Live This Life Of Luxury

The Hotel Formentor near to Puerto Pollensa is to become part of the Círculo Fortuny. This association sounds as though it should mean the "wheel of fortune". It doesn't in fact have anything to do with Nicky Campbell and Carol Smillie-Smile dispensing prizes or in fact anything to do with a fortune as such, though there are plenty of fortunes knocking around within it. The name comes from Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, a fashion designer (among other things) who was active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of his models was the first wife of Condé Nast, the publisher who bought "Vogue" after the magazine's founder died in 1909.

It was appropriate, therefore, that it was the Spanish "Vogue" which last year went big on the launch of the Círculo Fortuny. Fashion is an element of the Círculo, the activities of which are devoted to the promotion of Spanish luxury brands, products and services. The full name of the association is the Círculo Español del Lujo Fortuny.

Formentor is the first hotel in Mallorca to be incorporated into this circle of luxury, and it is also appropriate that it should be; it opened in 1929 when Sr. Fortuny was enjoying some of his greatest successes. Far from being a crumbling pile, as its longevity might suggest, the five-star hotel is indeed luxurious. It offers "an unforgettable stay" with "unforgettable views of the bay", according to its website. So, you will never forget, if you happen to stay at the Formentor, and you will also remember that it is "emblematic". Of what I'm not entirely sure, but the word sounds good.

Anyway, enough of the promotion and back to the wheel of fortuny. When this association burst into the golden light of publicity last summer, it marked the second coming of a luxury-motivated grouping in the space of about a month. There you are, waiting an age for a luxury association to arrive, replete with leather-upholstered seats and your own seat-side mini-bar plus personal chauffeur, and two come along. The Asociación Española del Lujo got there a bit earlier than the Círculo. And the difference between them is? Erm ...

A difference is that the first luxury mover is presided over by Béatrice d'Orléans. And she is? A French princess who is also, or has been, a journalist specialising in, you might have guessed it, fashion. A septuagenarian French princess getting the gig as CEO of a Spanish luxury association can be explained, at least I think it can be, by the fact that she was Dior's presence on Spanish earth for 20-odd years.

Otherwise, the only difference between the two associations seems to be that the Círculo is part of an international alliance that had previously only comprised the three main European associations in the luxury sector. I say the three main associations because my research suggests that I should. To be honest, I had never heard of Walpole British Luxury, which is one of the three.

Such ignorance on my behalf can probably be explained by the fact that I tend not to move in luxurious circles, be they Fortuny or otherwise. But in Mallorca, such circles clearly exist and not just in the form of the Formentor hotel. Luxury abounds. You only have to click onto some estate-agent websites or to pick up a magazine with a luxury bent to know that it does. Mallorca is divided fairly and squarely between the luxury half and the not-luxury half. In fact, the luxury half is probably nothing like a half, but you could be forgiven for believing that it were.

But how luxurious does luxury have to be for it to qualify as a member of the Círculo Fortuny or the old maid of Orléans' association? The thing about luxury is that it comes with a thesaurus alternative - exclusiveness. You can't have any old luxurious riff-raff knocking on the teak door with gold leaf inlay demanding to be let in. The Círculo, you would suppose, would be self-limiting. Once the circle is completed, then that's that.

So, Mallorcan businesses with an eye on their luxury being promoted in the international arena, which is what this is all about, will have to get a move on. But unless they are at least "emblematic" and "unforgettable" (twice over), they probably don't stand much chance of breaking the circle and will have to make their own efforts in being part of a sector (the luxury one) that in Europe employs 800,000 people and generates 137,000 million euros. And how are these figures arrived at? No idea, but they sound luxurious.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.