Do You Know The Way To ...?

I ought to invoice Alcúdia town hall. Not that it would get me very far. Like it would not get bars and shops and the rest very far. There are the official tourist information offices and then there are the unofficial ones. I say Alcúdia, rather than Pollensa or Santa Margalida (Can Picafort), because I tend to be in Alcúdia more, and there is also the question of the "uniform", the one I have for Alcúdia and haven't quite got round to replicating for the other centres. Though there have been some comments about the red trim on the shorts, the "uniform" is basically yellow and black. My upper body stands out like a beacon with the black of www.thealcudiaguide.com shouting at passers-by from my back. I am outdoor advertising. I am advertising in motion, except when I am sitting down, which is as often as I can make it given the heat.

But this all comes at a price, in the sense that the uniform attracts questions. "Excuse me, can you tell me where ...?" The oddest, thus far, was the lady at the Viva Sunrise who wanted some help for her little girl whose henna tattoo had gone a bit awry. I am mobile medical advice as well.

I am though just one of many who dispense tourist information. In certain cases, it is probably as well. Take Can Picafort. The tourist information office is located in a sort of no-tourist's land between the main part of Can Pic and Son Bauló. You could be forgiven for not noticing it as it looks like it's the Guardia Civil, which is the next door. The office in the old town of Alcúdia doesn't necessarily stand out either. People find it eventually, but often having been into the town hall in a fruitless search. Life will be easier, one assumes, if the Can Ramis thing ever finally gets built by the market square as that is where the tourist office will be located.

The paseo (promenade) offices are the most prominent, and Puerto Pollensa's takes the accolade for most tourist-friendly in that not only is it perfectly located next to the bus stop and taxis it also allows for browsing, which the one in Puerto Alcúdia does not. It used to be browsable, but now the back door remains firmly off-limits. I don't really know why.

What one can't fault, at least in my experience when I have witnessed tourist-office encounters, is the help. Playa de Muro's is a good case in point. Cati is supremely attentive, and I say this without suggesting the other offices are not. And it's not the case that this office is not particularly busy; it does, after all, double as Muro town hall's sub-office. And then there are the offices who if they can't give an answer, look to find out, which is where my unofficial role comes in again. Puerto Alcúdia's Mile office has been known to ring my mobile in search of such-and-such a place.

To return to bars and hotels and the like though, they play a far from insignificant tourist-information role. It would make an interesting survey to find out what sources tourists use, when in situ on holiday here, to get information. The tourist-information offices keep statistics on their traffic, and categorise this by nationality. If the numbers are not looking that high, this might be construed as being a reflection of lack of tourists or lack of interest. But perhaps it means that the local bar is doing the job just as effectively. Which brings me to what the unofficial sources get to aid their unofficial tourist-information roles. Not a lot, from the town halls at any rate, if Alcúdia is typical. Take maps, the town hall's maps of the town. I quite understand that these are copyright and that they cost money to print, but is there not some way that bars etc. can have them without having to pay for them? Because that is the situation. And yet these bars and others are regularly fielding questions of the where is and do you know the way varieties.


Some sad news. Those who know Bar Bamboo in Puerto Alcúdia from the past will also know Eric Mercer. He has passed away. I know there are people who have been very grateful to Eric in the past for his help and that he will be sadly missed. Deepest sympathies go to Angela.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Helen Shapiro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtybZggplNY). Today's title - the place name's missing, but who was this? Been here not so long ago.

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