closely align themselves with the eco-nationalism of Bennasàr and Més. With GOB, March would have been well used to the politics of confrontation: this is, after all, what GOB engages in. But running a town hall is a very different proposition to heading an environmentalist pressure group, even for the son of a one-time Pollensa mayor, which March is.
It would be stretching things to say that the fighting is all due to some form of family feud, but it might be recalled that the ground rules were laid at the very first council meeting after the municipal election last year. Ochogovia challenged Bennasàr's compatibility for his responsibility for urban planning. An architect by profession, it was claimed that there could (would) be a conflict of interests. March, in so many words, told Ochogovia to stop trying to stir the shit.
Against this background, we have the suspicion that a plot for a vote of no confidence in the Junts was being hatched. The Alternativa per Pollença, not officially part of the administration but crucial to its existence as it lent support to allow it to govern, alleged recently that the UMP councillor, Andres Nevado, was talking with Cifre Ochogovia and others (the PP and El Pi opposition councillors) about such a no-confidence vote. Nevado denied this, pointing out that a meal which involved some business people and opposition leaders was one to which he had invited various friends, such as Cifre Ochogovia.
There may indeed have been nothing more to the meal gathering, but votes of no confidence do happen and do lead to changes of administration. There was one in Manacor not long after the municipal election in 2015. There has been another in Maria de la Salut. If nothing else, the mere suspicion raises a question as to how strong the Junts-UMP alliance really is, given that the UMP is politically well to the right of most of the Junts make-up.
The confidence word has, since the Alternativa raised its suspicions, been voiced in another context, and also by the Alternativa. It is seeking to have its confidence in the administration restored, as it is not standing by agreements that facilitated the Alternativa's support and so selection of March as mayor. These specifically have to do with what the Alternativa argues is a failure to comply with demands for transparency and participation: both pillars of the Alternativa's philosophy since it was created.
The overall impression, therefore, is that of an administration which is shaky. There again, one could say the same of the previous administration, the one before that, and ... . Dysfunctional. That's Pollensa.
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 July 2016
Morning high (7.37am): 21.9C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 7 July - Sun, 29C; 8 July - Sun, cloud, 32C; 9 July - Sun, cloud, 31C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 to 4 easing 2 to 3 by the late afternoon.
A bright morning with sun all the way. Note the higher temperature values being forecast heading into the weekend. Not perhaps a heatwave but getting close to one.
Evening update (19.30): High of 30.4C. Hotter weather is here in the south, and temperatures across the island may reach 36C this weekend.
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 7 July - Sun, 29C; 8 July - Sun, cloud, 32C; 9 July - Sun, cloud, 31C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 to 4 easing 2 to 3 by the late afternoon.
A bright morning with sun all the way. Note the higher temperature values being forecast heading into the weekend. Not perhaps a heatwave but getting close to one.
Evening update (19.30): High of 30.4C. Hotter weather is here in the south, and temperatures across the island may reach 36C this weekend.
The Rotten State Of Spanish Airlines: Vueling
There is something fanciful, comical even, with the suggestion that has been advanced for the Balearic government to somehow conjure up an airline for Mallorca. This is not because the idea is wrong per se, but because of the inability of Mallorca-based and Spanish airlines to operate efficiently and effectively.
Spanair is of course an airline of the past. It collapsed at the start of 2012, having limped along for several years. It was a bankruptcy disaster waiting to happen, enormous losses having been incurred in previous years. A public-private consortium, which had acquired it from Scandinavian Airlines for one euro, finally threw in the towel, a reliance on public money post-acquisition having been the thing that really killed it. The timing was awful - what with crisis and a then rise in the cost of fuel - while Ryanair was not alone in having challenged the legality of its funding.
Vueling is a different matter. It isn't about to go bust. As part of the IAG group (together, therefore, with British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus), its recent performance in terms of passenger carrying has been highly impressive: growth of 18% in the first half of this year, three times as much as Iberia. But this growth is part of the problem, because Vueling has found itself in the midst of one almighty mess.
The French air traffic controllers' actions haven't helped, but they are not the reason for delays and cancellations of a level that has taken on scandalous proportions. Whilst other airlines are functioning - French industrial action notwithstanding - without impacts on their schedules, Vueling is chaotic. Based in Barcelona, the Catalonian government is taking it to task, as is the national aviation authority (Aesa) and even the equivalent authority in Italy.
The airline's CEO, David García Blanca, issued an apology to passengers affected by delays and cancellations last weekend. Nevertheless, Vueling cancelled fourteen flights out of its some 700 last Sunday. The reasons for these service problems are not wholly clear. There has been speculation that there is some form of covert strike going on - workers' representatives have denied this. The most likely explanation is that an ambitious scheduling programme simply cannot be complied with because of inadequate staffing levels.
The national government is threatening Vueling with punishment (presumably hitting it hard in the pocket or worse, i.e. having its licence to operate withdrawn), while Catalonia is demanding a "change of attitude" in addressing "serious deficiencies". That's a quite telling remark: it's as if the airline doesn't really care about its clients. García has admitted that there needs to be greater staffing for customer service (among other things).
If it is a case that recruitment has been lacking, then how does such a situation arise? Any business, let alone an airline, has to staff accordingly in order to comply with service levels that are being planned. The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or of a wilful neglect of passengers by arranging schedules and then not having the personnel to implement them.
The particularly unfortunate part of all this is that Vueling was showing itself to be a decent enough airline. Its reputation isn't now totally in tatters but it is fast going down the pan. Remedial action is desperately required, or it will become another byword for Spanish airline inefficiency. Spanair, even before it got into trouble, was known as "Spanner" because of its lousy record.
And then there is the Mallorca-based Air Europa, the only Spanish-owned airline anywhere near capable of being a market leader but one which fails to make genuine inroads into the dominance of IAG, Ryanair and others. Its pilots are voting on strike action, the background to this being the creation of a low-cost division - Air Europa Express - to compete with the likes of Vueling. More possible misery lies ahead for the travelling public.
A curious aspect of the Spanish airline industry's inability to function well is that it is in great contrast to the world-leading nature of other parts of the travel sector, notably the country's hotel chains, led mainly by the Mallorcan hoteliers. For a country so dependent on travel and tourism, this failing is truly odd.
Spanair is of course an airline of the past. It collapsed at the start of 2012, having limped along for several years. It was a bankruptcy disaster waiting to happen, enormous losses having been incurred in previous years. A public-private consortium, which had acquired it from Scandinavian Airlines for one euro, finally threw in the towel, a reliance on public money post-acquisition having been the thing that really killed it. The timing was awful - what with crisis and a then rise in the cost of fuel - while Ryanair was not alone in having challenged the legality of its funding.
Vueling is a different matter. It isn't about to go bust. As part of the IAG group (together, therefore, with British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus), its recent performance in terms of passenger carrying has been highly impressive: growth of 18% in the first half of this year, three times as much as Iberia. But this growth is part of the problem, because Vueling has found itself in the midst of one almighty mess.
The French air traffic controllers' actions haven't helped, but they are not the reason for delays and cancellations of a level that has taken on scandalous proportions. Whilst other airlines are functioning - French industrial action notwithstanding - without impacts on their schedules, Vueling is chaotic. Based in Barcelona, the Catalonian government is taking it to task, as is the national aviation authority (Aesa) and even the equivalent authority in Italy.
The airline's CEO, David García Blanca, issued an apology to passengers affected by delays and cancellations last weekend. Nevertheless, Vueling cancelled fourteen flights out of its some 700 last Sunday. The reasons for these service problems are not wholly clear. There has been speculation that there is some form of covert strike going on - workers' representatives have denied this. The most likely explanation is that an ambitious scheduling programme simply cannot be complied with because of inadequate staffing levels.
The national government is threatening Vueling with punishment (presumably hitting it hard in the pocket or worse, i.e. having its licence to operate withdrawn), while Catalonia is demanding a "change of attitude" in addressing "serious deficiencies". That's a quite telling remark: it's as if the airline doesn't really care about its clients. García has admitted that there needs to be greater staffing for customer service (among other things).
If it is a case that recruitment has been lacking, then how does such a situation arise? Any business, let alone an airline, has to staff accordingly in order to comply with service levels that are being planned. The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or of a wilful neglect of passengers by arranging schedules and then not having the personnel to implement them.
The particularly unfortunate part of all this is that Vueling was showing itself to be a decent enough airline. Its reputation isn't now totally in tatters but it is fast going down the pan. Remedial action is desperately required, or it will become another byword for Spanish airline inefficiency. Spanair, even before it got into trouble, was known as "Spanner" because of its lousy record.
And then there is the Mallorca-based Air Europa, the only Spanish-owned airline anywhere near capable of being a market leader but one which fails to make genuine inroads into the dominance of IAG, Ryanair and others. Its pilots are voting on strike action, the background to this being the creation of a low-cost division - Air Europa Express - to compete with the likes of Vueling. More possible misery lies ahead for the travelling public.
A curious aspect of the Spanish airline industry's inability to function well is that it is in great contrast to the world-leading nature of other parts of the travel sector, notably the country's hotel chains, led mainly by the Mallorcan hoteliers. For a country so dependent on travel and tourism, this failing is truly odd.
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 July 2016
Morning high (7.16am): 20.3C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 6 July - Sun, 28C; 7 July - Sun, cloud, 26C; 8 July - Sun, cloud, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 to 4.
Feeling a bit steamy this morning, with light cloud dominating and no breeze away from the coast. Should be sunny later though.
Evening update (19.45): It was sunny. High of 29.1C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 6 July - Sun, 28C; 7 July - Sun, cloud, 26C; 8 July - Sun, cloud, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 to 4.
Feeling a bit steamy this morning, with light cloud dominating and no breeze away from the coast. Should be sunny later though.
Evening update (19.45): It was sunny. High of 29.1C.
Icons In Alcudia: Port developments - part two
This area has long been the abandoned child of the Paseo Marítimo. A previous project to lengthen the paseo never took off, and so the bars and restaurants remain somewhat in the shadows of those on the pedestrianised promenade. Furthermore, the area looks abandoned, the consequence of a failure to maintain the one-time Gesa swimming-pool, the playground and the "pinaret", the small pine wood near to the terminal.
Facilities here, such as the pool, are the legacy of the Poblat Gesa that was built on the road to Alcanada opposite the old power station in the late 1950s. They were integral to that urbanisation for Gesa workers: their leisure and recreational facilities. Though these were formerly Gesa (and so therefore Endesa from 1983, when it acquired Gesa), they were always the property of the state via the Balearic Ports Authority. In 2004, an agreement between the town hall and the authority granted town hall use until 2029. This was part of the overall plan for the commercial port redevelopment. When, however, the town hall started billing the ports authority for property tax for the new terminal (in 2010), the authority responded by invoicing the town hall for the Gesa facilities. It never paid.
That's something of the background to what has been a difficult relationship between the town hall and the authority for years. There has been a great improvement since the change in regional government last year, but the redevelopment plan has renewed the clashes.
For the neutral observer, anything that improves the area would seem like a good idea. It is the detail of the improvement, though, which has caused the rows. The company awarded the contract by the authority, Marina Aucanada (Alcanada can be spelled both ways), says that the dry dock - a bone of contention - will be hidden from view, something that the town hall might be willing to accept. It doesn't accept the buildings, the inclusion of restaurants and the potential loss of part or all of the pinaret. This, the pine wood, is considered "iconic" for the people of Alcudia, says the town hall.
There are other "icons". Take the Lovento restaurant. So iconic is it that the square opposite (sort of a square at any rate), officially known as Quarantena, is typically referred to as Plaça Lovento. The town hall is right to wish to defend the interests of businesses which might be affected by new establishments, and Lovento is part of the port's fabric. In the past it has been patronised by members of the town hall during the sepia gastronomy fair.
These new establishments will, we are now told, be cafeterias rather than restaurants. There are categories of establishment with corresponding licences to operate. A cafeteria cannot serve lavish meals: the height of its culinary ambition is, for instance, the "plato combinado", such as steak and chips. Given this, might the authority's plan not benefit the existing restaurants by driving more people to the zone? The town hall seems only to see increased competition that would be harmful.
The state attorney has now been pulled into the affair. This is partly because a decision has to be made regarding the compatibility of the Marina Aucanada award. A challenge was lodged with the town hall by another company which highlighted the fact that 30% of Marina Aucanada's shareholding is with a company called Ocean Infrastructures Management. The wife of that company's administrator is the director of another Spanish state port - Melilla. The law covers such a potential conflict of interest and also places a limit on the level of shareholding by a senior public official - ten per cent.
When the contract was originally tendered, there were three bidders. One of them was Alcudiamar. This was ruled out for financial and competitive reasons: it would have given Alcudiamar a stranglehold on far more of the port than it already has. The other company is one with an almost identical name to the winning bidder - MarinaAlcanada (told you it can be spelled two ways). It's not been said, but it is possibly this company which filed the challenge, which has now been passed to the state attorney.
The town hall, meanwhile, has unanimously backed this challenge. It might yet be that there is a second tender process. But whatever the outcome, the redevelopment highlights the conflicts, as does the Alcudiamar scheme, that arise from a need to increase facilities for the booming nautical industry. Alcudia is very much a part of that industry. It is one that can bring additional riches to the town as well as employment and an easing of tourism seasonality. In the end, the redevelopment, if and when it goes ahead, will be decided on the impact on "icons".
Photo: The area of the port earmarked for redevelopment.
Monday, July 04, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 July 2016
Morning high (7.20am): 21.4C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 5 July - Sun, 27C; 6 July - Sun, 26C; 7 July - Sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4, swells to one metre.
And another warm, sunny day awaits us.
Evening update (19.30): Hazy at times. High of 28.3C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 5 July - Sun, 27C; 6 July - Sun, 26C; 7 July - Sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4, swells to one metre.
And another warm, sunny day awaits us.
Evening update (19.30): Hazy at times. High of 28.3C.
Troubled Waters In Alcudia: Port developments - part one
Both of them have the involvement of the Balearic Ports Authority. While it doesn't operate Alcudiamar - it has always been private - it does have a say: it is the authority which grants the concession. Alcudiamar has negotiated an extension of the concession until 2030, an aspect of this being an investment project for a further 12,000 square metres of dock. No one, apart from Alcudiamar, seems to actually want this, a local movement - Salvem el Moll (save the port) - has been formed to stop it, while the town hall is against it as well.
A first independent report into the project has established that it would not make any difference to the movement of sediments. A further one is needed to assess what might happen to water quality, and we are talking here the potential impact on the sea water where the beach starts and where the sea is exceptionally shallow. The town hall, in the form of the two main parties - El Pi and PSOE - has declared itself in favour of a project for marina improvement but not the one being planned. It is worried about water quality and Alcudia's array of certification for standards plus the Blue Flag.
Gent per Alcudia provides the other councillor to the ruling administration. This combination of Més, the Republican Left and independents wants the immediate cessation of any work at the marina. So, the town hall is, to an extent, divided. The environmentalists, GOB, have added their views: they want an immediate halt to any expansion.
El Pi and PSOE can overrule any opposition from Gent, as they have enough councillors to do so, but the Gent councillor, Tòmas Adrover, was brought into the administration with specific responsibility for the environment. It would now seem odd if, when a major environmental issue arises, his views were to be overlooked. These coincide with GOB and with the regional government's environment directorate: there has to be an environmental impact assessment report by Alcudiamar, something that would be subject to subsequent all manner of scrutiny and probably challenges.
At the back of all this is the inevitable collision of private interests and those of the public (some of them anyway). And in Alcudiamar one has the greatest of these interests in the port. Those involved with it basically run the port: that part of it which isn't run by the state in the form of the ports authority. The clash has echoes of other port developments in Mallorca, such as El Molinar in Palma and Porto Colom, both of them with "salvem" groups: Porto Colom's is the more vociferous, suggesting that the wishes of residents (and tourists) are being trampled over by the private interests of the yacht club.
The amounts that Alcudiamar will be handing over because of the concession extension may also have something to do with murmurings regarding rents. One understands that a well-known restaurant is considering packing up and going.
A further background element is the rude health of the nautical industry and indeed the regional government's support for it. The administration considers the industry to be a "strategic" one for generating employment, enhancing Mallorca's general image and tackling tourism seasonality, but the industry needs to therefore grow in different ways, and one of them is via the space it occupies. As ever, the environmental dimension is coming up against the needs of tourism. Reconciling the two is never easy; it is often impossible.
The other development, one led by the ports authority, is not one which, on the face of it, involves private interests. As a division of national government it shouldn't be. Yet there do appear to be such interests. It's a story for tomorrow.
Photo: A view taken from Alcudiamar.
Sunday, July 03, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 July 2016
Morning high (7.40am): 21.2C
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 4 July - Sun, 27C; 5 July - Cloud, sun, 24C; 6 July - Sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 5, swells to one metre.
Sun all the way today, we are promised. The week ahead: all looking pretty decent.
Evening update (20.30): High of 26.8C.
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 4 July - Sun, 27C; 5 July - Cloud, sun, 24C; 6 July - Sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 5, swells to one metre.
Sun all the way today, we are promised. The week ahead: all looking pretty decent.
Evening update (20.30): High of 26.8C.
The Sordid Affairs Of Palma's Police
Machiavellianism refers to the use of cunning and duplicity in politics or affairs of state. It is nowadays an overused word that betrays its specific roots in sixteenth century Italy. It can apply to pretty much any political intrigue, manoeuvering and manipulation.
It is only a hypothesis - let me make that clear - but when José María Rodríguez was forced to resign in July 2012 as the national government delegate to the Balearics, one did wonder at the possible application of the M-word. Rodríguez had been implicated in part of one of the massive corruption investigations - Gürtel - that is even now still rumbling on. The news had leaked out. Rodríguez defended himself in the media, wondering who had been responsible for the leak.
The then PP government of José Ramón Bauzá thus lost one of the party's most senior figures. But was the government really that bothered? This is why one mentions the M-word. It had always seemed as though Rodríguez had been an appointment to satisfy a party faction (mainly his own). It had also seemed odd. Rodríguez, though cleared, featured in the "caso Andratx" from 2006 that was to see the former Andratx mayor, Eugenio Hidalgo, go to prison and which caused the domino effect of investigations into ex-Balearic president, Jaume Matas, and ultimately Princess Cristina.
It was the phone call that Rodríguez made to Hidalgo - he was then the regional interior minister - which had raised suspicions. And it was these that placed a question mark over his appointment: the delegate is responsible for police matters in the Balearics. Was it to be the case that the first opportunity which presented itself would be used to get rid of him? This was an administration - Bauzá's - which made much of its intentions to be "clean" and to not have anyone tainted by corruption. Generally speaking, and he received too little credit in this regard, Bauzá was successful. But there had been that business with the phone call. Put it this way, Rodríguez going probably suited Bauzá.
The resignation did not mean that Rodríguez fell back into the political shadows. Quite the contrary. There he was, moving the pieces to ensure that Mateo Isern's last days as PP mayor of Palma were all but impossible and that Isern did not stand again. Rodríguez is the president of the PP in the city. He once sued over being described as a "capo", a word that refers to a Mafia boss.
The investigation into corruption by local police in Palma has long threatened to name names among senior politicians. It now is. The investigating judge, Juan Manuel Penalva, claims that Rodríguez was the "architect in the shadows". So he was in the shadows but being active. Penalva says that this was the shadowiness of a "criminal organisation".
Witness statements allege, among other things, that elements of the police were used by Rodríguez to "control the movements" of other politicians, notably Isern. That Rodríguez held regular meetings at a bar owned by one of the police officers implicated in the corruption affair. Those in attendance included officers currently in custody as well as other politicians, such as the former deputy mayor of Palma, Alvaro Gijón. That certain businesses were favoured - the name Cursach has come up in this regard (BCM in Magalluf plus Mega Park in Arenal, among others). A rival business owner has stated that Tolo Cursach himself was the "La Paca" of the night, a reference to the matriarch of one of the most notorious drugs' gangs operating out of Palma's Son Banya.
That there were sexual favours - flatly denied by Rodríguez. One "alternative" club in Arenal is said to have been only open at times for the exclusive use by people in "public office". Mayors, police chiefs and politicians - old ones aged 60 or 70 - are said to have attended this club. They paid for nothing, including the girls.
The reporting of the police corruption scandal and investigation has been one of unremitting sleaze, but there has only been limited reporting, given its mainly secret nature. One should stress that there are as yet only allegations, but the judge seems convinced. If they were to be proven, they would point to a despicable web. The Nóos trial of Princess Cristina, her husband and others has nothing on all this. There may be questions about how the justice system has functioned with regard to Nóos, but various accused, including Matas, have accepted their responsibilities. The justice system is being tested to a far greater degree by the Palma police affair. It has to get it right.
It is only a hypothesis - let me make that clear - but when José María Rodríguez was forced to resign in July 2012 as the national government delegate to the Balearics, one did wonder at the possible application of the M-word. Rodríguez had been implicated in part of one of the massive corruption investigations - Gürtel - that is even now still rumbling on. The news had leaked out. Rodríguez defended himself in the media, wondering who had been responsible for the leak.
The then PP government of José Ramón Bauzá thus lost one of the party's most senior figures. But was the government really that bothered? This is why one mentions the M-word. It had always seemed as though Rodríguez had been an appointment to satisfy a party faction (mainly his own). It had also seemed odd. Rodríguez, though cleared, featured in the "caso Andratx" from 2006 that was to see the former Andratx mayor, Eugenio Hidalgo, go to prison and which caused the domino effect of investigations into ex-Balearic president, Jaume Matas, and ultimately Princess Cristina.
It was the phone call that Rodríguez made to Hidalgo - he was then the regional interior minister - which had raised suspicions. And it was these that placed a question mark over his appointment: the delegate is responsible for police matters in the Balearics. Was it to be the case that the first opportunity which presented itself would be used to get rid of him? This was an administration - Bauzá's - which made much of its intentions to be "clean" and to not have anyone tainted by corruption. Generally speaking, and he received too little credit in this regard, Bauzá was successful. But there had been that business with the phone call. Put it this way, Rodríguez going probably suited Bauzá.
The resignation did not mean that Rodríguez fell back into the political shadows. Quite the contrary. There he was, moving the pieces to ensure that Mateo Isern's last days as PP mayor of Palma were all but impossible and that Isern did not stand again. Rodríguez is the president of the PP in the city. He once sued over being described as a "capo", a word that refers to a Mafia boss.
The investigation into corruption by local police in Palma has long threatened to name names among senior politicians. It now is. The investigating judge, Juan Manuel Penalva, claims that Rodríguez was the "architect in the shadows". So he was in the shadows but being active. Penalva says that this was the shadowiness of a "criminal organisation".
Witness statements allege, among other things, that elements of the police were used by Rodríguez to "control the movements" of other politicians, notably Isern. That Rodríguez held regular meetings at a bar owned by one of the police officers implicated in the corruption affair. Those in attendance included officers currently in custody as well as other politicians, such as the former deputy mayor of Palma, Alvaro Gijón. That certain businesses were favoured - the name Cursach has come up in this regard (BCM in Magalluf plus Mega Park in Arenal, among others). A rival business owner has stated that Tolo Cursach himself was the "La Paca" of the night, a reference to the matriarch of one of the most notorious drugs' gangs operating out of Palma's Son Banya.
That there were sexual favours - flatly denied by Rodríguez. One "alternative" club in Arenal is said to have been only open at times for the exclusive use by people in "public office". Mayors, police chiefs and politicians - old ones aged 60 or 70 - are said to have attended this club. They paid for nothing, including the girls.
The reporting of the police corruption scandal and investigation has been one of unremitting sleaze, but there has only been limited reporting, given its mainly secret nature. One should stress that there are as yet only allegations, but the judge seems convinced. If they were to be proven, they would point to a despicable web. The Nóos trial of Princess Cristina, her husband and others has nothing on all this. There may be questions about how the justice system has functioned with regard to Nóos, but various accused, including Matas, have accepted their responsibilities. The justice system is being tested to a far greater degree by the Palma police affair. It has to get it right.
Saturday, July 02, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 July 2016
Morning high (7.10am): 21.3C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 3 July - Sun, 26C; 4 July - Sun, 24C; 5 July - Sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4, occasionally Variable 2.
Not forecast to be as hot as yesterday. Sunny all weekend.
Evening update (20.30): High of 31.3C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 3 July - Sun, 26C; 4 July - Sun, 24C; 5 July - Sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4, occasionally Variable 2.
Not forecast to be as hot as yesterday. Sunny all weekend.
Evening update (20.30): High of 31.3C.
Demons And Mushrooms: Mancor de la Vall
Mancor de la Vall is a small village which nestles in the lower region of the Tramuntana mountains (note: villages always nestle; it is obligatory). It has a population of something over 1,300 and is one of those Mallorcan villages which offers little of any great note. It is there, it is quite pretty and that's about it. But for a small village it does manage to generate its fair share of disputes. This isn't smalltown controversy of rival business or political interests, it is small village controversy and it all has to do with traditions: specifically, mushrooms and demons.
Last November, there was a row about the staging of the annual fair: Esclata-sang, the blood-bursting mushroom fair. One should explain that no blood is spilled and nor has it been in arguments surrounding the fair; the name of the mushroom describes its reddish juice. In autumn, these mushrooms grow in abundance in the area. They are prized delicacies and central to a local cuisine. So they are important, but are they important enough for there to be rows?
Well they are if the organisers arrive at loggerheads with the town hall over the holding of the fair, which is precisely what happened last year. The organisation responsible is Arrels, a local cultural association. Because of "discrepancies" involving the town hall, Arrels said they wouldn't go ahead with the fair. In the end they did. Residents and village restaurants were desperate that they should.
These discrepancies surrounded the association's property, i.e. a sort of culture room. The town hall, now ruled by Més, had decided that Arrels could not hold concerts for the fair at the room. Paid for by the town hall, it had no actual licence for such an activity. Arrels, which had experienced an at times difficult relationship with the town hall, thought that with Més in charge, things would get easier. The opposite happened.
Finally, there was a "sorting-out" that allowed the fair to proceed. In the meantime, the mayor, Guillem Villalonga, had been placed in an awkward position. He was and is a member of Arrels. It might have been thought that this would smooth out any issues regarding the concerts, but these are new times in village politics. Member or not a member, the licensing arrangements couldn't just be granted a "favour".
Villalonga's involvement with Arrels is such that he was once the "grand demon" of the association's demons' gang. Which brings us to events (or rather the lack of them) last week. The patron of the village's parish church is Sant Joan, John the Baptist. Naturally, therefore, the village's summer fiestas are based around Sant Joan, and one of the most anticipated events is the demons' fire-run, the "correfoc", organised and staged by Arrels.
The correfoc didn't take place. Unlike with the mushrooms, there was no "sorting-out". Partly, this was because the mayor couldn't intervene. It was all an issue between the demons and the church. The rector said they couldn't mount a pyrotechnic display on the belltower, as they have in the past. New tiles had been placed. It was costing the church money because of the pyrotechnics. Nevertheless, Arrels went ahead and started having their fire display mounted. The rector was furious and insisted that Arrels leave the belltower out of the correfoc show.
The role of the church building itself is central to other correfoc displays. In Muro, also with a John the Baptist church, the Sant Antoni correfoc wouldn't be the same without the fire cascading down the church and belltower as part of its climax. So, one could understand Arrels wish to include the belltower. But because the rector was so insistent, rather than leave it out, they decided to cancel the whole thing. The locals were far from happy. The mayor said it was nothing to do with the town hall.
Local reaction was not what Arrels might have hoped for. They were accused of believing that the world revolves around them. There was a degree of arrogance with their stance. Nevertheless, it was suggested that the town hall might be rather more proactive and get involved in the future by issuing clear guidelines. Once more, the mayor was in an awkward position.
What do these stories tell us? A great deal about how small village traditions, intertwined with bureaucracy and the roles of institutions (the church and town hall), take on lives way beyond their relative lack of importance. They are elevated to matters of great import and become so because, in small villages, they are all that matter.
Last November, there was a row about the staging of the annual fair: Esclata-sang, the blood-bursting mushroom fair. One should explain that no blood is spilled and nor has it been in arguments surrounding the fair; the name of the mushroom describes its reddish juice. In autumn, these mushrooms grow in abundance in the area. They are prized delicacies and central to a local cuisine. So they are important, but are they important enough for there to be rows?
Well they are if the organisers arrive at loggerheads with the town hall over the holding of the fair, which is precisely what happened last year. The organisation responsible is Arrels, a local cultural association. Because of "discrepancies" involving the town hall, Arrels said they wouldn't go ahead with the fair. In the end they did. Residents and village restaurants were desperate that they should.
These discrepancies surrounded the association's property, i.e. a sort of culture room. The town hall, now ruled by Més, had decided that Arrels could not hold concerts for the fair at the room. Paid for by the town hall, it had no actual licence for such an activity. Arrels, which had experienced an at times difficult relationship with the town hall, thought that with Més in charge, things would get easier. The opposite happened.
Finally, there was a "sorting-out" that allowed the fair to proceed. In the meantime, the mayor, Guillem Villalonga, had been placed in an awkward position. He was and is a member of Arrels. It might have been thought that this would smooth out any issues regarding the concerts, but these are new times in village politics. Member or not a member, the licensing arrangements couldn't just be granted a "favour".
Villalonga's involvement with Arrels is such that he was once the "grand demon" of the association's demons' gang. Which brings us to events (or rather the lack of them) last week. The patron of the village's parish church is Sant Joan, John the Baptist. Naturally, therefore, the village's summer fiestas are based around Sant Joan, and one of the most anticipated events is the demons' fire-run, the "correfoc", organised and staged by Arrels.
The correfoc didn't take place. Unlike with the mushrooms, there was no "sorting-out". Partly, this was because the mayor couldn't intervene. It was all an issue between the demons and the church. The rector said they couldn't mount a pyrotechnic display on the belltower, as they have in the past. New tiles had been placed. It was costing the church money because of the pyrotechnics. Nevertheless, Arrels went ahead and started having their fire display mounted. The rector was furious and insisted that Arrels leave the belltower out of the correfoc show.
The role of the church building itself is central to other correfoc displays. In Muro, also with a John the Baptist church, the Sant Antoni correfoc wouldn't be the same without the fire cascading down the church and belltower as part of its climax. So, one could understand Arrels wish to include the belltower. But because the rector was so insistent, rather than leave it out, they decided to cancel the whole thing. The locals were far from happy. The mayor said it was nothing to do with the town hall.
Local reaction was not what Arrels might have hoped for. They were accused of believing that the world revolves around them. There was a degree of arrogance with their stance. Nevertheless, it was suggested that the town hall might be rather more proactive and get involved in the future by issuing clear guidelines. Once more, the mayor was in an awkward position.
What do these stories tell us? A great deal about how small village traditions, intertwined with bureaucracy and the roles of institutions (the church and town hall), take on lives way beyond their relative lack of importance. They are elevated to matters of great import and become so because, in small villages, they are all that matter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
