And Things That Go Bump In The Night

As the year draws to a close, a look back at some of the stranger stories of 2010.

Cup of coffee, Mr. President?
President Zapatero, aka President Bean, appeared on a Spanish television programme called "I've Got A Question For You". One question related to the price of a coffee in a bar. "80 centimos," came the reply. It inspired the Dunkin' Donuts chain to introduce an "anti-crisis coffee" of 80 cents and a promotion featuring a Zapatero lookalike. And there followed the inevitable jokes about coffee Beans.

Trail of the hateful pine
The education and citizenship department at the Universitat de les Illes Balears revealed that the pine tree was "hated" for being the cause of forest fires, for preventing anything else growing, for having the processionary caterpillar that can drop from the branches and give you a nasty sting and also for being ... foreign.

The great beach cover-up
Two organisations - the Instituto de Política Familiar (institute of family policy) and Hazte Oír (make yourself heard) - were to the fore in attempting to save Balearic morals by calling for an end to topless sunbathing. This exceeded norms of decorum, said the institute. A little delving revealed that both organisations were somewhat to the right of the political spectrum.

Hitler in Patagonia
A book by an Argentinian journalist, Abel Basti, received considerable publicity. According to Basti, Hitler didn't commit suicide in his bunker, but fled Berlin on 30 April in 1945 with Eva Braun, headed first to Barcelona and then ended up in Patagonia some time between July and August of that year.

The Andratx switch-off
Difficult economic times meant drastic measures. Town hall employees in Andratx had to sweat when the mayoress decreed that the air-conditioning would be switched off. Employees also had to work without artificial lighting except where they didn't have the benefit of natural light coming through windows.

The great lake of Mallorca
Study of fossil remains in Manacor revealed that there was once a great lake slap bang down the middle of Mallorca. Dating back 12 million years, experts reckoned that this divided the mountains of the Tramuntana range and the Llevant hills to the east. Gradually, over ten million years, the lake disappeared.

The telephoning town of Sa Pobla
The town hall in Sa Pobla, dismayed by the growth in the number of "locutorios", many of them - shock, horror - operated by "immigrants", introduced a law to limit them. There had to be a minimum of 250 metres between locutorios, they also had to be at least 60 square metres in size and they couldn't sell food and drink.

Porto Cristo - or is it?
What do you do when a place has got five possible names? The Balearics Supreme Court once handed down an adjudication as to the correct naming of Porto Cristo, i.e. it was indeed Porto Cristo. But, twelve years on, a great political and linguistic debate was still being waged. Should it be Portocristo - all one word? Should it be Colònia de Nostra Senyora del Carme, Cala Manacor or Port de Manacor?

So many Garcías
The most popular first surname in the Balearics was found to be García. It was also the second most popular second surname, i.e. the maternal surname. But how many people were there called García García? The Spanish Government stepped in to rule that the alphabet should decide the order of first and second surnames. Not that it would be much use in the case of twice-named Garcías.

Sex and drugs and rock and Real
Real Mallorca, beneficiaries to the tune of 800,000 euros per year of sponsorship money from the online Bet-at-home, took a somewhat dim view of advertising by the company which featured references to sex and the taking of drugs. It didn't quite conform with the image of the club.

And finally, things that go bump in the night, including a ghost story for the new year:

Demonic happenings in Inca
The demons of Inca, known by the name "Dimonis d'Inca" for some forty years, were angered by the emergence of another group of demons in the town calling themselves ... "Dimonis d'Inca". A meeting with the councillor for culture had to be called to discuss the matter.

Black magic in Palma
Police were called to investigate a Satanic, black magic ritual that had been taking place in the area of Puntiró. It was not the first time. Every six months, residents complained, those who "looked like Africans" and wearing strange clothes would turn up. Police discovered animal sacrifices in what appeared to have been some sort of voodoo practice.

The ghosts of Manacor
A new study sought to shed light on the story of ghostly apparitions that appeared on the streets of Manacor, especially the area of Fartàritx, from the end of the eighteenth century until as recently as the post-Civil War. They would appear suddenly, speak not a word and then equally suddenly would vanish. The study believed there was one "ghost", a mentally unstable chap called Pere-Joan. But even after his death, in 1820, there were further sightings.

Happy New Year, everyone. And don't go having nightmares.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Index for December 2010
Bouncers, regulation of - 14 December 2010
Captain Beefheart - 19 December 2010
Catastrophes - 10 December 2010
Christmas 2010 - 24 December 2010
Church and religion, attitudes towards - 20 December 2010
Corruption, year of - 30 December 2010
Councillors, increased numbers of local - 13 December 2010
Culture, spend on - 8 December 2010
Downloading law in Spain - 22 December 2010
Dystonia - 2 December 2010
Educational standards in Mallorca - 9 December 2010
Electricity price increase - 29 December 2010
Estación Náutica Alcúdia - 26 December 2010
Holidays, public - 7 December 2010
Language, television and - 11 December 2010
Mallorquín, Catalan and politics - 15 December 2010
Opinion seeking, Balearic Government online - 28 December 2010
Person of the year, Spain and Mallorca - 17 December 2010
Playa de Muro history - 5 December 2010
Protests, student - 12 December 2010
Puerto Pollensa, transport infrastructure in - 3 December 2010
Sibil·la - 27 December 2010
Smoking ban - 23 December 2010
Spain, WikiLeaks and World Cup - 4 December 2010
Spas, corruption and - 2 December 2010
Strange stories of 2010 - 31 December 2010
Sustainable tourism, Thomson and - 21 December 2010
Tourism awards - 6 December 2010
Tourism investment and technology (Plataforma Digital Turística) - 25 December 2010
Tourism strategy, hotels and - 16 December 2010
Town halls, hotels and local business: divisions - 1 December 2010
Women: sexual harassment, violence and roles - 18 December 2010