Separate Development In Alcúdia

Something definitely is stirring, nautically speaking, in Alcúdia. The appearance of "Sea Cloud" may have been a bit of a non-event, but in a week or so's time, there is to be an event which is anything but non. It is the 28th staging of the Trofeu Almirall Comte de Barcelona, a regatta for boats built before 1950 (or replicas thereof), and it is serious stuff.

So serious is it that you wonder why little is being said about it. There may yet of course be some grand fanfare and some grand splurge of publicity, but the only notice locally that I have seen for it is in a PDF for Alcúdia's "Agost a la fresca" which apparently is only available online.

The website for the regatta, that of the Fundación Hispania, does a throughly good gushing job in bigging up Alcúdia and its advantages for sailing: "insuperable conditions for sailing"; "exceptional wind"; "beauty of the bay of Alcúdia". So gushing is it, you wonder why they've not staged the event in Alcúdia before. Always assuming they haven't, because finding some really good historical information about the regatta has proven difficult. It's there, just that it doesn't say very much.

The regatta is unquestionably a feather in Alcúdia's cap and assists further with the resort's ambitions as a centre for watersports. It is also a confirmation of the existence of an Alcúdia which is removed from the experiences of many holidaymakers. The "magnificent enclave" of the marina with its "lounge" that will be "managed by the (Michelin-starred) Restaurant Jardín" is an example of the description of the regatta's venue for those participating.

But, and notwithstanding the fact that Jardín itself is located quite close to The Mile, it is a description that conflicts with how the average punter around The Mile (and Magic) will think of Alcúdia. The marina is a part of Alcúdia all on its own. It's even in conflict with other parts of the port area where restaurant owners object to apparent preferential treatment. The marina is a part of Alcúdia and it is apart.

The regatta, hugely welcome, does, nevertheless, highlight Alcúdia's diversity. In one respect, this is a good thing, but in another, it isn't. There is a lack of uniformity in the way in which resources have been devoted to the resort, and The Mile area is right down the list of priorities, despite its being the main centre of tourism.

This lack of uniformity is such that one gets an uneasy feeling of the hoi-polloi having to watch on while the rich, as typified by the regatta, are at play. There is a tension in Alcúdia, not widely spoken, but existing all the same, and the fact that restaurant owners and other tourist businesses, primarily located around The Mile, are talking of staging protests at the tourism ministry against the effects of all-inclusives suggests that it is now going to be spoken more loudly. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, or something like this; the rich being the marina and some hotels, the poor being many of the restaurant and bar owners, especially if they have no presence among the glitterati of the marina's regatta brigade.

The story in Alcúdia is likely to be one of growing division. The marina, together with its sport, typifies the government's drive towards modernisation of the resorts and of their gentrification. But resorts cannot all be like Alcúdia's marina, and not all of Alcúdia can be like the marina. It is difficult to see, despite the legal reforms and despite taxes for conversion work being earmarked for resort renewal, how areas of Alcúdia - The Mile and parts around Magic - can be upgraded significantly, unless there is massive investment of the sort that Melià is pumping into Magalluf. There is no Melià in Alcúdia though, and while some hotels will be in a position to upgrade. modernise, convert or whatever, other will not be. How, for example, do you solve a problem like Bellevue?

The regatta is good news. It genuinely is. But it is news that informs us of the have and have-not differences in Alcúdia. That informs us of the resort's separate development. Something has to be done about The Mile, but will it?


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.