Pick Up The Pieces

He was an elderly gentleman. He couldn't move very quickly. He was shouting after a portly man in a green top and red shorts. His wife came out of the supermarket. She looked at me. Her husband had a heart condition. He had been pickpocketed.

I drove down the side road by Eroski and pulled the car up in front of green top. A very large English tourist was making his way down the road as well. Eventually the elderly gentleman arrived as well. Green top turned his pockets out. Nothing. The elderly gentleman was convinced. I was threatening a call to the police, but it would have been a waste of time. There was nothing. Maybe it was a mistake. I apologised to green top. He apologised. I'm not quite sure why; probably as he didn't actually have the missing wallet. Perhaps he had slipped it to an accomplice. Or it was just a mistake.

It had happened in the Eroski store, the same one out front of which had occurred the pickpocketing by a carnation seller that I spoke about back in March. The very large English tourist commented that you don't expect this sort of thing to happen here. Unfortunately, you do, or should. And so the elderly gentleman with the heart condition went back to the Platja D'Or to report his cards missing, his money gone, his hotel key also gone; at least they could issue him with a re-programmed one.

Then this morning. Playa de Muro's municipal buiilding. There are several people sitting and waiting to see the Guardia. A rep is with one old couple and she is talking with one of the staff at reception, explaining what has been taken; the receptionist says she will help to file the statement with the Guardia.

Petty crime. And it can ruin a holiday. Get your pocket picked, and you are left to try and pick up the pieces of not only what has been stolen but also the shock of its occurrence and the negativity of the experience. It can stain one's attitude to a place. It can happen anywhere, but one just worries that there is more of it about, and that it might increase. The UK Home Office has predicted a rise in property crime as recession bites. There's no reason to think it will be any different here.


OPEN-WATER SWIMMING
This Saturday (6 September) will see the latest annual "Travessa-Xtreme", the open-water swimming race from Formentor beach to the San Pedro cove in Mal Pas, a 7 kilometre dash and splash of foam, arms and legs across the bay of Pollensa, except of course it is no dash - it takes nearly two hours for Olympic swimmers to do the 10 kilometre race. It is a popular event, one about which enquiries are made to the websites from the UK. At its competitive level, the Travessa reflects the interest in the Olympics open-water swimming, which proved to be a surprisingly engrossing spectator event, not least because of the heroics of Natalie du Toit and Maarten van der Weijden. At a recreational level, open-water swimming is becoming an increasingly popular active form of holiday, but not, as far as I am aware, in Mallorca. Maybe someone can put me right on that. It could be that open waters around the island can just be too turbulent, no more so than in Pollensa bay. For the competitive swimmer, an aggressive freestyle in the swirl may be a challenge; less so perhaps for the recreational swimmer bobbing along gently with a girly breaststroke.

More information about the swim is to be found on the WHAT'S ON BLOG. Note that there is also a swim on 20 September.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Banderas, "This Is Your Life" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rcLLa5mPvU). Today's title - instrumental plus this line: easy.

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