Fun, Fun, Fun

The Alcúdia day of the tourist. It has the ring of one of those United Nations celebrations, but they're normally a year not just a day. Frederick Forsyth perhaps. Day of the jackal. Anyway, día del turista tomorrow is - fun 4 U as well as "we wait 4 U". You will have fun.

That fun comes in two parts, morning sports and frolics and some musical show on the sports beach in Puerto Alcúdia's Ciudad Blanca (that's The Mile to you and me), and evening mini-disco and tributism on the Paseo Marítimo. Fun, fun, fun. I'm always deeply suspicious of fun that dares to speak its name.

The day is, on the face of it, a nice enough idea, but it is also decidedly odd. What actually is the point of it? Doubtless the worthies of the town hall will claim that it is a big up and thanks to the thousands of tourists that line the pockets not just of the town hall but also local businesses, even if many of those businesses will be cursing those very tourists for choosing to stay in all-inclusive hotels or for not spending enough money. It can also be seen as a celebration of what actually makes Alcúdia tick. Without tourism there would be no Alcúdia - or not as we know it, Jaime.

Yet elsewhere in Mallorca, Binissalem to be precise, they are garlanding the town centre and preparing for the annual Vermar, the wine fair and fiesta. While tourism is Alcúdia, wine is Binissalem. And in the case of the latter, the Vermar runs for two weeks. If the day of the tourist is a thanksgiving for the harvest of tourists, then it too should last a couple of weeks, or a month, or all season. A key difference, though, lies in the fact that wine is a traditional industry; tourism is not. It is a recent invention, and even more recently - last year in fact - they came up with what is essentially an artificial fiesta. There is more than just an element of an excuse for a bit of a late-summer party about the whole thing. The day's events amount to a slimmed-down fiesta minus the religion and all the tradition; it is fiesta of games, music and of course fun. Fun, fun, fun. The day of fun. Maybe they should call it that instead.

But unlike Vermar or the fiestas in Alcúdia, the day of the tourist does not warrant quite the same lavish attention. Where, for example, are the expensively produced booklets to accompany it? Well, it's only a day; not worth it. Perhaps. But apart from the poster, all the tourist office near to the sports beach had yesterday morning was half a photocopied A4 sheet. Actually, I applaud them for this, as I've said often enough that they could get all the fiesta information onto photocopied sheets rather than spend the fortunes they do on design and print. Nevertheless, this economy-class publicity does rather put the whole thing into context. Tourists may be important, vital indeed, but that doesn't mean that much money needs to be spent.

So how does word of the day of the tourist get to the audience for which, presumably, it is intended? In Sea Club there was a reduced copy of the poster sellotaped to the reception counter. Pertinently, someone had underlined the tribute-acts concert, as though that would be the only thing tourists would actually be interested in - which is probably true. Otherwise, how, for example, do tourists organise themselves to take part in the sports competitions? Or maybe they don't. Perhaps they should have a mass karaoke contest and a full English breakfast eating competition.

Nice idea this day of the tourist, but odd all the same. Never mind though, because it will be fun, fun, fun. And they've told you so - fun 4 U.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Jack Johnson, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJq5ZR0XdZU. Today's title - who was this?

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