So where were we? Ah yes, that story about the parking in Puerto Pollensa being closed; the story that proved not to be a story when the mayor denied that there was any intention of doing so. Well, according to the "Diario", the chap who raised the whole issue, apparently separate to any policy of the town hall, has announced that he will be quitting his post as councillor for culture in Pollensa in order to spend more time on his other job as a director with the Mallorca council. The timing of this announcement, coming soon after this whole parking issue, does seem a little odd. Why would he have been making statements about potential changes to the parking area, albeit that they seemed to be outside his brief, if he knew he was going to be leaving the administration? Or maybe he didn't know.
And further to 16 October (The End Is The Beginning ...), another representative on the town hall, i.e. the one for Esquerra Unida-Els Verds, says that he has got the signatures of more than 300 residents who oppose the pedestrianisation, and that he will table a motion to put an end to it at a town hall meeting this week. Doubt that he'll have much success. I wonder how many of the 300 are from the Gotmar radicals. Their siding with Catalan leftists would seem most incongruous.
THE ONLY GAY CLUB IN THE VILLAGE
Something about which one doesn't hear much or indeed anything around these parts is gay culture; probably because there isn't one, in the sense of gay bars or clubs. I had always thought that were there such clubs or were there to ever be any, they would be in Can Picafort. Quite why I thought that I don't really know. Anyway, what should I see in the newsagents but a flyer for ... a gay club. And where? You got it. Can Picafort; the Son Bauló end to be precise. Opening Thursday is Momo, not to be confused with the Momo restaurant that used to be in Alcanada. So, if you happen to be one of the "most chic people", as the flyer has it, then Momo is the place for you. I'm not sure what a most chic person is. Presumably, one knows if one is. There used of course to be - for a short period - La Belle in Puerto Alcúdia. I don't know that it qualified as a gay bar as such; the drag acts were primarily for tourists - of any sexual identity. Maybe Gerard will be appearing at Momo from now on as it promises - "DJs, Drags, Dancers, Glam Dark Room". Now I'm not so naïve as to not understand what a dark room is, but what is a glam dark room? And if it's dark, how does one know?
NO LENDING? NOT SO
A while ago I spoke about the potential difficulties for new businesses in raising credit from the banks to buy traspasos. Lending may have become much tighter, but there was a heartening story told to me yesterday which proves that, so long as you have been keeping your bank account in good nick, the chances are the banks will lend. I don't know that I should say which businessman with a current restaurant or indeed for which place he has obtained the traspaso (save that it is currently one of the multitude of Chinese restaurants in Alcúdia, but will cease to be). But with all the gloomy news knocking around, there is still some light in the darkness.
FOOTBALL REPLICA KIT - UPDATE
I can announce that this blog is formally in alliance with Danny Baker's 6-0-6 in seeking to drive the horror of the football replica kit from the streets and everywhere else of the island. Following on from the earlier piece (2 October: Here I Go Again), last night's show insisted that the wearing of all replica shirts when leaving the UK is now banned. There are a few concessions once here. Shirts for non-league teams are permissible. Shirts for other teams can be worn but only in a bar if you have arrived in another shirt and then changed into the replica shirt. On leaving the bar, there would need to be a change back. Otherwise, no football shirts are to be worn in public.
And as to the weather. I mentioned that a big change was forecast. Big, big rain. Yesterday evening and last night. Temperature - down, down, down. And periods of darkness owing to power cuts. Just when you thought it was safe to blow out the candles, what happens ...
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Traffic, "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDJvGSFY-c), which I suppose might have been apt for one of today's stories. But to today's title - very good American indie group capable of some sweet songs; like this one. Think taxi that has passed away.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Showing posts with label Football shirts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football shirts. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Here I Go Again
Oh, oh, people, people, listen up. I have said before that I really, really appreciate comments coming into me as emails. The problem with the comments facility with the blogger system is that they can be left anonymously - unless, that is, I make it that only "members" can comment, which I don't want to do. But I don't like anonymity. If someone has something to say, it would be wonderful to do so openly. The other point about the comments facility is that, as the blog moves on so quickly, it doesn't really lend itself to responses and more comments, so a comment to a piece from a few days ago or longer ago gets lost. If it is sent as an email, I can either reproduce the comment, quote from it and/or correspond with you directly if you so wish. Not though do I wish to deter the anonymous who then become regular email correspondents with incisive comments to make. To that end, Colin, I haven't forgotten the follow-up integration piece; it's on its way.
Anyway, that all said, there was such a comment to the piece of 25 September (The Sun Ain't Shining No More). This said that it was an interesting article but wanted to know what the "one or two attractions" that I referred to were. It's a fair question, and it deserves an answer. One reason for not setting these out in the previous piece was that I had covered this before, so I didn't necessarily wish to repeat myself. However, I am aware that new people come to the blog all the time, so perhaps a degree of repetition is worthwhile.
The context of the comment and of the article was, of course, that old chestnut, winter tourism, one that gets roasted over an open butane-gas heater every winter only to find, when the shell is opened, that there is nothing but a rotten fruit of inconsequentiality. The grand winter tourism delusion is that a mix of often vaguely thought-out niches with equally vague notions of demand is somehow going to magic an off-season of visitor riches. A bit of golf and cycling, a bit of culture and history, a bit of gastronomy, a bit of shopping; these make for the stuff of the delusion. This is not to deny that there is a nice little niche for all these, but little is the operative word, and little is not a word expressed enthusiastically in the tour operator, the hotel or the airline lexicon. As importantly, the belief that Mallorca can be in some way re-branded or double-branded as a tourism centre without a unifying message - and all those bits do not add up to a unified message - overlooks the strength of the real Mallorca brand, namely sun, sea, sangria, the f-word (fun) and the e-word (entertainment). That is the Mallorca brand. All the rest is an, if you like, sub-brand that filters through the main brand. All this rest exists as a support mechanism, not as the control room.
Winter attractions do exist, mainly in the south, such as the Palma Aquarium. They do not, in themselves, make for a great winter tourist demand. Attractions I have in mind are on an altogether grander scale, and the Gran Escala project near Zaragoza is, or should be, the sort of thing to not just put fear up the Mallorcan tourist authorities but also make them consider, digest and wonder - what if? What if all those casinos, all those theme parks and all those hotels? On a less grand scale, take the conversion of the old power station in Alcúdia. A shiny science museum might sound prestigious, but it ain't going to bring in loads of punters expressly to visit it. Build a Center Parcs. Of course they'd would come. They go to those in the UK and Holland, and the weather's worse. Or. Those fiestas of January; Sant Antoni especially. A damn great theme park near Sa Pobla, the centre of Sant Antoni on the island, with demons as the central motif. All year with virtual devils and fire-runs and some that are for real. EuroDemon.
Yes, some of this may well sound blue sky, it would appal the environmental lobby and the conservative Mallorcan mindset with an inward-looking perspective which believes that a heritage and history of marginal, relative importance allied to a romantic image will result in mini-mass tourism. It will not. Some of the above may be rubbish. I am willing to accept that, but you get nowhere without some perhaps insane thinking. The editor of "The Bulletin" once called for a bit of imagination. Quite agree. And I've offered it, along with other views about the promotion of Mallorca over the months and now years.
But then of course there are the politicians ...
FOOTBALL SHIRTS
Oh my Mellors, oh my Spoonys, oh my Alan Greens of "what do you think about Orient's chances this season" 6-0-6. Danny Baker is back on Tuesdays. Twice sacked from the show he originated, and probably about to make it a third. But not before he has raised and then trashed the folly that is the football replica kit. "Nothing is more depressing and distressing (when on holiday) than someone coming towards you in a Yeovil shirt." Could be any other of course.
I confess. I have never owned one item of football replica. The only Spurs paraphernalia I ever had was a scarf - three of them in fact - until, that is, the third went the way of the other two during the ritual Saturday post-match beating at the hands of Chelsea fans in Victoria station. But not only are whole Far-Eastern sweat shops of footie replica paraded on the summer streets of puertos Alcúdia and Pollensa, I even have friends here who wear such stuff. Integration? Expat integration? Hand me that Real Mallorca shirt. On second thoughts, don't bother.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Squeeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JYiylIluQQ. Today's title - one of them went on to team up with a former Byrd and a nearly Monkee.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Anyway, that all said, there was such a comment to the piece of 25 September (The Sun Ain't Shining No More). This said that it was an interesting article but wanted to know what the "one or two attractions" that I referred to were. It's a fair question, and it deserves an answer. One reason for not setting these out in the previous piece was that I had covered this before, so I didn't necessarily wish to repeat myself. However, I am aware that new people come to the blog all the time, so perhaps a degree of repetition is worthwhile.
The context of the comment and of the article was, of course, that old chestnut, winter tourism, one that gets roasted over an open butane-gas heater every winter only to find, when the shell is opened, that there is nothing but a rotten fruit of inconsequentiality. The grand winter tourism delusion is that a mix of often vaguely thought-out niches with equally vague notions of demand is somehow going to magic an off-season of visitor riches. A bit of golf and cycling, a bit of culture and history, a bit of gastronomy, a bit of shopping; these make for the stuff of the delusion. This is not to deny that there is a nice little niche for all these, but little is the operative word, and little is not a word expressed enthusiastically in the tour operator, the hotel or the airline lexicon. As importantly, the belief that Mallorca can be in some way re-branded or double-branded as a tourism centre without a unifying message - and all those bits do not add up to a unified message - overlooks the strength of the real Mallorca brand, namely sun, sea, sangria, the f-word (fun) and the e-word (entertainment). That is the Mallorca brand. All the rest is an, if you like, sub-brand that filters through the main brand. All this rest exists as a support mechanism, not as the control room.
Winter attractions do exist, mainly in the south, such as the Palma Aquarium. They do not, in themselves, make for a great winter tourist demand. Attractions I have in mind are on an altogether grander scale, and the Gran Escala project near Zaragoza is, or should be, the sort of thing to not just put fear up the Mallorcan tourist authorities but also make them consider, digest and wonder - what if? What if all those casinos, all those theme parks and all those hotels? On a less grand scale, take the conversion of the old power station in Alcúdia. A shiny science museum might sound prestigious, but it ain't going to bring in loads of punters expressly to visit it. Build a Center Parcs. Of course they'd would come. They go to those in the UK and Holland, and the weather's worse. Or. Those fiestas of January; Sant Antoni especially. A damn great theme park near Sa Pobla, the centre of Sant Antoni on the island, with demons as the central motif. All year with virtual devils and fire-runs and some that are for real. EuroDemon.
Yes, some of this may well sound blue sky, it would appal the environmental lobby and the conservative Mallorcan mindset with an inward-looking perspective which believes that a heritage and history of marginal, relative importance allied to a romantic image will result in mini-mass tourism. It will not. Some of the above may be rubbish. I am willing to accept that, but you get nowhere without some perhaps insane thinking. The editor of "The Bulletin" once called for a bit of imagination. Quite agree. And I've offered it, along with other views about the promotion of Mallorca over the months and now years.
But then of course there are the politicians ...
FOOTBALL SHIRTS
Oh my Mellors, oh my Spoonys, oh my Alan Greens of "what do you think about Orient's chances this season" 6-0-6. Danny Baker is back on Tuesdays. Twice sacked from the show he originated, and probably about to make it a third. But not before he has raised and then trashed the folly that is the football replica kit. "Nothing is more depressing and distressing (when on holiday) than someone coming towards you in a Yeovil shirt." Could be any other of course.
I confess. I have never owned one item of football replica. The only Spurs paraphernalia I ever had was a scarf - three of them in fact - until, that is, the third went the way of the other two during the ritual Saturday post-match beating at the hands of Chelsea fans in Victoria station. But not only are whole Far-Eastern sweat shops of footie replica paraded on the summer streets of puertos Alcúdia and Pollensa, I even have friends here who wear such stuff. Integration? Expat integration? Hand me that Real Mallorca shirt. On second thoughts, don't bother.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Squeeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JYiylIluQQ. Today's title - one of them went on to team up with a former Byrd and a nearly Monkee.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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