Walking In My Shoes

They've got the hump in Puerto Pollensa: several humps, sleeping policemen, zebra bumps. Along the coast road, raised crossings, Newcastle United stripes on mounds, traffic calmers. No more pedestrianisation, but instead more ways of slowing the cars. Things that go bump in the night and in the day. So many humps - concrete, plastic, plastic falling to pieces, exposing bolts that rip open tyres, concrete humps that deflate, rock the suspension. At least the coast road humps are gentler, assuming they are not taken at high speed; they are smooth-curved, not the kerb variety of raised crossings in front of the parking in Puerto Alcúdia. These are car-friendly and pedestrian-friendly. No vehicle should travel at high velocity along that coast road, certainly not at this time of year. People emerge, emerge from the invisibility caused by parked cars, step out, cross when least expected. The crossings in Playa de Muro are a menace, the crossers shielded by hedge, palm or car. They should also be raised on a gentle slope.


Museums. I have been less than complimentary about them in the past. They are too often of the past with no sense of the contemporary in their style or their interactivity. There is meant to be a new museum in Inca. One devoted to footwear. Well there is a new museum - nearly. It has been projected for years, but it may be a while yet. The town hall doesn't have the money to open and maintain it; the building itself is not that far from completion. The town hall wants the tourism ministry to cough up. Its argument is that the museum is not just one for Inca but for the whole island. It also says, however, that help from the museum would be a part of the development of a strategic plan for tourism in Inca. The two points don't quite match up, but be that as it may. A question is how much of an impact a museum of footwear would have for tourism. It may be an important aspect of the Inca and Mallorcan economies - and there are few companies more important than Camper in terms of international business - but would it really have tourists coming in great numbers? Probably depends what goes in it. The mayor of Inca wants a museum "that works" and not just a "grand exhibition" (as quoted in translation from "The Diario"). Quite what that means I'm not sure. One might have hoped that they would have sorted that out by now as the opening is meant to be in November. Not without that money from the ministry it won't be.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Enrique Iglesias; his grandfather was kidnapped by ETA: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3hb78_enrique-iglesias-amigo-vulnerable_music. Today's title - who?

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