Conde Nasty

You are unlikely to know who the rather splendidly named Cándido Conde-Pumpido is. You should do, and so I shall tell you. Cándido, or Conde-Pumpido to give him two of his surnames, is the central government's attorney-general. He has been reported widely, candidly outlining the number of corruption cases knocking around in Spain that involve political parties. Not so much a video nasty as a Conde Nasty - ho, ho. And the winners are? Of a total of 730 cases, the PSOE (socialists) are at number one with 264, the Partido Popular (conservatives) trailing behind at a mere 200. All a bit of a surprise, as there we were thinking that the PP was normally involved in all of them, or that, at least, is how it sometimes seems. The Unió Mallorquina, another party not unfamiliar with the odd case of misdemeanour, is lagging way, way down the field with a paltry seven cases. Come on, chaps, you can do better. Just look at the Canaries Coalition with a rather impressive 43.


Improving Puerto Pollensa
To something less controversial, the state of Puerto Pollensa and its frontline (to which can probably be added other lines as well). Local businesses have been meeting with the town hall to see what can be done about restoring former glories, and these businesses have received the backing of the tourism businesses organisation, ACOTUR.

Now there has of course been a fair degree of anxiety expressed, especially by Puerto Pollensa old lags, as to a certain deterioration, partly evidenced by piles of dog mess and an element of kiss-me-quickism. It is, though, difficult to know if the businesses and the veterans are talking the same thing. For example, one man's resplendent Dakota Tex-Mex may be another man's horror show. This is, after all, local businesses doing the yacking with the town hall, local businesses, therefore, who have - one would presume - contributed to some of this alleged fall from grace.

When one talks of Puerto Pollensa's frontline, it is not a single entity but more a three-staged affair comprising the over-hyped but understated and not unattractive pinewalk with a smattering of small restaurants and the Illa D'Or, the Anglada Camarassa promenade from the pinewalk to the roundabout with its - generally - ok restaurants (notwithstanding any anti-Dakota-ism), shops and oldy-worldy hotels (well a couple anyway), and the stretch from the roundabout to La Gola, which is the most unremarkable part. There is a fourth stage, heading off to Llenaire, a mix of a few more restaurants, the odd shop, contemporary and older residences and the homely piles of hotels such as the Uyal. The only "stage" that has little going for it is the La Gola-to-the-roundabout bit. Architecturally impoverished, it is functional more than something to be admired, and houses many a souvenir or shoe shop or unpretentious bar or restaurant. It is a stage of anywhere resort but not, in itself, offensive.

What is slightly curious about the local businesses having chats with the town hall is that it was they who were dead against the unlamented and abandoned pedestrianisation scheme, one that might have heralded a different look, especially to the La Gola-roundabout stretch. Short of knocking the buildings down in order to make something more architecturally pleasing, it is hard to see what exactly they have in mind. As the road, for the time being at any rate, will stay (and even if it were not to), there isn't the space to develop anything as grand as the wide spaces of, say, Puerto Alcúdia's promenade with its bridge to nowhere.

If all they are talking about are issues such as cleanliness, well then they may well have a point. But the town hall, as ever, is countering by saying it's short of money, though keeping the streets clean should be something of a priority.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Lou Reed, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ88oTITMoM. Today's title - well I trust that you do actually get this.

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