Showing posts with label Golf development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf development. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Brussels to be alerted over Muro golf course
Environmental watchdog GOB says that it intends to bring to the attention of the European Commission what it believes is the plan of the Balearic Government to unblock protection orders relating to the Son Bosc finca in Muro and so permit the development of the long-talked-about golf course.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Ten Years After
So finally it would seem that the golf course in Muro is going ahead. It's only been a decade or so. These things do tend to take some time, especially when there is so much environmental squabbling. But now the overseers of flora and fauna have said that the protection of the orchid seems guaranteed, and the environment ministry has effectively given the green light. The new mayor of Muro, Martí Fornes, has confirmed that, environmentally, everything is in order. Indeed his remarks have been reported in rather perfunctory fashion, as though he is saying that enough is enough. Good for him. Despite his connection to Grupotel, a key shareholder in the development, he is right to take a firm stance. If the development is to go ahead, then let's get on with it. GOB, the environmental pressure group, is presumably rather green, suitably so you might say, around its organic gills.
Though I remain unconvinced as to the necessity of another golf course, there is nevertheless an argument in favour of the course as a potential generator of more tourism in Muro, and also in favour of a less tangible aspect - that of a general upgrading in the appeal of Muro and Playa de Muro. The latter already benefits from the sophistication of much of its hotel stock and from a more up-market style than some other places; the golf course can only enhance this.
Unconvinced as I have been as to the business case, I have never been particularly convinced by the environmental counter-argument. So long as certain species are protected, a golf course does not have to be environmentally harmful; indeed it can be the opposite. Habitats can remain unmolested alongside an environmental landscape change that, one hopes, has aesthetic appeal and style.
Work on the course could begin as soon as September, assuming, that is, the enviro lobby doesn't drag up even more objections. Yep, just get on with it.
Meanwhile, the hotel association of Playa de Muro's website, the one that has been talking of the creation of a golf course for some while now, has yet to update the good news. But in its absence, there is something else that is a bit of an oddity. Welcoming all to Playa de Muro and to the "congresses" that can be enjoyed, it mentions that also at one's disposal is the "recently built Alcúdia Auditorium". How recent is recent? What is the year of the auditorium's inauguration? About as long as they have been talking about the golf course. 1999.
Can Picafort's frontline
And another green light. One in Can Picafort. A while back I mentioned the opening of the walkway from Son Bauló and remarked that rather more pressing was an upgrade of the frontline in Can Picafort. What do you know - three and a half million euros or so are to be spent doing just that. Work is due to start on 1 November and finish before May. There is some debate as to whether cyclists will be able to use the paseo; the plan seems to be exclusively for pedestrians. The bulk of the dosh is being stumped up by the environment ministry. Ah yes, now we know why the environment minister it was who cut the ribbon to open the Son Bauló phase.
Swine flu
Well sad to say that the first death has been recorded; a Nigerian woman in Palma. She had gone to emergency and been sent home with a prescription for paracetamol. Wasn't quite enough it would seem.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Who, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8uCdenpgU.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Though I remain unconvinced as to the necessity of another golf course, there is nevertheless an argument in favour of the course as a potential generator of more tourism in Muro, and also in favour of a less tangible aspect - that of a general upgrading in the appeal of Muro and Playa de Muro. The latter already benefits from the sophistication of much of its hotel stock and from a more up-market style than some other places; the golf course can only enhance this.
Unconvinced as I have been as to the business case, I have never been particularly convinced by the environmental counter-argument. So long as certain species are protected, a golf course does not have to be environmentally harmful; indeed it can be the opposite. Habitats can remain unmolested alongside an environmental landscape change that, one hopes, has aesthetic appeal and style.
Work on the course could begin as soon as September, assuming, that is, the enviro lobby doesn't drag up even more objections. Yep, just get on with it.
Meanwhile, the hotel association of Playa de Muro's website, the one that has been talking of the creation of a golf course for some while now, has yet to update the good news. But in its absence, there is something else that is a bit of an oddity. Welcoming all to Playa de Muro and to the "congresses" that can be enjoyed, it mentions that also at one's disposal is the "recently built Alcúdia Auditorium". How recent is recent? What is the year of the auditorium's inauguration? About as long as they have been talking about the golf course. 1999.
Can Picafort's frontline
And another green light. One in Can Picafort. A while back I mentioned the opening of the walkway from Son Bauló and remarked that rather more pressing was an upgrade of the frontline in Can Picafort. What do you know - three and a half million euros or so are to be spent doing just that. Work is due to start on 1 November and finish before May. There is some debate as to whether cyclists will be able to use the paseo; the plan seems to be exclusively for pedestrians. The bulk of the dosh is being stumped up by the environment ministry. Ah yes, now we know why the environment minister it was who cut the ribbon to open the Son Bauló phase.
Swine flu
Well sad to say that the first death has been recorded; a Nigerian woman in Palma. She had gone to emergency and been sent home with a prescription for paracetamol. Wasn't quite enough it would seem.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Who, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8uCdenpgU.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Monday, July 06, 2009
Meet The New Boss
Muro has a new mayor. You're forgiven if you are underwhelmed by the news. Bear with me. The change follows the retirement of the previous incumbent, Jaume Perelló (Unió Mallorquina - UM). His replacement comes from the Partido Popular and Convergencia Democrática Murera (CDM) which garnered the support of the UM at Muro town hall in order to vote in the new mayor. His name is Martí Fornés. I wouldn't necessarily normally bring such news to your attention, and wouldn't have had it not been for the opaqueness of the reporting of his ascendancy to the mayoral office. This opaqueness was summed up by "The Diario" which merely said that Sr. Fornés is (was) an "experienced manager" with an "important hotel chain". The hotel chain was not named, nor was it in any other report I came across. I did some research. Among other things, I found a forum in Catalan and Castellano in which someone asks "where does he work?". The question posed was a while ago, but it was in connection with the planned golf course in Muro. After nine or ten pages of googling, there was an entry for the El Mundo Eldia website from 5 March 2007. There was the answer. Sr. Fornés was the finance director of Grupotel, the chain based in Muro and with four hotels in Playa de Muro - Alcúdia Suite, Amapola, Los Principes and the five-star Parc Natural.
Why this reticence to disclose the hotel chain? It is a Muro business, a successful one, an employer of people. Let's put it down to a media determination to not publicise the company. Perhaps. Or is naming the hotel chain somehow breaking a confidence? Surely not. It's a matter of record. It's information in the public domain. The reticence only adds to a certain intrigue. And why? Go back to that forum thread about the golf course.
In "The Diario" Sr. Fornés was open about his views as to the development on the Son Bosc finca. To sum them up, he's in favour of the golf course and believes that it will create employment and will meet environmental requirements. Fair enough; everyone knows where he stands. But the hotel connection does raise some issues, such as the fact that the largest shareholder (with 43%) in Golf Playa de Muro SA, the company behind the development, is Grupotel. (22 December 2008: That's Just The Way It Is.) Not really that it is anything unusual to have a mayor from this hotel chain; its president, Miquel Ramis, is a one-time incumbent.
It doesn't bother me in the slightest that one hotel chain or another might stand to benefit from the development. Experienced businesspeople are probably just what a place like Muro needs. Otherwise you might end up with some old farmer whose idea of a tourist attraction is to boil a goat and hand out lumps of bread to scoop up the broth. And if they are experienced businesspeople from within the community who have played a role in generating wealth for the town, then I see no problem, especially those with a tourism background. It may sound inappropriate as one has to assume at least some vested interest, but is it really?
I am not opposed to the golf development, certainly not on environmental grounds. What I have yet to be convinced as to is the business case for the development. Presumably one exists, and Sr. Fornés says that it will create more employment. But it would be nice to have it spelt out. Sr. Fornés was a finance director. Maybe he's the person who can do just that, always bearing in mind that 43% of any business case is Grupotel's.
In case you were wondering ... Mayors are actually selected by councillors, which is how Sr. Fornés comes to now be mayor.
And still down Muro way, a curious thing in "The Bulletin". It had its "beach of the day" yesterday. Platja de Muro (platja being the Catalan for playa). One could sense that something was not quite right about this, apart from calling it Platja as opposed to Playa as one might expect or the fact that the beach length was stated as being 430 metres; a zero seemed to have been missed. But it read a little oddly, for instance describing Can Picafort (in the directions to the beach) as a "village". No native speaker would call it that. It's not so difficult to find the answer - much of this came from the illesbalears site.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Laura Veirs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcIz2iZXJFs. Today's title - had this before.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Why this reticence to disclose the hotel chain? It is a Muro business, a successful one, an employer of people. Let's put it down to a media determination to not publicise the company. Perhaps. Or is naming the hotel chain somehow breaking a confidence? Surely not. It's a matter of record. It's information in the public domain. The reticence only adds to a certain intrigue. And why? Go back to that forum thread about the golf course.
In "The Diario" Sr. Fornés was open about his views as to the development on the Son Bosc finca. To sum them up, he's in favour of the golf course and believes that it will create employment and will meet environmental requirements. Fair enough; everyone knows where he stands. But the hotel connection does raise some issues, such as the fact that the largest shareholder (with 43%) in Golf Playa de Muro SA, the company behind the development, is Grupotel. (22 December 2008: That's Just The Way It Is.) Not really that it is anything unusual to have a mayor from this hotel chain; its president, Miquel Ramis, is a one-time incumbent.
It doesn't bother me in the slightest that one hotel chain or another might stand to benefit from the development. Experienced businesspeople are probably just what a place like Muro needs. Otherwise you might end up with some old farmer whose idea of a tourist attraction is to boil a goat and hand out lumps of bread to scoop up the broth. And if they are experienced businesspeople from within the community who have played a role in generating wealth for the town, then I see no problem, especially those with a tourism background. It may sound inappropriate as one has to assume at least some vested interest, but is it really?
I am not opposed to the golf development, certainly not on environmental grounds. What I have yet to be convinced as to is the business case for the development. Presumably one exists, and Sr. Fornés says that it will create more employment. But it would be nice to have it spelt out. Sr. Fornés was a finance director. Maybe he's the person who can do just that, always bearing in mind that 43% of any business case is Grupotel's.
In case you were wondering ... Mayors are actually selected by councillors, which is how Sr. Fornés comes to now be mayor.
And still down Muro way, a curious thing in "The Bulletin". It had its "beach of the day" yesterday. Platja de Muro (platja being the Catalan for playa). One could sense that something was not quite right about this, apart from calling it Platja as opposed to Playa as one might expect or the fact that the beach length was stated as being 430 metres; a zero seemed to have been missed. But it read a little oddly, for instance describing Can Picafort (in the directions to the beach) as a "village". No native speaker would call it that. It's not so difficult to find the answer - much of this came from the illesbalears site.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Laura Veirs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcIz2iZXJFs. Today's title - had this before.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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