Don't Go Near The Water

Bacteria reside everywhere. To find them in a water-based environment would hardly be surprising - indeed it would be rather worrying if there were none - but it depends what they are, and there has been an alarm following the apparent discovery of the Escherichia coil (E. coli) bacterium in water at Albufereta, the little Albufera outside Alcúdia on the way to Puerto Pollensa. Now let me make it quite clear. I am no expert. But E. coli, so I always understood, was a bacterium of the gut, be it human or animal. It would not be something that would survive outside of a body for any great length of time - at least that is what I thought was the case. If I am wrong, do please tell me because I don't claim knowledge; in fact I don't claim any, not of course that it's stopped me in the past. Oh, and I say there has been an alarm; there hasn't been, as I don't know that anybody much knows about it.

But, if E. coli has indeed been found, how has it got there? There are different types of E. coli. It is possible, for example, that it comes from rabbits or seagulls - it would seem that beaches on Lake Michigan were closed a couple of years ago and that gull shit was a possible cause of the E. coli that was found which caused the closure. The bacterium in Albufereta is said to be in the aquifers, according to the report in "The Diario", and there is a call for the environment ministry, which denies that there is contamination, to conduct a study of all the wells in Pollensa in order to establish where the bacterium has actually come from. Furthermore, there is a call for an investigation into the state of the water in Albufereta, which - it is further claimed - has high levels of salinity.

Anyway, I'm sure that the chaps have all got it under control and that there is nothing at all to be worried about. And one would have hoped that this was the case for all those who went to Pollensa for the hunters' fair over the weekend. Apparently, and finally, this did seem to get some publicity. None that personally I was aware of, but I am told there was. After I had made reference to the fair more than a week ago (1 March), I did actually get concerned that perhaps I had got the year wrong, and that it was happening next year. My concern was caused by the almost total absence of any information. But never too late, there was finally some, and so the one hundred thousand plus euros that was spent by the Council of Mallorca on the fair would not have gone amiss after all. And I'm sure that we are all reassured by that.

For those who wish to make Pollensa the destination of choice when it comes to holiday lets, the fact that any E. coli is of small concern and under the watchful gaze and control of the environment ministry will be welcome news. There was a study of people coming into the airport, which asked about where they were staying. This found that close to 16% were headed for places of so-called residential tourism (apartments, villas in other words). This is not a very high percentage. The study, under the auspices of an academic at the university, has revealed a figure about half that which the Balearic Government believes, and a third of that which the head of the Mallorca hotel federation believes to be the case. How very interesting, you might think. And I shall go into more detail as to why it is all very interesting tomorrow.


Things that are starting again
As every year, as things start to spring back into action, so I duly make mention, if that is people tell me. So, what have we got? Foxes Arms is back in operation as from today, the cheery home of a Division One title romp and where, some day before the end of the season I imagine, the drinks will be on the house when Leicester indeed secure that title. And this Friday sees the resumption of trips out with No Frills Excursions, Valldemossa being the first of the season and the island trip scheduled for Sunday.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Temptations, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61U90Pqo-rU); the group didn't much care for the sentiments of this song or others that Norman Whitfield created. They still sang it though. Today's title - well, not one of the better ones from which Californian group known for the water.

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