Wrapped Around Your Finger - Pi de Ternelles Accident

The events of Sant Antoni claimed a victim; the boss of fiestas in Pollensa needed to have parts of two fingers amputated as the result of an accident in the movement of the pine tree of Ternelles to the town of Pollensa. Reports of the whole day's festivities said that there were "regretfully various incidents". But while the actual climbing of the pine tree might be said to be the most dangerous aspect of the Ternelles ceremony, it should be noted that it was not this that caused Miquel Ramón to lose those fingers. Nevertheless, other reports spoke of excessive amounts of alcohol being consumed, while "The Diario" made it clear that the very act of transferring the pine tree is not a "game".

It is easy to see the night of Sant Antoni, with its fires and fire-runs, and the day of Ternelles, with its tree climbing, as all jolly good fun and hang the safety angle, but not for the first time this most traditional of Mallorcan occasions has raised concerns. One can add the voices of animal rights supporters who object to the live cock that is the "prize" for the first person to climb the tree. Personally, I couldn't give a damn whether someone injures himself, scaling the pine, or whether there is a non-sentient animal in a bag at the top of the tree. It is unfortunate that Ramón has lost fingers, but accidents can and do happen. It is all jolly good fun (unless you happen to be divested of parts of your body), but tradition or no tradition, one does wonder if it is not under threat, and not only because of Europe's rulings regarding the fire-runs.

Heaven help us that Anglo-Saxon principles of arch-health and safety should intrude, but it would be impossible for something like Sant Antoni or Ternelles to occur in the UK. Someone would cop for a major compensation claim, of that you could be sure; the police just wouldn't tolerate any of it, nor would local authorities. The notion of some 3,000 people (seemingly far more than before) trooping off to get the pine tree and then manipulating it and moving it, under the influence of drink, would be absurd to British sensibilities. That, though, is how it is in Pollensa. For how much longer?


World Cup Song
You may know that there will not be an official World Cup song to mark England's campaign this summer. No "Back Home", no "World In Motion". Apparently, Fabio doesn't want the distraction. But there will of course be a song, several songs in all likelihood, and let me lend my support to Danny Baker's call for something truly awful to be one of those songs, something truly awful that has a Mallorcan dimension in that the perpetrator is one of the island's X-listed unter-celebs. Jess Conrad. Remember him? His name crops up now and then in the so-called celeb columns of the island's media. He once recorded a song called "Soccer Superstar", and it is this atrocity that Baker is promoting - and rightly so. If you are unfamiliar with this, then check it out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_urjNkxaLz0. Who knows, there is probably already a Facebook campaign behind this inspiration for our boys in South Africa. Or maybe it could be remixed for a contemporary market. Give it over to Pete Hook to be newly ordered, and throw in Rooney doing a rap.


QUIZ:
Yesterday's title - Jeff Goldblum. Today's title - which group did the finger-wrapping?

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.