Showing posts with label Bad weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Bad weather affects potatoes and fishing
Previous concerns that the first Sa Pobla potato harvest would be harmed by the cold weather have been exacerbated by what might be the eventual cost. Electricity consumption has shot up and has had to be made before midnight, from which time producers enjoy off-peak tariffs. Meanwhile, fishermen at the ports in northern Mallorca, especially those who use traditional craft, have been unable to operate for around two weeks because of marine conditions, so interrupting specific catches, notably that of the "jonquillo" (transparent goby fish) that is in season until March.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Rubbish Weather
"It has gone beyond the joke stage to one where it is now a bit serious. The fifth weekend in succession that has been washed out."
"This is getting to be a nightmare. This morning, another storm, another deluge. No end in sight."
"And so, after all the rubbish weather comes the hot stuff."
These are quotes from what I wrote on 9 June, 11 June and 23 June, 2008. The weather had been awful for most of May and for three weeks into June. It can happen.
And when it happens, there are always the questions raised as to what the hell anyone can do to pass the time. Even if you can find something, it doesn't compensate. There is nothing more miserable than being on holiday, in a place where the sun is always meant to shine, and the sun does anything but.
"Sun and beach." "Sol y playa." What Mallorca built its reputation on. Not on rain and no beach. When the weather is as naff as it can be, there are other inevitabilities, in addition to the questions as to what can be done. One such is that people feel sorry for tourists who have to put up with the lousy weather, an experience made worse if they happen to listen into Test Match Special and hear Aggers describing a perfect and warm summer's afternoon at Lord's and the sound of leather on willow.
It is this feeling sorry, however, that is the lie to another inevitability, that of "ah, but it's still better than being in England". No, it isn't. It is many times worse, and the simple expression of sorrow on behalf of benighted tourists emphasises firstly how much worse it is and how much visitors do only come for one thing. The sun. And for a second thing. The beach.
The fact that there isn't anything to do also emphasises the whole ethos of Mallorca, its whole purpose. Because the weather is not normally naff, there is no real point in creating alternatives to the sun and beach. This, in itself, says all you need to know about how pointless all the talk of "alternative" tourism really is. Get a bad spell of weather, and the whole point of Mallorca goes out of the window, or down a drain, assuming it isn't blocked by sheer volume of water.
And the degree to which visitors, either already arrived or about to, consult every available weather internet site to try and seek some reassurance tells you all you need to know about why they are in Mallorca or on their way. Sun. Sun and beach.
While bad experiences at a hotel can deter a tourist coming to Mallorca again in the future, so also can the weather. One can be controlled, the other can't be. But in truth, there is probably only one month of the year that you can be reasonably certain about. And that's July. Even in July, however, it can misbehave; it did for a while last year. To decide to not come again, because the weather was rubbish, is, therefore, somewhat irrational. You can't predict it. You can consult all you like the previous years' records and they could still steer you in the wrong direction. I could, for example, say that January is one of the best months of the year, because it often is, but then it could turn out to be freezing cold and chucking it down.
There is nothing so certain as the uncertain, and that is the weather.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
"This is getting to be a nightmare. This morning, another storm, another deluge. No end in sight."
"And so, after all the rubbish weather comes the hot stuff."
These are quotes from what I wrote on 9 June, 11 June and 23 June, 2008. The weather had been awful for most of May and for three weeks into June. It can happen.
And when it happens, there are always the questions raised as to what the hell anyone can do to pass the time. Even if you can find something, it doesn't compensate. There is nothing more miserable than being on holiday, in a place where the sun is always meant to shine, and the sun does anything but.
"Sun and beach." "Sol y playa." What Mallorca built its reputation on. Not on rain and no beach. When the weather is as naff as it can be, there are other inevitabilities, in addition to the questions as to what can be done. One such is that people feel sorry for tourists who have to put up with the lousy weather, an experience made worse if they happen to listen into Test Match Special and hear Aggers describing a perfect and warm summer's afternoon at Lord's and the sound of leather on willow.
It is this feeling sorry, however, that is the lie to another inevitability, that of "ah, but it's still better than being in England". No, it isn't. It is many times worse, and the simple expression of sorrow on behalf of benighted tourists emphasises firstly how much worse it is and how much visitors do only come for one thing. The sun. And for a second thing. The beach.
The fact that there isn't anything to do also emphasises the whole ethos of Mallorca, its whole purpose. Because the weather is not normally naff, there is no real point in creating alternatives to the sun and beach. This, in itself, says all you need to know about how pointless all the talk of "alternative" tourism really is. Get a bad spell of weather, and the whole point of Mallorca goes out of the window, or down a drain, assuming it isn't blocked by sheer volume of water.
And the degree to which visitors, either already arrived or about to, consult every available weather internet site to try and seek some reassurance tells you all you need to know about why they are in Mallorca or on their way. Sun. Sun and beach.
While bad experiences at a hotel can deter a tourist coming to Mallorca again in the future, so also can the weather. One can be controlled, the other can't be. But in truth, there is probably only one month of the year that you can be reasonably certain about. And that's July. Even in July, however, it can misbehave; it did for a while last year. To decide to not come again, because the weather was rubbish, is, therefore, somewhat irrational. You can't predict it. You can consult all you like the previous years' records and they could still steer you in the wrong direction. I could, for example, say that January is one of the best months of the year, because it often is, but then it could turn out to be freezing cold and chucking it down.
There is nothing so certain as the uncertain, and that is the weather.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
End Of The Road: Mallorca and bad weather
They've spoken about closing the coast road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa. For reasons of the environment. It has sounded mad as it would involve either cutting off Puerto Pollensa or building a road somewhere else. It doesn't sound quite so mad when you consider an entirely different reason.
When the winds blow, this road is totally exposed. There is nothing to stop the sea. The beach, such as it is, is narrow. Much of it is shale, stone, rock, posidonia and seaweed detritus. The road is a nightmare.
The winds have blown. To drive along the road when they have blown is to swerve and manoeuvre away from the hard stuff being spewed onto the tarmac by the waves. What's the insurance policy like for getting sea-tossed rocks smacking against the bodywork? The road should be closed. Give it back over to nature. It's a hazard even when the winds don't blow. Witness the flower tributes that are constantly being renewed.
Along the road when the winds were blowing were tourists. Out walking. Buffeted by nature. Wet and miserable. I've long disputed the notion that, even when the weather's rubbish in Mallorca, it's still better than being back in Britain, if you're a tourist. It is not. To claim otherwise is to engage in what we might dub tourist dissonance justification. I come to Mallorca for the sun and the beach and when I can't have it, I justify this by reasoning that the weather's a whole load worse in Manchester. It's fair enough, but not when you take into account the expectation that such a justification is not going to be necessary.
The justification might be ok if there were anything to do. This is partly an issue to do with different parts of the island. There are more "things" in the south, for example. Even these things, though, require foul-weather gear and a very brave face. Most things are outdoors, assuming they don't get cancelled.
When the rain abates, visitors can take to the streets, flip-flopped feet filled by the puddles. The long march of everyman, vainly in search of something, anything. The bars do ok, for the simple reason that they are the anything. Cold beer, though, is cold comfort. In fact, it's no comfort at all.
I'm wary of rumours. But there is one doing the rounds. In Alcúdia. I'm not saying where, but word is of a redevelopment, one along Center Parcs' lines. Hallelujah! Finally someone's got it. If it's true. I have lost count how many times over the years I have argued in favour of such a development. All-purpose and all-weather. Somewhere that when the weather does go belly-up, it is possible to not have to resort to the dissonance justification.
Too much of Mallorca is conceived the wrong way round. The heat of the summer is what prevents a vision of working from the rotten end of the weather chain, not from the blissful. But like much housing is inadequate for the cold and damp, so is pretty much everything else. Want all-year tourism, well then create things that can accommodate it. Ah, but you say, it's like snow in Britain. It happens so rarely, it's not worth it. Bullshit. October can be poor, so can September, as can May. And climate change isn't going to change the propensity for storms; quite the opposite.
Then there are the other months, the winter months. If the rumour is true, it's a no-brainer. They should do it, and repeat it elsewhere. Tell you what, they could start by closing the coast road and erecting a centre in the vicinity. But they wouldn't do that because of the Albufereta nature area. Nope, the road would be closed, the winds would blow, the rain would fall, and there wouldn't even be any tourists to get miserable.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
When the winds blow, this road is totally exposed. There is nothing to stop the sea. The beach, such as it is, is narrow. Much of it is shale, stone, rock, posidonia and seaweed detritus. The road is a nightmare.
The winds have blown. To drive along the road when they have blown is to swerve and manoeuvre away from the hard stuff being spewed onto the tarmac by the waves. What's the insurance policy like for getting sea-tossed rocks smacking against the bodywork? The road should be closed. Give it back over to nature. It's a hazard even when the winds don't blow. Witness the flower tributes that are constantly being renewed.
Along the road when the winds were blowing were tourists. Out walking. Buffeted by nature. Wet and miserable. I've long disputed the notion that, even when the weather's rubbish in Mallorca, it's still better than being back in Britain, if you're a tourist. It is not. To claim otherwise is to engage in what we might dub tourist dissonance justification. I come to Mallorca for the sun and the beach and when I can't have it, I justify this by reasoning that the weather's a whole load worse in Manchester. It's fair enough, but not when you take into account the expectation that such a justification is not going to be necessary.
The justification might be ok if there were anything to do. This is partly an issue to do with different parts of the island. There are more "things" in the south, for example. Even these things, though, require foul-weather gear and a very brave face. Most things are outdoors, assuming they don't get cancelled.
When the rain abates, visitors can take to the streets, flip-flopped feet filled by the puddles. The long march of everyman, vainly in search of something, anything. The bars do ok, for the simple reason that they are the anything. Cold beer, though, is cold comfort. In fact, it's no comfort at all.
I'm wary of rumours. But there is one doing the rounds. In Alcúdia. I'm not saying where, but word is of a redevelopment, one along Center Parcs' lines. Hallelujah! Finally someone's got it. If it's true. I have lost count how many times over the years I have argued in favour of such a development. All-purpose and all-weather. Somewhere that when the weather does go belly-up, it is possible to not have to resort to the dissonance justification.
Too much of Mallorca is conceived the wrong way round. The heat of the summer is what prevents a vision of working from the rotten end of the weather chain, not from the blissful. But like much housing is inadequate for the cold and damp, so is pretty much everything else. Want all-year tourism, well then create things that can accommodate it. Ah, but you say, it's like snow in Britain. It happens so rarely, it's not worth it. Bullshit. October can be poor, so can September, as can May. And climate change isn't going to change the propensity for storms; quite the opposite.
Then there are the other months, the winter months. If the rumour is true, it's a no-brainer. They should do it, and repeat it elsewhere. Tell you what, they could start by closing the coast road and erecting a centre in the vicinity. But they wouldn't do that because of the Albufereta nature area. Nope, the road would be closed, the winds would blow, the rain would fall, and there wouldn't even be any tourists to get miserable.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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