The Alcudia Pollensa Blogspot's Review of 2008

Rather later than I had anticipated, owing to unforeseen circumstances (see yesterday), here is ...

A YEAR IN BLOGGING - 2008

This is the blog's review of 2008, a year that was to become characterised and dominated by economic crisis. The property market and construction industry took a hammering, while tourism - if floundering in some sectors and some resorts - just about kept the economy ticking over. It was a year also of scandals involving politicians, controversies surrounding the planned rail extension to Alcúdia and the pedestrianisation of the front line in Puerto Pollensa. It was a year of poor weather during the first weeks of the season and of disastrous rains in December, which were a factor in the tragic deaths of workers at a hotel in Cala Ratjada. Spain became European football champions and a British businessman known as "The Plumber" seemed to be the salvation for Real Mallorca football club. Alcúdia town hall had some big ideas for the beach, but not everyone knew about them, including the tourist information staff. And the blog made famous a youtube act from Derby.


January
The year started with some anxiety. The main tour operators announced cuts in capacity, just as they have already for 2009. But people still came, and somehow they found the extra beds. Don't believe it's all gloom when the tour operators talk of capacity cuts. They'll get it back if there is demand. (5 January: There May Be Trouble Ahead).

It's all in the water. And it was what was in the water that was the issue, together with lousy communication. Playa de Muro had a nitrates problem. (6 January: Tap Turns On The Water).

The British Consul was in discussion with the president of the Balearic Government, Francesc Antich, as to how short-break and winter tourism could be improved. Why would a British Government representative be looking to assist tourism to somewhere that wasn't Britain? (9 January: Our Man In Palma).

Estate agencies were closing down all over the place. There were way too many of them and way too little movement in the market to sustain them. (18 January: A Taste Of Honey).


February
A twentieth anniversary had been celebrated on 28 January - twenty years since Albufera had been declared a protected nature park. (3 February: In A Silent Way).

The strange Son Serra de Marina was the subject of a political attack by the opposition in the town hall of Santa Margalida. Local services were poor or almost non-existent and poor policing had led to numerous burglaries. (4 February: In The Middle Of Nowhere).

Plans were afoot to turn the Lago Esperanza (the big lake in Puerto Alcúdia) into a centre for canoeing. (11 February: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating).

Once more, there was an announcement of a crackdown on illegal holiday lets, with the internet to be a key source for inspectors hunting down such accommodation. (18 February: Your Private Chancer).

The tourist authorities do some very odd things. The Spanish National Tourist Board came up with a definition of the tourist that ... well, basically covered everyone. Extraordinary. (26 February: We Were One).

Pickpocketing. Pickpocketing and the carnation bearers. And I was too slow off the mark to stop it happening. (29 February: Pick A Pocket Or Two).


March
The Spanish national election returned Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for a second term. Personally, I thought it was a result. But then, what do I know? (10 March: And The Winner Is ...).

Alcúdia town hall announced that there would be a WiFi zone and other new treats on the beach, including a so-called chill-out area. Unfortunately, no-one much noticed. (11 March: Beach Baby Beach).

Impropriety of different types was never far from the surface. A Palma councillor used public money for his own ends (or should that be "end"?) - much of it with rent boys. (16 March: It's A Scandal).

And word came that sex tourism in the Balearics was worth up to 400 million euros a year. (23 March: Life For Rent).


April
Michael Winner was one of the guests at Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 60th birthday do in Deía. The superbly and hilariously obnoxious Winner was for once gracious; he declared that Mallorca was "foodie heaven". (8 April: Gives A Meal Man Appeal).

Golf was often in the spotlight. "The Bulletin" revealed that Mallorca was close to golf-saturation point, while the actual number of registered players was lower than in other parts of Spain. And they wanted to build more courses? (8 April: Gives A Meal Man Appeal).

The latest tourist craze was about to take off and about to knock people off the streets of Alcúdia. Segways had arrived. (13 April: I Did It Seg Way).

Puerto Pollensa was regularly under the microscope. But I had never realised how much it was seen as a potential drawback for children and their futures. (17 April: Wonderland).

The new parking area in Puerto Pollensa was opened. Not that it helped to alleviate the town's parking problems and was later criticised for getting flooded and having poor access. (26 April: Put Up A Parking Lot).

The Can Ramis re-development in Alcúdia town ground to a halt because the builders went bust, and there was a slight problem with the town hall and its budgeting for the project. (28 April: Can The Can)


May
The season under way, there were problems with the provision of sunbeds and parasols. Cala San Vicente was one place, as was Puerto Pollensa. (7 May: A Bit Of R'n'R).

The coastal road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa was another regular item. The pedestrianisation nonsense was yet to arise, but before it dominated the news came the idea that the whole of the road could be closed and made into beach. (9 May: Road To Nowhere).

The weather during the first weeks of the season was awful. It remained so until around the middle of June. (11 May: Wet, Wet, Wet).

The Mallorcan tourist authorities came up with a truly daft set of slogans to try and promote "alternative" types of tourism. "Much more than golf" was one of them. (13 May: More Than Words).

Controversy of a racist sort when Romanians were barred from a computer shop in Alcúdia. (14 May: Not Welcome).

Chinese bazars were springing up all over the place and weren't to everyone's liking because they were taking away business. There were later to be reports of fines and raids against such shops. (17 May: The Chinese Way).

Residents along The Mile would have been shocked to have woken up and found a car in the canal. A woman driver was killed in an horrific way. (19 May: The Canal Accident Story).

The weather just kept on getting worse and the air of gloom was not helped by the first sounds of the word "recession", as in holiday sales to the Balearics from the UK had gone into recession - and the season had barely just begun. (24 May: What Have I Done To Deserve This?)

The British Consul looked to do his bit for tourism, heading up a think-tank which was due to get together again in September. Er. Did I miss something? (30 May: Feelings).


June
Pollensa town hall complained that its stupid c-cedilla symbol was its own, as in a registered logo. It was a strange year for Pollensa town hall. (1 June: The Letter).

The Germans were told to give Puerto Pollensa a miss. Why? Because it was full of Brits. (4 June: Hans Play With Lotte, Lotte Plays With Jane).

Alternative tourism? Maybe so, if you define tourism from Poland as alternative. And the Poles were on a mission to take over Cala San Vicente. (7 June: But I Could Have Told You, Vincent).

Heading towards the middle of June, and there was the lorry drivers' strike, outrage at the activities of holiday club touts in Puerto Alcúdia, and the first talk of a British takeover at Real Mallorca (12 June: Club Tropicana, Drinks Are Free).

The politics of language took to the air with demands that Air Berlin use Catalan. (14 June: Where The Air Is Rarefied).

Economic hard times started to bite. News came that the Balearic Government was going to pump in 1000 million euros, most of it for the construction industry. (25 June: It's Just A Rumour That Was Spread Around Town).

There was controversy as to the siting of the rail extension from Sa Pobla to Alcúdia, It seemed as though it had been sorted. It hadn't been - and isn't. (26 June: Came Down The Track And She Blew).

And this blog, through its quiz, introduced to the world, and advanced his youtube views no end, one Dimple Diamond who came up in respect of the answer to the above - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84DmeutIAr4)

The train rumpus rumbled along, and then there was another aspect of public transport - the new road in Puerto Pollensa opened. And we never saw what that would result in. (28 June: You've Got A Smiling Face).

Celebration time ... Spain won the Euros. But elsewhere in the sport-related world, there was a spat between Rafael Nadal and the Balearic Government. (29 June: Tonight I'm Gonna Party Like It's ...).


July
ACOTUR, the organisation that represents tourist businesses, sent letters of complaint to Alcúdia town hall regarding the activities of illegal street sellers and PRs. (5 July: Lucky, Lucky, Lucky).

And the activities of these street sellers - the lucky-lucky or looky-looky men - were highlighted, especially their drug dealing. (6 July: Papa's Got A Brand New (Lucky) Bag).

Mallorca seemed to be too expensive. A beer for instance. So there was another call for price controls. (11 July: Set The Controls).

The summer was not going well for some. Souvenir shops were reporting drastically lower sales, Spanair was in crisis (and was to suffer more when one of its planes crashed), and political questions were being asked about the impact of all-inclusive hotels. (19 July: Tears For Souvenirs).

Desperation was apparent in the property sector. Lack of sales, developers going under and a splurge of publicity to try and sell plots on a local development. (21 July: Summertime Blues).

The Palma metro, closed for almost a year because of its problems with flooding, was set to finally re-open. (25 July: Down In The Tube Station At Midnight).

President Antich announced measures to help the ailing Balearic economy, while in Playa de Muro there was a fuss about arrangements for the annual fiesta. (31 July: Watching And Waiting, Anticipating ...).


August
Turnover in bars and restaurants was down by some 20% and some establishments were operating shorter hours, with Alcúdia and Can Picafort particularly affected. (4 August: Down, Down, Deeper And Down).

The chill-out zone on Puerto Alcúdia's beach was attracting interest. I went to find it, but the tourist information office didn't know of its existence. When I did find it, it was singularly underwhelming. (8 August: A Secret Place).

Hotels that one might have expected not to be the sort that would be making offers were doing just that - in August. And in Puerto Pollensa, the grumbles were starting. (20 August: Gonna Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse).

The Dakota Tex-Mex restaurants of Puerto Pollensa were the target for much criticism, but did they deserve it? And the first announcement came of the pedestrianisation scheme in the port. (25 August: Badlands).

And dog mess was another thing exercising the minds of Puerto Pollensa folk, so I went and had a look - or was that look out? Meanwhile, kitesurfers were warned that they could face fines. (28 August: Day At The Dog Races).


September
Flags were an issue in Playa de Muro. Flags specifically associated with Franco. And word came that use of the WiFi zone along Puerto Alcúdia's beach had been less than great. (1 September: This Is Not A Story, This Is Not A Book).

Unemployment in the hotel sector was up by 28%. And Paul Davidson ("The Plumber") was in the due-diligence phase that was meant to have led up to his acquisition of Real Mallorca football club. (3 September: Think I'll Buy Me A Football Team).

Something for the winter. A hundred thousand European OAPs were set to descend as a boost to winter tourism. Or was it? (The number turned out to be lower.) And it was announced that pine trees would be sprayed to try and kill off the processionary caterpillars. (5 September: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore).

The centre at the Son Real finca by Can Picafort opened, Pollensa town hall was in a muddle with its accounts and the Real Mallorca takeover saga was described as a soap opera. (6 September: Nothing Is Real).

The pedestrianisation story in Puerto Pollensa moved into new territory. European law in respect of consultation and the environment was being invoked. (24 September: The Long And Whining Road).

Alcúdia town hall announced a whole host of by-laws and fines against the likes of street selling and street drinking, some of which could affect tourists. (26 September: Did You Have To Pay That Fine?).

More bad news as far as business revenues were concerned. Reps were being allowed to go home early. The banking crisis was upon us. And the pedestrianisation finally got under way. (30 September: The Road To Ruin).


October
Credit was becoming an ever more serious issue, and there was confusion as to what constituted the pedestrianisation and that caused by road signs that persisted in giving misleading instruction. (5 October: Relax? Won't Do It).

Paul Davidson finally seemed to have bought Real Mallorca - it all turned out to be wrong of course - but I analysed a number of issues in respect of this acquisition. (7 October: Match Of The Day).

Scandal. Ever more scandal. Now money was being found stashed away in gardens. And there appeared to be some who actually supported the pedestrianisation scheme. (8 October: My Secret Garden).

There was a story that never was, which was that the parking near the nautical club in Puerto Pollensa was to be closed, while in Alcúdia there was a presentation of the project for the transformation of the old power station - the only problem was that they hadn't got the money in place. (23 October: (Car) Parklife).


November
I met representatives of a new association for British and Irish residents and businesses. It was all such a seemingly worthy idea, but grant money that was meant to have been forthcoming to get it started still hasn't materialised. (1 November: We Fade To Grey).

The tourism authorities announced that there had been an increase in the number of illegal holiday lets they had discovered. And for many here, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand were an altogether more important subject. (9 November: You Shouldn't Do That).

There was a seven-hour power cut (that was later to have been discovered to have been caused by a short-circuit). And the Paul Davidson takeover at Real Mallorca finally ended in tears, as many had predicted. (14 November: Piper At The Gates Of Dawn).

I spoke with Garry Bonsall of the Gotmar Residents Association and a prime mover against the pedestrianisation scheme and in challenging Pollensa's mayor. (19 November: One Voice).

The Balearic Government announced that special financing would be available to hoteliers to effect improvements. It was a move to help the hotels and also the construction industry. (26 November: Due To Lack Of Interest).

And the government was set to use Rafael Nadal as the face of tourism promotion. (28 November: The Face).


December
Several mayors and ex-mayors were implicated in another scandal, but they were to be acquitted after a two-week trial. (1 December: Wild Horses).

The tourism minister was asking the media to behave responsibly in its reporting of the 2009 tourist season. It was not going to be a disaster - said he. (6 December: You Ain't Got No Responsibility).

Agatha Christie was revealed as the new "image" of British tourism promotion in Puerto Pollensa. Her association with the resort seemed rather tenuous. (11 December: The Murder Mystery).

The luxury hotel at and expansion of Pollensa golf course was announced, though no date had been set for starting work. (15 December: Live This Life Of Luxury).

And another hotel, Son Moll in Cala Ratjada, collapsed during renovation works, killing four workers. (19 December: Licence To Kill).


QUIZ
Last time - Feargal Sharkey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNggHbc3qio).

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