The End Is The Beginning ...

And once more with feeling ... the pedestrianisation in Puerto Pollensa. Perhaps there is one political group that the Gotmar radicals could seek ballot-box redemption from - Esquerra Unida-Els Verds (a Catalan socialist-greens amalgam; "esquerra" is Catalan for "left"). Sounds a bit unlikely for the villa folk of the urbanisation, but needs and interests must - maybe. Anyway, the EU-EV agitators have called for an "immediate paralysation" of the pedestrianisation scheme, as reported in the "Diario". Am I alone in thinking that any political group with the word "green" anywhere near it would rather the road was closed? Whatever, they point, among other things, to the loss of business for traders affected by the road closure, one of these being the chemists which faces the possibility of having to lay off staff. That would be understandable. It was the case that one could just pull up outside the chemists; it was very convenient, but not now it isn't.

What seems to have been lacking in this whole saga is an unequivocal statement as to precisely the objective of the pedestrianisation. It has been couched in terms of ridding the front line of noise and of promoting a better image and so on, but who is it really intended for? Are tourism concerns the priority - that image thing?

It's impossible to get away from the conclusion that the prime reason is the justification of the new bypass road. That the pedestrianisation was mooted ages ago does not pacify those who, now that it has come to pass (or not, as it were), object to it. The tourism-image angle is really just spin. It's also impossible to escape the conclusion that the town hall has handled the whole affair in a hopeless fashion. Seemingly it failed to consult, and then when it did, did not consult widely enough. It has successfully managed to ostracise the already disaffected communities of Gotmar and Pinaret and to antagonise some business interests. And for what? Were tourists demanding pedestrianisation? I somewhat doubt it. And even now I suspect tourists are more concerned with dog shit on the pavements and the price of a pint of Mahou. That the issue has created so much controversy, that it has led to so many column inches, not least here on this blog, that it has brought the threat of legal action all merely emphasise the fact that it has divided opinion and that the town hall has made a pig's ear of it. At heart, it is a rather silly, small local matter, but silly, small, local matters matter to many people.

The town hall is being criticised from all sides at present. The opposition Partido Popular recently demanded some answers in respect of what is happening about the La Gola park and the public swimming-pool, the latter which has been open and then not, has had its roof on the wrong way round and has generally been another cause célèbre of apparent incompetence. Yet amidst this non-resolution, the town hall goes and picks a fight with residents and business over something of questionable importance and which will cost money, that the town hall doesn't have, to make permanent. One does begin to understand why a local residents association might make an election pact with a party that might give the ruling body a bloody nose.


REAL MALLORCA - THE END
Another story that has been followed here for what seems an age does, finally, seem to have drawn to a close. The judge presiding over the affairs of Real Mallorca's owner, Vicente Grande, has given the green light to the takeover by Paul Davidson. It's not totally the end in that Davidson has now to pay, but after all the haggling and the possibilities of other buyers, the club is now British-owned. So we can all feel very proud of that I suppose. And yet, do we?

"The Bulletin" celebrated the judge's decision with an eight-page special; it is doubtful that it would have done so had the new owner been anything other than British. Is the local expat really that bothered? For the most part, I would question it. Which is not to say that the story shouldn't have been covered; it has been and will be interesting, and the profile of the team will have been raised in the eyes of the expat. It has been a godsend to an English newspaper. But this English/British angle has made its coverage rather one-dimensional; the nationality thing has been THE story, the rest largely by the by. Yet the rest is far from inconsequential. That rest includes, apart from the obvious of the team's development and performance, the extent to which Paul Davidson can win over the local fans and opinion against a foreign owner and the strategy surrounding the club's purchase, which I went into the other day (7 October: Match Of The Day). For example, Mr. Davidson wants to increase the numbers of British and German fans coming to matches. All well and good, but how does that play with the Mallorcans?

While opposition to the takeover has been referred to and the strategy mentioned in passing, the essential Anglo-centricity of the story has glossed over these aspects. The paper itself featured a letter expressing concern as to the planned plastics recycling plant, but this has not been followed up. The strategy has not been scrutinised, simply mentioned as a mark of Mallorca's attraction to a British investor. It is one thing to hear and present Paul Davidson's own views, and in this regard the paper has acted in a sort of unofficial PR capacity. But it is quite another to analyse what he's about. The story hasn't really begun.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "Ball Of Confusion", The Temptations (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BJOXopGW8g). Today's title - "... Is The End"; American rock outfit; Halloween's on its way.

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