Making A Big Difference: Javier Pierotti

It was meant to have been lighthearted, just some fun for the end of the year. On 11 December there was a post on the "Majorca Daily Bulletin's" Facebook page. It invited nominations for people who had made a big difference to Mallorca during 2014.

Eight names were put forward. Mine was one of them; well, I said that the intention had been for lightheartedness. There were other names from the media and there was, as befits a British expatriate newspaper, a bias towards Britons. But there were two names who were not British, and they stood out. One, and for the wrong reason, was the Duke of Palma. The other was Javier Pierotti.

Just for fun it was meant to be, but invariably this is not how it is perceived. I have a great suspicion of such polls, especially when they are social media driven and when this suspicion can increase to a contempt for the manipulative nature of the exercise. Regardless of the medium, the inherent element of a competition sits uneasily with me. As does the potential for division within what is supposedly but isn't a "community". Put it this way, someone (from Pollensa) said to me - in no uncertain terms - that it was to be hoped that the "winner" would disrupt a south-of-the-island hegemony.

If it is specific, as with for example a best footballer poll, then a competition has some validity as like is being compared with like - up to a point - but even relative specifics can be open to abuse or simply to apparent misjudgments by those taking part in the poll; the golfing fraternity was, after all, decidedly miffed that Rory McIlroy did not win Sports Personality.

As things were to turn out, the poll became very much more serious than had been intended. Serious but also joyful and meaningful. It also gave me the opportunity to deal with a personal unease by stating that there was someone who genuinely was deserving of the "difference" accolade.

Javier Pierotti was nominated. I immediately seconded the nomination. Within minutes there was a flood of support. Within hours it was clear that Javier would win the poll. There was no manipulation in the sense of there having been a campaign behind his nomination. Yes, one or two people asked "friends" to add their support to Javier, but otherwise there was a wholly genuine, hugely moving and in some ways surprising rush to side with the Pierotti nomination. The surprise lay with the fact that Javier was not of the British expat community. He was an expat (Argentinian), but an expectation that Britons (who don't exclusively follow the Facebook page, it must be said) might opt for one of their own was not realised. It was as surprising as it was satisfying: a broader, more nuanced, more sophisticated and less parochial perspective had ruled.

Javier's suicide touched many people. And just as many had been supportive of his attempts to effect change in Magalluf. He did so with a selflessness that at times appeared to border on the reckless. With hindsight, and I am only surmising, perhaps he saw the end coming and felt he had nothing to lose, even if it was his life. He took it that night by the castle in Alaró but he had received death threats.

It is that selflessness that marks him out. Too often, one suspects, there is a self-interest that invades the motives of those who might typically be regaled by the expatriate community. Not all. Of course not. But some. Javier wanted to make a difference, and in the process he didn't just receive threats to his life, he was also potentially going to be sued by the mayor of Calvia. Yet, he had a comparatively good relationship with Manu Onieva. He was able to write to him and to do so with some intimacy. There is no more poignant memory of the days just before his death than the letter that he sent to Manu in which he spoke of his impecuniousness and of his loneliness. It was desperately sad. He had nothing to lose, but he knew that he was on the point of losing the sight of his second eye because of the cancer. Doubts might still be expressed about the suicide, but it would be fitting were conspiracies to now be laid to rest along with his body.

In all of this, however, there is the original proposition. Made a "big difference". As it has happened, the poll morphed into person of the year. This is more appropriate. Did Javier make a big difference? He tried, my God he tried, but the difference, if it is realised this summer in Magalluf, will have come for other reasons, most notably the ridiculous fuss over the blowjob video. There again, he did make a difference. He became a totem for a drive for change, one that continues and that will be carried forward by those who adhere to Javier's selflessness and not their own benefits. He awakened greater awareness of issues in Magalluf and did so by breaking through national barriers. This is why his being honoured in the way that he has been in "The Bulletin" is so welcome. Person of the year. Amen. DEP. RIP.

The Bulletin's Big Night Out

The day had, to say the least, started disastrously. To my great horror there was what appeared to be a tear at the corner of the pocket of the one and only suit that I have bothered to keep in reasonable working order (as a rule, one doesn't require suits, or ties, or crisply ironed shirts in the normal course of a Mallorcan day). With nary a needle-wielding wench close to hand (it's so difficult to find one nowadays), I headed off, as you do in such circumstances, to a local British bar to go in search of some needlework.

Do you remember the Python sketch in which Michael Palin finds that his bike has a puncture? He looks around and sees nothing. Except for ... a bicycle-repair shop. Or, maybe you recall the Yellow Pages adverts. The one for the French polisher, for instance. It was a bit like this on Thursday morning. As the tear was diagnosed as the corner of the pocket having threaded, an observant guest of the hostelry became involved. She was? A professional seamstress. Needle met cotton met holidaymaker who just so happened to be having a coffee, and Bob was my cotton bobbin uncle.

The cause of this great alarm was a rare visit to the other side. When crossing to the other side, one doesn't want to look as though one has just been shopping at Help The Aged. The other side is Mallorcan high society, one shot through with liberal doses of non-Mallorcan; British in this particular instance. There are variants on this high-societal paradigm, such as the Germanic-Mallorcan alliance, one that consists primarily of estate agents (the luxury end, naturally enough). This is one that might prefer a day's polo as opposed to slumming it at some grand old pile with accompanying 18-hole golf course just north of Palma, but a high-societal Brit is rarely to be found further than a one-iron's drive from a golf course, so pile and golf course it was.

The occasion was the handing over and the pinning onto the lapel of the honorary MBE for Pedro Serra, founder of the "Majorca Daily Bulletin", president of a Mallorcan media empire, friend of the arts, the man who helped more than most to promote the works of Joan Miró and Llorenç Villalonga, and representative of a streak of entrepreneurialism that the Mallorcans possess and which hardly any other Spaniards, save for the Basques, the Catalans and some in Madrid, have.

High society was, as a consequence, out in great number. Arranged around the high table, in fact the central table in the acoustic-wave-ceilinged salon of Oliver de Termens, were the great and the good. Erm, well ok, you make up your own minds as to greatness and goodness. You have the following to choose from: El Presidente, José Ramón Bauzá; La Presidenta of the Council of Mallorca, Maria Salom; the mayor of Palma, Mateo Isern; the secretary-of-state for tourism (it might be noted that Carlos was not present), Isabel Borrego; Paxo Minor, Jezza's younger brother, who is our man in Madrid; Paxo's oppo in Barcelona, Andrew Gwatkin, he who has assumed consulate duties for the Balearics. And. Oh yes, the Archers.

It fell to Paxo to pin the medal on the lapel. And once done, it was nosebag time. It couldn't have come any sooner. The day of near disaster with the pocket had left me decidedly nosebag-deprived. I was starving, in other words. It was gone ten by the time the prawn salad was served. I was attempting to avoid hearing any comments two to my right; I had asked the agreeable and amiable Marc Fosh if he had been invited to do the catering. 

There was a fish thing on a potato (I think it was a potato anyway) and then some ice-cream with an unspectacular cheesecake affair, which, as is tradition now, was served on a massive plate that was far too big for the ice-cream dollop. Anyway, it went down more or less in one, just as the lights dimmed and an almighty shriek was let out. It was a singer who I confess I had never heard of. Michele McCain. Should I have heard of her? My God, though, she can belt out a tune. Bloody loudly as well. Oddly, I can't remember what she sang. And no, not a drop of alcohol had been taken. The memory of it has been lost among the sheer decibels.

Finally, it was the moment we hadn't all been waiting for. Various "Bulletin" acolytes, hacks and assorted others were required on stage for a tub-thumping oration from Jason, the newspaper's great leader (extremely well received, especially as it was initially in the local tongue). And you know something? I felt bloody proud and not a small bit moved. Pedro Serra received an honour from the Queen. He thoroughly deserves it.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

The 49ers: Spain's politics in 1964

I am in my element. A historian by degree, I am surrounded by the stuff of historical research. Original source material. Aisles of newspapers are bound into volumes. The early volumes consist of parts of years, the later ones are by month. They form the grand archive of the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" and of other Grupo Serra newspapers and publications. This is a gold mine, a journey into the past as revealed by a collection. I am in an inner sanctum of fifty years of history.

Why am I here? I am doing research; research into the news of the past fifty years as reported by the "Bulletin". To do justice to all this source material would take weeks, months. It is perhaps unfortunate that there is not a more convenient way of accessing all this material: in digital form, all referenced, all keyworded. Convenient it would be, but it would be an enormous project. Maybe one day it will be done.

I know, more or less, what I am looking for. My pre-research has identified news stories, most of which I have a date for. These are stories mainly to do with Mallorca and Spain but not exclusively. I know what some of the "biggies" will be. There is a temptation to go to these first - Franco's death, the coup attempt of 1981, for example - but no, I have to be systematic. Year by year, starting back in 1963. Which is where a problem arises. 1963 isn't there. Not the best of starts. Perhaps someone has taken it out. Not to worry. It can wait for now.

Two volumes covering 1964 are, therefore, the first to be examined. A story I want to find is that to do with Spain winning the European football championship, the old European Nations Cup. I find it but I look at random at other issues from the first six months of 1964. Well, not quite at random. I go back exactly 49 years. In the absence of a more scientific approach, taking an anniversary seems like the most obvious way of making sense of randomness. 

I had not expected to uncover any critical articles about Franco and nor did I. Censorship wouldn't have allowed them anyway. There would have been little point anyone attempting to be critical and making life difficult for him or herself. But there, on this 49th anniversary, I was drawn to an article entitled "Harmony Between Spaniards, The Major Political Concern Of Today". A political discussion. I don't know that I had expected to even find one of these.

Above the article was an advert for holiday apartments in San Agustin, Majorca's residential zone "par excellence", so the ad read. The apartments had, among other things, central heating. How innovative must that have been in 1964? The unattributed article was surprisingly measured in its consideration of socialism. Its context was a political trial that had been taking place in Madrid. Though measured ("we respect" the fact that Spanish socialists are "different" and have "nothing to do with the type of socialism we knew in Spain before and during the War"), the article was a firm defence of conservatism. It pointed to British politics, de Gaulle and even Tito's Yugoslavia and Russian communism as examples of conservatism in a rather peculiar advocacy of conservatism as being progressive (I don't know that the Soviets were all that progressive in 1964).

But what was most extraordinary about this article was that it quoted a Spanish intellectual in exile in Peru. It quoted him at length, and this was all it did. It didn't take issue. Yet, this intellectual, Felix Montiel, was quoted thus: "Would it be advisable to overthrow Franco, leaving the solution to the luck of events?" Montiel wasn't in fact proposing that Franco should be overthrown. He disagreed with the regime but he had no wish for "democratic groups" who would "not hesitate to take the path of violence".

What this article suggests to me is that, by 1964, the left, even if it had not become totally reconciled to the Franco regime, was capable of accepting it. Montiel didn't want a return to the war days. He may also have recognised, had he seen a copy of the newspaper, what was happening. As indicated by the ad above the article.

This was just one article, just one I stumbled across, but it was an important article, a genuine surprise. Not only because it was in the "Bulletin" but also because it showed that both right and left were gradually moving towards each other. It would be eleven years before right and left could engage in genuine dialogue, but that dialogue had already begun.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Getting Into An I Pad-dy: Newspapers

I Pad, U Pad, Wii Pad. We all Pad together.

Unfortunately, for Apple and for newspaper and magazine publishers, we don't. We may in some distant future. But for now, we pad as a small minority.

The publishers are ambivalent to this future. They would happily dispense with one of their biggest cost bases - printing - but they are no nearer creating a business model that satisfactorily digitalises and monetises hard copy into oblivion. Ah but the iPad will be that model. Some might think so; some, like Steve Jobs, would hope so. But the mere newspaper-reading mortal continues to be a Steve Unjobsworthy who hasn't become an Apple organisation man and hasn't been commanded by the contemporary tablets of stone, the ostentatiously styled modern miracle of the iPad tablet and its peers.

There's bad news for newspaper publishers; good news for publishers of magazines. PriceWaterhouseCoopers have reported that whereas revenue from digital magazines is set to "sky rocket", thanks to the iPad, sales of subscriptions of newspapers in this digital form will not be sufficient to offset the fall in print sales.

The iPad is many things, but essentially, for many of its products, its newspaper products, it is merely a digital replacement of the hard copy. The hype, and that also for the iPhone, the Android and any other current-day trickery you care to mention, outstrips the reality. There are many, many users of course. But this doesn't mean that newspapers will suddenly disappear. As pointed out by the UK firm Enders Analysis: "Ten million pay for a daily newspaper in the UK. They spend roughly 30 pounds a month each. There will not be 10 million people spending 30 pounds a month on the iPad any time soon".

In a way, the iPad is an experiment, as is much digital and internet publishing. It is worthwhile playing with, but it is only one aspect of the digital future. Newspaper publishers who see it as the only holy grail of a prosperous non-print new world are seriously deluding themselves. Experiments need to be conducted in different ways, and one is to create a wholly new product (or products) with its own revenue stream. It's thinking out of the box, but the fear is that publishers will be seduced into boxing themselves solely inside the iPad tablet box.

All of which brings us to the "Majorca Daily Bulletin". It is now iPad-able, online in full. At a price. Part of a service under the non-snappy moniker of Kioskoymas, through which we are told "the most complete offer of press of quality" is available, the Bulletin is the only English paper in what is an online iPad-oriented system for Spanish newspaper and magazine publishers. A bizarre aspect of this service, were you minded to want to subscribe to the paper, is that you would need to read Spanish. Obviously you would. They're not going to have an English version to guide you through the online registration and payment process when the service is meant to be for Spanish readers.

And subscription is a not unimportant element. Getting the punter to buy a month or more ahead does wonders for cash planning in the uncertain digital world but it runs counter to consumer psychology. Subscriptions to hard-copy newspapers have only ever been a small part of publishers' businesses. Readers habitually buy daily, a truism for a daily publication. Why would you stump up in advance when you haven't in the past? News International is facing this conundrum along with other more pressing matters.

A solution is an incentive. Yet from what I can make out, unless you have a multiple subscription, i.e. to at least more than one title through Kioskoymas, you pay the going rate. And unless you, as an English reader, are inclined to also read Spanish papers or even able to, then you are not going to have a multiple subscription. Moreover, a month seems to be the minimum subscription period, this being unlike other services which enable you to pay daily.

And one of these services is Orbyt. This was launched last year and features "El Mundo", "La Razón" and other Spanish papers as well as magazines. So Kioskoymas is a rival and a less elegant one than Orbyt, if the websites of the two services are anything to go by. The competition with Orbyt is probably quite significant. The Bulletin is part of the Grupo Serra stable, of which "Ultima Hora" is its biggest-selling paper. And "Ultima Hora" is a competitor with the Balearics version of "El Mundo". For it to have an iPad presence as a rival makes sense, and you wonder if this is the main reason why The Bulletin is now iPad-able; it has been bundled in, but it is "Ultima Hora" that really matters.

The Bulletin might gain from this service, it might not, but fundamentally it cannot be seen as the be all and end all, and this is the message for any newspaper publisher. The iPad is basically a means of cannibalising the product. It is a replacement technique more than it is a new-product technique and it is the latter that publishers need to work on.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Pax Bulletinis: British community and newspapers

The British Ambassador to Spain has been visiting Mallorca. You could hardly have missed this if you had read "The Bulletin" on Saturday; not one, not two, not three, but four pages devoted to Giles Paxman - Paxo Minor, he is the younger brother of Jezza. How to fill space and fail to influence people.

The ambassador pitched up at the offices of "The Bulletin" to hand over a commemorative letter, albeit that it is two years early; the paper celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2012, but this didn't stop a small orgy of self-congratulation, the always beaming British Consul on hand to enjoy a toast. Oh, that he might venture northwards to meet British businesses. He could take a leaf out of his boss's book: Paxo the younger will apparently be meeting such businesses in Benidorm. But that's not what I want to talk about.

The letter commends the paper on its achievement and on playing a "very important role within the British community". It will be an achievement, but you have to wonder for how much longer.

According to the audited circulation figures supplied by OJD (Oficina de Justificatión de Difusión), the paper's average net circulation declined by 11% from 3,839 copies in 2008 to 3,405 in 2009. Economic hard times may partially explain this, but there surely are other factors, such as ease of buying British papers and the internet.

When the paper started in 1962, and for many years thereafter, it was not only a visionary move to publish it but it was also "very important". British papers could not be bought easily, and there were few alternative sources of information, especially for the Brit who resolutely refused to learn or read Spanish.

None of this obtains now, other than the Brit still steadfastly avoiding the native. What actually is the point of the paper now? One that uses translated pieces from "Ultima Hora", stuff from the internet (sometimes verbatim), can verge on the unintelligible (we all know what) and is rarely if ever contentious or provocative, except to a few who engage in arguments regarding British or arcane international politics or when a letter-writer raises a vaguely controversial point. The word "lightweight" too easily comes to mind.

Perhaps when the paper's nickname is used - and I assume everyone knows this - there is a sense of unfairness; too high a level of expectation. Look at those circulation figures, and work it out for yourselves. This unfairness also masks genuine affection for the paper, despite its idiosyncracies. But this affection stems in part from the fact that it is something of a bygone age. In the same stable as "The Bulletin", the Catalan paper "dBalears" has been commended for its visual style. It, "Ultima Hora" and the German weekly, "Mallorca Magazin" all have decent websites, replete with additional advertising possibilities. None of this applies to "The Bulletin".

And is it genuinely "very important" within the British community? I would like to say that it is. It was, but I doubt that it now is. Too often, for example, one hears the gripe that it neglects parts of Mallorca away from Palma or Calvia. Some of you will know that I did have a brief association with the paper. It was intended to create more of an emphasis on the north of the island. I also spoke to them about how to enhance the brand name of the paper, and it's a strong name, despite the mickey-taking nickname; nigh on fifty years lend the brand enormous credibility, or should do, but they fail to in a way that commands real respect. I came to realise I was wasting my time. There was seemingly little interest in either the northern community or in something a bit more innovative. It's a great shame. It could still be "very important", but it's hard to see how without a radical re-think.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

North Wind Blew South

The north-south divide. Always the south, never the north. We make this a truism, because of English experience. It is not true elsewhere, Italy for example. In Spain, the north of Madrid and Barcelona may dominate, but it is not that simple. For instance, the south of Cadiz and Seville was a powerhouse in times gone by. In Mallorca though, it is the south, never the north. Despite historical claims by Alcúdia and Artà, it has always been the south - Palma; Palma and now its satellite municipalities, Calvia most obviously, the place of Magaluf, Santa Ponsa and Palmanova.

Population, commerce, power, each has been and is centred on the south. The north is another world, one that does not even have a motorway going all the way. The divide exists, whether for Mallorcans or others; always the south, never the north. And for the Brits, the divide is a vast chasm, one of neglect and sometimes hostility. But it is not difficult to understand why there might be such hostility. The northern zone comprises somewhat more than one-eighth (roughly) of Mallorca's British population, of which over a half lives in Palma or Calvia. Yet, away from the greater south region, this still makes it the second most populous British area on the island. Its problem lies not with the number of people but the 50-odd kilometres that separate it from Palma, the gateway to the south and its appendages of Calvia, Marratxi, Llucmajor and Andratx. And it is this separation that rankles, because it has caused and continues to cause a physical and perceptual disenfranchisement from the representation of the British as a whole.

In the artificial expatriate world, representation is largely not a question of politics or the other main "estates". It is predominantly that of informal networks and of the fourth estate, the press. Where an element of quasi-politics might intrude, it appears not to wish to. Does the British Consul ever visit the north? Maybe he does, but if so he keeps it quiet. Yet it is precisely the absence of established representation that makes a presence via the media that much more important. For without it, there is a lack of connection, a sense of avoidance and of neglect and the fomenting of petty hostility and prejudice.

It falls, or should, to the media to make the connection. But it fails utterly in doing so. It is not entirely its fault. Resources largely determine the breadth of representation, but it is not as though attempts have not been made to form a bridge that stretches for those 50 or so kilometres. They have failed. Why? Resources are one thing. Complacency, lack of interest might be others.

Apart from radio confined by transmission (now a thing of the past anyway), the only "voice", if you want to call it this, for representation is that provided by the press, namely "The Bulletin". Long have been the complaints of the paper's neglect of the north. I have argued in the past that these are not always accurate, that they are mainly a perceptual error, but I may well have been wrong. To take just one edition - yesterday's. It was replete with messages of goodwill, festive events, a fatuous "year-in" feature alongside news. What was there of the north? A couple of reader messages, a note about a market, and that was about it. There were not even any adverts from what I could see. Nothing. Worse still, is an impression of cliquism and vanity that holds no interest for anyone much north of Al Campo. It is unsurprising that there might be a sense of hostility, while bias of content acts to reinforce underlying prejudices. Take a recent letter to the paper. It referred to the elevation of Alcúdia's mayor to the post of tourism minister, dismissing his time as leader of a large tourist resort as grounds for such a promotion. The point was valid in that it may well indeed be insufficient qualification for the role, but the interpretation was that it was the very fact that he was from Alcúdia that might not qualify him. Might the same have been said about a mayor of Calvia?

Accusations of press and media bias along geographical lines are hardly unique to Mallorca. The BBC and the British press still suffer from them. But there is a difference, and this lies in my argument about representation in the absence of other forms of this. Within a specific community, that of the British in Mallorca, to exclude, or for the most part exclude, a not insignificant portion of the whole community is not far from being discriminatory.

One has to be realistic and also accept that relative population densities will inevitably skew balance of coverage. So they should; it would be unrepresentative were it to be otherwise. Nevertheless, in Mallorca, one is left feeling that there are two peoples divided not by a common language but by a 50-kilometre barrier.


Oh, and the north wind is blowing south. Cold, cold, like Britain freezing before Christmas. Six degrees during the day. Snow as low as 400 metres.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Beach Boys, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VeHmh2B5nY. Today's title - this was the blog's song of last year.

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)

Stop The Press - 2

Following on from yesterday ...

The size of the British market determines, to a large extent, the nature of the local media. Criticism that is sometimes levelled at it needs to be tempered by an understanding of this size, the resources that can be justified in serving the market and the advertising revenues that can feasibly be obtained.

Of the three "newspapers" that appear in the north, only one, the free fortnightly "Talk Of The North", is focussed solely on the region. The other two, the also free "Euro Weekly" and the for-sale "Majorca Daily Bulletin" are island-wide, though where the former is concerned, it's a case of partly island-wide and largely Costas in terms of content. As for distribution, the two free publications seem to be roughly on a par. My understanding is that "Euro Weekly" circulates 8,000 copies on the island (this certainly was the case; it may have changed). If one assumes that a thousand are diverted to the north, the same number as "Talk Of The North", then both meet their objectives. For two thousand British residents, one can also assume an average of two per household. A thousand is adequate.

"The Bulletin" has greater penetration, largely by dint of being daily. The actual sales figures for the northern area I don't know, but one can start to get an idea by looking at the audited figures. On the OJD site, these are given. They might surprise you. For the year 2008, "The Bulletin" had an average net circulation (sales, one takes this to mean) of 3,839 (the figure for average print run is higher). My understanding for this is that the one-eighth principle does not apply, and that the sales in the north are proportionally quite a bit higher. The sales figure does not, however, reflect readership. It is not unrealistic to believe that the readership number is some five times the actual sales. It is also worth noting that we are talking here of an average. In summer, the sales are over 6,000, quite a number of them - contrary to widely held opinion - to tourists; indeed, the paper is sold through some hotels.

While the figures do seem low, are they really that surprising? Put them in the context of the figures for the Spanish dailies produced in Mallorca. Ultima Hora's average circulation was 36,260; the Diario's 22,653. Once again, they may seem low, but there are factors to bear in mind. As with "The Bulletin", there is the readership equation, given that these papers are all easily available in bars, while one has to acknowledge the popularity of the main Spanish papers, such as "El País" (to say nothing of competition from the Catalan press). In the same way, one has to consider the British dailies like "The Sun" when assessing the circulation of "The Bulletin".

However one interprets these sales, the fact is that the markets, British and Spanish/Mallorcan, are not huge by any means. You can begin to work out for yourselves what this all means in bottom-line terms. "The Bulletin" sells for one euro. From that, you can take out 4% for IVA and any costs for production, distribution, staffing etc. That a monthly subscription to the paper would mean a receipt of a third less, you can see that there is not a vast budget to play with, advertising revenues notwithstanding. The point about this is that, when criticisms are levelled, one has to appreciate the true business picture.

One also needs to appreciate the scale of the effort that is involved with any publication: copy generation, advertising selling, chasing up, layout and print preparation and distribution. For "The Bulletin", the latter is handled through the established distribution network to retailers. "Euro Weekly" and "Talk Of The North" are basically boot-of-the-car jobs. The distribution alone is time-consuming and attracts its own costs, not least in terms of fuel.

Is it all worth it, then? The answer is still yes, if only because communities, be they British across the island or in the north alone, have demonstrated a demand for them. But these very communities are also all too ready to criticise. 'Twas ever thus with publishing. More than anything, everyone has a sense of ownership and an opinion where a publication is concerned. It should do this, it should do that; shouldn't do this, shouldn't do that, blah, blah. Any editor or publisher would want to do more or do something differently, but it all comes back to resources, and the size of the market and what it is willing to pay (or not).

This all said, it has been a mystery to me quite how the German publications on the island can all be so much superior - in every respect: size, layout, content and weight of advertising. There are two paid-for weeklies - "Mallorca Zeitung" (the "Diario" camp) and "Mallorca Magazin" ("Ultima Hora" and "The Bulletin") - and a freebie "El Aviso". The German market is bigger than the British, double the size perhaps, but is still not vast. However, a clue can be found if one goes to the website for "Mallorca Magazin". It states the paper's circulation figures. At their height, there is an average circulation (sales one assumes) of 31,850 with 8,500 subscriptions. How can this be? Other clues lie in "Auflagengebiet" (circulation area) and "Verkaufsstellen" (sales points). The former includes not only the Balearics but also Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Holland. The latter contains an extensive list of train stations, airports and bookshops in German towns and cities. Is "The Bulletin" on sale at Paddington Station?

The German market is different in one major respect. The Germans treat Mallorca not so much as a holiday destination but as another part of the Bundesrepublik. The fascination with Mallorca is regularly reflected in television shows and with weather reports. Mallorca is a way of life to many Germans in a way that it is not for the British. Or maybe this is wrong. Because there is much evidence to suggest as close an affinity with Mallorca among the Brits as with the Germans. And that evidence comes from the internet. Which brings me to ...

To follow.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title (and today's) - Prince, "Batdance": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLlQpc8D2Kc
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)