Most Popular Stories Of 2014

Looking back at the 365 stories which have featured on this blog in 2014, it is interesting and a little surprising to reveal the stories which proved to be the most popular, as determined by statistics for views of the articles via their individual URLs.

1. Great "Vilers": Joan Mascaró i Fornés, 30 August
2. That Video - Some Good From The Carnage?, 5 July
3. Transhotel's Collapse, 10 October
4. What Has Happened To Malén Ortiz?, 2 January
5. Privatising The Spanish Airports, 17 October
6. The Need For Ironman, 9 May
7=. How The Beatles Changed Mallorca, 14 January
7=. Still Needing Spain? Catalonia's tourism, 29 January
9. Oil Politics: Balearics and Canaries, 2 February
10. Naturism And Anarchy In Spain, 8 July

The greatest surprise is the article which is number one, and it came in first at a canter over the others. It is the case that articles are shared on other blogs and through social media without one necessarily being aware of this, so I suspect that this helps to explain why the article of 30 August about the Santa Margalida-born Joan Mascaró i Fornés was the most popular. To remind you, Mascaró acquired international acclaim for his translation of sacred Hindu texts (into English as well as Catalan). He was an acquaintance of George Harrison and his mentor and patron was Joan March, the usually vilified banker who was also a native of Santa Margalida. My guess is that because Mascaró is not widely written about in English is what brought this article to attention. As I have a book of letters that he wrote to various people, including March, I may well do a follow-up and see if that sparks off as much interest.

Of others in the top ten, there is less surprise with the article at number two. Magalluf and Carnage were all over the media - conventional and social - so this article's popularity was to be expected. More surprising in a way are the articles at three and five as they are both specific to the tourism/travel industry. There again, maybe this isn't so surprising given the importance of the subject matter. The Transhotel collapse was probably the biggest industry story in Spain in 2014 and it has yet to be fully resolved. The article on the case of Malén Ortiz, the teenage girl from Magalluf who has been missing for over a year now, is maybe also not surprising as by and large this has been a story covered in Spanish and not English.

I'm pleased that the articles about The Beatles and naturism and anarchy get into the top ten. Of the stuff I do, I most enjoy the offbeat and unusual subjects.

Of articles which didn't quite make the top ten, the next five were (in order):
Landscaping Pollensa, 2 March
Just A Game Of Futbol: McDonald's in Australia, 26 May
The Dawn Chorus Of Bellevue, 4 June
The Story Of Mallorcan Jazz, 8 February
The Prussians Are Coming: Mallorcan indie, 3 February

It was heartening to find that Mallorcan indie music should attract the interest it did, while the article about Bellevue was one of my personal favourites of the year. Not all of the articles which appear also go into the "Bulletin". This one did and drew an email that was extremely satisfying to have received: "The Dawn Chorus of Bellevue is one of the most literate and satisfying efforts I have enjoyed in nearly a half century of absorbing (each morning) my Daily Bulletin. The grace and sophistication remind me of professional offerings in "review literature" by some of the leading critics of our era. Thanks again for honoring your subscribers with this graceful and classic side of modern journalism."

And finally, where would be without the weather? The most popular weather report was that for 7 June. Why? No idea.