Live This Life Of Luxury

Hardly a day goes by, it seems, without some golf story emerging from the 19th hole to strike a long iron shot of publicity. The column inches devoted to golf, and the discussion that surrounds it (including, I guess, my own on this blog), is out of all proportion to the importance of the sport to Mallorca, albeit that the tourism authorities would have us believe otherwise. The latest move, reported by the "Majorca Daily Bulletin", is that the hotel at and development of the Pollensa golf course are set to go ahead; it's been a long time in the offing and the teeing-off.

Barnard Hamilton are due to create a 100-room luxury hotel and to add the nine holes needed to make a proper golf course, i.e. one with 18 holes. It's no big news that they are, as it has been known about for a while, and there is, as yet, no date for work to start. Into all this, step forward, no doubt, the likes of GOB who, even as it is being reported, will be hunting around for obscure species of flora and fauna in an attempt to try and scupper it. As in Muro, there is a UM (Unió Mallorquina) mayor with whom GOB can stage a battle; the party and the enviros are at constant loggerheads over golf developments. And mention of Muro makes the projected golf development on the Son Bosc finca even more questionable, in light, that is, of the fact that Pollensa will become an 18-hole course. Setting aside the environmental objections to the Muro course, I ask again, is that course truly necessary when there are two in neighbouring towns.

For Pollensa, the development would represent a further notch in the belt of the exclusive end of the tourism market. There is already a luxury hotel, just down the road from the golf course - Son Brull. To have two in such close proximity might sound greedy, and one wonders whether, rather than increasing the market, they might spread it more thinly. Whatever. For the mayor, the course and hotel would represent further evidence of that wretched term "quality tourism", for which read elitist and rich. For the UM, though, this is all part of their make-up; the party's matriarch Munar once admitted that Mallorca only wanted wealthy tourists. The problem is that relatively small hotels, even ones with well-minted guests, do not necessarily mean that huge amounts of wonga will be splashed around in local bars and restaurants. There will be some, for sure; the quality might be good, but the quantity won't be. But let's not gripe. It's better to have it than to not.

The difference between the plans for Pollensa and those for Muro are clear. There is already a course in existence in Pollensa. The development was originally conceived when it was first created some 20 years ago. So, although there will probably be voices raised against, the grounds for objection would be largely spurious. In truth, it should kill, were there any sense, the Muro course dead in its bulldozer tracks. I am reminded of something from back in April when it was said that Mallorca was close to golf saturation point. By all means let's have a full golf course in Pollensa, together with a fine hotel, but don't then let's have one by Playa de Muro that no-one will need.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - All Saints (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCc4eLOZCw4). Today's title - line from a song by one of the great '60s British groups.

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