Paris Is Calling

Rafael Nadal, darling of the Balearic tourism promotion courts to the tune of around six million euros worth of forehand, has inadvertently unleashed a back-handed lack of compliment to a French market to the Balearics that amounts to some 300,000 visitors. Or rather, his uncle, Toni, has delivered an overhead smash of a potentially damaging sort. Given that the islands' tourism bods had diverted 400k of promotion via the French Open - in the form of a video of Rafa inviting the French to come to the Balearics - it does seem a bit unfortunate that Toni should call the Parisian public "really stupid". On the back of Nadal's defeat at Roland Garros, his uncle and trainer, miffed at the apparent support of the tennis-goers for Roger Federer, launched his invective. To make matters worse, the director of Spanish tourism in Paris seems to have agreed with the Nadal uncle, saying that the Paris public has no style. The tourism ministry back on the islands is keeping a somewhat stupefied silence.


Terrace law - Pollensa
Pollensa political life has its own rent-a-quote politico. He has been mentioned several times before. He is the "alternative", the leader of the one-man United Left and Greens, Pepe García. He is a sort of Roger Gale of the local political scene. Anything needs saying, and up pops Pepe to deliver it. Not always without some justification, it must be added. I have previously drawn comparisons between local politics and those of university days, and Pepe reminds me of the Workers Revolutionary Party of my alma mater, albeit that there were two of them. But they were like Marc Almond and that bloke who played the keyboards who looked a bit dumb (indeed they had the same name, Dave Ball). Anyway, even the other hard left groups treated them as idiots, which is not to suggest that Pepe is one, just that he does make rather a lot of noise, as did the WRP - to no great effect, well to no effect at all in fact. It should be remembered, in his defence, that he was one of the most vocal critics of the aborted pedestrianisation scheme.

Whereas one was inclined to agree with him where that fiasco was concerned, his latest entry into the local press is unlikely to attract as much favour. He has had a go at the Pollensa town hall administration for not enforcing its own by-law in respect of the spread of tables and chairs on restaurant and bar terraces, arguing that the administration is looking to avoid confrontation. The question is, of course, why did they introduce the law if, seemingly, they don't want to antagonise business owners by seeing it through? I don't have the answer, but it was and is a petty law. It would mean, for example, restaurants in the square in Puerto Pollensa having to cut their terrace size substantially. Why? To do so would mean loss of tables and therefore potential loss of earnings and, just as importantly, the loss for tourists of the chance to sit outside on terraces, which is what most of them want to do in summer. Pepe reckons this all gives off a bad image. Sorry, he's wrong, and the town hall is right, but was also wrong in the first place.

Back in March, I drew attention to this law (20 March: Sitting Here On The Bench). It was then that one of the square's traders, José of Bony, met with the mayor who'd come on a recce. One might have expected José to have been in fighting mode, but he seemed strangely subdued and resigned to the whole thing. Around that time he also mentioned his problems, which many will know about. It's just sad that he is unlikely to be at Bony this season. It won't be the same.


Bellevue fire
There was a bit of an incident at Bellevue the night before last. It was a fire in a laundry room that led to an evacuation of some guests. It all seems to have passed off without any great problem. These things do occasionally happen. There was a fire at one of the Playa de Muro Iberostars last year. Quickly discovered, quickly evacuated and quickly dealt with.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Simon & Garfunkel, "Sounds of Silence": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZGWQauQOAQ. Today's title - French in the title.

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