Morning high (7.52am): 9.2C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 13 January - Cloud, sun, 16C; 14 January - Cloud, sun, 15C; 15 January - Cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northwest 3 to 5.
A clear, chilly morning. Sunny to begin with, due to cloud over in the afternoon with the chance of a shower.
Evening update (22.00): Pretty good until cloud came in during the afternoon. High of 16.9C.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Mining For Gold: Tourism Marketing
For my sins, I have in a previous existence been exposed to "marketing". I express this in inverted commas as marketing can cover a multitude of sins, not all of them my own. Occasionally, one hears someone announce they are in "marketing" or they do "marketing", and one has a sneaking suspicion that it involves little more than a passing acquaintance with Photoshop and some form of blurb or slogan.
The "marketing" of my acquaintance delved into the mysteries of the recipient of marketing. This is the land of segmentation and psychographics, of behaviour, aspirations and lifestyles. It is its own world of profiling allied to, inter alia, the attributes of a brand and the consumer decision. It is a science, only some of which is bunkum.
Over the years this has produced an endless supply of consumer groups, defined by an apparent commonality of beliefs and values, often predicated on age. These groups can slot into the "niche", so beloved of the diviners of tourism products. A great deal is heard about these groups and niches, normally only by people who are talking to each other in this fantastical world of "marketing".
It's light years from where it was. The yuppie and the baby boomer were arguably the first time the general public became aware of this marketing mumbo jumbo, though there had been previous classifications, one of which took some time to be appreciated. In the 1950s, courtesy of Bill Haley and Elvis, the "teenager" truly began to emerge from behind the leather patches and frocks of parental hand-me-downs. A considerable time later there was the "child". The youngest members of the household had acquired the power to guide purchasing decisions. Seen and definitely also heard, when it came to the next holiday: "We want all-inclusive." Parental will buckled. Anything for peace and quiet, which of course they did not get.
Today, everything is micro-marketing-managed. The Canary Islands, highly innovative in understanding and using social media, have hooked up with Facebook in a personalised, customised marketing campaign. It is just one isolated case example of the marketing gold to be mined from Big Data. The technologies drive the marketing. This is a reason why the tourism industry in the Balearics is keen for the university to establish a tourism and technology combined degree. The tourist (and potential tourist) exists in a technological bubble, one often of the tourist's making, so incapable is he or she of switching off from the technology.
It is the data that determines the customising and the ever-reducing scale of the niche. Yet there remains the scope for the broader brush. We now, therefore, have Generation Z, and they are the ones to have inherited the Earth that was discovered circa mid-1950s. They are currently aged between twelve and twenty. The marketing genii are invading their collective consciousness via Snapchat and Instagram, and they - Generation Z - have and will have their own defined attributes and attitudes to mould tourism decision-making, just as the Millennials (Generation Y) and previous classifications had and have. The genii have decreed it thus.
While so much of this can appear to be overhyped, there has to be some merit to it or they wouldn't keep on coming up with classifications and their corresponding marketing approaches. There may be no more to it than - to use a now somewhat disgraced concept - "marginal gains", but if gains are to be extracted, then why not pursue them?
When it comes to tourism, and I'm thinking here of the bread-and-butter tourism of Mallorca and the Balearics, generations may have a tendency to coalesce. There is of course greater technology, sophistication, demand for quality, but aren't tourists ultimately as they have ever been, not least when they look at the cost, whether there's a good beach, whether the sun shines?
In the highly competitive market for the tourism bread and butter it is about emotional appeal as much as it might be price. Emotion is a powerful force in determining tourist loyalty, which Mallorca has had by the bucket and spade full, though is in danger of losing thanks to cack-handed anti-marketing like the tourist tax. If technologies, the customisation and the micro-marketing represent the panacea, then Mallorca needs to adopt them and use them with emotional force. It is failing to do so, and even with what can seem like a hit-or-miss approach of niche marketing, it is also failing.
Gastronomy tourism - you'll have heard of that niche - is its own little panacea for attracting the off-season and high-quality tourist. Want to know something? In a study of the demand for gastronomy tourism, the Balearics are rank bottom of all the regions of Spain.
Is there anyone in "marketing" or doing "marketing"? Maybe there is. Of course there is. They come up with slogans.
The "marketing" of my acquaintance delved into the mysteries of the recipient of marketing. This is the land of segmentation and psychographics, of behaviour, aspirations and lifestyles. It is its own world of profiling allied to, inter alia, the attributes of a brand and the consumer decision. It is a science, only some of which is bunkum.
Over the years this has produced an endless supply of consumer groups, defined by an apparent commonality of beliefs and values, often predicated on age. These groups can slot into the "niche", so beloved of the diviners of tourism products. A great deal is heard about these groups and niches, normally only by people who are talking to each other in this fantastical world of "marketing".
It's light years from where it was. The yuppie and the baby boomer were arguably the first time the general public became aware of this marketing mumbo jumbo, though there had been previous classifications, one of which took some time to be appreciated. In the 1950s, courtesy of Bill Haley and Elvis, the "teenager" truly began to emerge from behind the leather patches and frocks of parental hand-me-downs. A considerable time later there was the "child". The youngest members of the household had acquired the power to guide purchasing decisions. Seen and definitely also heard, when it came to the next holiday: "We want all-inclusive." Parental will buckled. Anything for peace and quiet, which of course they did not get.
Today, everything is micro-marketing-managed. The Canary Islands, highly innovative in understanding and using social media, have hooked up with Facebook in a personalised, customised marketing campaign. It is just one isolated case example of the marketing gold to be mined from Big Data. The technologies drive the marketing. This is a reason why the tourism industry in the Balearics is keen for the university to establish a tourism and technology combined degree. The tourist (and potential tourist) exists in a technological bubble, one often of the tourist's making, so incapable is he or she of switching off from the technology.
It is the data that determines the customising and the ever-reducing scale of the niche. Yet there remains the scope for the broader brush. We now, therefore, have Generation Z, and they are the ones to have inherited the Earth that was discovered circa mid-1950s. They are currently aged between twelve and twenty. The marketing genii are invading their collective consciousness via Snapchat and Instagram, and they - Generation Z - have and will have their own defined attributes and attitudes to mould tourism decision-making, just as the Millennials (Generation Y) and previous classifications had and have. The genii have decreed it thus.
While so much of this can appear to be overhyped, there has to be some merit to it or they wouldn't keep on coming up with classifications and their corresponding marketing approaches. There may be no more to it than - to use a now somewhat disgraced concept - "marginal gains", but if gains are to be extracted, then why not pursue them?
When it comes to tourism, and I'm thinking here of the bread-and-butter tourism of Mallorca and the Balearics, generations may have a tendency to coalesce. There is of course greater technology, sophistication, demand for quality, but aren't tourists ultimately as they have ever been, not least when they look at the cost, whether there's a good beach, whether the sun shines?
In the highly competitive market for the tourism bread and butter it is about emotional appeal as much as it might be price. Emotion is a powerful force in determining tourist loyalty, which Mallorca has had by the bucket and spade full, though is in danger of losing thanks to cack-handed anti-marketing like the tourist tax. If technologies, the customisation and the micro-marketing represent the panacea, then Mallorca needs to adopt them and use them with emotional force. It is failing to do so, and even with what can seem like a hit-or-miss approach of niche marketing, it is also failing.
Gastronomy tourism - you'll have heard of that niche - is its own little panacea for attracting the off-season and high-quality tourist. Want to know something? In a study of the demand for gastronomy tourism, the Balearics are rank bottom of all the regions of Spain.
Is there anyone in "marketing" or doing "marketing"? Maybe there is. Of course there is. They come up with slogans.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 January 2018
Morning high (6.56am): 11.5C
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 12 January - Cloud, sun, 15C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 14 January - Cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 5 to 7 easing 3 by the evening.
Fairly windy, a yellow alert in place for rough coastal conditions. Should be some sun, but with any rain falling as snow down to 800 metres.
Evening update (20.15): Pretty average. Occasional sun, some rain, not warm. High of 13.6C.
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 12 January - Cloud, sun, 15C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 14 January - Cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 5 to 7 easing 3 by the evening.
Fairly windy, a yellow alert in place for rough coastal conditions. Should be some sun, but with any rain falling as snow down to 800 metres.
Evening update (20.15): Pretty average. Occasional sun, some rain, not warm. High of 13.6C.
Who'd Be A Demon?
There are degrees of diabolism that Mallorca has to endure in January, but its main categories can be defined as: the dancing demon, generally speaking an amiable sort of demon (all things being relative in demonic terms), or the fire-wielding demon, an altogether less friendly character.
Regardless of category, being a demon - let's be honest - involves dressing up. There isn't a great deal more required, though there is some skill in being able to perform the appropriate dance or in prowling around in a menacing fashion while taking care not to set fire to oneself.
These somewhat simplistic characterisations do, however, underestimate the status of the demon in local village society. He (grand demons are not shes) is required to turn out on fiesta occasions and can be found in photos with all manner of village residents and town hall dignitaries. The demon has his place and it is often at the end of a mobile phone lens (selfie or otherwise). He may also be part of what is akin to a local demonic dynasty: like father, like son, spreading fear of the dark side.
You wouldn't, nevertheless, have thought that being a demon could be particularly problematic. But you would be wrong. For instance, dynastic demonography has collided with the smartphone in rather unfortunate circumstance in Arta. The Dimoni of the village, the foremost demon of Arta, had been the duty of one Xisco Sansó for a whole generation - twenty-five years. When it came to the time to hand over the "canya fel·la", the phallic cane, or whatever the Arta Dimoni possesses, the wise people of the Sant Antoni Obreria (in charge of such matters) decided that Xisco's son should succeed him.
Xesquet, Xisco Junior, the Obreria determined, knew the dances and he also had the right physical characteristics demanded of the Dimoni. It was this decision that has resulted in the problem that has since surfaced. There wasn't any concern about demonic nepotism. No, it wasn't anything like that; it was the physical characteristics. They became rather too obvious. An image of a naked Xesquet went onto Instagram.
There are a couple of explanations as to what happened. One is that the mirror selfie of he who would be the demon was posted by mistake. The other is that someone got hold of the photo by "illicit means" and put it up. Whatever the explanation, the photo was removed, but not before the good people of Arta and any others had become familiar with the new demon's physical characteristics in rather more intimate detail than he might have wished, albeit he had taken a mirror selfie of himself, kit off and in his prime. For what reason? Who can say.
While they should have been concentrating on matters of a Three Kings nature, the Arta citizenry was apparently otherwise examining and discussing the demonic meat and two veg. And naturally enough, the Obreria got to hear all about it, and had they not be in possession of smartphones or been on social networks, they would have become aware of the image of their unclad Dimoni having found its way into the media mainstream. Oh dear.
So what happens now? The family, it is being suggested, will be denouncing the matter to the Guardia, sure that the image was posted by someone else. This, however, isn't what really matters to the Obreria. They plan on talking it all over with the family, and could it be that another Dimoni needs to be selected? If so, then time is running short.
It could, one supposes, have been a lot worse. It might have been the mayor or a government minister who had emerged on social networks in a state of undress. But then, neither of these would have been affected by quite the same symbolism as the demon, which brings us back to the phallic cane. Social media has had a field day in this regard.
There is a normally understated or indeed unstated eroticism associated with demons. The problem can be, as Xisco Junior is discovering to his cost, when it is stated. He is, however, following in the footsteps of another demon - no less than Manacor's Dimoni Gros.
It wasn't that the Manacor grand demon had been a forerunner for Arta's demon in displaying his physical characteristics. It was instead a Russian model by the name of Aline. Three years ago, the local Manacor magazine, Perlas y Cuevas, celebrated Sant Antoni by showing topless Aline with the grand demon in what was described as a series of "erotic" poses. Feminists were outraged, gathered their pots and pans and staged "cacerolada" protests outside the office and home of the editor. The Manacor Sant Antoni Obreria wanted nothing to do with the images.
The moral of the story is that if you are a demon, stick to the dressing up and not the undressing.
Regardless of category, being a demon - let's be honest - involves dressing up. There isn't a great deal more required, though there is some skill in being able to perform the appropriate dance or in prowling around in a menacing fashion while taking care not to set fire to oneself.
These somewhat simplistic characterisations do, however, underestimate the status of the demon in local village society. He (grand demons are not shes) is required to turn out on fiesta occasions and can be found in photos with all manner of village residents and town hall dignitaries. The demon has his place and it is often at the end of a mobile phone lens (selfie or otherwise). He may also be part of what is akin to a local demonic dynasty: like father, like son, spreading fear of the dark side.
You wouldn't, nevertheless, have thought that being a demon could be particularly problematic. But you would be wrong. For instance, dynastic demonography has collided with the smartphone in rather unfortunate circumstance in Arta. The Dimoni of the village, the foremost demon of Arta, had been the duty of one Xisco Sansó for a whole generation - twenty-five years. When it came to the time to hand over the "canya fel·la", the phallic cane, or whatever the Arta Dimoni possesses, the wise people of the Sant Antoni Obreria (in charge of such matters) decided that Xisco's son should succeed him.
Xesquet, Xisco Junior, the Obreria determined, knew the dances and he also had the right physical characteristics demanded of the Dimoni. It was this decision that has resulted in the problem that has since surfaced. There wasn't any concern about demonic nepotism. No, it wasn't anything like that; it was the physical characteristics. They became rather too obvious. An image of a naked Xesquet went onto Instagram.
There are a couple of explanations as to what happened. One is that the mirror selfie of he who would be the demon was posted by mistake. The other is that someone got hold of the photo by "illicit means" and put it up. Whatever the explanation, the photo was removed, but not before the good people of Arta and any others had become familiar with the new demon's physical characteristics in rather more intimate detail than he might have wished, albeit he had taken a mirror selfie of himself, kit off and in his prime. For what reason? Who can say.
While they should have been concentrating on matters of a Three Kings nature, the Arta citizenry was apparently otherwise examining and discussing the demonic meat and two veg. And naturally enough, the Obreria got to hear all about it, and had they not be in possession of smartphones or been on social networks, they would have become aware of the image of their unclad Dimoni having found its way into the media mainstream. Oh dear.
So what happens now? The family, it is being suggested, will be denouncing the matter to the Guardia, sure that the image was posted by someone else. This, however, isn't what really matters to the Obreria. They plan on talking it all over with the family, and could it be that another Dimoni needs to be selected? If so, then time is running short.
It could, one supposes, have been a lot worse. It might have been the mayor or a government minister who had emerged on social networks in a state of undress. But then, neither of these would have been affected by quite the same symbolism as the demon, which brings us back to the phallic cane. Social media has had a field day in this regard.
There is a normally understated or indeed unstated eroticism associated with demons. The problem can be, as Xisco Junior is discovering to his cost, when it is stated. He is, however, following in the footsteps of another demon - no less than Manacor's Dimoni Gros.
It wasn't that the Manacor grand demon had been a forerunner for Arta's demon in displaying his physical characteristics. It was instead a Russian model by the name of Aline. Three years ago, the local Manacor magazine, Perlas y Cuevas, celebrated Sant Antoni by showing topless Aline with the grand demon in what was described as a series of "erotic" poses. Feminists were outraged, gathered their pots and pans and staged "cacerolada" protests outside the office and home of the editor. The Manacor Sant Antoni Obreria wanted nothing to do with the images.
The moral of the story is that if you are a demon, stick to the dressing up and not the undressing.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 January 2018
Morning high (7.53am): 10.3C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 11 January - Cloud, sun, wind, 15C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 16C; 13 January - Cloud, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 3 to 4.
Cloudy morning, fairly mild, possible shower at some point.
Evening update (20.45): High of 16.5C. Some rain, some sun. Nothing special.
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 11 January - Cloud, sun, wind, 15C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 16C; 13 January - Cloud, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 3 to 4.
Cloudy morning, fairly mild, possible shower at some point.
Evening update (20.45): High of 16.5C. Some rain, some sun. Nothing special.
Welcome To Tractorllorca
Tabarnia, someone has said, will be the word of 2018. Tabarnia is a neologism, a word that is in the process of entering common usage. It is also a form of portmanteau, a combination of the old Roman place names Tarraco and Barcino or of their modern equivalents, Tarragona and Barcelona.
Tabarnia, the word and the concept, wasn't entirely new when all of a sudden it leapt into the public consciousness late last year. A petition, a satirical one (so it is said), proposed a type of secession with unity. Tabarnia came from the organisation Barcelona Is Not Catalonia. It was advocating a breakaway region, which corresponds to the one-time County of Barcelona, that would be independent of Catalonia but part of Spain. As such, it was an obvious statement against a Catalonian drive for secession.
The petition went viral and Tabarnia has, over the past fortnight or so, inspired all manner of comment. It has also produced its variants. One of these is Palmarnia. The right wing in Mallorca has latched onto Tabarnia by attacking the secessionist aspirations of certain sections on the left - Més, most obviously. Palmarnia, in essence, would be a reclaiming of Palma from secessionist influences from outside the city - the "part forana" or "fora vila" - which (who) have taken over important institutional roles in the city.
The Palmarnia proposition contains aspects which are quite amusing. Some of the secessionists who landed in Palma have never done so much as run a village bar. This is one criticism. The essentially rural nature of this takeover is defined as having come from Tractorllorca. Well, it made me laugh anyway, even if it does only provide one perspective.
The Tractorllorca that is being referred to is a sort of conservatism of a rural tradition allied to a radicalism of secession, independence, folklore and odd attitudes towards tourism. A different Tractorllorca is also conservative but it takes great issue with, for instance, the environmentalist stance of the very same political class. The "countryside alliance" which protested in Palma last year comprised hunters, farmers and bullfighting supporters. My impression of some of Mallorca's part forana, especially the rural areas, is that it is highly conservative but with absolutely no desire for independence: it is mostly Partido Popular territory.
Likewise, an attack on those now in positions of power and influence in Palma's institutions fails to recognise that - just to take a couple of Més names at random - some of them are from Palma. Antoni Noguera, for instance; Biel Barceló. They were both born in Palma. Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca, was of course born in England. He wasn't thereafter a Palma boy, but he had many years experience as mayor of Esporles, and the general view was that he was a decent mayor.
But the very notion of Palmarnia highlights a Palma-centric arrogance. If there were to be some reclaiming from the clutches of secessionists, then why just Palma? Its institutions, agreed, would determine such a policy, but is it not Mallorca and the Balearics which need saving? To hear what some on the right are suggesting, then it would appear so. Independence as an aspiration isn't confined to Més. The president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, is apparently more radical and more independence-minded than her partners in government, so that includes Més. This, at any rate, is a view coming from the PP and reflects a paranoia of an apparently unstoppable drive towards Balearic independence.
I personally don't believe this for one moment, but the fever of Catalonia has unquestionably been caught in the Balearics, if only by the real promoters of independence - Més (plus organisations such as the Obra Cultural Balear) - and their accusers on or towards the right, such as the PP, the C's and elements in the media.
Més and their ambitions for independence are predicated - electorally - on extremely shaky ground. The reality is that where the current government is concerned, Més in Mallorca and Menorca obtained 15.3% share of the vote. They may well not achieve this in 2019; polls would suggest they will struggle to.
These secessionist influences are nevertheless being foisted onto a public that has no particular desire for them. Més are given their place in the spotlight by a system that rewards less than one sixth of the vote. Ultimately, for any change as dramatic as, say, independence or Brexit, there should really be the demand for a dramatic and qualified majority at the polls: not a bit here or there. Otherwise you end up with what you have: deeply divided societies. And if the Catalonia election can be considered a more accurate reflection than the 1 October referendum, then that is precisely what you have.
Such division is a long way off, if ever taking root in the Balearics. Tractorllorca isn't about to take over. There are too many other tractors.
Tabarnia, the word and the concept, wasn't entirely new when all of a sudden it leapt into the public consciousness late last year. A petition, a satirical one (so it is said), proposed a type of secession with unity. Tabarnia came from the organisation Barcelona Is Not Catalonia. It was advocating a breakaway region, which corresponds to the one-time County of Barcelona, that would be independent of Catalonia but part of Spain. As such, it was an obvious statement against a Catalonian drive for secession.
The petition went viral and Tabarnia has, over the past fortnight or so, inspired all manner of comment. It has also produced its variants. One of these is Palmarnia. The right wing in Mallorca has latched onto Tabarnia by attacking the secessionist aspirations of certain sections on the left - Més, most obviously. Palmarnia, in essence, would be a reclaiming of Palma from secessionist influences from outside the city - the "part forana" or "fora vila" - which (who) have taken over important institutional roles in the city.
The Palmarnia proposition contains aspects which are quite amusing. Some of the secessionists who landed in Palma have never done so much as run a village bar. This is one criticism. The essentially rural nature of this takeover is defined as having come from Tractorllorca. Well, it made me laugh anyway, even if it does only provide one perspective.
The Tractorllorca that is being referred to is a sort of conservatism of a rural tradition allied to a radicalism of secession, independence, folklore and odd attitudes towards tourism. A different Tractorllorca is also conservative but it takes great issue with, for instance, the environmentalist stance of the very same political class. The "countryside alliance" which protested in Palma last year comprised hunters, farmers and bullfighting supporters. My impression of some of Mallorca's part forana, especially the rural areas, is that it is highly conservative but with absolutely no desire for independence: it is mostly Partido Popular territory.
Likewise, an attack on those now in positions of power and influence in Palma's institutions fails to recognise that - just to take a couple of Més names at random - some of them are from Palma. Antoni Noguera, for instance; Biel Barceló. They were both born in Palma. Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca, was of course born in England. He wasn't thereafter a Palma boy, but he had many years experience as mayor of Esporles, and the general view was that he was a decent mayor.
But the very notion of Palmarnia highlights a Palma-centric arrogance. If there were to be some reclaiming from the clutches of secessionists, then why just Palma? Its institutions, agreed, would determine such a policy, but is it not Mallorca and the Balearics which need saving? To hear what some on the right are suggesting, then it would appear so. Independence as an aspiration isn't confined to Més. The president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, is apparently more radical and more independence-minded than her partners in government, so that includes Més. This, at any rate, is a view coming from the PP and reflects a paranoia of an apparently unstoppable drive towards Balearic independence.
I personally don't believe this for one moment, but the fever of Catalonia has unquestionably been caught in the Balearics, if only by the real promoters of independence - Més (plus organisations such as the Obra Cultural Balear) - and their accusers on or towards the right, such as the PP, the C's and elements in the media.
Més and their ambitions for independence are predicated - electorally - on extremely shaky ground. The reality is that where the current government is concerned, Més in Mallorca and Menorca obtained 15.3% share of the vote. They may well not achieve this in 2019; polls would suggest they will struggle to.
These secessionist influences are nevertheless being foisted onto a public that has no particular desire for them. Més are given their place in the spotlight by a system that rewards less than one sixth of the vote. Ultimately, for any change as dramatic as, say, independence or Brexit, there should really be the demand for a dramatic and qualified majority at the polls: not a bit here or there. Otherwise you end up with what you have: deeply divided societies. And if the Catalonia election can be considered a more accurate reflection than the 1 October referendum, then that is precisely what you have.
Such division is a long way off, if ever taking root in the Balearics. Tractorllorca isn't about to take over. There are too many other tractors.
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 January 2018
Morning high (7.05am): 4.8C
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 10 January - Cloud, sun, 16C; 11 January - Cloud, wind, 15C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 occasionally 5.
Cold first up, should be reasonably sunny and warm later.
Evening update (21.15): Quite nice. High of 17.6C.
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 10 January - Cloud, sun, 16C; 11 January - Cloud, wind, 15C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 occasionally 5.
Cold first up, should be reasonably sunny and warm later.
Evening update (21.15): Quite nice. High of 17.6C.
The Wind Watches The Moon: García Lorca
The road in question bears the name of someone who did not have the associations with Palma or Mallorca that these three did. Yet his name resonates as loudly, not just in Mallorca but across Spain. He was executed in 1936. He was one of so many who lost their lives senselessly. He was a poetic and literary genius. Had he lived, he may well have become one of the iconic names of twentieth-century literature, a global name as well known as a contemporary and a friend, Salvador Dali. As it is, he is iconic enough, as much for the work that he produced as for the pointlessness of his killing. He was Federico García Lorca.
"The moon is dead - it will come back to life in the spring." The moon is often to be found in García Lorca's work. As are gypsies. He really came to prominence with his collection - Gypsy Ballads - in 1928. By then he was part of the Generation 27 of avant-garde artists. Dali was another. He was not of gypsy stock, but he was from Andalusia, land of the Romani and the flamenco. "At the forge the gypsies cry and then scream. The wind watches; the wind watches the moon."
The moon was not to come back to life. Did the gypsies cry and scream when they learned of his death? A month after the outbreak of the Civil War, García Lorca was shot by Nationalists near the village of Alfacar in his native Andalusia. The exact circumstances of his death have never been confirmed. His remains have never been found.
It was only three years ago that a police report from 1965 came to light. It was produced by the police in Granada and it stated that García Lorca was assassinated for having been a socialist and a mason and for having indulged in "homosexual practices". It went on to say that he had been at the home of friends, the Rosales. He had taken refuge there. The house was surrounded by a "large unit of militia and assault troops". He was shot, says the report, in the vicinity of a place known as Fuente Grande and buried in a ravine, somewhere difficult to locate.
The Irish researcher and writer Ian Gibson, an expert on García Lorca, says that the documentation contained errors, that it reflected what was being said in Granada at the time and that it had in fact been referred to by a journalist called Eduardo Molina in a book that was published posthumously in the 1980s, The Last Days Of García Lorca. Molina died in 1979. He was a Falangist.
In an article from just last week in El País, Manuel Vicent tells of encountering a man in a bar in Granada. As he took his wine, this man would ask for forgiveness: "Forgive me, Federico, forgive me." This man was a member of the Rosales family. He was also a Falangist.
García Lorca had Republican and socialist sympathies. His homosexuality, while assumed, was unsubstantiated. Despite this, he had many admirers among those lined up against the Republic: the Falange in particular. It is said that he would regularly dine with the founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who himself was executed by the Republican government three months after García Lorca was shot. In March 1937, a Falangist publication denounced his murder: "The finest poet of Imperial Spain has been assassinated."
Gibson believes that García Lorca's murder was the result of a conflict between two right-wing forces: the Falange and the Confederation of the Autonomous Right. There are other theories, one of them being "family quarrels". As for his remains, it is speculated that his body was exhumed not long after he died. By whom it is not known.
This Saturday at the Palacio de Congresos in Palma, the great Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta will be joined by pianist Rubén Fernández-Aguirre and flamenco dancer Pilar Astola in a tribute to García Lorca.
His moon fell dark at the age of just 38, but another moon will watch from over Palma Bay. And while the wind watches the moon, more than only gypsies will cry.
Monday, January 08, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 January 2018
Morning high (8.25am): 7.3C
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 9 January - Sun, 18C; 10 January - Cloud, 16C; 11 January - Cloud, sun, wind, 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Greyish morning. May be some rain, especially during the morning. Sunny tomorrow.
Evening update (19.45): Another pretty lousy day. Fair bit of rain this morning. High of 12.8C.
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 9 January - Sun, 18C; 10 January - Cloud, 16C; 11 January - Cloud, sun, wind, 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Greyish morning. May be some rain, especially during the morning. Sunny tomorrow.
Evening update (19.45): Another pretty lousy day. Fair bit of rain this morning. High of 12.8C.
Hotels Or Not, There's Still A Tax
The tourist tax, as a fiscal measure to be adopted by zealous governmental authorities, throws up some peculiar situations and anomalies. The concept of the tax is a global one, and the world and its local administration wife seems keen to contemplate its introduction, even under the daftest of circumstances.
Have you heard of Oakland in Oregon? It has a population of under 1,000. It wouldn't go amiss in Mallorca therefore. It would be rather akin to Sant Joan, which does admittedly have a population more than twice the size of Oakland, but then Sant Joan does have something in common with the Oregon village. It doesn't have any hotels. There is something else that they share, and that is a tourist tax.
As far as one can be aware, Sant Joan town hall has never wished for a tourist tax. Had it ever wished for one, it wouldn't have been in its gift to have raised it. Local authority fiscal regulation doesn't permit this. Sant Joan, largely or almost totally indifferent to the notion of a tourist tax, therefore had to wait for the Balearic government to start hovering over what tourist accommodation it has with a demand for (as from this year) two euros per person per night for a holiday rental.
Oakland, on the other hand, is not subject to the same sort of municipal tax-raising restrictions. It has introduced a tourist tax despite not having any hotels and indeed only have one holiday rental property. Mayor Bette Keehley says that it was a case of addressing the issue before having the need to do. Whenever that might be.
As things stand, there is no tax revenue from the holiday rental. That's because there are no specific regulations for Airbnb and its ilk. Oakland therefore has a tax but no one to charge it to. The municipal coffers are being increased by zero.
But at least in Oakland, the town hall has the wherewithal to implement a tax and to keep the revenue. The chances of it being able to from a hotel are, it has to be said, somewhat slim. There are no plans at present for there to be a hotel. Nevertheless, it highlights another peculiarity of the tourist tax, which is that individual municipalities have virtually no say in what happens with the revenue. What little say they do have is uttered on their behalf by their federation, the representation of which on the tax spending committee equates to 6.25%.
It will of course be argued that the tourist-tax-raising largesse of Calvia, Palma and other major tourism municipalities bestows on the likes of Sant Joan funding for improved water works and heritage museums that no one will ever visit. Sant Joan town hall will doubtless be aware of this generosity, but might it not have been the case - when drafting the tourist tax legislation - that some thought could have been given to exemptions?
If it is genuinely the case that the Balearic government and its tourism policy sidekicks at the Council of Mallorca wish to foster tourism in the more unlikely parts of the island, i.e. Sant Joan, then why go and impose a tourist tax? Ok, we get the point that there are no hotels, but there is some tourist accommodation, and there could be more, courtesy of the Council's mad criteria for rental zoning.
Ah but, the government replies, the tourist tax won't affect the type of quality tourism Sant Joan can attract, assuming anyone has ever heard of Sant Joan. True perhaps, but nevertheless why are there any exceptions if Sant Joan is not entitled to be one? You didn't think there were exceptions. Oh yes, there are. Or rather, there is. One fairly substantial one. It's known as Menorca.
The hoteliers federation for Ibiza and Formentera is furious that a last-minute amendment to the budget for 2018 slipped in a bit about a 20% reduction of the tourist tax rate for hotels in Menorca that stay open for more than five months. More than five months!? Well, yes, because it is even harder to keep Menorca open than it is Mallorca or indeed Ibiza (though the hoteliers there say that it is equally as hard to operate for five months). The reduction is thus an acknowledgement of circumstances in Menorca. It is also the consequence of Més in Menorca making demands of the government: Més, the party which in Mallorca was essentially responsible for the tourist tax - for the whole of the Balearics without exception, be it Menorca or Sant Joan.
The unspoken reality of the incentive for Menorca is that the tourist tax can potentially he harmful to tourism. The government will never admit this, but how else does one interpret the reduction? Menorca thus exposes the illogic of the tax, as also - for a different reason - does Sant Joan.
Have you heard of Oakland in Oregon? It has a population of under 1,000. It wouldn't go amiss in Mallorca therefore. It would be rather akin to Sant Joan, which does admittedly have a population more than twice the size of Oakland, but then Sant Joan does have something in common with the Oregon village. It doesn't have any hotels. There is something else that they share, and that is a tourist tax.
As far as one can be aware, Sant Joan town hall has never wished for a tourist tax. Had it ever wished for one, it wouldn't have been in its gift to have raised it. Local authority fiscal regulation doesn't permit this. Sant Joan, largely or almost totally indifferent to the notion of a tourist tax, therefore had to wait for the Balearic government to start hovering over what tourist accommodation it has with a demand for (as from this year) two euros per person per night for a holiday rental.
Oakland, on the other hand, is not subject to the same sort of municipal tax-raising restrictions. It has introduced a tourist tax despite not having any hotels and indeed only have one holiday rental property. Mayor Bette Keehley says that it was a case of addressing the issue before having the need to do. Whenever that might be.
As things stand, there is no tax revenue from the holiday rental. That's because there are no specific regulations for Airbnb and its ilk. Oakland therefore has a tax but no one to charge it to. The municipal coffers are being increased by zero.
But at least in Oakland, the town hall has the wherewithal to implement a tax and to keep the revenue. The chances of it being able to from a hotel are, it has to be said, somewhat slim. There are no plans at present for there to be a hotel. Nevertheless, it highlights another peculiarity of the tourist tax, which is that individual municipalities have virtually no say in what happens with the revenue. What little say they do have is uttered on their behalf by their federation, the representation of which on the tax spending committee equates to 6.25%.
It will of course be argued that the tourist-tax-raising largesse of Calvia, Palma and other major tourism municipalities bestows on the likes of Sant Joan funding for improved water works and heritage museums that no one will ever visit. Sant Joan town hall will doubtless be aware of this generosity, but might it not have been the case - when drafting the tourist tax legislation - that some thought could have been given to exemptions?
If it is genuinely the case that the Balearic government and its tourism policy sidekicks at the Council of Mallorca wish to foster tourism in the more unlikely parts of the island, i.e. Sant Joan, then why go and impose a tourist tax? Ok, we get the point that there are no hotels, but there is some tourist accommodation, and there could be more, courtesy of the Council's mad criteria for rental zoning.
Ah but, the government replies, the tourist tax won't affect the type of quality tourism Sant Joan can attract, assuming anyone has ever heard of Sant Joan. True perhaps, but nevertheless why are there any exceptions if Sant Joan is not entitled to be one? You didn't think there were exceptions. Oh yes, there are. Or rather, there is. One fairly substantial one. It's known as Menorca.
The hoteliers federation for Ibiza and Formentera is furious that a last-minute amendment to the budget for 2018 slipped in a bit about a 20% reduction of the tourist tax rate for hotels in Menorca that stay open for more than five months. More than five months!? Well, yes, because it is even harder to keep Menorca open than it is Mallorca or indeed Ibiza (though the hoteliers there say that it is equally as hard to operate for five months). The reduction is thus an acknowledgement of circumstances in Menorca. It is also the consequence of Més in Menorca making demands of the government: Més, the party which in Mallorca was essentially responsible for the tourist tax - for the whole of the Balearics without exception, be it Menorca or Sant Joan.
The unspoken reality of the incentive for Menorca is that the tourist tax can potentially he harmful to tourism. The government will never admit this, but how else does one interpret the reduction? Menorca thus exposes the illogic of the tax, as also - for a different reason - does Sant Joan.
Sunday, January 07, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 January 2018
Morning high (6.57am): 12.1C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 8 January - Cloud, 15C; 9 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 10 January - Cloud, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 4 to 5 easing 3 by the evening.
Some rain possible this morning. General pattern is mixed for the next few days. Sun mainly forecast for Tuesday. Otherwise cloudy with showers and a bit of snow on the peaks.
Evening update (19.00): Rubbish really. Fair bit of rain, the temperature went down from the morning. High of 10.9C.
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 8 January - Cloud, 15C; 9 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 10 January - Cloud, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 4 to 5 easing 3 by the evening.
Some rain possible this morning. General pattern is mixed for the next few days. Sun mainly forecast for Tuesday. Otherwise cloudy with showers and a bit of snow on the peaks.
Evening update (19.00): Rubbish really. Fair bit of rain, the temperature went down from the morning. High of 10.9C.
The Minder At The Ministry
I didn't know him so much as occasionally stumble into him, though really that should be the other way round, despite a seemingly industrial capacity for holding his drink. There was a pub in Twickenham that I would now and then frequent. It was his local, he having been and remaining Dennis Waterman. On one occasion he was exiting at the same time as I was. He paused and asked - of no one in particular - "anyone seen my Roller?" It would probably have been as well if no one had seen it.
As Terry McCann in Minder, Dennis had his memorable quotes; rather more memorable, one imagines, than the enquiry about the Roller. But it was Arthur Daley (George Cole) on whom Leon Griffiths' script generosity for great lines mostly fell. It was Arthur who pined for the days of honest-to-God, decent, professional thieves. They could no longer be found as they were all living in Spain.
Arthur once let Terry in on his secret as a businessman: "You make contact with your customer, understand their needs, and then flog them something they could well do without.” And why does this come to mind? Well, because it may be the type of advice being issued at the tourism ministry at present. Understand tourists' needs and then present them with what they almost certainly could do without - a winter break when Cyclone Bruno (or any other cyclone) is battering the Balearics. Better in winter, albeit that it was springlike last week.
My guess is that Bel of the Ministry isn't that adept at one-liners. I may be doing her a disservice, but she doesn't give the impression of having landed at the tourism ministry armed with a book of gags. Indeed, when it comes to the imparting of gems of wisdom in an Arthur manner, it may well be that there is a role reversal: it's the Minder who's advising Bel.
We were more or less formally introduced to him during the negotiations over Biel Barceló's successor. Those one-sided negotiations - to ensure Bel was the new Biel - were conducted on the Més side by a trio that someone (not me) referred to as looking like a Bulgarian hit squad. Their opposite numbers from PSOE were Iago of employment and two of the socialist dames - Pilar of the presidency department and Mercedes of the Council (holiday rental zoning and all that). Towering over them was Lluís Apesteguia, who Mercedes will have recognised from the Council. Iago would doubtless have become familiar with him as well. "It's going to be Bel, isn't it." "Er, well, yes." "Good boy."
The reward for Lluis is to now find himself as Bel's Minder, which officially means her chief of staff. A rising star in Més, and a substantial one at that, Lluis' career progression has been assisted by his having gained a degree in classical philology. So, that's at least two philologists in charge of tourism then; Bel's language capabilities we already knew about.
His elevation to Minder status is being interpreted in some quarters as bolstering Bel's bid to lead Més to electoral glory in 2019. His appointment, it is said, gives greater political weight to the tourism ministry, with Bel now given the chance to shine and look forward to becoming the next president of the Balearics. And if she were to be, then what will Lluis' next reward be? As Bel probably wouldn't say: "The world's your lobster, Lluis."
As Terry McCann in Minder, Dennis had his memorable quotes; rather more memorable, one imagines, than the enquiry about the Roller. But it was Arthur Daley (George Cole) on whom Leon Griffiths' script generosity for great lines mostly fell. It was Arthur who pined for the days of honest-to-God, decent, professional thieves. They could no longer be found as they were all living in Spain.
Arthur once let Terry in on his secret as a businessman: "You make contact with your customer, understand their needs, and then flog them something they could well do without.” And why does this come to mind? Well, because it may be the type of advice being issued at the tourism ministry at present. Understand tourists' needs and then present them with what they almost certainly could do without - a winter break when Cyclone Bruno (or any other cyclone) is battering the Balearics. Better in winter, albeit that it was springlike last week.
My guess is that Bel of the Ministry isn't that adept at one-liners. I may be doing her a disservice, but she doesn't give the impression of having landed at the tourism ministry armed with a book of gags. Indeed, when it comes to the imparting of gems of wisdom in an Arthur manner, it may well be that there is a role reversal: it's the Minder who's advising Bel.
We were more or less formally introduced to him during the negotiations over Biel Barceló's successor. Those one-sided negotiations - to ensure Bel was the new Biel - were conducted on the Més side by a trio that someone (not me) referred to as looking like a Bulgarian hit squad. Their opposite numbers from PSOE were Iago of employment and two of the socialist dames - Pilar of the presidency department and Mercedes of the Council (holiday rental zoning and all that). Towering over them was Lluís Apesteguia, who Mercedes will have recognised from the Council. Iago would doubtless have become familiar with him as well. "It's going to be Bel, isn't it." "Er, well, yes." "Good boy."
The reward for Lluis is to now find himself as Bel's Minder, which officially means her chief of staff. A rising star in Més, and a substantial one at that, Lluis' career progression has been assisted by his having gained a degree in classical philology. So, that's at least two philologists in charge of tourism then; Bel's language capabilities we already knew about.
His elevation to Minder status is being interpreted in some quarters as bolstering Bel's bid to lead Més to electoral glory in 2019. His appointment, it is said, gives greater political weight to the tourism ministry, with Bel now given the chance to shine and look forward to becoming the next president of the Balearics. And if she were to be, then what will Lluis' next reward be? As Bel probably wouldn't say: "The world's your lobster, Lluis."
Saturday, January 06, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 January 2018
Morning high (7.39am): 9.6C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 7 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 8 January - Cloud, 16C; 9 January - Cloud, sun, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 4 to 5.
Happy Epiphany, though expect a fairly cloudy one. Rain quite likely tomorrow.
Evening update (19.15): Some sun. Not as warm as it has been.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 7 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 8 January - Cloud, 16C; 9 January - Cloud, sun, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 4 to 5.
Happy Epiphany, though expect a fairly cloudy one. Rain quite likely tomorrow.
Evening update (19.15): Some sun. Not as warm as it has been.
The Nine (Ten) Days Of Sant Antoni
Today is in fact a public holiday, but then, when isn't it? Five in the space of a month; Boxing Day not included. In case you're confused, and you have every reason to be, Boxing Day will be a public holiday this year, even if it wasn't last year. The holidays' list has been published for 2018. Fifteen in all, one of which is the municipality's day-off of choice. One of which? Is it just me or does Alcudia, for example, manage to sneak in two saints' days holidays per annum - Pere and Jaume?
Kings done, and attention now turns to Antoni. Quiet in January? Whoever has suggested that? There's no rest for the wicked, least of all the demonic sorts that are about to take to the streets. Sant Antoni - what a time of the year, what a fiesta, what a diabolic carry-on.
Sa Pobla, being the centre of Mallorca's Antoni universe, has already issued its programme. Nothing like being early, but then there is good reason. Tomorrow is the procession of the "Novenari de Sant Antoni". And this is? Nine days before the main day. Sort of. The day of Sant Antoni is in fact 17 January, so I make that ten. Still, nine days before a fiesta is what the novenari is all about. They used to have a procession for it in former times. In more present times they forgot about it. The procession was revived five years ago. Demons will parade, as will good Saint Anthony himself. Then it's time for "novena" prayers before the "Prohomenia" gather and select the "Clamater". Goodness, what rituals surround Sant Antoni, especially in Sa Pobla.
The Prohomenia, if you are unfamiliar with them, and you probably are, is the committee of wise men who talk over matters Sant Antoni and then move on to choosing the Clamater. This committee comprises the rector of the church, members of the "obreria", the mayor and some councillors. It's just possible therefore that there are some wise women as well nowadays. And while you're asking, the "obreria" is the organisation that looks after works at the church, but in Sant Antoni terms also has a fundamental role. It in effect supplies the manual, the rule book for the fiestas. The demons have in the past fallen foul of the obreria for breaching regulations. Too demonic perhaps.
And the Clamater, I hear you also ask? This is the person (typically, and once more, it is a male) who issues the proclamation of Visca Sant Antoni on Sant Antoni Eve. It's a pretty big deal to be able to show on your CV that you have been a Clamater. Securing the role is a bit like being a Wisden Cricketer of the Year; I believe you can only do it once. Well, it wouldn't be fair for someone to keep doing it; not when you have a total municipal population of getting on for 13,000 to keep happy. I suppose that works out at something like 5,000 men of Clamater age, or 10,000 if you include the women. In fact, the short list is somewhat shorter. The Clamater age does seem to presuppose relatively advanced years and so therefore a personal history of having acclaimed Sant Antoni and wishing him long life, albeit that he died 1,662 years ago. Allegedly.
The "clam" of the Clamater first came about as a response to a bit of a barney involving the Antonian Order in the seventeenth century. There was a risk that Palma would usurp the Sa Pobla Sant Antoni ritual by taking the saint's image away. Sa Pobla won a legal battle and all was well until, that is, 1920. It was thought that the "clam" was somewhat unseemly for a religious service - the Compline of Sant Antoni Eve - so it was dropped. It took them 82 years to get around to restoring it, and tomorrow the latest Clamater will be acclaimed.
Meanwhile, there has been intense effort in coming up with the Sant Antoni posters. As of time of writing, only Muro and Sa Pobla had made their choices. So, reproduced here are the winners - Maria Torrents i Sandberg in Sa Pobla and Jaime Ballester in Muro. The latter, one feels, is more demonic.
Friday, January 05, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 January 2018
Morning high (7.29am): 13.8C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 6 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 7 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 8 January - Rain, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
A sunny day for the day before Epiphany. All fine for this evening.
Evening update (20.15): High of 20.5C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 6 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 7 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 8 January - Rain, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
A sunny day for the day before Epiphany. All fine for this evening.
Evening update (20.15): High of 20.5C.
Blockchain To Tourismphobia In 2018
A new year, and there have of course been any number of predictions for tourism in 2018. Some of these have to do with issues beyond Balearic borders. Brexit is one, although the impact of this (if any) still remains one of speculation. Another is Catalonia. I remain unconvinced that a perception of instability in that region will have any negative impact on the Balearics. I don't see why it should have. Indeed it may even work to the benefit of the Balearics. Rather than "borrowing" tourists from Turkey and wherever, the islands might end up borrowing some from the Costa Brava. And they, at any rate, are used to paying a tourist tax.
Associated themes to do with Catalonia's politics may be more of an issue for the Balearics, which means "tourismphobia". More of that below.
Blockchain
Borders are mainly irrelevant when it comes to technology, and the greatest hype for 2018 concerns the blockchain. This is either the most revolutionary concept to yet be unleashed on these fast-moving technological times - it will create a new "internet of value" - or it is the most overstated.
The blockchain, if you are not familiar with it, is the technological infrastructure which enabled the launch of the bitcoin. In essence, it is a highly encrypted peer-to-peer network that requires the solving of a cryptographic maths problem in order to verify individual changes to data records. In other words, it is virtually impossible to hack.
The reason why it is being spoken about as the next big thing for tourism has to do with, for example, storage of traveller identities, the tracking of assets, such as luggage, and the elimination of overbooking. The blockchain will not attract much attention in the news pages because it isn't holiday rentals, tourismphobia or the price of holidays, but behind the scenes, it might indeed prove to be revolutionary.
Airline industry
Crossing physical borders, there is what is going on in the airline industry. IAG has got its hands on Niki and will make it a subsidiary of Vueling. This should represent additional competition to Lufthansa, which took the lion's share of Air Berlin. But the problems experienced last year suggest that there could be further consolidation in the industry, which in turn hints at higher prices, while the problems may not be over.
The financial weakness of some airlines was sharply exposed in 2017, and a report into airline debt-asset ratios points to a particular concern about Norwegian. Its rapid rise has incurred, it is said, a 55% debt value of its assets. By way of contrast, and for example, easyJet's ratio is only 16%. Ryanair's, by the way, is put at 35%.
EU directive
The European Union, as of 1 January, has a new directive with direct impact on tourism. This is the new Package Travel Directive, which member states now have to transpose into national law (and there's little wriggle room for not doing so). It will actually kick in from 1 July. What this directive boils down to is a way of addressing how holidays are now booked. The old directive was for tour operator packages alone because the idea of packages being put together by consumers (and intermediaries) hadn't, in internet terms, been invented.
To cut to the chase, while the directive is very good news for consumer protection, it may well end up costing consumers more. Sellers, whoever they are (not just tour operators), face possibly greater liabilities if things go wrong with holidays, meaning that they are likely to increase prices in order to cover these potential liabilities.
And just to make clear in a Brexit style, the UK government has all along said that it will transpose the directive, regardless of Brexit.
Tourismphobia
Coming to Balearic specifics, the tourist tax increase came into effect on 1 January, albeit that it won't apply until 1 May because of the freeze of the low-season rate. Will it result in the loss of a million tourists? I very much doubt it, though it would be a surprise were there to be an increase in the number of tourists this year. The recovery of other destinations (about which we hear endlessly and with varying degrees of certainty or uncertainty) and the cost of holidays are two factors which would make an increase surprising.
There are others, and Abta has suggested that anti-tourism "tourismphobia" could well be one. The association hasn't come right out and said that this will mean a drop in bookings, but it has implied as such by saying that protests (not only in Mallorca) represent an inflection point. It adds that around a third of holidaymakers are, in general terms, considering trying a new destination this year.
A point with the tourismphobia here has to do with the politics of Catalonia; I'm pretty convinced of this. Arran, who staged the protest with flares in Palma in July, were said to be under the guidance of the CUP, the extremist pro-independence party in Catalonia. How things pan out in Catalonia - either positively or negatively for the independence movement - may just influence things in the Balearics. The politics of independence, of sovereignty, of nationalism are, it seems to me, closely linked to the anti-tourism sentiment.
A response to this is the attempt to tackle "saturation". Holiday rentals, and the likes of Airbnb in particular, are seen as the principal cause of saturation and therefore of unrest. Some of you will disagree on this, but there is an overwhelming sense that politicians, most of the tourism industry and much of the media (including the specialist tourism media) do agree. Given the Balearic legislation and other measures, such as the Tax Agency's demands to be made of Airbnb and other online agencies, it would be additionally surprising if Balearic tourism were to increase in 2018.
Associated themes to do with Catalonia's politics may be more of an issue for the Balearics, which means "tourismphobia". More of that below.
Blockchain
Borders are mainly irrelevant when it comes to technology, and the greatest hype for 2018 concerns the blockchain. This is either the most revolutionary concept to yet be unleashed on these fast-moving technological times - it will create a new "internet of value" - or it is the most overstated.
The blockchain, if you are not familiar with it, is the technological infrastructure which enabled the launch of the bitcoin. In essence, it is a highly encrypted peer-to-peer network that requires the solving of a cryptographic maths problem in order to verify individual changes to data records. In other words, it is virtually impossible to hack.
The reason why it is being spoken about as the next big thing for tourism has to do with, for example, storage of traveller identities, the tracking of assets, such as luggage, and the elimination of overbooking. The blockchain will not attract much attention in the news pages because it isn't holiday rentals, tourismphobia or the price of holidays, but behind the scenes, it might indeed prove to be revolutionary.
Airline industry
Crossing physical borders, there is what is going on in the airline industry. IAG has got its hands on Niki and will make it a subsidiary of Vueling. This should represent additional competition to Lufthansa, which took the lion's share of Air Berlin. But the problems experienced last year suggest that there could be further consolidation in the industry, which in turn hints at higher prices, while the problems may not be over.
The financial weakness of some airlines was sharply exposed in 2017, and a report into airline debt-asset ratios points to a particular concern about Norwegian. Its rapid rise has incurred, it is said, a 55% debt value of its assets. By way of contrast, and for example, easyJet's ratio is only 16%. Ryanair's, by the way, is put at 35%.
EU directive
The European Union, as of 1 January, has a new directive with direct impact on tourism. This is the new Package Travel Directive, which member states now have to transpose into national law (and there's little wriggle room for not doing so). It will actually kick in from 1 July. What this directive boils down to is a way of addressing how holidays are now booked. The old directive was for tour operator packages alone because the idea of packages being put together by consumers (and intermediaries) hadn't, in internet terms, been invented.
To cut to the chase, while the directive is very good news for consumer protection, it may well end up costing consumers more. Sellers, whoever they are (not just tour operators), face possibly greater liabilities if things go wrong with holidays, meaning that they are likely to increase prices in order to cover these potential liabilities.
And just to make clear in a Brexit style, the UK government has all along said that it will transpose the directive, regardless of Brexit.
Tourismphobia
Coming to Balearic specifics, the tourist tax increase came into effect on 1 January, albeit that it won't apply until 1 May because of the freeze of the low-season rate. Will it result in the loss of a million tourists? I very much doubt it, though it would be a surprise were there to be an increase in the number of tourists this year. The recovery of other destinations (about which we hear endlessly and with varying degrees of certainty or uncertainty) and the cost of holidays are two factors which would make an increase surprising.
There are others, and Abta has suggested that anti-tourism "tourismphobia" could well be one. The association hasn't come right out and said that this will mean a drop in bookings, but it has implied as such by saying that protests (not only in Mallorca) represent an inflection point. It adds that around a third of holidaymakers are, in general terms, considering trying a new destination this year.
A point with the tourismphobia here has to do with the politics of Catalonia; I'm pretty convinced of this. Arran, who staged the protest with flares in Palma in July, were said to be under the guidance of the CUP, the extremist pro-independence party in Catalonia. How things pan out in Catalonia - either positively or negatively for the independence movement - may just influence things in the Balearics. The politics of independence, of sovereignty, of nationalism are, it seems to me, closely linked to the anti-tourism sentiment.
A response to this is the attempt to tackle "saturation". Holiday rentals, and the likes of Airbnb in particular, are seen as the principal cause of saturation and therefore of unrest. Some of you will disagree on this, but there is an overwhelming sense that politicians, most of the tourism industry and much of the media (including the specialist tourism media) do agree. Given the Balearic legislation and other measures, such as the Tax Agency's demands to be made of Airbnb and other online agencies, it would be additionally surprising if Balearic tourism were to increase in 2018.
Thursday, January 04, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 January 2018
Morning high (7.16am): 20.6C
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 5 January - Sun, 19C; 6 January - Cloud, sun, 20C; 7 January - Cloud, sun, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Northwest 4 to 5 occasionally 6.
Ridiculously mild. Very blowy as well. The wind should ease later. Sunny day expected. All looking fine for tomorrow evening.
Evening update (19.15): High of 23.8C.
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 5 January - Sun, 19C; 6 January - Cloud, sun, 20C; 7 January - Cloud, sun, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Northwest 4 to 5 occasionally 6.
Ridiculously mild. Very blowy as well. The wind should ease later. Sunny day expected. All looking fine for tomorrow evening.
Evening update (19.15): High of 23.8C.
Some Of What They Said In 2017
Environmentalists Terraferida on tourism: "Not setting a clear ceiling on places and leaving the door open to increasing the number of places represents a tourism policy of 'massification', which neglects the limits of natural resources, infrastructures, the true carrying capacities of the land, the well-being of the resident population and the satisfaction of visitors."
Laura Camargo of Podemos, indignant at Aena’s plans to have planes landing every 45 seconds at Palma airport. "We have been talking about the dangers of this tourism bubble for years. We don’t want to simply be a colony of hotels, and that is exactly what Aena is planning on transforming the island into."
"An example of a German air of superiority," Inma Benito, president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation. "A tourism dinosaur," Antoni Horrach, the director-general of HM Hotels. Both were attacking Tui over statements that German families, despite the terrorism problems, would opt for Egypt rather than Mallorca.
Biel Barceló: "We cannot grow more in the summer. For this reason we have to devote our efforts to shifting tourism from the summer to the winter."
"We are going crazy looking for places. In the end, they are forced into sharing a place between three or four, if they can find it." Police union leader on the problems of accommodation in Mallorca.
Álvaro Gijón of the PP on the holiday rentals legislation: "There is absolute confusion. It depends on the day and who speaks. Looking at what is in the new legislation, one doesn't know what the government intends doing."
"The holiday rentals law is a Frankenstein. It cannot stay as it is." Biel Barceló after Podemos had amended the legislation.
The Mallorca Farmers Union on national government flood aid: "It's having a laugh."
Alberto Jarabo of Podemos on suggestions that Baltasar Picornell's background as a metalworker wasn't suitable for a speaker of the Balearic parliament: "I believe that this is a very dignified profession for a president of parliament."
Albert Rivera, president of Ciudadanos, on the Nóos trial verdicts: "I hope that in this country, whether you are Urdangarin or Matas, justice acts the same for all. We have endured years during which corruption has taken its toll, and now is the time to clean up the wounds of that corruption."
"Thief." "Return the money." Cries when Iñaki Urdangarin arrived at court to hear he could remain at liberty without standing bail.
David Abril of Més: "We criticised the Nóos trial ruling because the princess was inexplicably freed from her responsibilities. Now there is also confirmation that her husband benefits from this favourable treatment."
Pedro Horrach, anti-corruption prosecutor, on the stresses of the job in Mallorca: "The pressure is intensified in small regions such as the Balearics. It shows up very much more; you have to learn to live with it."
"It is totally false. I do not know Sr. Cursach. I have never sat down with him, and no one from the Cursach group has ever come to me in order to ask for something. I have done absolutely nothing to benefit the Cursach group." Former Palma deputy mayor Álvaro Gijón on allegations.
José María Rodríguez, the ex-president of the Partido Popular in Palma, on similar allegations related to the Cursach case: "I have never ever been to a brothel ... and I have never taken drugs."
"This is Syria and there are going to be shots. If I were you, I'd go." What Pepe Tirado of the Acotur tourist businesses association was alleged to have said to a witness who had complained to Tirado about harassment by Grupo Cursach. (Tirado was arrested and later released.)
"It is a campaign by a dangerous criminal organisation aimed at exhausting us physically and psychologically." Judge Manuel Penalva on the pressures of the Cursach and police corruption investigations.
Ruth Mateu, the minister for transparency, who resigned over the Més contracts affair: "I am ultimately responsible for the department and I cannot avoid accepting responsibilities."
"So long as the investigation goes on, he will be in the spotlight, and that is not good for the government's image." Alberto Jarabo insisting that Biel Barceló should resign over the Més contracts affair.
"Many words, many suspicions, but you have no proof of anything you have said." Biel Barceló responding to Antonio Gómez of the PP on the contracts affair.
"They knew what they were doing. Killing people, killing rights, killing liberties, killing the country." Campaigner Margalida Gelabert referring to the actions of Nationalists during the Civil War.
"Eighty years on, Palma will once more have a Republican mayor." Antoni Noguera of Més on succeeding José Hila (PSOE).
"An open-air disco with music at full blast, high consumption of alcohol and totally unruly behaviour." Més at Capdepera town hall on young German tourists in Cala Ratjada.
Alfonso Rodríguez, the mayor of Calvia: "We cannot have tourists who are provided with alcohol, be it free or cheap, for a seventeen-hour period and who are then totally drunk on the streets."
"I did not appreciate the impact it would have. That was my mistake. I had become an easy target for the opposition." Biel Barceló on his resignation.
Laura Camargo of Podemos, indignant at Aena’s plans to have planes landing every 45 seconds at Palma airport. "We have been talking about the dangers of this tourism bubble for years. We don’t want to simply be a colony of hotels, and that is exactly what Aena is planning on transforming the island into."
"An example of a German air of superiority," Inma Benito, president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation. "A tourism dinosaur," Antoni Horrach, the director-general of HM Hotels. Both were attacking Tui over statements that German families, despite the terrorism problems, would opt for Egypt rather than Mallorca.
Biel Barceló: "We cannot grow more in the summer. For this reason we have to devote our efforts to shifting tourism from the summer to the winter."
"We are going crazy looking for places. In the end, they are forced into sharing a place between three or four, if they can find it." Police union leader on the problems of accommodation in Mallorca.
Álvaro Gijón of the PP on the holiday rentals legislation: "There is absolute confusion. It depends on the day and who speaks. Looking at what is in the new legislation, one doesn't know what the government intends doing."
"The holiday rentals law is a Frankenstein. It cannot stay as it is." Biel Barceló after Podemos had amended the legislation.
The Mallorca Farmers Union on national government flood aid: "It's having a laugh."
Alberto Jarabo of Podemos on suggestions that Baltasar Picornell's background as a metalworker wasn't suitable for a speaker of the Balearic parliament: "I believe that this is a very dignified profession for a president of parliament."
Albert Rivera, president of Ciudadanos, on the Nóos trial verdicts: "I hope that in this country, whether you are Urdangarin or Matas, justice acts the same for all. We have endured years during which corruption has taken its toll, and now is the time to clean up the wounds of that corruption."
"Thief." "Return the money." Cries when Iñaki Urdangarin arrived at court to hear he could remain at liberty without standing bail.
David Abril of Més: "We criticised the Nóos trial ruling because the princess was inexplicably freed from her responsibilities. Now there is also confirmation that her husband benefits from this favourable treatment."
Pedro Horrach, anti-corruption prosecutor, on the stresses of the job in Mallorca: "The pressure is intensified in small regions such as the Balearics. It shows up very much more; you have to learn to live with it."
"It is totally false. I do not know Sr. Cursach. I have never sat down with him, and no one from the Cursach group has ever come to me in order to ask for something. I have done absolutely nothing to benefit the Cursach group." Former Palma deputy mayor Álvaro Gijón on allegations.
José María Rodríguez, the ex-president of the Partido Popular in Palma, on similar allegations related to the Cursach case: "I have never ever been to a brothel ... and I have never taken drugs."
"This is Syria and there are going to be shots. If I were you, I'd go." What Pepe Tirado of the Acotur tourist businesses association was alleged to have said to a witness who had complained to Tirado about harassment by Grupo Cursach. (Tirado was arrested and later released.)
"It is a campaign by a dangerous criminal organisation aimed at exhausting us physically and psychologically." Judge Manuel Penalva on the pressures of the Cursach and police corruption investigations.
Ruth Mateu, the minister for transparency, who resigned over the Més contracts affair: "I am ultimately responsible for the department and I cannot avoid accepting responsibilities."
"So long as the investigation goes on, he will be in the spotlight, and that is not good for the government's image." Alberto Jarabo insisting that Biel Barceló should resign over the Més contracts affair.
"Many words, many suspicions, but you have no proof of anything you have said." Biel Barceló responding to Antonio Gómez of the PP on the contracts affair.
"They knew what they were doing. Killing people, killing rights, killing liberties, killing the country." Campaigner Margalida Gelabert referring to the actions of Nationalists during the Civil War.
"Eighty years on, Palma will once more have a Republican mayor." Antoni Noguera of Més on succeeding José Hila (PSOE).
"An open-air disco with music at full blast, high consumption of alcohol and totally unruly behaviour." Més at Capdepera town hall on young German tourists in Cala Ratjada.
Alfonso Rodríguez, the mayor of Calvia: "We cannot have tourists who are provided with alcohol, be it free or cheap, for a seventeen-hour period and who are then totally drunk on the streets."
"I did not appreciate the impact it would have. That was my mistake. I had become an easy target for the opposition." Biel Barceló on his resignation.
Wednesday, January 03, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 January 2018
Morning high (7.37am): 17.9C
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 4 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 5 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 6 January - Cloud, sun, 21C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Very mild once more. Stiff westerly breeze today, but sunny.
Evening update (19.30): Well, fairly warm - high of 23.3C.
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 4 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 5 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 6 January - Cloud, sun, 21C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Very mild once more. Stiff westerly breeze today, but sunny.
Evening update (19.30): Well, fairly warm - high of 23.3C.
By The Grace Of Grace: Quely
What does a glass factory have to do with biscuits? Very little as it happens, other than proximity. The Menestralia building can be seen from the motorway. It is reached by taking the Campanet and Buger exit. Next to it is a large unit (an old leather emporium) that has been unused for years. It is now being put to use, and the user is the company that is synonymous with biscuits in a Mallorcan style: Quely.
The story is of course told that the name came from Grace Kelly. Quely, Kelly. I don't know that it was a pronunciation issue - there are, after all, Las Kellys, the hotel chambermaid collective, who pose little problem for the Mallorcan or Spanish tongue - more the case of etymological transformation, and one perhaps with a gag. Qué es Quely (o Kelly)? Also, well, Kelly would have seemed a bit odd to your everyday Mallorcan in pre-supermarket days.
It was the mid-1950s - 1956 to be precise. Grace Kelly had married Prince Rainier of Monaco in April of that year. They came to Mallorca on honeymoon. They stayed at the Hotel Formentor. A businessman from Inca happened to be at the hotel for a party that was thrown by the newly-weds. He was one of the Domenech boys, son of Jaume, who first had the idea for biscuit manufacturing before the Civil War. The actress captivated him, and there was the spark of that biscuit creativity which had been passed down the centuries. Rights were acquired - Grace herself was said to have helped - and the spelling was changed. Quely was born.
It is perhaps odd that, on its website, Quely doesn't mention Grace Kelly in its history of the company. The explanation given is that the brand name appeared in the 1960s and that it came about "by chance" after a failure to register what was intended to have been the name: Cor de Mallorca (Heart of Mallorca). Apparently, there was a problem with registering a name that was in Mallorquí (or Catalan), so Madrid said no.
Although Cor de Mallorca might have been more, shall we say, patriotic in a local way, it didn't really have much of a ring to it. Quely can probably be grateful to the Franco administration in this regard. How would there ever have been bags of Quelitas, if Cor de Mallorca had won out? Coritas perhaps.
To go right back to the beginning, and so before Jaume had his idea for a biscuit factory, there had been a bakery and oven in Inca called Ca'n Guixe. It was around from 1853. This most modest of origins is a long way from the unit next to Menestralia, though the unit itself (let's call it a warehouse or logistics centre) isn't that far from Inca: it's just a bit along the motorway in fact.
Around ten years ago, Quely took a big leap into the export market. The leap has proved to be very successful. There are Quely biscuits in at least thirty countries. The first move, strangely maybe, was into Hong Kong. Australia, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius; these followed. Germany and China are among new markets. So with all this export activity, Quely has needed a new logistics centre. Well you would, if you go from exporting some 180,000 packets of biscuits to seven million in the space of eight years.
Quely is quite clearly a Mallorcan success story, and it is a success that owes virtually nothing to tourism. Unlike, for example, Mallorcan wine and olive oil, for which there have been strong efforts to market to tourists as a means of promoting export sales, Quely's biscuits have gone down an alternative route. I mean, how often do you bump into tourists from Hong Kong or Saudi Arabia in Mallorca?
Moreover, its success isn't based on an overdose of creative biscuit packaging. Quely comes in a bag. There aren't the foil wrapper trimmings or anything like that. There is, even for an industrial operation, a sense of the artisan about the product. And it is one that has cornered the market. There was a rival attempt - a Ros d'Or brand biscuit that used Rafa Nadal as its advertising face. It sank, and Nadal ended up being a Quely ambassador instead.
So let's hear it for Quely. By the grace of Grace Kelly.
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