Mick's Your Més Man

"Més seem to have no idea where they're going - how much they'd love Ensenyat to say yes, but he wants to stay at the Council of Mallorca."

I wrote this three weeks ago. It was in light of the opinion poll which confirmed that Més were leaking support. A revival of fortunes appeared unlikely. With Biel Barceló, the one Més politician of real substance in government and parliament circles, having been ejected from the frontline, the party was left with less than substantial leadership. Barceló was never in any event going to be a candidate for the Balearic presidency in 2019, but he remained a definable face of the party. Despite the controversies about the contracts and the trip to the Dominican Republic, he was still more asset than liability.

Prior to Barcelo's resignation in December, Més were already riddled with division. The party was aware that Barceló had no intention of standing in 2019, so the question was arising as to who would. Més, a coalition essentially of the PSM Mallorca Socialist Party and the Iniciativa Verds, had begun to show its fault lines, and the more dominant element - the PSM - was getting twitchy. The main candidate appeared to be the social services minister, Fina Santiago, and Fina is not a member of the PSM; she's from the Iniciativa.

When Barceló did resign, it had seemed as if Fina was nailed on to become the new government vice-president. This was before the PSM machinery moved into gear. The vice-president (and tourism minister as it was to also turn out) would be Bel Busquets. Fina has never said anything, but there was an unmistakable sense of her having had the right hump as a result. And she wasn't the only one. Outside of Més, Bel was not looked upon favourably; President Armengol clearly didn't want her.

Since Busquets was catapulted into her dual positions in the government, it has become apparent that she doesn't actually have much support within the PSM rank and file either. Hers, to be blunt, was a terrible appointment, one that was transparently motivated by a PSM determination to dominate Més. The opinion poll ratings are only destined to slip further, unless Més get a grip on where they're going.

Adding to the division within the party was the attitude of Santiago to the contracts affair and then also the Barceló trip. She was more forthright in suggesting he should go because of the Globalia "gift" of the few days in the Dominican Republic than she had been over the Jaume Garau contracts. She had nevertheless implied that more heads should have rolled than the one minister's which did. The PSM, closing ranks around Barceló, didn't take kindly to that.

So, Més have found themselves with two candidates for the presidency who are both, in their different ways, unacceptable. The party needs the cavalry to come and rescue it, and the cavalry charge consists of one person - Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca.

Ensenyat has said in the past that he wants to stay on at the Council. Having spent his time as president bolstering the role of the Council, to such an extent that it is appearing more and more like a government in its own right, his intention has been to go for re-election next year. He has also said in the past that he believes Santiago would be the best presidential candidate in 2019. Was he just being diplomatic or did he mean it?

One suspects that it was the latter, even if he now says that he would get a better result than Santiago in a selection run-off. An observation of Ensenyat is that he isn't quite the whole Més (PSM) insider deal. There is an element of distance between him and the party machinery. Nevertheless, Més - if only one faction - know that he is really the outstanding candidate. And it now seems highly likely that he will put his name forward at the primaries for selection. Busquets might struggle to beat Santiago. Ensenyat would have no such problem.

What is it about him that makes him such a strong candidate? One aspect is that distance. He gives the impression of being his own man. As such, and he has demonstrated this at the Council of Mallorca, he is able to draw people together, not divide them. His time as president hasn't been all a bed of roses, and there will be many who disagree with his policies, but he has succeeded in creating a unity with PSOE and Podemos that has been missing from the government and also at Palma town hall.

Ensenyat has his ideologies, of course he does, but they are modified by his being a sympathetic character. If he is confirmed as the Més candidate, it would be a surprise if the party doesn't experience a revival.

Welcome To Tractorllorca

Tabarnia, someone has said, will be the word of 2018. Tabarnia is a neologism, a word that is in the process of entering common usage. It is also a form of portmanteau, a combination of the old Roman place names Tarraco and Barcino or of their modern equivalents, Tarragona and Barcelona.

Tabarnia, the word and the concept, wasn't entirely new when all of a sudden it leapt into the public consciousness late last year. A petition, a satirical one (so it is said), proposed a type of secession with unity. Tabarnia came from the organisation Barcelona Is Not Catalonia. It was advocating a breakaway region, which corresponds to the one-time County of Barcelona, that would be independent of Catalonia but part of Spain. As such, it was an obvious statement against a Catalonian drive for secession.

The petition went viral and Tabarnia has, over the past fortnight or so, inspired all manner of comment. It has also produced its variants. One of these is Palmarnia. The right wing in Mallorca has latched onto Tabarnia by attacking the secessionist aspirations of certain sections on the left - Més, most obviously. Palmarnia, in essence, would be a reclaiming of Palma from secessionist influences from outside the city - the "part forana" or "fora vila" - which (who) have taken over important institutional roles in the city.

The Palmarnia proposition contains aspects which are quite amusing. Some of the secessionists who landed in Palma have never done so much as run a village bar. This is one criticism. The essentially rural nature of this takeover is defined as having come from Tractorllorca. Well, it made me laugh anyway, even if it does only provide one perspective.

The Tractorllorca that is being referred to is a sort of conservatism of a rural tradition allied to a radicalism of secession, independence, folklore and odd attitudes towards tourism. A different Tractorllorca is also conservative but it takes great issue with, for instance, the environmentalist stance of the very same political class. The "countryside alliance" which protested in Palma last year comprised hunters, farmers and bullfighting supporters. My impression of some of Mallorca's part forana, especially the rural areas, is that it is highly conservative but with absolutely no desire for independence: it is mostly Partido Popular territory.

Likewise, an attack on those now in positions of power and influence in Palma's institutions fails to recognise that - just to take a couple of Més names at random - some of them are from Palma. Antoni Noguera, for instance; Biel Barceló. They were both born in Palma. Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca, was of course born in England. He wasn't thereafter a Palma boy, but he had many years experience as mayor of Esporles, and the general view was that he was a decent mayor.

But the very notion of Palmarnia highlights a Palma-centric arrogance. If there were to be some reclaiming from the clutches of secessionists, then why just Palma? Its institutions, agreed, would determine such a policy, but is it not Mallorca and the Balearics which need saving? To hear what some on the right are suggesting, then it would appear so. Independence as an aspiration isn't confined to Més. The president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, is apparently more radical and more independence-minded than her partners in government, so that includes Més. This, at any rate, is a view coming from the PP and reflects a paranoia of an apparently unstoppable drive towards Balearic independence.

I personally don't believe this for one moment, but the fever of Catalonia has unquestionably been caught in the Balearics, if only by the real promoters of independence - Més (plus organisations such as the Obra Cultural Balear) - and their accusers on or towards the right, such as the PP, the C's and elements in the media.

Més and their ambitions for independence are predicated - electorally - on extremely shaky ground. The reality is that where the current government is concerned, Més in Mallorca and Menorca obtained 15.3% share of the vote. They may well not achieve this in 2019; polls would suggest they will struggle to.

These secessionist influences are nevertheless being foisted onto a public that has no particular desire for them. Més are given their place in the spotlight by a system that rewards less than one sixth of the vote. Ultimately, for any change as dramatic as, say, independence or Brexit, there should really be the demand for a dramatic and qualified majority at the polls: not a bit here or there. Otherwise you end up with what you have: deeply divided societies. And if the Catalonia election can be considered a more accurate reflection than the 1 October referendum, then that is precisely what you have.

Such division is a long way off, if ever taking root in the Balearics. Tractorllorca isn't about to take over. There are too many other tractors.

The Minder At The Ministry

I didn't know him so much as occasionally stumble into him, though really that should be the other way round, despite a seemingly industrial capacity for holding his drink. There was a pub in Twickenham that I would now and then frequent. It was his local, he having been and remaining Dennis Waterman. On one occasion he was exiting at the same time as I was. He paused and asked - of no one in particular - "anyone seen my Roller?" It would probably have been as well if no one had seen it.

As Terry McCann in Minder, Dennis had his memorable quotes; rather more memorable, one imagines, than the enquiry about the Roller. But it was Arthur Daley (George Cole) on whom Leon Griffiths' script generosity for great lines mostly fell. It was Arthur who pined for the days of honest-to-God, decent, professional thieves. They could no longer be found as they were all living in Spain.

Arthur once let Terry in on his secret as a businessman: "You make contact with your customer, understand their needs, and then flog them something they could well do without.” And why does this come to mind? Well, because it may be the type of advice being issued at the tourism ministry at present. Understand tourists' needs and then present them with what they almost certainly could do without - a winter break when Cyclone Bruno (or any other cyclone) is battering the Balearics. Better in winter, albeit that it was springlike last week.

My guess is that Bel of the Ministry isn't that adept at one-liners. I may be doing her a disservice, but she doesn't give the impression of having landed at the tourism ministry armed with a book of gags. Indeed, when it comes to the imparting of gems of wisdom in an Arthur manner, it may well be that there is a role reversal: it's the Minder who's advising Bel.

We were more or less formally introduced to him during the negotiations over Biel Barceló's successor. Those one-sided negotiations - to ensure Bel was the new Biel - were conducted on the Més side by a trio that someone (not me) referred to as looking like a Bulgarian hit squad. Their opposite numbers from PSOE were Iago of employment and two of the socialist dames - Pilar of the presidency department and Mercedes of the Council (holiday rental zoning and all that). Towering over them was Lluís Apesteguia, who Mercedes will have recognised from the Council. Iago would doubtless have become familiar with him as well. "It's going to be Bel, isn't it." "Er, well, yes." "Good boy."

The reward for Lluis is to now find himself as Bel's Minder, which officially means her chief of staff. A rising star in Més, and a substantial one at that, Lluis' career progression has been assisted by his having gained a degree in classical philology. So, that's at least two philologists in charge of tourism then; Bel's language capabilities we already knew about.

His elevation to Minder status is being interpreted in some quarters as bolstering Bel's bid to lead Més to electoral glory in 2019. His appointment, it is said, gives greater political weight to the tourism ministry, with Bel now given the chance to shine and look forward to becoming the next president of the Balearics. And if she were to be, then what will Lluis' next reward be? As Bel probably wouldn't say: "The world's your lobster, Lluis."

The Year Before The Election

The worst case for growth of the Balearic economy in 2018 is a mere three per cent. The employers' confederation gives this as its forecast. The government is predicting 3.5%. Conservative is not how one would describe the government; its growth forecasts are invariably higher than those of analysts.

Whatever the actual growth, it will still be comparatively strong. It had always been expected that there would be a slowdown from the height achieved in 2016: 4.1% represented a remarkable recovery from how things had been five years previously when there was zero growth. So, a fall in growth can still be viewed in positive terms.

The current government has ridden the wave of economic good fortune, but the factors that have contributed to this have really had little to do with the government. They have been factors of greatly improved economic circumstance, partly attributable - say it quietly in front of a Balearic minister - to national government policies, austerity and all. But one factor stands out from any other - the contribution of tourism. In the Balearics, this has been magnified compared with much of Spain, but as the National Statistics Institute has revealed, the growth of the tourism economy since the dark days of crisis in 2010 has greatly outstripped the rest of the national economy in real terms.

It can seem perverse that the Balearic government is actively pursuing policies that might jeopardise the growth of the islands' most important sector. We all know why it is engaged in this perversity, and we all know how. Whether a doubling of the tourist tax, the rentals legislation, limits on tourist numbers turn out to harm the economy in 2018, I have my doubts. But there is a risk that there might be some harm, and heading towards the 2019 election, the government could be perceived as having willingly sought to undo the good fortune it had amassed through no real effort on its behalf.

The economy and tourism will, I suspect, be ok next year, but tourism is representative of how, politically, things might just start to unravel next year, especially if there were to be a dip. There are five ministries which in broad terms contribute to Balearic economic and competitive well-being. Tourism (and innovation and research) is one, the others are: education; employment, trade and industry; finance; and transport, energy and land (I exclude agriculture as it is of relatively minor significance).

Of these five ministries, four are controlled by PSOE, the major partner in the government. Més run tourism (and agriculture, for what it's worth). PSOE therefore have their hands on the means of moulding the economy, except tourism. Més were determined to keep their hands on tourism; hence, PSOE have had to accept Bel Busquets. They didn't want to accept her, they might even have preferred one of their own to take over from Biel Barceló. But they had no alternative. They had to accept her. If not, Més might have withdrawn support for the 2018 budget.

The politicking that surrounded Barceló's successor merely served to highlight the weakness of the coalition, and it also served as a foretaste of what could well come in 2018. The parties of government, plus Podemos, will be gearing up for the election. Points of difference will need to be made. They cannot just simply sweep the differences under the consensus and dialogue table. There are votes to be had.

The opposition have suggested that the government might not be able to agree a budget for 2019 for the very reason that the parties will be highlighting their points of difference. The opposition may be right, and for PSOE they will be emphasising their sound management of the four ministries. If the need arises, PSOE can distance themselves from tourism and they will have a readymade excuse: they hadn't wanted Busquets.

If Madrid does finally come up with a satisfactory new financing arrangement for the Balearics next year, then PSOE can take the plaudits: they do, after all, run the finance ministry (and the presidency). This financing deal is of immense importance politically. Secured, and PSOE can milk it electorally for all it's worth. All the consensus stuff can be forgotten, what PSOE will want more than anything is to be able to present the electorate with a very good reason for increasing their share of the vote. What PSOE don't want is to be as beholden to Més (and Podemos) after the election.

For Més, meanwhile, the loss of Barceló is significant. Like him or not, without him in a frontline position, Més are greatly diminished. Podemos will sense a weakness and so will PSOE. Exploiting a weakness while simultaneously boasting strengths could well define at least the latter half of 2018. The opposition isn't that strong - the PP might just decide they need a different leader; the real opposition will be within the government pact.

Taking A Festival To Court

There really are times when you wonder ... . I have a certain admiration for Ciudadanos in a similar way to having an admiration for Podemos. They occupy different political territories, but both are examples of how the status quo of a political system can be shaken up. Yet with both there are elements of the conservative and even the regressive. With Podemos, there is a Luddite tendency that wishes, for example, for "de-growth", an anti-capitalist return to an undefined era stripped of a great deal of the progress through tourism. For the C's, there is one great conservative non-negotiable - Catalonia. This is an essence of its being. Independence is a total non-starter, as is the advance of any Catalan nationalism beyond the borders of Catalonia.

The C's are doing rather well at present. In Catalonia they have secured the most parliamentary seats of any party. They have benefited, in part, from the electoral destruction of the Partido Popular, but more than this, they are solidly representative of the independence counterpoint. They have hung their hat on union, and there are very good numbers of Catalan citizens who agree with them.

Even before the Catalonia election, it was evident that the C's had been making ground in the Balearics. What happens in Catalonia has an impact here, even if this can at times be overstated. But the political atmosphere generated by Catalonia and by statements in favour of a Balearic independence by Més have done the C's no harm at all. Nor have their complaints about indoctrination in local schools.

The exporting of Catalanist nationalism that the C's attack comes in different guises. One of the more peculiar is what is due to take place on 31 December - Palma's Festival of the Standard. This is a fiesta deemed to be in the intangible cultural interest: not just deemed, is. The official nature of this interest was confirmed by the highest authority of making official - a statement on the Official Bulletin. It is there in black and white. In 2006, the Council of Mallorca declared the festival to be an asset of this cultural interest, and with this declaration came certain stipulations as to its maintenance.

The Council of 2006 was different in its political make-up to how it is today. It was still essentially the property of the subsequently disgraced Unió Mallorquina and Maria Antonia Munar. The UM, although ostensibly nationalist in a centrist sort of a way, was never strident in its ambitions, and its nationalism was one founded on its own version of history. Some years before the 2006 declaration, the Council had decided to make 12 September Mallorca Day. This was a recognition of the true founding of the old Kingdom of Mallorca. It was not a date for which there was wholehearted support. There was - in a Catalanist correct fashion - an alternative date: 31 December, the day in 1229 when Catalan culture can be said to have its origins.

Changing the date of Mallorca Day to 31 December was an obvious move. If there were to be a different date, then 31 December had far greater claim than any other. And so, for the first time, this coming New Year's Eve will be Mallorca Day as well as the Festival of the Standard.

For some, such as the C's, this combination was a form of pact between the nationalists of Més at the Council of Mallorca and at Palma town hall. It might not have generated overly much fuss, if it hadn't been for some consequent amendments to the festival protocol. Until now, and despite the 2006 declaration, the festival has been a Palma town hall occasion. In institutional terms, only the town hall has responsibility. Moreover, the declaration made clear that the responsibility for the maintenance of the tradition and guaranteeing the components of the festival was Palma's.

The pact between the Council and the town hall has, in the opinion of the C's, led to a unilateral decision to permit the Council to be represented in the official committee (retinue) for honouring King Jaume I and the Standard. Moreover, mayors from other parts of Mallorca are to be allowed to participate. The C's point to the fact that the 2006 declaration does not contemplate this additional institutional representation. Only the mayor of Palma and city councillors can form the retinue.

Because of this, the C's have taken the matter to court. They are seeking an injunction to prevent the protocol being altered. It is this that makes one wonder. How can a festival end up in court? Does it really matter who is represented in the retinue? It does if there are the politics of Catalan nationalism at play, which is what the C's are really concerned about. But they risk looking somewhat ridiculous and losing some of the admiration. They might disagree with the change to the festival, but going to court over it ... ?

Philology And Tourism: Bel Busquets

Being intimately knowledgeable of the detail of a portfolio isn't necessarily a pre-requisite for a ministerial appointment. But it can help, as can demonstrable competence for even having been considered for the appointment.

The rules of the "new politics" have thrust into the limelight those whose qualifications for ministerial office are shaky, to say the least; non-existent might also be a way of describing them. The new politics aren't always at play, though. The Partido Popular in the Balearics is representative of the old school, one that has done quite well at keeping its friends in the private sector contented. The new politics eschew such cosiness. New faces are thus presented, and they are representative of greater democracy. Why should ministerial posts, why should government be the preserve of the old and established guard?

All true perhaps. But there is always a but. The old politics can make questionable promotions, just as the new politics can. For both, it is a matter of dogmatic continuity, or in the case of the PP it was the necessity for dogma to reign supreme. President Bauzá sacked Rafael Bosch as education minister. Bosch's crime was that he knew too much. Education was his specialism. He had doubts about a zealous anti-Catalanism. Dogma ruled, and he had to go.

In his place came Joana Maria Camps, an estate agent by background. She was Bauzá's mouthpiece, but unfortunately what came out just helped to make her appointment seem ever the more bizarre. Poor Joana, one felt sorry for her. She tripped up, none more so than when she managed to use the Catalan verb to tread on to mean the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) survey. Parliamentary deputies were in fits of laughter. Catalan had intruded in a way that Catalan should not have. Such, one might suggest, can be a drawback with Catalan philology (the study of language); however odd this was, given the anti-Catalanism of the time.

Bauzá eventually saw sense and replaced her with Nuria Riera, a generally accomplished and experienced politician who did at least attempt to build the destroyed bridges with the teaching fraternity. It was too late, though.

Balearics tourism has had the occasional individual with intimate knowledge at a ministerial level. Jaume Cladera has been the clearest example. Biel Barceló was not intimate. Forget the name, he is not from the hotel group's family. But he did, as he once explained, have some experience of tourism, though he never offered any detail. Perhaps he had once been a hotel entertainer. Who can say?

He was at least experienced, if not as a minister then as someone who had been on the political stage for several years. If Més were to have a tourism minister, which they were always going to have, then it may as well have been Biel. Other candidates were in any event in short supply, if at all.

Biel is part of the new politics, the new democracy of challenging the old guard, and he has now given way to Bel Busquets. Bel is the new tourism minister. The industry, especially that which isn't based in the Balearics, will be asking who the Balearics have managed to serve up this time. Tourism ministers; there have been a few, too many to mention.

The headline of an article in the Spanish media more or less summed up this appointment: "A philologist fronting Balearic tourism." Bel is a qualified Catalan philologist. She has been a school teacher. She is now the minister of tourism. And the only reasons that she is have to do with Més dogma and with the intrigues of the Balearic government. She will carry on the good Més work at tourism, even if she has no real idea what it entails. She will be presented to the tourism industry because Més wouldn't allow any other outcome. Joana Camps revisited, but wearing a pan-Catalanist, eco-nationalist frock.

Regarding the appointment of Busquets, I asked someone - where do they find these people? At the bottom of the pyramid came the response. Barrel might have been an alternative. It's not that I wish her ill; quite the contrary. But how can it be that the Balearics most important industry is placed in the hands of someone who on the face of it is not equipped for the post? Well, I think we know why. Dogma, power games within the government and the sudden opportunities offered by the new politics.

How PSOE must really wish that there was a return to the old way. It was manifestly obvious that President Armengol didn't want Busquets. At her swearing-in there was a distinct frostiness of body language. But PSOE just have to lump it and hope that Busquets heeds Armengol's words about positive dialogue with the industry. At least with Barceló he did appreciate there is a certain "realpolitik" in dealing with the hoteliers. Will Bel?

Més And The Holding Midfield

"Busquets for Mallorca" wasn't the headline. Not quite anyway. The Barcelona holding (aka defensive) midfielder was not being enticed from the Camp Nou with a promise of slumming it in front of one man and his dog when Real Mallorca head for places never previously heard of that host football teams in the Segunda B (Grupo 3). No, it wasn't that Busquets. It wasn't even a male. It was female and it was a Bel.

Finding a replacement (replacements) for Our Man Not In Havana But Punta Cana, Biel Barceló, has been proving to be less straightforward than might have been imagined. It hasn't been a simple case of dotting i's and crossing t's. Oh, that it were. No i has been dotted; instead it has been deleted altogether. From Biel to Bel. Barceló to Busquets. The Més B&B seems destined to continue. Or is it?

It is eminently possible that you have never heard of Bel. If you haven't, I really can't blame you. Bel's possible ascent to the vice-presidency sums up the mess that Més have got into because of Biel's jaunt to the Dominican Republic. Putting it bluntly, Més is not a party overflowing with political big-hitters; it is instead populated with dwarves tossed into a spotlight of slightly less than 14% share of the vote. It has basically been Biel and hardly anyone else. There is the wild man, David Abril, though there will be many who would prefer that there wasn't, and Més also have Mick of the Council. But he is more than content to remain Mick of the Council, president of the self-appointed Government of Mallorca.

Bel, who has been shadowing the wild man as Més joint spokesperson, has risen from rightful obscurity to be the number one for the VP's job: number one where Més are concerned, and no one else. In fact, it isn't really true to say that she's number one throughout Més. It had looked as if Mother Santiago, Fina, was nailed on for the VP gig, but then someone pointed out that she wasn't from the PSM Majorcan Socialists wing of Més. Mother was once with the communists, as was the wild man. The PSM said no to Mother, which must therefore draw into huge question her chances of being Més presidential candidate come 2019.

For Més, Bel would be a safe pair of hands - or safe pair of feet, if you prefer - in a holding midfield role of the unspectacular and indeed anonymous. The party is desperate to hold itself together and hope that it can limp towards the next election having regained credibility, most of which has disappeared along with ministerial and senior official names over the past nine months. In the process, however, it is still doing its utmost to portray itself as a self-interested shambles: say no to Bel and there'll be no acceptance of next year's budget, so there.

It is transparently obvious that neither Sweet and Friendly Francina nor Podemos have been overly enamoured of the Bel proposal for VP. Més have maintained that Bel is non-negotiable. The i must be dotted prior to deletion, and Bel will be the belle of the Balearic government ball - in a holding midfield role.

* And what do you know, Bel does indeed appear to be the belle. The confirmation was made yesterday amidst an undeniable air of reluctance on behalf of PSOE.

Reclaiming The Tourism Ministry

Misfortune can sometimes work to your advantage. For Balearic tourism minister Biel Barceló, the resignation of his director-general has delivered unto him an eco-sovereignty brother in arms as a replacement. Antoni Sansó, with hindsight, might have been DG all along. There are reasons why.

His predecessor, Pilar Carbonell, preparing for her Cursach-related appointment with Judge Manuel Penalva today, was not cut from similar cloth to Antoni. Or anything like it. She was neither especially eco nor pro-Balearic sovereignty, if at all (on either count). Her background was with the restaurants association within that institutional edifice of the Confederation of Balearic Business Associations. She wasn't a member of Més. She only really got the job because she knew the tourism sector and because she had her brushes with the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation. She was once responsible for ejecting people from her restaurant who were wearing the green t-shirts of educational protest on the very day that thousands went to Palma to demonstrate against José Ramón Bauzá's TIL trilingual teaching. She also, the most heinous of her sins, habitually spoke Castellano rather than Catalan. Most within Més couldn't understand why Biel had appointed her.

Pilar also spoke in a friendly manner on the phone to Cursach's enforcer, Tolo Sbert - in Castellano, naturally enough. Antoni Sansó gives the impression of not speaking in a friendly manner to anyone. He no doubt does, but conveying a tough demeanour will stand him in good stead with the Més rank and file and with fighting the good fight for the tourist tax and the holiday rentals legislation. And with the latter, he comes into the post well-qualified; he wrote the legislation.

He will also stand Biel in greater stead, as the tourism minister reaches to pull himself out of the vast political hole into which he has descended. Fellow party members will look upon Biel with renewed favour, now that Pilar is no more. Even Podemos might take a belated shine to Biel. Eco-sovereignty, in the right senior official place, can work wonders for doubting so-called government partners, not least when they are seeking an insistence on vetting appointments in the tourism ministry.

Antoni has got off to a rollicking good start. In his first interview since taking over the DG's office he expressed not the least concern that the Balearics might lose one million tourists next year. It wouldn't be a "drama" if the million went AWOL, he observed. Antoni is clearly not a man for turning a non-drama into a crisis. How about losing a second million?

He then parroted all that we are now familiar with. Growth of tourism in the low-season months. Lengthening the season. No more tourists in the summer are needed. A ceiling on tourist places will not allow there to be growth in the summer. All the right stuff. Perhaps it was he who had in fact written Biel's script previously. He was after all "the advisor" to the ministry.

He will certainly be more comfortable in the DG's shoes than Pilar could have been. As someone from her restaurant background, neither the tourist tax nor the rentals legislation made much sense. Still, if you are invited to be tourism DG, then you presumably and willingly accept the shilling. Which she did. Antoni appears to be a more ready-made willing recipient, and would say so in Catalan and not in Castellano. He probably has a green t-shirt somewhere in his drawers.

If Pilar, notwithstanding her history of having rows with the hoteliers federation, may have privately been equivocal on the matter of the tourist tax, there is no such equivocation with Antoni. The greatest catastrophe where the tax is concerned lies not with the current tax but the old ecotax. If it had been retained, he has noted, no one would now be questioning the new one. Which may be true, but then Antoni is perhaps neglecting a little bit of history.

When the ground was being laid for the introduction of the old ecotax, there were dissenting and questioning voices. You would have expected that these were hotelier and Partido Popular voices, but they also came from within the ranks of the government of the time: not PSOE's but the PSM Mallorcan Socialists, Biel's party that is now the main constituent of Més.

The PSM weren't opposed to the ecotax but they did express concern about the timing if its introduction. What were they worried about? Losing tourists, that's what. They looked across the Mediterranean and thought, oh dear, what about the competition. So, things weren't quite as Antoni now presents them. But then, fifteen years ago is a long time, and eco-sovereignty is today on a firmer footing, sponsored by tourists at up to four euros a night.

Barceló: If The Boot Were On The Other Foot

Biel Barceló is the vice-president of the Balearic government as well as the tourism minister. He enjoys his position of vice-president because of the political arrangement between his party, Més, and PSOE to act as the government with Podemos lending its support. This position was the consequence of having gained a 13.8% share of the vote in 2015. That's PR for you.

Barceló has been around the block for many years. He was within the Bloc of 2007 to 2011, a grouping of left-wing parties that were part of the government of that period. The Bloc predated Més.

Given the fluctuations of electoral fortune, he has found himself in opposition as well as in government. And as a member of the opposition, he made a virtue of attacking corruption - that of the Partido Popular or others - at every opportunity. In a different life, he would now be leading the charge in demanding his resignation.

The contracts affair, as stated previously, doesn't bear the same hallmarks of the outlandish corruption of the past. No one has actually been found guilty of anything, and whatever guilt there might be, it would perhaps lie with a manipulation of the rules as opposed to outright abuse. Contracts were supposedly divided up into different companies in order to get round the maximum limits of contract value at which point the rules say that they must be open to public competition.

The amounts aren't vast. But the whole affair has more than a whiff of favouritism - that shown to the one-time Més campaign manager, Jaume Garau, a friend of Barceló's. It has principally been the contracts affair that has led the opposition (and Podemos) to call for Barceló's head.

Pilar Carbonell, the now ex-tourism director-general, was a later arrival. But even within Més there will be those who are content to wish her on her way. She was not a member of Més. She was in fact firmly a creature of the business association environment, selected mainly, it seemed, because she had confronted the hoteliers on many an occasion as president of the restaurants' association. She was given the post of director-general because Garau supposedly didn't want it.

Give people positions of political power, then they will either abuse them or they will mutate in some form or another. With Carbonell, she has had to involve herself in the rentals' legislation. As a one-time representative of the restaurant sector, an undoubted beneficiary of holiday rentals, this has been an about-face, one caused by her position. Her dealings with Cursach, whatever they may really have been, need to be considered in terms of her role before she was given a political position. It's not an excuse for her, but Cursach, regardless of the charges he and Tolo Sbert face, was a figure from the same "complementary" sector as Carbonell.

Barceló, not cited by any judge, can take this as reason not to resign. But he was the boss of both Carbonell and Pere Muñoz, who was obliged to fall on his sword at the tourism agency because of the contracts affair. As the most senior and recognisable face in Més, he may not have been directly responsible for contracts awarded by the transparency and culture ministry, but this was a ministry of his doing, of his creation. Més control it.

If the boot were on the other foot, he would be calling for heads to roll. His own. But political power alters the perceptions and the steadfast desire to root out corruption, even at a comparatively minor level. The current opposition are demanding that President Armengol sacks him immediately, if he doesn't resign. Bizarrely, because Armengol was unwell, Barceló chaired yesterday's cabinet meeting. One wonders what they spoke about.

The Christmas Lottery Is Cancelled

God, does Rajoy know what he's done by pressing the 155 button and preparing to send in the entire Spanish army plus the Armada to blockade and lay siege to Barcelona? He's only gone and put the mockers on the Christmas lottery, that's what.

Where has been the dialogue? Where have been the attempts at consensus? Rajoy has steadfastly refused to listen to Més, who held in their hands the means of preventing 155. Press the button, Super Mariano, and we won't sell tickets for the Christmas lottery. But no, Super's gone and done it, so the Balearics are to be deprived of putting pennies (bundles of euros to be precise) in an old fat man's hat and getting fat on the geese and winnings.

Moreover, Més were warning that lottery deprivation is not the only measure they're contemplating. How can Rajoy not take account of Més? Does he not realise that, for instance, the party's Menorcan wing hoovered up three seats in parliament on the basis of 6,568 votes? That's real people power, Super, you should take note. Visca Catalunya! Visca the Balearic Republic of Més! And visca also the splendours of D'Hondt and PR that delivered unto us three Més Menorca MPs, plus their six some-time buddies in Mallorca - Biel et al.

What further measures might Més now adopt? With their 13.8% of the electorate barred from the lottery, will the faithful be persuaded to divert their lottery euros to bolstering the ecotax fund, so that Biel can move the "purposes" goal posts once again and bet all the revenue on arming the Més Republican Army? Will David Abril unilaterally declare independence from himself?

Mariano really should have been aware. Just a month or so ago, Més joined hands and sang out for democracy and Catalonia in the home town of Sweet and Friendly Francina (who obviously wouldn't have attended even if she had been invited, which she wouldn't have been). There they all were in Inca - Biel, Mick of the Council, Mother Santiago, Vince at Environment, Guillem of Alaro - putting the fine touches to a Més strategy later to become resistance to 155. We're not selling any lottery tickets, Rajoy, they agreed. The Spanish nation will thus be brought to its knees. Not that there was much Spanish nation in Inca.

Més had sent "observers" to Catalonia during all the trouble and strife leading up to the fateful utterance of independence. Més had also been piling the pressure on poor old Frankie Antich. The Menorcan wing (6,568 votes) was issuing dire warnings - again - about its relationship with its "partners" (i.e. Francina and PSOE) in the Balearic government if Frankie said yes to 155. In the end, the old boy managed to get lost in the corridors of the Senate and failed to put in an appearance. Diplomatic absence, one might call it.

But now it's happened, what next? It's all well and good Super sacking Carles, but will Carles take it to a tribunal for unfair dismissal? And which tribunal? Where? Carles clearly hasn't thought about that. Nor, one imagines, has Mariano. The case could drag on for years.

What will become of the Catalonia stand at the World Travel Market next month? Will Biel relocate what remains of Balearic tourism and install the Balearic stand within one for the glory of the Catalan Lands? And what's with all the various "requests" that the Catalonia parliament is making of the Catalonia government (such as it is)? There's more than a touch of brass neck to be requesting that the government initiates procedures for dual nationality. Brass neck and a lack of coherence. Isn't the whole point about independence that there are separate nations?

Things Just Got Més-ier: Independence And Tourism

The Banbury Boy, Mick of the Council, has had his say about the slight to-do that has been cracking off in Catalonia. Mick hasn't demanded immediate legal independence, installation as the next member state of the European Union, participation at the next football Euros, and an agreement to devote all the money raised by the Christmas El Gordo lottery to shore up an economy about to do its best to become the new Extremadura (which Catalonia with a bit of help from the Balearics has been keeping afloat for decades). No, none of that (with the possible exception of the first); Mick has instead been concerning himself with the last two presidents of the Balearics.

Frankie Antich and J.R. Bauzá have themselves reasonably remunerated sinecures as members of the Senate. These are courtesy of the Balearic parliament. Whereas the citizens elect five Balearic senators, parliament, through its benevolence, secures former presidents nice little earners in Madrid. In the case of Antich there wasn't much of a fuss about this. With J.R. it was a way of managing to get rid of him. This didn't of course stop J.R. attempting to make a comeback. It was believed that he was exploiting his presence in Madrid to drum up support to march triumphantly into the Balearic PP leadership once more. Which he might have believed, but no one else in the PP in Madrid did.

His one-man PR campaign (PR for himself) is, it seems, more or less all he does in Madrid. While Antich, in between having a heart attack, at least attempts to justify himself by asking questions in the Senate, J.R. remains silent, all the time plotting his next failed comeback. Recently, because he clearly wasn't needed in Madrid, he was seen among the Palma crowds demonstrating their support for Spanish unity. And it is this, rather than any under-performance in a Senate style, which has attracted Mick's interest.

The president of the Council of Mallorca, which is rapidly becoming its own independent state within the loose alliance known as the autonomous community of the Balearics, is insisting that J.R. - and Frankie Antich - vote against Rajoy's Article 155 nuclear option. Both of them owe the fact that they are senators to that parliamentary grace and favouring. And as the Balearic parliament has extended the fraternal hand of support to Carles Puigdemont and his pals, then they should both say "no" to Rajoy and 155.

The chances of J.R. doing this are about as slim as him finally abandoning his ambitions for political renaissance. Antich, cloistered in the Madrid halls of power, has gone native and is tagging along behind Pedro Sánchez in having said he'll say "yes" to 155. It is here where things get a tad awkward. Mick will know full well that J.R. is a hopeless case, but he and Més are determined that Antich remembers that he's from the Balearics, the mini-me homeland of independence (in a Més fashion), and not a political creation of Madrid.

The other Frankie, Armengol, has been hoping to persuade the former Frankie to be as sweet and friendly as she is and bow to the Més command. She has thus been engaged in dialogue with Frankie A Mark I in seeking to arrive at a 155 consensus, one that he clearly doesn't believe in. Will her intervention do the trick for Mick? We will find out, but the whole business has revealed the extent to which Més appear to be labouring under an impression that they are the true power in the Balearic land, when everyone of course knows that it is Podemos.

But Més are discovering that power grab comes at a cost, roughly valued at 80,000 euros in the case of the combined price for two contracts that the not-quite-yet-former director of the Balearic Tourism Agency sanctioned. Pere Muñoz is for some bizarre reason still acting director of the agency, and while he and Mrs. Doubtfire, the one-time minister for opacity, are the convenient fallpersons for the Més contracts mess, it now emerges that payment for at least one contract was allegedly being made even before it was signed.

Biel Barceló, meanwhile, rises above all this fuss and then comes out with the astonishing announcement that the agency is in any event going to be shut down. This is because Mick and the Council are about to take over all the promotion of tourism, i.e. cultural, gastronomic, natural tourism for the millions of tourists planning on coming to Mallorca in the winter.

So Pere would have been out of a job anyway. Can we conclude this? We probably can. Alternatively, he may have been switched to a new post as director for managing the spending of the tourist tax. Biel, in dismantling the agency, has hit upon a fabulous ruse for the use of public money. The agency will be turned into another agency - one to manage tourist tax revenue spending projects.

It will do what? Why in God's name is such an agency needed? Is it not the case that Biel decides how the revenue's going to be spent, then informs the rest of the committee before handing over large sums of tourist tax moolah to Palma town hall for it to get on and carry out the projects? What do you need an agency for? Aren't town halls (and others) competent enough at managing projects?

Erm, yes, maybe there is the need for an agency.

The Balearic Independence Myth

The gross domestic product of the Balearic Islands is around 27 billion euros - 27,000 million. This is roughly 12% the size of Catalonia's economy, which creates more than one-fifth of Spain's total GDP. If one wants other comparisons, Balearic GDP is lower than that of Sicily, of Sardinia and of the Canary Islands. By contrast, it is greater (by more than two times) than Malta.

In hypothetical terms, the Balearics could stand alone, but then one can say this for many regions in Europe. GDP reveals only so much. The nature of the economy is as important. The Balearics, and we are being constantly reminded of this, has an economic monoculture - tourism. Catalonia most definitely does not. Nor does Malta, what with, for example, its financial services; tourism's direct contribution to the Maltese economy is roughly a third of what it is in the Balearics.

Apart from a shared language, Catalonia and the Balearics form a fraternity based on perceived fiscal and financial injustice. Catalonia had wanted a different arrangement. It had wanted to be like the Basque Country (and Navarre). It had sought a system whereby it would keep all tax revenues - income tax and VAT - and then pay an agreed percentage to the state. Instead, it had to maintain the arrangement that exists for all Spain's regions, with the exception of the Basque Country and Navarre. Tax revenue is remitted to Madrid and is then paid back under the regional distribution system. The Balearics and Catalonia (and the Madrid region) lose out under this - they put more in than they receive. In other words, they help to subsidise the rest of Spain.

Setting aside all other considerations, Catalonia, in economic terms, is a viable state: very much a viable state. The same cannot be said for the Balearics. The numbers might look reasonable by comparison to, say, Malta, but they fail to hide the underlying weakness of the economy - it's that monoculture.

We have at present a collision of forces in the Balearics. One of these is the demand for diversification, a demand so old that it reinforces the questionability of how there can ever be meaningful diversification. The agitators provide absolutely no prescription. They argue in favour of a mostly blank sheet of paper. They offer no model to replace the apparently discredited model which obtains at present, save for vague allusions to new and information technologies.

The second force is sovereignty, or at least a force emanating from certain quarters - Més most obviously. David Abril, the chief promoter of a referendum of independence by 2030, says that 2030 is not far away. He's right, it isn't far away. He might hope that over this comparatively short timeframe the monoculture can be meaningfully diversified. Because if it isn't, any referendum would be predicated on dangerous economic grounds.

The third force is what has been happening in Catalonia, which has helped to motivate Més into issuing its clarion call for independence. Here is further fraternity, that of sovereignty of the components of the Catalan Lands, even if this fraternity is more mythical than real.

The last time that the Gadeso research foundation conducted a survey into identity was in September 2015. It discovered that 38% of respondents were in favour of the current system of autonomous government in the Balearics. This was the highest percentage of six options. Only four per cent were in favour of being given the chance to opt for independence. When asked whether they felt more Spanish or more Balearic, 51% rated this equally. Only Més and El Pi voters said they felt more Balearic than Spanish or just Balearic: El Pi is a sort of centre-right version of Més in terms of nationalist leanings. Neither party can point to high levels of popular support: Més 13.8% of the vote for the regional government in 2015; El Pi 7.96%.

The next question was island-specific. Do you identify most with the Balearics, your own island or with the Catalan Lands? Overwhelmingly, and in each case, it was with the individual island. Identity with the Catalan Lands was no more than two per cent.

These findings invalidate the Més proposition. Independence is not wished for. Being somehow beholden to Catalonia is most certainly rejected. The concept of the Balearics as a social entity is also highly questionable. The individual islands have long had their own identity. Even the granting of autonomy in 1983 didn't produce wild scenes of joy on the streets. Regional government is an administrative function as much if not more than any expression of identity.

A colossal change in attitude would be needed in the space of seventeen years if Més were to achieve its ambition. Just as significantly, there would need to be a major restructuring of the economic base by 2030 in order to make an independent Balearics even vaguely sensible as a separate economic entity. It's not going to happen.

Dave's Days Of Independence

Weeks don't really get much better for a staunch Mallorcan left-wing eco-nationalist than last week's did for David Abril, Wild Man Més. The party's political council was letting it be known that next month's general assembly will be presenting some sort of roadmap for Mallorcan independence within thirteen years, an aim that Dave, as joint parliamentary spokesperson and Més über-strategist, is only too delighted to push.

Meanwhile, he was being pulled up by the PP for having described as "neo-fascist" a PP summit that was scheduled for yesterday in Palma and which Mariano Rajoy would be attending. The PP's Biel Company called for him to resign and the party took the matter to the parliament's governing board. It boldly, with the exception of Més representatives, decided that it rejected Abril's observation. He was doubtless totally unconcerned by the reproach and perhaps more put out by Company having said that he spoke for a "minority party" that wishes to disrupt the tranquility and common sense of Balearic citizens.

But tranquility was clearly on Dave's mind when he came up with the wheeze for all sunloungers and chiringuito bars to be banned from the island's beaches. The tranquility would be such that the few remaining tourists who had not been deterred by Mésite anti-saturation fervour would resign themselves to having to go somewhere else to pay 20 odd euros for the privilege of not sitting on a towel right on the sand.

This was really the latest in a list of initiatives that Dave has been coming up with to lay the foundations for that independence roadmap. In addition to acquiring powers for managing the island's beaches from the Costas (under the control of neo-fascists no doubt), Dave has previously, for example, floated the idea of the Balearics having their own police force. It would be in the style of the Mossos in Catalonia, where all last week's shenanigans would have been manna from sovereignty heaven for Dave and what might be termed Agenda 2030.

Dave, whose oeuvre "Repensem Mallorca (rethinking Mallorca): de l’especulació a la construcció de la dignitat" (2015) might be said to act as a strategy document for Més (tourism policies and all), was once a member of the United Left. He abandoned this party, sometimes described as being communist, along with the motherly Fina Santiago. And she, Fina, looks set to run as presidential candidate for Més in 2019. In fact, and adding to Dave's good week, this was as good as decided last weekend.

Nationalising The Beaches

It was a few years ago now. Residents in Playa de Muro were denouncing the over-occupation of part of the beach by sunlounger and parasol sets. There were more than there should have been, and the residents invoked the rights of the citizens in respect of the use of the free public domain that is all Spanish beaches.

The residents' action came at a time when Playa de Muro (and Can Picafort) were the scene of the occasional sunlounger war. Mornings would dawn and damage to sunloungers could be seen. They were being slashed overnight. Repairing them cost a pretty centimo or two. Nothing was ever proven, though the suspicion was that these acts of vandalism were due to differences between competing concessionaires for operating the summer sunloungers.

These concessions were and are pretty good business. A tendency to over-occupy made the business that much more profitable. It was suggested that bidders would in fact make allowance for fines they could anticipate for putting out too many sunloungers. Even with the fines and the charges demanded by the town hall for the concession, six months (or however long) of sunloungers turned in and continue to turn in handsome profits, so long as they've not been eaten into by the cost of repair.

Another part of Playa de Muro's beach (not the one the residents were worried about) is virtually impassable because of the sunloungers. There is a corridor behind them; otherwise it's a walk with the sea lapping over your feet. It's not like this in other parts because the beach is either deeper or there are no sunloungers: in front of the nature park dunes or those stretches which have only residential accommodation and no hotels.

When David Abril of Més announced the other day that his party is seeking to remove sunloungers (and chiringuito bars) from all beaches, my thoughts turned to the situations in Playa de Muro. Over the years they have encapsulated arguments regarding the free space of the beach public domain, the business to be had from beach "exploitation", and beach overcrowding because of the sheer scale of sunlounger occupation.

I don't entirely disagree with what Abril was saying. There is something less than satisfactory about the business exploitation (privatisation, if you want to call it that) of what is meant to be free space. There is also something almost unseemly about the way in which sunloungers on certain stretches of beach can be packed so tightly together and in such number.

Not, however, that I can agree on some sort of blanket ban, while the agreement with Abril only goes so far. It might be greater if one didn't detect that behind the proposal is a further whiff of Més zeal for let's call it (to be kind) touristic reorganisation rather than anti-tourism. And that, moreover, this is a zeal dressed up as environmentalism and even nationalism (of a Mallorcan variety, that is).

Abril will know that in the general scheme of things sunloungers are used by tourists rather than by residents and that there have been those arguments about over-occupation made by residents. He is potentially therefore touching another raw nerve of sentiment and promoting a citizens' yelp against tourism (and saturation).

On the environmental front, we have had the situation at Es Trenc this summer with the demolition of the chiringuitos. This was in fact because of a court decision that applied rules in the national coasts law. It wasn't driven by local eco-politicians but they most certainly latched onto it. To now put up the temporary chiringuitos (if they do indeed appear next summer) will mean overcoming complications as tangled as being able to license an apartment as a holiday rental. Moreover, the chiringuitos' enforcement was a reinforcement of the triumph one of Abril's Més colleagues, environment minister Vidal, had secured with regard to the Es Trenc Nature Park. Més had achieved what had been demanded for years at a beach which is more symbolic of Mallorca's virginal coastline than any other.

Fundamentally, though, underpinning Abril's proposal is Mallorcan nationalist fervour. This nationalism is a Més philosophy, and Abril advocates it more strongly than most. Within the context of the ongoing debate (such as it is) on tourism saturation etc., he has now given greater prominence to the beaches and made an allusion, as have others with like minds, to a time past when there were no "installations" on beaches and when the sands were all romantically rustic and dunes hadn't been flattened and built on.

The justification for his demand is nationalist in that it calls for Balearic powers of control of the beaches. The central government via the Costas Authority has the supreme responsibility for the Spanish nation's beaches, and this is what Abril is seeking to alter. Beaches and sunloungers now enter the nationalism argument, and of this there is a great deal more to be said. Més envisage "our own state" by 2030.

The Market That Broke The Rentals' Legislation

"We will create a legal framework for tourist rentals in 'plurifamiliar' properties so that, under established conditions, they can be rented." This comes from PSOE's manifesto for the 2015 elections in the Balearics. By plurifamiliar, if you're not familiar, this means apartment buildings.

"We will develop a new tourism law ... that will regulate ... tourist rentals." "We will make tourism a source of shared prosperity to ensure that the majority of the population actively participates in the benefits of tourism." This is from the Més manifesto for the same elections.

When Més referred to regulation of rentals, they meant regulation that was more permissive than allowed under the 2012 tourism law. When they spoke of shared prosperity, they were talking in general terms about a more equitable distribution of wealth but also in more specific terms. One of the party's prominent spokespeople on tourism, Toni Reus, the ex-mayor of Santa Margalida, had referred to the right of individual families to supplement their incomes from the renting of a property.

When Biel Barceló of Més became tourism minister after the elections, it was generally acknowledged that he had inherited a hot potato - holiday rentals. New regulation of rentals, he once said, would be undertaken before a new tourist tax was introduced. This didn't happen. Events conspired to mean that the rentals' regulation came along a year later.  

The politics of holiday rentals, broadly shared by PSOE and Més prior to the 2015 elections, were such that the left opposed the Partido Popular's dogmatic stance on apartments. Up until midway through the PP's 2011-2015 administration neither PSOE nor the PSM (the main constituent of Més, of which Barceló is a member) had taken a great deal of interest in holiday rentals. They had been together in government on two occasions - 1999 to 2003 and 2007 to 2011. Holiday rentals had escaped legislative attention.

Although there was an "issue" with the legality of apartment rentals, it was an issue that governments could deal with by making reference to the 1999 law, making the odd threat and basically never doing anything. The issue wasn't worth the renewed legislative hassle. It wasn't that big an issue. The status quo was maintained. Rentals' illegality and legality were allowed to coexist.

In 2012 the PP made a difference. They legislated. Or rather, they reinforced their own 1999 tourism law. It was only after the 2012 act went through that rentals really started to become a "hot potato". Suddenly everyone was talking about rentals and about the tenancy act. The left took up the cause. The PP's law was unfair. It was biased towards the hoteliers and biased against the likes of Toni Reus' families. It was also a potential risk to the islands' tourism.

Over the summer of 2013 there was a great deal of discussion. By August of that summer the tourism minister, Carlos Delgado, was being bombarded with requests and demands to adopt a more permissive approach. PSOE was to the fore in making this bombardment. The PSM weren't far behind, and they were backed by the Chamber of Commerce and various associations, one of which was the restaurants association within the Balearic Confederation of Business Associations. Its president was Pilar Carbonell. She is now the director general of tourism, the choice of Biel Barceló.

The general mantra was that there was a danger in not liberalising the rentals' market. Tourists may well choose to go somewhere else rather than Mallorca and the Balearics. Delgado called a meeting. It had looked as though he might have had a change of mind. He hadn't.

So, when PSOE and Més (with Podemos in the wings) formed the government in spring 2015, rentals' legislation was firmly on the agenda. Both PSOE and Més had it in their manifestos. Neither had given any idea what the legislation might be, but a clue possibly lay with the Catalonia regulations: relatively permissive and capable of bringing in an extra pot of tourist tax revenue.

The government is now being accused, among other things, of kowtowing to the hotels. Més? In the pocket of the hoteliers? Don't be ridiculous. And Pilar Carbonell, a political independent, had constantly been at loggerheads with the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation when she was the restaurants' president, especially because of all-inclusives. As tourism director general, she, like Barceló and like PSOE have had to adapt to an altered situation.

Airbnb was an emerging factor during the time of the PP administration. It then exploded in a way that few could have foreseen. Had it not exploded, it is quite possible that the stock of "illegal" apartments could have been dealt with in a far less complex way than is the case. Who knows, maybe all that had been "illegal" at the time of the election could have been made legal. The fact is that it did explode and has brought with it the various social problems that it has.

Those manifesto pledges haven't been totally broken. It was the Airbnb market that broke what otherwise would have been different legislation.

No Black Monday For Biel?

Vice-president, minister for tourism, minister for innovation and research Biel Barceló is due to be resurrected. Intact. The tears, his own, of last week were a Marian lament of his possible political crucifixion, he having faced the auto de fe of parliament, the inquisitional appearance in front of the Pontius PP and the Judas element of Podemos.

The latter, it would seem, is likely to retract and to repent. Monday had been expected to be Black. More tears were to be wept. There may be some discreet smiles instead. Saintly Francina, Our Lady of Forgiveness, is to bestow her grace on Biel. For Podemos, you can turn on Biel, but the lady is not for burning Biel.

Oh that it should have come to this. Biel's party, Més, had found themselves in the Promised Land, their Garden of Eden of political power, only to be tempted by the poison of the odd dubious contract. While the apostle Ruth has been forced to ascend to Saint Peter's gates, the one to be cast out and suffer the eternity of Dante's inferno is Saint Jaume. Not a Jaume whose tomb will lead pilgrims to Santiago but the Jaume with, as witnessed in certain photos, a somewhat Messianic appearance of his own. Jaume Garau, the Maker of All Contracts, not really the Més Messiah (who is, after all, Biel) but rather The Baptist. What is not he (Jaume) whose baptismal powers led Més to the electoral Promised Land?

Biel will survive. Praise the Lord!

The Weaknesses Of Strong Government

Election night two years ago - Balearic regional election, just to make clear - was notable for the disaster which everyone suspected was going to strike the Partido Popular and for the beaming smiles on the faces of Biel Barceló and other members of Més. This coalition of a party's time had arrived, even if it was only with slightly under 14% of the vote.

The collapse of the PP signalled the next few weeks of at-times heated negotiation. Eventually the pieces fell into place. Més, PSOE and Podemos agreed on change (and we're never allowed to forget these agreements). The government would be different. There was to be, among things, an anti-corruption office (which has yet to be manned or even established) and bucket loads of participation and transparency.

A key difference was to be the absence of any stench of scandal. The PP, with ample justification, was labelled the party of the corrupt. This, however, was a not entirely accurate description of the Bauzá regime. There was much wrong with that regime, but scandal was in minimal supply. It was knocking around elsewhere - in Palma most notably - but even that only emerged later (and as yet still allegedly). Such relatively squeaky-cleanliness didn't prevent Més (and others) adding PP corruption to the list of their potential vote winners.

Almost two years on from that joyous (for Més) election night, the platitudes have worn thinner than they originally were. Casting the Més contracts affair in a similar fashion to the one-time Unió Mallorquina is somewhat fanciful, because it is not in the same league as the UM. Indeed, it may turn out that nothing illegal has happened. But there is a similarity in that a partner in a government pact has brought crisis to a PSOE-led pact. President Armengol can assert that her government remains "strong", but she's desperate to keep up appearances. It has never been strong by its very nature. It is now weak and terminally ill.

A firewall has been erected around Barceló. Armengol has helped to build it. Such is the government's weakness that it cannot afford Barceló to go. This started to become ever more obvious as Armengol sought ways of shoring up the government which would prevent Més from walking out on it and forcing a new election. Transparency proved to be a main bargaining point. In the end, Més accepted losing the portfolio to PSOE.

For the time being, the government can continue as it is, pretending that all is well and "strong". The anti-corruption prosecutor may have to something to say about this or he may not. Meanwhile, though, the affair is not going away. Podemos believe that Més should assume greater responsibility, meaning that they believe there should be other ministerial resignations. Certain conspiracy theories are doing the rounds regarding the timing of the revelations about the contracts. One has to do with Antoni Noguera in Palma, who arranged a contract with Jaume Garau. Was the timing something to try and prevent him taking over as mayor in June?

There are also further questions about the contracts and Garau. It has now also been revealed that when he was in charge of European funds during the 2007-2011 administration, he awarded a contract of over half a million euros to a consultancy to take charge of the operational programme for funds for the period 2007 to 2013. In 2013, when he was no longer a government senior official, he became joint administrator of that consultancy.

The tasks for which the contracts were drawn up are being queried as well. Were they in fact necessary or indeed appropriate? When the contracts were first revealed, I wondered about more than one of them. For instance, there was the study of the "business fabric" in the Balearics. This was awarded by Barceló. He may be the vice-president, he may be responsible for innovation and research, but isn't the business fabric an issue for a different ministry, i.e Iago Negueruela's employment, trade and industry ministry? Negueruela is with PSOE.

What about the "barometer of tourist satisfaction", also awarded by the tourism ministry (via the Balearic Tourism Agency)? The Gadeso research organisation already has such a barometer. Perhaps the ministry wanted one which would reveal rather better barometers of satisfaction than Gadeso's does.

If the government survives until it's time for the 2019 election, what will the contracts affair mean for Més? The party's retaliation in the past few days has been to go back to calling out the PP, even dragging up ancient political scandal such as the Rasputin case. This reveals its already electorally weakened condition. It has little else to fall back on, and the electorate is unlikely to fall for such diversionary attempts. There was supposed to have been transparency and cleanliness. There has been neither.

One Door Closes .... Or Fannying Around

So, Fanny, welcome to the increasingly evaporating Balearic government. Do you know that your surname, Tur, if you were to add an umlaut, means door in German? One door closes (on Ruth Mateu) and another one opens. Yours. Shall we see what's behind the door? Ah yes, culture, sport and participation. But alas, no transparency. Where has it gone? Has it already evaporated? No, it's now residing in the ministry of the presidency, another ministry that no one is quite sure what it actually does.

You will be aware of the fact, Fanny, that you are from Ibiza. This seems a little odd. Not coming from Ibiza, one hastens to add, but because Més in Menorca believed they had the ministry sewn up. The insular balance has shifted. What will Més in Menorca make of Més in Ibiza having usurped the cultural, sporting and participative domain, deprived as it now is of transparency?

Their beef isn't with Més in Ibiza, you'll be relieved to learn. It is with Més in Mallorca. It was they who got rid of Ruth. She didn't resign, she was sacked. She was a scapegoat, a Menorcan one. Have you ever sampled Menorcan goat cheese, Fanny? It might just have turned a touch sour at the moment.

You see, the Menorcan branch is none too pleased. It didn't have any contracts with that Garau chappy. It did not have any electoral gurus. Everything is Mallorca's fault. Nothing to do with Ruth. Still, you are about to find out how things are, and not just Més relations that straddle the Menorca Channel.

Anyway, now that you're getting your feet under the desk, what will you be doing? Culturally, a large in-tray beckons. Doesn't it? As a one-time president of the Ramon Llull Institute, you are well positioned to press the claims for his name to appear over the entrance to Palma airport. Then there is the call for the old boy to be made a saint. What a triumph if both could be secured during what remains of the current legislature, assuming that it limps on until 2019 and Més in Menorca and/or Més in Mallorca and/or Podemos don't bring about its collapse.

But aren't both these issues being driven by the Council of Mallorca, where there is a thriving culture department headed by a vice-president and where there is also an avid fan of Llull's in its president? He was the one who popped off to see the Pope about Llull's sainthood. It wasn't Ruth. Or maybe Esperança before Ruth.

So culturally, and aware that there appears to have been the need for all the fannying around that has deemed it necessary to keep your now three-quarters ministry intact, what precisely does the ministry do? Can there be some transparency, please? Seemingly not. That door has been closed. We can look behind the door, Fanny, but we can't see through it.

Political Crisis And Holiday Rentals

There is a sense of history repeating itself. While the parties of the Balearic government agonise over what to do with the transparency and culture ministry in the wake of Ruth Mateu's resignation, there is also the tourism ministry. It was this ministry which set the Més contracts affair rolling. It could even yet spin totally out of control as more emerges.

It was tourism which was at the eye of the storm that engulfed the previous "pact" government, i.e. a PSOE-led one. This time a different party - Més - is involved, and while it may prove to be that nothing "irregular" occurred, the whiff of scandal has returned to the ministry.

The contracts affair couldn't have come at a worse time. The holiday rentals legislation was due to have been presented. It hasn't been because Biel Barceló and Francina Armengol are fighting fires, ones of Barceló's making, at least where one of the contracts (the largest) is concerned. The political vultures are therefore circling, and they don't come more predatory than Podemos.

The government, if it isn't very careful, is heading for the rocks. The political ramifications of the contracts affair could lead to a new election. While this seems remote, the inherent weakness of the pact is such that the opportunists which make it up can feel the time is right to strike. Podemos have been talking about directions being taken at the tourism ministry. They are not content with how the rentals legislation is going. Even before the contracts affair broke out they had the means to scupper the government if they chose to do so. Keeping the government afloat may now require Armengol bowing ever lower in the face of Podemos demands, with the rentals legislation at the top of the list. It is a key piece of legislation, and the political fallout could shape it in a fashion that hadn't been anticipated.

The legislation, moreover, is highlighting the differences which exist within Més. Antoni Noguera in Palma has revised his opinion and proposed an "Amsterdam" solution of a very limited number of months for approved apartment rentals, but his previous all-out ban was contrary to Barceló's thinking. The support he subsequently (more or less) lent to Noguera's proposal smacked more of ranks being closed than a thought-out policy decision. That proposal was very much more in line with Podemos in Palma. One can't help but feel that when Noguera and José Hila swap roles in June and Noguera becomes mayor, the "pact" in Palma will be locked in an endless battle. This assumes that Noguera survives. There could also yet be more about his part in the contracts affair.

Meanwhile, over at the Council of Mallorca things are calm, testimony in no small part to the presidency of Miquel Ensenyat. The Council is not embroiled in the crisis. It is said that this owes something to Ensenyat not being as tied to the Més mechanism as others. He is more independent therefore and not inclined to simply follow orders, if indeed there were any. The Council awarded no contracts to Jaume Garau.

Aptur, the holiday rentals association, has seized the opportunist moment as well. It has attacked what it considers to be the "belligerent" attitude of the tourism ministry and of Palma town hall (Noguera at any rate), while praising the willingness for dialogue shown by Ensenyat and others at the Council. Aptur needs all the political allies it can lay its hands on. Saying nice things about the Council may be its way of attempting to drive something of a wedge in the Més ranks and of hoping for a more favourable deal on rentals (the Council is responsible for setting the rentals' zoning agenda outside Palma). But in the same way that Ensenyat appears not to wholly bend to his party, he is unlikely to bend in a direction just because someone says nice things about him. He's far too savvy to fall for that one.

Processing of this all-important legislation now appears to be inextricably linked to a political crisis. For it go forward may require some (more) horse-trading, and its movement forward may not, as a consequence, be done with quite the same rapidity that the government had wished. It's almost Easter, the season (the real one) is looming. Rather like the tourist tax last year, new legislation appears destined to come into effect (if it does) slap bang in the middle of the season. This is no way to be supervising Mallorca's main industry.

The Way Of All Gurus

Gurus had clearly existed prior to the Maharishi, but he introduced the concept of gurudom to a generation of pop stars and indeed to an entire generation. When he died nine years ago, The Guardian referred to him as the "groovy charlatan". A man of peace, spiritualism and meditation, there was always the suspicion that behind the flower garlands lay an acute business brain and a cosmic vendor of snake oil.

The Maharishi did more than most, however, to gift the global lexicon the word guru. And somewhat in keeping with that perhaps entrepreneurial streak, a new type of guru was to emerge some ten or so years after John Lennon had the sense to see through him. This was the management guru and also the "excellence" guru.

Management became weirdly hip, courtesy of gurus who suggested that attaining business excellence merely required following the examples of other businesses which had already done so - in their opinion. Thus was bred an entire industry which embraced publishing, consultancy and the conference circuit. There was good money to be made from gurudom, and senior management attached themselves to the outpourings of Harvard, McKinsey and various business schools, consultancies and individual gurus with a spiritualist fervour akin to Mike Love or others hanging off the every word of the Maharishi.

Politics obligingly followed the lead of business cultures that were vainly believing they were pursuing higher states of managerial consciousness. As a consequence, management-speak entered the vocabularies of politicians and political parties and became more mangled and more jargonised than it already was. Coincidental to this latest quackery was the emergence of the political guru. No self-respecting political party could be seen without one. Or several.

Jaume Garau sounds like he should be a guru. The surname is one vowel too many and one substituted vowel away from being guru. Which is how he has been referred to. In fact, and according to Catalan onomastics, Garau is a descendant of the German Gerard, which has morphed, variously, into Giralt and Grau. Given this Germanic origin, Garau means something like brave warrior.

Garau has found himself surplus to requirements, one of those who hastily needed to be dispensed with once the contracts he had with Més ministries became public knowledge. The brave warrior has been struck down. He might actually find it hard to get up again.

What was it that elevated him to guru status? Principally, it would appear, because he helped mastermind the Més election campaign in 2015. So successful was this that Més ended up with the government vice-presidency, a goodie bag's worth of ministries, and the presidency of the Council of Mallorca. This success was predicated on gaining six deputies out of 59 in the Balearic parliament and 13.8% of the vote. By such minor successes is great success measured.

In addition, and according to Palma's Antoni Noguera, who can't wait until June to get both hands on the mayoral wand (so much so that one hand is already gripping it), Garau assisted in supervising Malta's entry into the European Union in 2004. Noguera was responsible for one of the contracts going to Garau. It cost 15,000 euros (plus IVA, VAT), says Noguera, in return for securing 25 million euros of European funding. This, Brussels benevolence, is a speciality of Garau's. As also is tourism.

His doctoral thesis for the University of the Balearic Islands was to do with tourist satisfaction. Given this, given the fact that he had held a senior position during the 2007-2011 government (for European funding), and also given his help in getting Barceló into the ministry, he was apparently offered the post of tourism director-general. He declined the offer, preferring to carry on with some lucrative consultancy work. Which brings us to the contracts.

The amounts involved in these are not vast. Taken individually, there doesn't seem anything necessarily wrong with them. But the anti-corruption prosecution must sense something to have opened an investigation. There clearly is something suspicious in that there is the appearance of potentially organised favouritism, while the prosecution will want to check that the amounts involved were valid.

Garau certainly has benefited from his close association with Més, but it has been pointed out that this hasn't worked entirely in his favour. The Council of Mallorca, presided over by Miquel Ensenyat of Més, has not given any contract. Moreover, it is said that he has offered his services to other parties (he did work worth more than the Més contracts for the Bauzá administration), but got nowhere. That's because the brave warrior was so successful in getting Més into power.

As gurus go, he has substance, certainly if one accepts what Noguera has said. The problem with gurus, though, is that they can seem too good to be true. Paul McCartney said that of the Maharishi. Garau is learning the harsh lesson of gurudom.