We Fade To Grey

So was that it then? The season. Where did it go?

"The first day of summer. What a difference in terms of evocativeness there is between two adjectives - first and last. The former, the first, is optimism, excitement, the new."

That was back on 1 May. Where did all that optimism go? Was it excitement, or was it trepidation? Was it really new or just the same routine of hope and pray? Whatever it was, it's gone. Ended. Over. That was the season, and not everyone will be mourning its passing, though there will be foreboding as to the winter that starts today.

In keeping with the change of the tourism seasons, I started to feel increasingly cold yesterday. I was sitting on the terrace of the Hotel Uyal in Puerto Pollensa. The wind, though with nothing like the ferocity of the past days, was chilly when it picked up. I was there for some three hours, a long chat, a long chat with two of the movers behind that association I mentioned the other day - Asociación de Britanicos Irlandeses Residentes Empresarios y Trabajadores en las Baleares. Jim and Ray had come up from Santa Ponsa. Jim, who's Scottish, remarked that the bay reminded him of Scotland. A loch perhaps; I don't know, I've never seen one. But the rather misty silverness of the sky mingling with the calm grey sea with the backdrop of the hills to either side, partly shrouded by the intermediacy between black and white of cloud, might well be reminiscent. Maybe that's why so many Scots go to Puerto Pollensa.

Inevitably we got round to talking about the winter. It's probably worse in Santa Ponsa than it is in Alcúdia or Pollensa. Some places had shut back in September. Looking for ways of boosting all tourism, but especially that in winter, is one of the aims of the association. Talk to TUI, talk to Thomas Cook. Maybe. Tour operators are not necessarily known for their altruism. They would need a reason, and that probably has to be given to them via a bottom-up approach as I mentioned previously. Otherwise, the likes of TUI have got the Canaries and Egypt and further afield to fill their winter brochures. Mallorca's slow death in winter is in inverse proportion to the expansion of other destinations over the years. The tour operators follow the sun, just like the tourists do. There is no altruism. Were there to be, then they might stop offering all-inclusives in Alcúdia. But then they'd say they're being sort of altruistic in keeping the customer satisfied. They can't satisfy everyone, only themselves.

But there's sense in trying. Amidst all the moans of winter, who does anything? There will be plenty who feel it - the association - is just a waste of time. Someone's got to give it a go though. I'm not sure how many trust the local tourist authorities to rouse themselves other than to bang on about such things as golf courses when there are plenty of those elsewhere. Golf is follow-me competition. It is hardly a strong selling point.

I say to Jim and Ray that one problem is the very notion of an "association". There is a reason for it being called so, and that's to do with how the Spanish define and name things. Association it is, by association and by incorporation. There are those who would run a mile from anything tagged with the word, like I normally would. Maybe it should have a nickname so no one will notice. Call it "Reggie" or "Ronnie" or something; though maybe not both of them together.

There have to be benefits, I go on. Clear benefits. People want to know what's in it for them. Bar owners and others are not necessarily altruistic when it comes to also paying the rent and the suppliers, nor might they dip into their pockets for a membership fee without knowing that there's a potential return. So there will be a benefit statement, and then some ideas to be pursued via a website as well as a sporting angle - rugby, football, bowls, all on the agenda, and not just as a social thing, but from a tourism perspective. Everything's open to suggestion. And I remember Juan, who's involved with the Alcúdia rugby club, and his notion of rugby tourism. They're playing Menorca today. Maybe I should get along.

The association is potentially a good idea, notwithstanding some also potential drawbacks that have been expressed to me, and which I have outlined above. There is also great scope in terms of its objectives. And maybe there will be some real action. There is a recognition that the whingeing and just talking have to stop. It could be an interesting ride.

Here is a link for information about the association - http://theassociation.club.officelive.com


MEANWHILE ... POLLENSA TOWN HALL
So while the mere mortals are adjusting to the change of the season, the town hall (reported in "The Diario") has been having a meeting and turning down the motion against the pedestrianisation scheme which had been backed by a petition of some one thousand signatures. Mayor Cerdà says that there will be a new plan for "mobility" that will be based on "general consensus", by which one presumes he means widespread consultation. He also defended the pedestrianisation scheme by reference to a report from the local police which concluded that the scheme was "viable". I suppose the question is whether the police have come up with this report since the pedestrianisation trial was implemented or whether it came before. And on another matter - the camino de Ternelles in Pollensa - the mayor has promised that he will sign an order to have it opened to the public ... eventually.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Madonna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb8akXtOCaI). Today's title - probably the defining new romantics song.

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