One Saint Julian, there's only one Saint Julian. If only there were. There are Julians aplenty and the legacies of no fewer than eight of them are celebrated during January. However, there is only Saint Julian in the town of Campos. Sant Julià is its patron, assisted to a degree by Santa Basilisa, who was his wife.
Tradition, aka legend, has it that Julià and Basilisa met their maker in the year 304 in Antioch. Or possibly Antinopolis. History is vague on the matter to the extent that the rival places of death are in different countries (Turkey and Egypt) and are divided by some considerable distance. What is certain, insofar as there can be any certainty, is that they were victims of Diocletian, the Roman emperor who made a habit of creating martyrs.
According to legend, neither Julià nor Basilisa was minded to getting married. Julià had vowed chastity. Basilisa was determined to maintain her virginity. Coercive parents insisted otherwise, though history is silent on the question of marital consummation. He founded a monastery, she a convent, and together they established a hospital, which is a reason why the Campos Julià is often confused with one of the several other Julians - the Hospitaller.
Whether they really did have a hospital is open to doubt. History, lacking firm information (if any) about either of them, has been forced to bow to legend and storytelling. It is possible that they did exist, unlike some saints who were total fabrications. But real or not real, their place in the saintly hierarchy is nowadays a fairly lowly one when compared with more famed saints of whom there are serious question marks concerning their existence, such as Valentine.
They did, once upon a time, command higher status. From the eighth century they were accorded great veneration, but their demotion may well have owed something to the way in which their liturgical celebration was moved around. Even now, there are four competing dates - sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth of January. The most recent reform of the Martyrology applied the first of these dates. In Campos, they've stuck with the ninth.
Basilisa, strictly speaking a joint patron the town, is generally disregarded in all the celebrations. The town's church is Sant Julià, the fiestas are Sant Julià. But they reside next to each other in the splendidly massive neoclassical church that dates from the nineteenth century.
The fiestas, it's fair to say, do tend to be rather overlooked. It's Julià's misfortune to have at least one of his competing dates clash with Epiphany. The ninth of January falls close to the Kings and also to Anthony and Sebastian, the two saints among the saints of a Mallorcan January. Another obscure saint, Honorat of Algaida, likewise goes to the back of the queue; his day runs up against Sant Antoni Eve, so there's little contest.
Mindful perhaps of all the fiesta competition, a new ingredient was added five years ago. Following a hiatus of some one hundred years, the cossiers of Campos made a comeback. Promoted by a local association, Pinyol Vermell, the folk dancers emerged after mass on the evening of 9 January. There was at least one problem with this revival: making the cossiers as authentic as possible with their ancestors. There was firm evidence of the cossiers' past - the Archduke Louis Salvador had noted their existence in his epic "Die Balearen" - but of images there were none. In the end, Pinyol Vermell borrowed from styles that were current in towns where the cossiers had endured and adopted the siurell figure for the demon of the dances.
Despite the Archduke's records, the church (Sant Julià) was unable to provide much by way of archive material. It was able to confirm that the church had once upon a time paid a small sum to the cossiers to dance. It has been suggested that they weren't therefore from Campos, and it's possible they were not. There were, after all, any number of cossier performances in villages and towns where they have long ceased to be staged. These cossiers may well have been itinerant performers.
But now they are definitely Campos's own. The fiestas are a further example of tradition that has been revived, and so the cossiers dance for Sant Julià (and Santa Basilisa). The only slight further issue with this is that no one knows the exact date when they used to dance over a century ago. A bit like the exact date of Julià's fiesta then.
Showing posts with label Campos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Campos. Show all posts
Saturday, January 07, 2017
Sunday, October 23, 2016
The Pepper That Almost Died Out
The story goes that in 1403 Martin I, at that time the count of Barcelona and king of Aragon, Valencia, Mallorca, Sardinia and Corsica but not of Sicily, sent a request to the head of the household of the Sicilian king. The request was for a number of meat products as well as cheeses. These meat products were charcuterie - sausages, if you like - and on the list were "sobressades".
This royal order forms part of a longstanding debate as to the origin of the Mallorcan "sobrassada" and the derivation of the word. The linguistic story is inevitably a long one; there is nothing that scholars of Mallorca's culture enjoy more than debating etymology. To cut this story short, scholars maintain that the word originally came from Occitan, the close relative of Catalan, and thus found its way to Sicily.
As to the actual product, this seems to have been firmly rooted in southern Italy. It is conceivable that there was such a product from Roman times; indeed, it's highly likely and was therefore part of the diet of Mallorca's Roman era. But at the time that Martin I was on the lookout for foods for the banqueting table, he placed the order not with his Mallorcan domain but with the one place he wasn't actually king of.
Martin's request appears to be one of the first times, if not the first time, that sobrassada is to be found in documents of the Aragonese crown. There were to be other mentions. In the following century, and so reinforcing the Italian connections, there was talk of the sobrasadas of Naples. In 1550, a year otherwise famed for the attack by Dragut and the Moorish pirates, "sobressada" was documented in Pollensa; the spelling has always tended to vary to a degree.
It is around this time, i.e. the mid-sixteenth century, that Mallorca was starting to come into its own where the making of the sausage was concerned. But it wasn't to be until the eighteenth century that it was spiced up and adopted a reddish hue. Paprika had really arrived.
In Campos over the past three days, they've been holding their "Matancer" market. The name refers to the slaughter of (usually) pigs. The season for this doesn't officially get under way until 11 November, the feast of Saint Martin (not to be confused with Martin I). But ahead of it, the good citizens of Campos and elsewhere have been able to acquire what they might require in the processing of products from the slaughter. And sobrassada is at the top of the list of products.
Meanwhile, in Felanitx they have their annual "pebre bord" fair, the pebre bord being the distinctive variety of paprika grown in Mallorca. It is a fair which complements the Campos market by promoting one of the key ingredients of sobrassada in a Mallorcan style.
Felanitx is one of the towns and villages of Mallorca to be particularly associated with the pepper, but gone are the days when mostly all houses would hang out their strings of peppers in order to let them dry in the sun and so not lose their preservative power. Also known as "tap de cortí", it isn't by any means only used in making sobrassada, but its preservative qualities are a reason (apart from being nice and spicy) for it being an ingredient; sobrassada can be good for months.
There was a time when the pepper was cultivated widely on the island. By the end of the nineteenth century, the cultivation reached a peak but it was to eventually dwindle mainly because of increasing imports. It was, therefore, in danger of dying out completely.
Its revival is relatively recent; in fact, very recent. A group of producers launched a campaign for its recovery in 2009. The regional government then petitioned the national agriculture and food ministry in 2011 for it to be included in the national registry of commercial varieties. This was finally agreed to two years ago, and so tap de cortí is now a protected name, but producers want to go a step further and get a European designation of origin mark for Pebre Bord Mallorquí.
Cultivation is unlikely to be on the scale it was by the end of the nineteenth century. There are nowadays only some thirteen hectares (around 32 acres) devoted to it on the island. Low this may be, but with increasing promotion of traditional food products from Mallorca, such as sobrassada, the production is assured and may well increase. A pepper that was once threatened with extinction is now flourishing.
This royal order forms part of a longstanding debate as to the origin of the Mallorcan "sobrassada" and the derivation of the word. The linguistic story is inevitably a long one; there is nothing that scholars of Mallorca's culture enjoy more than debating etymology. To cut this story short, scholars maintain that the word originally came from Occitan, the close relative of Catalan, and thus found its way to Sicily.
As to the actual product, this seems to have been firmly rooted in southern Italy. It is conceivable that there was such a product from Roman times; indeed, it's highly likely and was therefore part of the diet of Mallorca's Roman era. But at the time that Martin I was on the lookout for foods for the banqueting table, he placed the order not with his Mallorcan domain but with the one place he wasn't actually king of.
Martin's request appears to be one of the first times, if not the first time, that sobrassada is to be found in documents of the Aragonese crown. There were to be other mentions. In the following century, and so reinforcing the Italian connections, there was talk of the sobrasadas of Naples. In 1550, a year otherwise famed for the attack by Dragut and the Moorish pirates, "sobressada" was documented in Pollensa; the spelling has always tended to vary to a degree.
It is around this time, i.e. the mid-sixteenth century, that Mallorca was starting to come into its own where the making of the sausage was concerned. But it wasn't to be until the eighteenth century that it was spiced up and adopted a reddish hue. Paprika had really arrived.
In Campos over the past three days, they've been holding their "Matancer" market. The name refers to the slaughter of (usually) pigs. The season for this doesn't officially get under way until 11 November, the feast of Saint Martin (not to be confused with Martin I). But ahead of it, the good citizens of Campos and elsewhere have been able to acquire what they might require in the processing of products from the slaughter. And sobrassada is at the top of the list of products.
Meanwhile, in Felanitx they have their annual "pebre bord" fair, the pebre bord being the distinctive variety of paprika grown in Mallorca. It is a fair which complements the Campos market by promoting one of the key ingredients of sobrassada in a Mallorcan style.
Felanitx is one of the towns and villages of Mallorca to be particularly associated with the pepper, but gone are the days when mostly all houses would hang out their strings of peppers in order to let them dry in the sun and so not lose their preservative power. Also known as "tap de cortí", it isn't by any means only used in making sobrassada, but its preservative qualities are a reason (apart from being nice and spicy) for it being an ingredient; sobrassada can be good for months.
There was a time when the pepper was cultivated widely on the island. By the end of the nineteenth century, the cultivation reached a peak but it was to eventually dwindle mainly because of increasing imports. It was, therefore, in danger of dying out completely.
Its revival is relatively recent; in fact, very recent. A group of producers launched a campaign for its recovery in 2009. The regional government then petitioned the national agriculture and food ministry in 2011 for it to be included in the national registry of commercial varieties. This was finally agreed to two years ago, and so tap de cortí is now a protected name, but producers want to go a step further and get a European designation of origin mark for Pebre Bord Mallorquí.
Cultivation is unlikely to be on the scale it was by the end of the nineteenth century. There are nowadays only some thirteen hectares (around 32 acres) devoted to it on the island. Low this may be, but with increasing promotion of traditional food products from Mallorca, such as sobrassada, the production is assured and may well increase. A pepper that was once threatened with extinction is now flourishing.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Blue Hotel: Sa Ràpita and Es Trenc
One of the problems with selections of the best this or the best that is that the selections are determined by those who are making the selections and by familiarity with what might qualify as the best. So it was with Trip Advisor's travellers' choice of Puerto Alcúdia as Spain's best beach destination. It wasn't a bad choice by any means, but it was a choice that owed much to popularity and familiarity. Though Puerto Alcúdia's beach clearly played an important part in the selection, the travellers' choice was actually that of beach destination as opposed to just beach. But even had "destination" not been part of the question, Puerto Alcúdia's beach would still have won. It's that familiarity thing.
There is another beach in Mallorca that would, were it a real beach destination as such, give Puerto Alcúdia a run for its money or, in the opinion of many, beat it hands down. A German newspaper once nominated it as one of Mallorca's seven wonders. The beach is that of Es Trenc.
Es Trenc is not a beach destination as it is a stretch of beach that lies between one fairly popular destination, Colonia Sant Jordi, and one that isn't, Sa Ràpita. Hardly anyone goes to Sa Ràpita, not many more actually live there, and it doesn't feature with any major tour operator. But this is about to change.
The Balearic Government has declared that a project by which Blau Hotels & Resorts would construct a 1250-room luxury hotel complex is in the interests of the autonomous region of the Balearics. This is policy talk for meaning that it is good for the economy, but not everyone agrees. What might be good for the economy often isn't good for the environment; in fact it very rarely is.
An open letter has been issued to Blau Hotels which asks the company to "not be responsible for the destruction of Es Trenc beach". It doesn't stand much chance of being taken any notice of. The 120 million euros being earmarked for the project will create 850 construction and construction-related jobs and 300 more once it is finished. It is in the economic interest of the autonomous region and in particular of the town of Campos.
Sa Ràpita is what passes for beach tourism in Campos. But the tourism it brings and therefore the wealth that it brings to the town is minimal. Es Trenc, which isn't directly in Sa Ràpita, does attract a substantial number of visitors. It most certainly is popular, but it isn't exactly an earner. Well, not to Campos it isn't.
If anywhere on Mallorca deserves a new hotel complex, then Campos, so ill-served by tourism of any sort let alone beach tourism, is surely that place. You might think this, but in wider environmental terms, i.e. those that consider Mallorca as a whole, there is much to be said for the adoption of the so-called "Benidorm effect" by which concentration of tourism is far more sensible in terms of environmental management than having tourism complexes all over the place.
The environmental arguments against the Sa Ràpita development centre on the ecology around Es Trenc and on the beach still being essentially unspoilt. But the beach's popularity is such that this brings with it its own environmental harm. Humans being on beaches in any great number do in fact affect their ecology. It is why, for example, an unspoilt part of the bay of Alcúdia beach, Es Comú between Playa de Muro and Can Picafort, has signs asking people to not take sand away with them.
Es Comú is not dissimilar to Es Trenc. It is not as long, but it is "rustic" and it has its own sensitive ecology. Unlike Es Trenc, though, it has dense concentrations of tourists and of hotels to either end of it. Yet its ecology is pretty much secured, especially since the dunes behind it were roped off.
So why is there such an objection to the Sa Ràpita development as, for a kick off, it won't be on Es Trenc or anything like on it? Yes, it may consume land, but it's not Es Trenc land. The answer may lie with a wish for the beach to not suddenly become the best, in the opinion of far more than is currently the case. Its choice as a wonder of Mallorca had much to do with the fact that, despite the beach's popularity, it isn't that popular and it most certainly isn't Puerto Alcúdia's beach. In other words, people would prefer that the fewer who know about it the better.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
There is another beach in Mallorca that would, were it a real beach destination as such, give Puerto Alcúdia a run for its money or, in the opinion of many, beat it hands down. A German newspaper once nominated it as one of Mallorca's seven wonders. The beach is that of Es Trenc.
Es Trenc is not a beach destination as it is a stretch of beach that lies between one fairly popular destination, Colonia Sant Jordi, and one that isn't, Sa Ràpita. Hardly anyone goes to Sa Ràpita, not many more actually live there, and it doesn't feature with any major tour operator. But this is about to change.
The Balearic Government has declared that a project by which Blau Hotels & Resorts would construct a 1250-room luxury hotel complex is in the interests of the autonomous region of the Balearics. This is policy talk for meaning that it is good for the economy, but not everyone agrees. What might be good for the economy often isn't good for the environment; in fact it very rarely is.
An open letter has been issued to Blau Hotels which asks the company to "not be responsible for the destruction of Es Trenc beach". It doesn't stand much chance of being taken any notice of. The 120 million euros being earmarked for the project will create 850 construction and construction-related jobs and 300 more once it is finished. It is in the economic interest of the autonomous region and in particular of the town of Campos.
Sa Ràpita is what passes for beach tourism in Campos. But the tourism it brings and therefore the wealth that it brings to the town is minimal. Es Trenc, which isn't directly in Sa Ràpita, does attract a substantial number of visitors. It most certainly is popular, but it isn't exactly an earner. Well, not to Campos it isn't.
If anywhere on Mallorca deserves a new hotel complex, then Campos, so ill-served by tourism of any sort let alone beach tourism, is surely that place. You might think this, but in wider environmental terms, i.e. those that consider Mallorca as a whole, there is much to be said for the adoption of the so-called "Benidorm effect" by which concentration of tourism is far more sensible in terms of environmental management than having tourism complexes all over the place.
The environmental arguments against the Sa Ràpita development centre on the ecology around Es Trenc and on the beach still being essentially unspoilt. But the beach's popularity is such that this brings with it its own environmental harm. Humans being on beaches in any great number do in fact affect their ecology. It is why, for example, an unspoilt part of the bay of Alcúdia beach, Es Comú between Playa de Muro and Can Picafort, has signs asking people to not take sand away with them.
Es Comú is not dissimilar to Es Trenc. It is not as long, but it is "rustic" and it has its own sensitive ecology. Unlike Es Trenc, though, it has dense concentrations of tourists and of hotels to either end of it. Yet its ecology is pretty much secured, especially since the dunes behind it were roped off.
So why is there such an objection to the Sa Ràpita development as, for a kick off, it won't be on Es Trenc or anything like on it? Yes, it may consume land, but it's not Es Trenc land. The answer may lie with a wish for the beach to not suddenly become the best, in the opinion of far more than is currently the case. Its choice as a wonder of Mallorca had much to do with the fact that, despite the beach's popularity, it isn't that popular and it most certainly isn't Puerto Alcúdia's beach. In other words, people would prefer that the fewer who know about it the better.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Lidl By Lidl
The people of Campos have never known anything quite like it. They've finally got a supermarket, or at least this is the impression one gets. I confess to not being intimate with the details of supermarkets in Campos and its neighbouring Ses Salines, but one shopper was reported as saying that she wouldn't any longer need to trek off to Al Campo.
I do rather suspect that there were already other supermarkets, but what there wasn't, was a Lidl. There now is. And the astonishing thing is that every time a new Lidl store opens in Mallorca, it becomes not just a news event but also an occasion of such magnitude that, as with the opening of Lidl's Alcúdia store in October last year, it is comparable to days of yore when the train first arrived.
The Campos shop is number thirteen in a series of twenty Lidls that will be dotted about the island. Slowly but surely, little by little, Mallorca is succumbing to a process of Lidlisation; Germanic commercial empire-building. Well, it makes a change to the Chinese emporia I suppose.
Lidl has benefited from relaxations to land rules that have permitted greater commercial property development. While the rest of the economy stumbles along, the supermarkets are booming. With their value for money, they are to be welcomed, though their impact in terms of employment is only quite small; the Campos store apparently received 3,000 CVs for the 30 jobs on offer. Mallorca, as I quoted recently in a different context, that of tourism, is getting itself more, but not so many, McJobs.
Despite feeling that Lidl wasn't breaking entirely new ground in propelling Campos into the modern shopping era, the excitement surrounding its arrival does remind one of times past when there certainly weren't such things as supermarkets. I can't speak for Mallorca, but the supermarket first came to town some time in the mid-60s. It was a Sainsbury and it offered a whole new self-service and time-saving mode of shopping for the upwardly mobile housewife that its previous store hadn't.
The old Sainsbury was a place of personal service and lengthy queues. It was also a place that was so outmoded that its walls were decorated with enamel dark-green tiling. If it hadn't been for the cheese, the loose tea and the pound of sausages, it could have been mistaken for a public lavatory.
Back in the day, and prior to the moment the Sainsbury family was good enough to cash in on the new consumerism of the sixties, shopping was distinctly inconvenient but was, courtesy of shops' quirkiness and even smells, infinitely more inclined to leave an impression than the monotony of the modern-day barn.
Just two of these shops in our local village were Underwoods, the ironmongers, a general store packed to the gunwales with all manner of rubbish and which had an alarming and potentially disastrous smell of paraffin and paint-stripper, and the grocers, that owned by Mr. Cutt.
It was Mr. Cutt's misfortune to have a garage that backed onto our garden and my sandpit in particular. It was doubly unfortunate that, rather than brick, it was made of far from substantial wood. The temptation for a seven-year-old hooligan with a nicely sharp-edged spade was way too great. Thus started my vendetta with Mr. Cutt, one that was to take in my stories as to our flopsy, who did mysteriously disappear one day, being served up on his meat counter and to the awful things he actually did with his bacon-slicer.
It was probably as well that we moved not long after but also a shame that I had come to be barred from the shop, as that bacon-slicer was always a point of fascination. And the smell of bacon was what hit you as soon as you entered the place. It was the evocative smells that contributed, pre-supermarkets, to what were old curiosity shops.
The point is that in Mallorca you don't have to ever go into a supermarket. Everything still exists in a way that it did in deepest Surrey in the early 1960s. Some ferreteria are just like Underwoods. Stocked to the rafters, ramshackle and utterly mad. There are delis by the ham loads. And then there are the markets.
Little by little, the Lidls and others take it all away. I'm not complaining. But, inconvenient or not, the individual shops retain the character, the quirkiness and the smells that transport you back decades. Just for one day perhaps, forget the supermarket and do these individual shops in the local towns. But if you see any rabbit ... .
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
I do rather suspect that there were already other supermarkets, but what there wasn't, was a Lidl. There now is. And the astonishing thing is that every time a new Lidl store opens in Mallorca, it becomes not just a news event but also an occasion of such magnitude that, as with the opening of Lidl's Alcúdia store in October last year, it is comparable to days of yore when the train first arrived.
The Campos shop is number thirteen in a series of twenty Lidls that will be dotted about the island. Slowly but surely, little by little, Mallorca is succumbing to a process of Lidlisation; Germanic commercial empire-building. Well, it makes a change to the Chinese emporia I suppose.
Lidl has benefited from relaxations to land rules that have permitted greater commercial property development. While the rest of the economy stumbles along, the supermarkets are booming. With their value for money, they are to be welcomed, though their impact in terms of employment is only quite small; the Campos store apparently received 3,000 CVs for the 30 jobs on offer. Mallorca, as I quoted recently in a different context, that of tourism, is getting itself more, but not so many, McJobs.
Despite feeling that Lidl wasn't breaking entirely new ground in propelling Campos into the modern shopping era, the excitement surrounding its arrival does remind one of times past when there certainly weren't such things as supermarkets. I can't speak for Mallorca, but the supermarket first came to town some time in the mid-60s. It was a Sainsbury and it offered a whole new self-service and time-saving mode of shopping for the upwardly mobile housewife that its previous store hadn't.
The old Sainsbury was a place of personal service and lengthy queues. It was also a place that was so outmoded that its walls were decorated with enamel dark-green tiling. If it hadn't been for the cheese, the loose tea and the pound of sausages, it could have been mistaken for a public lavatory.
Back in the day, and prior to the moment the Sainsbury family was good enough to cash in on the new consumerism of the sixties, shopping was distinctly inconvenient but was, courtesy of shops' quirkiness and even smells, infinitely more inclined to leave an impression than the monotony of the modern-day barn.
Just two of these shops in our local village were Underwoods, the ironmongers, a general store packed to the gunwales with all manner of rubbish and which had an alarming and potentially disastrous smell of paraffin and paint-stripper, and the grocers, that owned by Mr. Cutt.
It was Mr. Cutt's misfortune to have a garage that backed onto our garden and my sandpit in particular. It was doubly unfortunate that, rather than brick, it was made of far from substantial wood. The temptation for a seven-year-old hooligan with a nicely sharp-edged spade was way too great. Thus started my vendetta with Mr. Cutt, one that was to take in my stories as to our flopsy, who did mysteriously disappear one day, being served up on his meat counter and to the awful things he actually did with his bacon-slicer.
It was probably as well that we moved not long after but also a shame that I had come to be barred from the shop, as that bacon-slicer was always a point of fascination. And the smell of bacon was what hit you as soon as you entered the place. It was the evocative smells that contributed, pre-supermarkets, to what were old curiosity shops.
The point is that in Mallorca you don't have to ever go into a supermarket. Everything still exists in a way that it did in deepest Surrey in the early 1960s. Some ferreteria are just like Underwoods. Stocked to the rafters, ramshackle and utterly mad. There are delis by the ham loads. And then there are the markets.
Little by little, the Lidls and others take it all away. I'm not complaining. But, inconvenient or not, the individual shops retain the character, the quirkiness and the smells that transport you back decades. Just for one day perhaps, forget the supermarket and do these individual shops in the local towns. But if you see any rabbit ... .
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Heart And Soul
The town of Campos does not feature on this blog as a rule. You wouldn't necessarily expect it to. Campos, for those who don't know, is in the south-east of the island; the municipality includes Sa Rapita in its coastal areas. It is not a town of major tourism; what there is, is relatively low-key, though the municipality can boast what is one of the finest beaches on the island - Es Trenc.
Campos had put forward a plan for a golf development to include a hotel, apartments, swimming pool and tennis courts. The plan was to site this on an area of virgin territory called Son Baco. That was the plan. It has been rejected by the head of the Mallorca Council, the argument being that it was not something needed by the people of Mallorca. The mayor of Campos, Guillem Ginard, has denounced the decision, stating that the situation in Campos is critical in economic and labour terms, that the municipality is never allowed to do anything, and that the development was compatible with a drive towards quality tourism (to include golf) supported by the Unió Mallorquina (UM) party. The mayor is a member of this party, the head of the Mallorca Council represents the socialists. Golf, it should be remembered, is one of the key elements the Mallorca tourism authorities have in mind in promoting new forms of tourism.
This story throws up a whole host of issues. It highlights political divisions; it raises questions as to a commitment to a "different" type of tourism about which one hears so much; it appears to undermine the scope for individual towns to determine their own tourism futures; it raises doubts as to the possibility of using land for any really meaningful future tourism developments; it also highlights the influence of the environmental lobby. It is an important story, and it may also have consequences for the still ongoing debate regarding a similar development - that of the conversion of the Son Bosc finca by Playa de Muro into a golf course.
As far as the Muro course is concerned, I have argued here that it is unnecessary, simply because of the proximity of other courses. The Son Bosc plan has never been about a whole development (of hotel etc.), which was the case with the also rejected plan for a golf course on the Son Real finca next to Can Picafort. There is a question mark as to whether Mallorca does indeed need any more golf courses; there is also a question mark as to whether Mallorca is really a destination of choice for the golfing tourist who has facilities on the mainland and in other countries generally superior to those in Mallorca. But the Campos case is rather different in that it had been conceived as an integrated development that the likes of Portugal have and which do indeed attract a strong golfing tourism. The mere fact of isolated golf courses, such as those in Alcanada or Pollensa (or in Muro), is not a great argument for golf tourism; an integrated development, on the other hand, is. If golf is to be a way forward for the island, then a mix of leisure activities for a wider tourism base is more attractive than a course tucked away for a more exclusive and small-niched clientele.
It is hard to discern exactly from which hymn sheet the politicians are singing. President Antich (socialists) refers to new "attractions"; the UM leader, Miquel Nadal, the tourism minister, is party to the notion of "different" tourism; the godmother of the party, María Antonia Munar, once spoke, in unashamedly elitist terms, about the island being interested only in "wealthy" tourists; Francina Armengol (socialists), leader of the Mallorca council, rejects the Campos development; the mayor of Campos objects; in Muro, different factions have been warring over Son Bosc project. It is not difficult to conclude that, in the case of Sra. Armengol, the protestations of the environmental protest group, GOB, may have had a strong influence. Ginard argues that GOB speaks for a minority, that it has a negative impact on tourism and that, if it wishes to intrude onto the political agenda, it should form its own party. I alluded to such a development on 13 October (Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down), dismissing the idea, as the group would then be forced into becoming "less one-eyed". Sympathetic though I may be to much environmentalism, I am also deeply wary of environmental tyranny, and GOB can be accused of this and of distorting the political process.
When Armengol speaks of the needs of the people of Mallorca, which "people" is she referring to? Not, it would seem, the people of Campos; she accepts that the town does actually want this golf development. Ginard has a beef with what he sees as one rule for one, and one rule for another, by which he means the fact that developments can occur and have occurred elsewhere. Take a map of Mallorca and stick pins onto it that denote the island's attractions, and you will soon see the pattern - the cluster in Palma and its neighbour Calvia, and the sporadic ones in the rest of the island. In the north, Alcúdia can be said to have only one real "attraction" of anything like an important tourism nature - and that is its waterpark. Pollensa has none. Muro, despite the presence of the Albufera nature park, also has none. Perhaps this is why some at the town hall so badly seem to want a golf course.
The Palma- and Calvia-centricity of attractions has led to a disproportionality in tourism distribution and also to the economic benefits that could be derived from greater balance. When one hears calls for the town halls to be more proactive in tourism promotion, one is inclined to ask what would they be promoting. I continue to flatly reject the notion that Mallorca has a future in the various niches of tourism that get bandied about, other than as add-ons. The island's brand, and by extension that of its towns, is tied up with the trappings of mass tourism, and so is the island's future. It is necessary, therefore, to enable the town halls, if they so wish, to pursue developments in line with such a brand. The needs of the people of Mallorca, whether they truly appreciate it or not, or whether Sra. Armengol is willing to believe it, lie with mass tourism; they have for the past 40 years and will continue to do so.
The Campos golf plan may not have been tourism on a grand scale, but it was more in keeping with what one has come to understand is a golf development. But the principle of the development is as much the issue as what it is. Let us assume, for one moment, that, rather than golf, the plan had been for a theme park or a Center Parcs type development. It is doubtful that it would have ever got further than a town hall meeting room. Golf is the default "big idea", but the pursuit of ever more courses is not really what is required. The town halls, though, have become so neutered and deterred by another tyranny - that of golfing, cultural and other niche tourism - that they fall into the trap of "me-too" and groupthink plans. An altogether grander vision and altogether grander schemes are what are called for. And it seems not only to be me who is saying so. What are we to make of the strategy, as mentioned yesterday, by President Antich for more "attractions"? He surely doesn't have the odd golf course in mind; at least one would hope not.
There have been and will be more important stories to emerge this year, but the Campos case is important as it goes to the heart of so many issues, namely what sort of developments are needed, the intransigence of a non-pragmatic environmental lobby, the incoherence of political decision-making and the needs of local communities. It is important because it is a story, not just about a golf course, but also about the future soul of Mallorca - its abstract and its economic soul. It is not a story to be ignored.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Sade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efdfGeUKXuU). Today's title - the one I'm looking for was by an American group that was big in the '80s.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Campos had put forward a plan for a golf development to include a hotel, apartments, swimming pool and tennis courts. The plan was to site this on an area of virgin territory called Son Baco. That was the plan. It has been rejected by the head of the Mallorca Council, the argument being that it was not something needed by the people of Mallorca. The mayor of Campos, Guillem Ginard, has denounced the decision, stating that the situation in Campos is critical in economic and labour terms, that the municipality is never allowed to do anything, and that the development was compatible with a drive towards quality tourism (to include golf) supported by the Unió Mallorquina (UM) party. The mayor is a member of this party, the head of the Mallorca Council represents the socialists. Golf, it should be remembered, is one of the key elements the Mallorca tourism authorities have in mind in promoting new forms of tourism.
This story throws up a whole host of issues. It highlights political divisions; it raises questions as to a commitment to a "different" type of tourism about which one hears so much; it appears to undermine the scope for individual towns to determine their own tourism futures; it raises doubts as to the possibility of using land for any really meaningful future tourism developments; it also highlights the influence of the environmental lobby. It is an important story, and it may also have consequences for the still ongoing debate regarding a similar development - that of the conversion of the Son Bosc finca by Playa de Muro into a golf course.
As far as the Muro course is concerned, I have argued here that it is unnecessary, simply because of the proximity of other courses. The Son Bosc plan has never been about a whole development (of hotel etc.), which was the case with the also rejected plan for a golf course on the Son Real finca next to Can Picafort. There is a question mark as to whether Mallorca does indeed need any more golf courses; there is also a question mark as to whether Mallorca is really a destination of choice for the golfing tourist who has facilities on the mainland and in other countries generally superior to those in Mallorca. But the Campos case is rather different in that it had been conceived as an integrated development that the likes of Portugal have and which do indeed attract a strong golfing tourism. The mere fact of isolated golf courses, such as those in Alcanada or Pollensa (or in Muro), is not a great argument for golf tourism; an integrated development, on the other hand, is. If golf is to be a way forward for the island, then a mix of leisure activities for a wider tourism base is more attractive than a course tucked away for a more exclusive and small-niched clientele.
It is hard to discern exactly from which hymn sheet the politicians are singing. President Antich (socialists) refers to new "attractions"; the UM leader, Miquel Nadal, the tourism minister, is party to the notion of "different" tourism; the godmother of the party, María Antonia Munar, once spoke, in unashamedly elitist terms, about the island being interested only in "wealthy" tourists; Francina Armengol (socialists), leader of the Mallorca council, rejects the Campos development; the mayor of Campos objects; in Muro, different factions have been warring over Son Bosc project. It is not difficult to conclude that, in the case of Sra. Armengol, the protestations of the environmental protest group, GOB, may have had a strong influence. Ginard argues that GOB speaks for a minority, that it has a negative impact on tourism and that, if it wishes to intrude onto the political agenda, it should form its own party. I alluded to such a development on 13 October (Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down), dismissing the idea, as the group would then be forced into becoming "less one-eyed". Sympathetic though I may be to much environmentalism, I am also deeply wary of environmental tyranny, and GOB can be accused of this and of distorting the political process.
When Armengol speaks of the needs of the people of Mallorca, which "people" is she referring to? Not, it would seem, the people of Campos; she accepts that the town does actually want this golf development. Ginard has a beef with what he sees as one rule for one, and one rule for another, by which he means the fact that developments can occur and have occurred elsewhere. Take a map of Mallorca and stick pins onto it that denote the island's attractions, and you will soon see the pattern - the cluster in Palma and its neighbour Calvia, and the sporadic ones in the rest of the island. In the north, Alcúdia can be said to have only one real "attraction" of anything like an important tourism nature - and that is its waterpark. Pollensa has none. Muro, despite the presence of the Albufera nature park, also has none. Perhaps this is why some at the town hall so badly seem to want a golf course.
The Palma- and Calvia-centricity of attractions has led to a disproportionality in tourism distribution and also to the economic benefits that could be derived from greater balance. When one hears calls for the town halls to be more proactive in tourism promotion, one is inclined to ask what would they be promoting. I continue to flatly reject the notion that Mallorca has a future in the various niches of tourism that get bandied about, other than as add-ons. The island's brand, and by extension that of its towns, is tied up with the trappings of mass tourism, and so is the island's future. It is necessary, therefore, to enable the town halls, if they so wish, to pursue developments in line with such a brand. The needs of the people of Mallorca, whether they truly appreciate it or not, or whether Sra. Armengol is willing to believe it, lie with mass tourism; they have for the past 40 years and will continue to do so.
The Campos golf plan may not have been tourism on a grand scale, but it was more in keeping with what one has come to understand is a golf development. But the principle of the development is as much the issue as what it is. Let us assume, for one moment, that, rather than golf, the plan had been for a theme park or a Center Parcs type development. It is doubtful that it would have ever got further than a town hall meeting room. Golf is the default "big idea", but the pursuit of ever more courses is not really what is required. The town halls, though, have become so neutered and deterred by another tyranny - that of golfing, cultural and other niche tourism - that they fall into the trap of "me-too" and groupthink plans. An altogether grander vision and altogether grander schemes are what are called for. And it seems not only to be me who is saying so. What are we to make of the strategy, as mentioned yesterday, by President Antich for more "attractions"? He surely doesn't have the odd golf course in mind; at least one would hope not.
There have been and will be more important stories to emerge this year, but the Campos case is important as it goes to the heart of so many issues, namely what sort of developments are needed, the intransigence of a non-pragmatic environmental lobby, the incoherence of political decision-making and the needs of local communities. It is important because it is a story, not just about a golf course, but also about the future soul of Mallorca - its abstract and its economic soul. It is not a story to be ignored.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Sade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efdfGeUKXuU). Today's title - the one I'm looking for was by an American group that was big in the '80s.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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