The market is an important part of the town or village's economic and social life. It can occur once a week or more than once a week. It is also, in summer, a feature of the local tourism economy. Its role is, therefore, varied, and the importance attached to it is such that a town hall councillor will typically be assigned specific responsibility for it - the promotion and the approving of pitches.
Not all is well, however, in the world of the Mallorcan market. While many are flourishing, this activity reveals a preponderance of certain types of product. The market's variety and diversity has been lost under the weight of clothes, footwear and the nicky-nacky of northern Africa. Three markets in particular have been identified as culprits in this regard, those of Inca, Santa Maria del Cami and Sineu. They aren't alone though.
Issues to do with quality at Inca's market were evident over four years ago. In May 2011 I wrote about the fact that tour operators, who traditionally place the Thursday market on their excursions' itineraries, were threatening to stop taking their customers. The market, it was said, had lost much of its attraction. There was too much of it, and too much that wasn't much good.
The town hall, concerned by this loss of tourist influx, set about changing things. There was to be more local craft and also to be traditional dance to captivate the visitors. Almost 50 stallholders were to be told to sling their hook. Despite this, not much, if anything, has changed. Of the some 250 pitches, approximately two-thirds are devoted to precisely what they were over four years ago: way too much clothing and the rag-tag of jewellery of the imitation and low-grade type and of the nicky-nacky. Pointedly, it is said that 73 of the pitches are of a Moroccan character. Only one stall is given over to pottery. So much for the local craft therefore.
Inca, as is also the case in Santa Maria, has now introduced a system whereby it gives weight to what are called "innovative producers" and to the artisan. Ten points go to the former and five to the latter, meaning, in theory, that they will gain priority and so shift the general offer of the market and make it more diverse and more interesting, while also promoting local trades. But will this make any difference? The town hall's last "initiative" - over four years ago - hardly had the desired effect.
Oddly, and despite all the emphasis placed on the revival of the artisan craft heritage, it is felt necessary to positively discriminate in favour of craft traders or to establish special market events for them. This was the case recently in Palma, where there was a week of such promotion at four or five markets in the city. But by seeking to place the emphasis on such traders, might there be a risk that the market mix goes too far in this direction and creates a similarity of offer, albeit a different one? And what precisely is meant by artisan craft in any event?
Part of the problem with it is that it can be expensive. A sole producer/trader can hardly churn out masses of stuff, and what he or she does produce is inevitably going to attract a premium. It has to in order to cover all sorts of cost, not least the rent and tax for a market stall. Tourists, by and large, don't go to markets expecting to hand over great wads of cash. They go in the anticipation of finding bargains or of engaging in haggling.
And tourists go to markets in summer which are - and it is of course mandatory to describe markets in this way - "bustling". The ambience of a market is supposed to be like this, but this in itself creates a problem. Crammed into narrow streets or in market squares with wave upon wave of sweating summer humanity, tourists can appear to be moved en masse in the way that a football crowd is, never daring to stop in case they get crushed.
Is it the case, therefore, that town halls, which do of course make a very nice earner from markets, have created rods for their own backs by allowing there to be too many stalls? In a way, they are caught between two stools. They want there to be a lot of traders in order to achieve this "bustling" character, but this can - and is clearly the case with some markets - result in too much of the same. And how pleasant, in truth, is it for visitors who are corralled into areas made too packed as a result of the sheer number of stalls?
Perhaps less is or should be more. Markets can be too big for their own good.
Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Saturday, June 23, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Puerto Alcúdia's market fails to attract customers
Opened on 6 April, the market in Puerto Alcúdia has seen the number of stallholders fall by a half, the reason being the lack of customers. A problem with the market is its location, in the Plaça Cas Vicari, away from the front line. Another is a lack of any signage which indicates its location.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Complaints about Pollensa markets' public area occupation
Pollensa town hall's by-law regarding the occupation of the "public way" has now created an argument over the control of market pitches in both Pollensa and Puerto Pollensa. A complainant is demanding damages from the town hall for loss of trade caused by what are said to be "negligent" acts by town hall representatives in, for example, allowing traders without licences and forcing other traders to have to move their regular pitches.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The precarious life of a market stallholder
A report in the "Diario" talks to one of the many stallholders who attend Mallorca's numerous markets and looks at how precarious their occupations are, given that they can be subject to the whim of local politicians and police despite paying taxes and that their pitches can be altered, thus affecting their client bases.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Monday, March 05, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Puerto Alcúdia's market will be on Fridays
More information now regarding the weekly market that is to come to Puerto Alcúdia. It will be held all year on Fridays between 08:00 and 14:00. The location - Plaça Cas Vicari - is the square in the port next to the primary school, behind Carrefour Express and between the streets Mare de Déu del Carme and 24 de Febrer. The first market will be on 6 April.
Friday, March 02, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Puerto Alcúdia to get its own market
Alcúdia town hall has decided that, in addition to the twice-weekly market in the old town, Puerto Alcúdia will get its own weekly market. The day of the week has yet to be agreed, but it should start in time for the new season. It will be held in the Plaça Cas Vicari.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
In The Middle Of Nowhere
It used to be a restaurant, a different type of restaurant, one that had struggled. The lady owner was pleasant to the point of being jolly, but she couldn't disguise the problems the restaurant experienced. They decided, four years ago, to call it quits.
The restaurant remained closed. A small garden in front of its entrance, hemmed in by a low wall, gathered discarded Coke cans and beer bottles. The alcove of the entrance porch filled with detritus, and the council's street blowers would add to it by scattering leaves into its accommodating enclosure.
Then one day there was activity. For a year, the work involved not just the old restaurant but a unit next to it, a former supermarket which, like the old restaurant, had suffered from little trade.
It hadn't been clear what was being created, until finally the name appeared, the glass frontage became evident and the terrace was laid. It was a new restaurant. A large restaurant, one made from two previously sizeable units. It was classy. From the outside you couldn't have known how big the kitchen was, how well-equipped and modern it was, or that the restaurant bent in an L-shape, so that there was as much again as that which was apparent if you stood in front of it.
The new owners were pleasant as well. It was unfortunate that the work had dragged on so that it hadn't opened until half way through the summer season, but there was optimism. There was, after all, no other restaurant immediately nearby. The parking was easy. There were hotels not far away. There were plenty of holiday homes and permanent residents.
The optimism didn't last long. By the following season pessimism had taken root. The causes were not unfamiliar: all-inclusives; the amounts folks spent nowadays; economic crisis. The redevelopment work had begun to be undertaken before the impact of crisis was apparent. Bad luck?
Not totally. The reasons for the initial optimism were also reasons for wondering as to the wisdom of the restaurant. Having no competitor nearby isn't necessarily an advantage. Being grouped with other restaurants creates an attraction as well as an atmosphere. Isolation can mean neither. A solitary restaurant, let's say, for sake of argument, Can Cuarassa on the bay of Pollensa between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa, can benefit. It does so through the drama of its location. But the restaurant of our story, though in a pleasant enough location, does not have the same power of landscape or place.
Of the hotels not far away, some are far away enough to be far away, and they are also strongly all-inclusive. The other hotels, which are closer by, are more chic, five-star chic. A strong market you would think. Yes, but this is a strong market which can afford to take taxis to restaurants with more dramatic locations, a clientele that prefers to venture further afield, a clientele not just with money but also with a sense of its own worth, one better catered for by the ambience and gastronomic reputations of the area's old towns or by splendid beachside establishments or by fine finca restaurants in the island's hinterland.
This was intelligence that was known or that could have been sought before the new restaurant was born. There was other intelligence that was known, such as the growing influence of the all-inclusive and the trend towards lower tourist spend that pre-dated the economic crisis. Some of the factors which might have been grounds for optimism were the same ones that had led to the old restaurant closing.
Yet the new one came along. And it replaced not only the old one but grafted on the adjoining unit. How much had it cost? The time alone that was taken on conversion must have meant a significant outlay.
The pessimism grew. And finally, just recently, the restaurant gave up. It is sad to see it go, but it is not a surprise. The model for its business was never there. Its market existed more in the hope than in the reality. Its size was one thing, its location another. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere as such, but it might as well have been. Indeed had it been, it might, blessed by a more remote and more dramatic location, have been more viable.
But even with the knowledge and the market intelligence, would the mistake have been avoided and will the mistake be avoided in the future? Optimism, egotism, blind faith; they can all contribute to the heart ruling the head and making opaque what should be transparently obvious. Similar stories are yet to be told and similar mistakes will keep on being made.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The restaurant remained closed. A small garden in front of its entrance, hemmed in by a low wall, gathered discarded Coke cans and beer bottles. The alcove of the entrance porch filled with detritus, and the council's street blowers would add to it by scattering leaves into its accommodating enclosure.
Then one day there was activity. For a year, the work involved not just the old restaurant but a unit next to it, a former supermarket which, like the old restaurant, had suffered from little trade.
It hadn't been clear what was being created, until finally the name appeared, the glass frontage became evident and the terrace was laid. It was a new restaurant. A large restaurant, one made from two previously sizeable units. It was classy. From the outside you couldn't have known how big the kitchen was, how well-equipped and modern it was, or that the restaurant bent in an L-shape, so that there was as much again as that which was apparent if you stood in front of it.
The new owners were pleasant as well. It was unfortunate that the work had dragged on so that it hadn't opened until half way through the summer season, but there was optimism. There was, after all, no other restaurant immediately nearby. The parking was easy. There were hotels not far away. There were plenty of holiday homes and permanent residents.
The optimism didn't last long. By the following season pessimism had taken root. The causes were not unfamiliar: all-inclusives; the amounts folks spent nowadays; economic crisis. The redevelopment work had begun to be undertaken before the impact of crisis was apparent. Bad luck?
Not totally. The reasons for the initial optimism were also reasons for wondering as to the wisdom of the restaurant. Having no competitor nearby isn't necessarily an advantage. Being grouped with other restaurants creates an attraction as well as an atmosphere. Isolation can mean neither. A solitary restaurant, let's say, for sake of argument, Can Cuarassa on the bay of Pollensa between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa, can benefit. It does so through the drama of its location. But the restaurant of our story, though in a pleasant enough location, does not have the same power of landscape or place.
Of the hotels not far away, some are far away enough to be far away, and they are also strongly all-inclusive. The other hotels, which are closer by, are more chic, five-star chic. A strong market you would think. Yes, but this is a strong market which can afford to take taxis to restaurants with more dramatic locations, a clientele that prefers to venture further afield, a clientele not just with money but also with a sense of its own worth, one better catered for by the ambience and gastronomic reputations of the area's old towns or by splendid beachside establishments or by fine finca restaurants in the island's hinterland.
This was intelligence that was known or that could have been sought before the new restaurant was born. There was other intelligence that was known, such as the growing influence of the all-inclusive and the trend towards lower tourist spend that pre-dated the economic crisis. Some of the factors which might have been grounds for optimism were the same ones that had led to the old restaurant closing.
Yet the new one came along. And it replaced not only the old one but grafted on the adjoining unit. How much had it cost? The time alone that was taken on conversion must have meant a significant outlay.
The pessimism grew. And finally, just recently, the restaurant gave up. It is sad to see it go, but it is not a surprise. The model for its business was never there. Its market existed more in the hope than in the reality. Its size was one thing, its location another. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere as such, but it might as well have been. Indeed had it been, it might, blessed by a more remote and more dramatic location, have been more viable.
But even with the knowledge and the market intelligence, would the mistake have been avoided and will the mistake be avoided in the future? Optimism, egotism, blind faith; they can all contribute to the heart ruling the head and making opaque what should be transparently obvious. Similar stories are yet to be told and similar mistakes will keep on being made.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Market Forces: Inca and other markets
An item of news that probably slipped under your radar a few weeks ago was the seemingly non-earthshattering report that leading tour operators, e.g. TUI, were planning to put Inca market back on their excursions' itineraries.
The market, for all that it boasts being one of the island's most important, if not the most important, and for all that its best-known event is November's "Dijous Bo", has not been as good as the "bo" in "Dijous" might have us believe. Or indeed, have the tour operators believe.
Excursions to the market were dropped last year; some operators had done so before this. The reason was that the market, though huge, had lost much of its attraction. There was in fact too much of it, and much of this too much wasn't much good.
Inca town hall, recognising full well that coach loads of tourists not turning up every week means less money in everyone's pot, set about remedying the situation, and agreement with the tour operators was forged in early April. More local craft stuff, a bit of the old ball de bot traditional dancing and, perhaps most importantly, getting rid of some of the stallholders. A total of 49 have been told they will not be pitching up at their pitches any longer, and some of them have come onto others' radars - those of the tax man and social security.
Seeking to maintain the standards of the market was fair enough. Complaints about its overall quality and ambience increased last year. The town hall was forced to act. But it had taken the tour operators to really shake up the market's supervisors.
This goes to prove what should be a principle accepted by many involved in the island's tourism business: that the tour operators can make or break an attraction, a hotel, or even a market.
Those in the front line of encounters with the tour operators do of course know this well enough. Recently, I happened to be at some apartments when the new owner was showing Thomas Cook's representative around. Once Mr T.C. had gone, the owner, beaming and rubbing his fingers, said that they would be signing a contract for a third of the apartments.
Back at Inca market, the tour operators had a legitimate point about its standards. But the fact that they acted and thus threatened the enduring success of the market demonstrated that even Mallorca's traditions can be influenced by companies from Germany or wherever. You do begin to wonder if there isn't more of this influence around. The fiestas, for example.
Inca market is not, though, an isolated case. Friends of mine who had not been to Sineu's market for many years went a couple of weeks ago. This market is one which also enjoys the reputation of "traditional" and of being one of the markets that should be on every good market-goer's schedule. They were disappointed. It wasn't as it once was. It could be just like any other market.
The importance of the markets, not just for tourism but also as aspects of the fabric of local communities, has been highlighted by the temporary relocation of the market in Puerto Pollensa. Though not a traditional market in the same way as Inca or Sineu or even Pollensa town, the Wednesday market in the church square is popular.
While the square was being dug up, the market was shifted to a car park. For reasons known only to themselves, the town hall suggested that this move might become permanent. A survey of stallholders was meant to have taken place, but they probably gave up after the first few replies.
Besides the fact that the new site meant an obvious loss of car-parking spaces in a town not blessed with easy parking, the notion of it becoming the permanent site was absurd. Puerto Pollensa's market may not be traditional, but it is also not a car-boot sale.
The markets have become more ragtag affairs, and I think we all know why. It is important that they don't end up becoming like car-boot sales or flea markets for the lookies clan to ply their trade. The tour operators' influence may be vast, but where the markets are concerned, and for Inca market in particular, the influence is not unwelcome.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The market, for all that it boasts being one of the island's most important, if not the most important, and for all that its best-known event is November's "Dijous Bo", has not been as good as the "bo" in "Dijous" might have us believe. Or indeed, have the tour operators believe.
Excursions to the market were dropped last year; some operators had done so before this. The reason was that the market, though huge, had lost much of its attraction. There was in fact too much of it, and much of this too much wasn't much good.
Inca town hall, recognising full well that coach loads of tourists not turning up every week means less money in everyone's pot, set about remedying the situation, and agreement with the tour operators was forged in early April. More local craft stuff, a bit of the old ball de bot traditional dancing and, perhaps most importantly, getting rid of some of the stallholders. A total of 49 have been told they will not be pitching up at their pitches any longer, and some of them have come onto others' radars - those of the tax man and social security.
Seeking to maintain the standards of the market was fair enough. Complaints about its overall quality and ambience increased last year. The town hall was forced to act. But it had taken the tour operators to really shake up the market's supervisors.
This goes to prove what should be a principle accepted by many involved in the island's tourism business: that the tour operators can make or break an attraction, a hotel, or even a market.
Those in the front line of encounters with the tour operators do of course know this well enough. Recently, I happened to be at some apartments when the new owner was showing Thomas Cook's representative around. Once Mr T.C. had gone, the owner, beaming and rubbing his fingers, said that they would be signing a contract for a third of the apartments.
Back at Inca market, the tour operators had a legitimate point about its standards. But the fact that they acted and thus threatened the enduring success of the market demonstrated that even Mallorca's traditions can be influenced by companies from Germany or wherever. You do begin to wonder if there isn't more of this influence around. The fiestas, for example.
Inca market is not, though, an isolated case. Friends of mine who had not been to Sineu's market for many years went a couple of weeks ago. This market is one which also enjoys the reputation of "traditional" and of being one of the markets that should be on every good market-goer's schedule. They were disappointed. It wasn't as it once was. It could be just like any other market.
The importance of the markets, not just for tourism but also as aspects of the fabric of local communities, has been highlighted by the temporary relocation of the market in Puerto Pollensa. Though not a traditional market in the same way as Inca or Sineu or even Pollensa town, the Wednesday market in the church square is popular.
While the square was being dug up, the market was shifted to a car park. For reasons known only to themselves, the town hall suggested that this move might become permanent. A survey of stallholders was meant to have taken place, but they probably gave up after the first few replies.
Besides the fact that the new site meant an obvious loss of car-parking spaces in a town not blessed with easy parking, the notion of it becoming the permanent site was absurd. Puerto Pollensa's market may not be traditional, but it is also not a car-boot sale.
The markets have become more ragtag affairs, and I think we all know why. It is important that they don't end up becoming like car-boot sales or flea markets for the lookies clan to ply their trade. The tour operators' influence may be vast, but where the markets are concerned, and for Inca market in particular, the influence is not unwelcome.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Things That Make You Go Hmm ...
Or. Things that make you wonder why they bother. Number One: Playa de Muro's market.
Well a whole new series beckons. Maybe. But anyway to kick-off, we're back to the market. As you may have previously appreciated, I can kind of give markets a miss especially in summer. However, there are those who can't get enough of them, though in the case of Playa de Muro's market they may make an exception. I happened to take a wander along its length on Monday. One can wander freely and unmolested in Playa de Muro's market. No crowds getting in your way. No obvious signs of anyone about to steal your valuables. No, thank God, South American Indian pipe-players. Even they seem to have stopped bothering. Presumably there are more suckers at some other market who might be willing to hand over hard cash for a CD with Andean interpretations of John Denver classics (sic).
There were, let's just say, not that many people about. There were plenty of traders sitting around looking bored and eager to pounce on the odd stray tourist, but otherwise ... . The clue to all this may lie in the name - Playa de Muro. What you read is what you get. Playa. Beach. That's the whole point of Playa de Muro. The only point to be honest. The market is an artificiality. Whereas people actually go out of their way to attend markets in Alcúdia and Pollensa, does anyone actually make the trip to Playa de Muro from, say, the port of Alcúdia in order to buy some cheap shorts or some luggage? No, I don't imagine that they do.
Being Playa de Muro, the market is linear. Like everything else in Playa de Muro it exists in a straight line for the simple reason that Playa de Muro is a straight line - of main road and beach. There are no streets weaving into an old town interior and littered with stalls; no architectural antiquity to lend an air of authenticity to the tradition of the market as a place of historical commerce. There is just the contemporary commerce of the hotels and the Boulevard Group's glassy facade. It's not as if it is a market for local socialising and provisions, as are those for instance in Alcúdia or Pollensa; it is purely a tourist invention minus the fruit and veg, plants and produce of the markets to which people do go. The old-established markets have character because of the character of their locations. A market that takes place parallel to a main road has little or none, save for that wrought by the wrecker's-yard of the numerous ancient vans and cars of the stallholders lining the main road that could have been parked up by Del Boy and Rodders. And it's also not as if hard-pressed bars and restaurants are necessarily deriving any benefit from the market's presence; well certainly not those that have closed down. Wonder though I frequently do quite why people would wish to hack around a market under a boiling sun, there is the fact that, for many a Joe-tourist, the market is the most intimate he is likely to be or wish to be with what is simplistically described as a "real" Mallorca; so long, that is, as it is a market in a traditional setting, which is not the case with Playa de Muro's.
The market was, until a couple of years ago, held on a Saturday when someone realised that Saturday, being a big transfer day, might not be the the best day. So it was switched to Monday in the hope that it would prove more profitable. Not from what I can make out. The thing is that when the sun's a-blazing and the playa is right opposite offering its watery delights, a market of almost uniformly similar wares is unlikely to attract the masses away from those delights. And it doesn't. Why do they bother? Makes you go hmm ... . Don't know.
SPANAIR
The Madrid crash could hardly have come at a worse time for the Mallorca-based airline Spanair. The airline's owners, SAS, had wanted to offload it but were unable to, resulting in major cutbacks in jobs. Pilots had been threatening strike action because of the apparent disorganisation at the airline. While it might suit some to present the tragedy in Madrid as indicative of a malaise at the company, such a conclusion would be harsh unless investigations unearth anything that might suggest so. It should be noted that Spanair had a very good safety record. Yet it has not exactly enjoyed a great reputation. A common nickname for the airline is "Spanner"; for some, it was an airline to be avoided. And now, following the crash, one wonders how many more might think twice or three times about flying Spanair. Again, such a conclusion would be harsh, but it is almost inevitable. What was a problem largely of economic difficulties will now be one of even greater and emotional negative perception. In 2006 Spanair had the "highest sales figures for a single company" (27 July: With Good Company) in Mallorca; it has been a significant force on the island. But that significance was dwindling even before the crash; the question now is whether it can recover or whether the flames of Barajas will come to engulf one of the island's major companies.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Jimmy Helms who was also in Londonbeat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez1dxW8jLgE). Today's title - industrial-named dance music duo from the '90s.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Well a whole new series beckons. Maybe. But anyway to kick-off, we're back to the market. As you may have previously appreciated, I can kind of give markets a miss especially in summer. However, there are those who can't get enough of them, though in the case of Playa de Muro's market they may make an exception. I happened to take a wander along its length on Monday. One can wander freely and unmolested in Playa de Muro's market. No crowds getting in your way. No obvious signs of anyone about to steal your valuables. No, thank God, South American Indian pipe-players. Even they seem to have stopped bothering. Presumably there are more suckers at some other market who might be willing to hand over hard cash for a CD with Andean interpretations of John Denver classics (sic).
There were, let's just say, not that many people about. There were plenty of traders sitting around looking bored and eager to pounce on the odd stray tourist, but otherwise ... . The clue to all this may lie in the name - Playa de Muro. What you read is what you get. Playa. Beach. That's the whole point of Playa de Muro. The only point to be honest. The market is an artificiality. Whereas people actually go out of their way to attend markets in Alcúdia and Pollensa, does anyone actually make the trip to Playa de Muro from, say, the port of Alcúdia in order to buy some cheap shorts or some luggage? No, I don't imagine that they do.
Being Playa de Muro, the market is linear. Like everything else in Playa de Muro it exists in a straight line for the simple reason that Playa de Muro is a straight line - of main road and beach. There are no streets weaving into an old town interior and littered with stalls; no architectural antiquity to lend an air of authenticity to the tradition of the market as a place of historical commerce. There is just the contemporary commerce of the hotels and the Boulevard Group's glassy facade. It's not as if it is a market for local socialising and provisions, as are those for instance in Alcúdia or Pollensa; it is purely a tourist invention minus the fruit and veg, plants and produce of the markets to which people do go. The old-established markets have character because of the character of their locations. A market that takes place parallel to a main road has little or none, save for that wrought by the wrecker's-yard of the numerous ancient vans and cars of the stallholders lining the main road that could have been parked up by Del Boy and Rodders. And it's also not as if hard-pressed bars and restaurants are necessarily deriving any benefit from the market's presence; well certainly not those that have closed down. Wonder though I frequently do quite why people would wish to hack around a market under a boiling sun, there is the fact that, for many a Joe-tourist, the market is the most intimate he is likely to be or wish to be with what is simplistically described as a "real" Mallorca; so long, that is, as it is a market in a traditional setting, which is not the case with Playa de Muro's.
The market was, until a couple of years ago, held on a Saturday when someone realised that Saturday, being a big transfer day, might not be the the best day. So it was switched to Monday in the hope that it would prove more profitable. Not from what I can make out. The thing is that when the sun's a-blazing and the playa is right opposite offering its watery delights, a market of almost uniformly similar wares is unlikely to attract the masses away from those delights. And it doesn't. Why do they bother? Makes you go hmm ... . Don't know.
SPANAIR
The Madrid crash could hardly have come at a worse time for the Mallorca-based airline Spanair. The airline's owners, SAS, had wanted to offload it but were unable to, resulting in major cutbacks in jobs. Pilots had been threatening strike action because of the apparent disorganisation at the airline. While it might suit some to present the tragedy in Madrid as indicative of a malaise at the company, such a conclusion would be harsh unless investigations unearth anything that might suggest so. It should be noted that Spanair had a very good safety record. Yet it has not exactly enjoyed a great reputation. A common nickname for the airline is "Spanner"; for some, it was an airline to be avoided. And now, following the crash, one wonders how many more might think twice or three times about flying Spanair. Again, such a conclusion would be harsh, but it is almost inevitable. What was a problem largely of economic difficulties will now be one of even greater and emotional negative perception. In 2006 Spanair had the "highest sales figures for a single company" (27 July: With Good Company) in Mallorca; it has been a significant force on the island. But that significance was dwindling even before the crash; the question now is whether it can recover or whether the flames of Barajas will come to engulf one of the island's major companies.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Jimmy Helms who was also in Londonbeat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez1dxW8jLgE). Today's title - industrial-named dance music duo from the '90s.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
All Summer Long
I can't wait till October. I even found myself saying it yesterday. What on Earth was I thinking? Well I know what I was thinking. Having been up and out early to do the hotel rounds (if it was Monday it had to be Can Picafort) and having been doing much the same for God knows how many weeks, I thought - jeez, I could do with it being October. You what. Why would you wish the summer away? There are, after all, worse things that I could be doing than visiting hotels and tourist offices and rent-a-car offices and golf clubs and shops and ... and and and ... across the northern zone - oh and the airport. Worse things like running a bar. Now that can be tough. And it is in bars that you most often hear the bring-on-October refrain. The wish falls into two categories - we're so busy, we're knackered or the season's been rubbish, can't wait for it to end. On balance I guess most would opt for the former. If it's the latter, don't go wishing too swift an end to this season - there's next year to come yet. Then there are also those who want the more moderate weather of October (save for the tornadoes if this one is like the last) because it's been and is too hot. I don't quite get this one. Why are people living here? Isn't heat a part of the whole deal?
October does start to loom in the mind around this time in August. It may well still be high summer with temperatures due to be nudging the 100 mark again today, the beaches and the poolsides may well be packed, but the middle of August brings with it a psychological shift. For some it is that the end is in sight, albeit that the season is effectively still less than two-thirds through; for others it is the realisation that it (summer) is going to peter out in the not too distant future. Whatever one says, one lives for the summer. Back at the start of June for instance, the summer seems infinite. Time plays strange tricks with the mind. Now there are but three weeks till September; September that feels like the leftovers after the meal. Winter is not far away. This psychology is of course the same elsewhere, but for somewhere that lives for summer it is accentuated. And this year there is the concern that the looming winter will be harsh - not necessarily in terms of the weather but from the point of view of mere living. The summer may have been difficult for many; winter will be even more so. It is rare, but this season staff have been laid off by businesses sustained by tourism. The cycle of economic difficulty only speeds up during winter. For some, it is a question of how can they survive; what will they have to live on. And they will be willing the return of summer, but willing a return, one fears, with little confidence.
MARKETS
Following on from yesterday, I have to hold my hand up and say that I got it wrong. The "market" in the paseo is not a market at all; it is just things like kids' "workshops". I really must not trust to reports and town-hall handouts. Like the chill-out zone on the beach, far better to check it out personally. Should have known better. Anyway, it doesn't change the basic idea of yesterday's piece but I have re-written the end so as to reflect better what actually is going on. Apologies for that.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Kooks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yCvYA3t6Mc). Today's title - personally I can't understand why this is such a big hit.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
October does start to loom in the mind around this time in August. It may well still be high summer with temperatures due to be nudging the 100 mark again today, the beaches and the poolsides may well be packed, but the middle of August brings with it a psychological shift. For some it is that the end is in sight, albeit that the season is effectively still less than two-thirds through; for others it is the realisation that it (summer) is going to peter out in the not too distant future. Whatever one says, one lives for the summer. Back at the start of June for instance, the summer seems infinite. Time plays strange tricks with the mind. Now there are but three weeks till September; September that feels like the leftovers after the meal. Winter is not far away. This psychology is of course the same elsewhere, but for somewhere that lives for summer it is accentuated. And this year there is the concern that the looming winter will be harsh - not necessarily in terms of the weather but from the point of view of mere living. The summer may have been difficult for many; winter will be even more so. It is rare, but this season staff have been laid off by businesses sustained by tourism. The cycle of economic difficulty only speeds up during winter. For some, it is a question of how can they survive; what will they have to live on. And they will be willing the return of summer, but willing a return, one fears, with little confidence.
MARKETS
Following on from yesterday, I have to hold my hand up and say that I got it wrong. The "market" in the paseo is not a market at all; it is just things like kids' "workshops". I really must not trust to reports and town-hall handouts. Like the chill-out zone on the beach, far better to check it out personally. Should have known better. Anyway, it doesn't change the basic idea of yesterday's piece but I have re-written the end so as to reflect better what actually is going on. Apologies for that.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Kooks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yCvYA3t6Mc). Today's title - personally I can't understand why this is such a big hit.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Down To The Market
I have never quite got it with markets. The local ones are fair enough to dash in and get some cheap underpants or a pair of shoes that fall to pieces within a month or so, but all that greengrocery, leather and lace, tat of both the cheap and expensive variety and the bloody pipe-players homogenise into market sameyness. Not all: the ancient Mallorcans who live next door and also have a pile in Sineu have long suggested a visit to the Sineu market, pressure to do so from various quarters suggesting I may have to succumb. Perhaps it's a male thing, which places bone idleness or a glass of cold foamy higher up the agenda than the female inclination to blow the household budget on bags of loose olives and some curious shapes made from iron. Out of season the markets are reasonably pleasurable affairs as there is no one lurking about trying to liberate your wallet; in summer they are a hell of heat and heaving inhumanity.
Wherever you go there is a market of some sort. Even the hotels are in on the act; Sea Club for example has one of trinkets and this-and-that. Maybe it's all an inherited trait, going back to the days of trooping for several days to the nearest market to sell the settlement's goat. One could argue that the lucky-lucky men are just another facet of this; all they've done is to dispense with the stalls. Wherever you go someone's trying to sell something to someone else that that someone else doesn't actually want.
The scramble for market space has been a let's-shop-lebensraum of stall here, rack of some old clothes there. The "other" markets, i.e. not the town markets, are partly social events and partly like legalised lucky-lucksterism - all that they're missing are the wraps of coke. The flea market of, say, the Jolly Roger Saturday off The Mile is a gathering of local lags and gossip, the contents of the loft and the occasional rather tasteful - I can stare at some on the sofa when I divert my eyes from the Mac.
There are others who are none too rapt with market-mania. The shopowners in Puerto Alcúdia for instance. They are apparently seeking "legal measures" to put an end to the market thing in the marina. I spoke about this some time last year. It may be a pleasant little diversion for the tourist, but the regular traders ain't too keen, though one wonders why it has taken them this long to start really kicking up a stink. One senses the rumblings of "crisis" and diminished sales and the resultant search for a scapegoat.
An argument is that these markets bring in more people and so everyone benefits. I'd need some convincing; the Alcudiamar market may be a small attraction for tourists (should they actually know about it of course), but if they end up spending their dosh with the markets, they don't spend it elsewhere. There was a time when all these things could have complemented each other and all would have indeed reaped the rewards, but that time is not now one suspects.
The shops are especially none too happy as the regular evening children's workshops and so on that are taking place on the paseo are designed to give shops something of a leg-up during a difficult season, the belief being that hordes of people will flock to these events and spend like crazy in the shops. This, apparently I now find out , was/is the purpose of the town hall's poster advertising them. Easy to have misconstrued that poster. It is meant to say - come along to these wonderful events and then go shopping and not come along and do some shopping at some additional market, which was how it had been presented. Can't trust any reports these days, or town hall posters.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Hall and Oates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQUMDoZ4VCg. Today's title - indie group - think David Bowie for their name.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Wherever you go there is a market of some sort. Even the hotels are in on the act; Sea Club for example has one of trinkets and this-and-that. Maybe it's all an inherited trait, going back to the days of trooping for several days to the nearest market to sell the settlement's goat. One could argue that the lucky-lucky men are just another facet of this; all they've done is to dispense with the stalls. Wherever you go someone's trying to sell something to someone else that that someone else doesn't actually want.
The scramble for market space has been a let's-shop-lebensraum of stall here, rack of some old clothes there. The "other" markets, i.e. not the town markets, are partly social events and partly like legalised lucky-lucksterism - all that they're missing are the wraps of coke. The flea market of, say, the Jolly Roger Saturday off The Mile is a gathering of local lags and gossip, the contents of the loft and the occasional rather tasteful - I can stare at some on the sofa when I divert my eyes from the Mac.
There are others who are none too rapt with market-mania. The shopowners in Puerto Alcúdia for instance. They are apparently seeking "legal measures" to put an end to the market thing in the marina. I spoke about this some time last year. It may be a pleasant little diversion for the tourist, but the regular traders ain't too keen, though one wonders why it has taken them this long to start really kicking up a stink. One senses the rumblings of "crisis" and diminished sales and the resultant search for a scapegoat.
An argument is that these markets bring in more people and so everyone benefits. I'd need some convincing; the Alcudiamar market may be a small attraction for tourists (should they actually know about it of course), but if they end up spending their dosh with the markets, they don't spend it elsewhere. There was a time when all these things could have complemented each other and all would have indeed reaped the rewards, but that time is not now one suspects.
The shops are especially none too happy as the regular evening children's workshops and so on that are taking place on the paseo are designed to give shops something of a leg-up during a difficult season, the belief being that hordes of people will flock to these events and spend like crazy in the shops. This, apparently I now find out , was/is the purpose of the town hall's poster advertising them. Easy to have misconstrued that poster. It is meant to say - come along to these wonderful events and then go shopping and not come along and do some shopping at some additional market, which was how it had been presented. Can't trust any reports these days, or town hall posters.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Hall and Oates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQUMDoZ4VCg. Today's title - indie group - think David Bowie for their name.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The Bitter Sting Of Tears
So there was this really useful article in “The Bulletin”. Spoke about a cream that protects against jellyfish stings; before you go in the water. Great, one thinks. Then one reads it again. There’s something missing. Something quite important. The name of the cream. Nowhere to be found.
Anyway, I went to the friendly chemists in Playa de Muro. Said I’d read this article. Ah yes, but it’s “cortada” (finished) for this summer. Demand presumably. Have a look. Oh no, there is some. So I got a bottle. It is from the ISDIN range of sun protectors. Comes as a sun cream, factor 25. Protects against jellyfish, it states, though it also says to avoid going into waters infested with jellyfish. So, it’s ok for the odd jellyfish, not a plague. But at least it’s something. If this is not the cream mentioned in the article, maybe someone can let me know, and I shall put the information up here. Email, as always, to the address below.
Update on a previous item. I quote from 28 March:
“Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Carretera Arta. Well, no it’s a crap idea - the red track I mentioned last time. Karen from Foxes was giving the situation a good once-over and was muttering darkly about drivers using it rather than cyclists, which begs the question - what is the point of it?”
Well, Karen was going on about this again today. And absolutely rightly. Just to give you a picture. As you come from the Magic Roundabout going towards Playa de Muro, there is a red lane which is clearly marked “bicicletes”. This lane then cuts down from the main carretera. The point is that cars and coaches are using this, and then hammering along the side road that runs in front of Foxes, the chemists and Epcot. And I stress “hammering”.
The problem seems to be that no-one is absolutely sure what is and isn’t allowed. The sign suggests cycles only, but there is nothing to say that vehicles are prohibited. Whatever the situation, this cut-through is seriously dangerous if it is used by vehicles going at high speed, which is often the case. We need to find out more, because it’s going to end in tears as there will be a serious accident here before long. For anyone who is staying at the Delfin Azul and other nearby hotels, or just walking on that side road or across it, please take great care. It seems obscene that right at the spot - on the main road - where one of last year’s worst accidents took place, the side road could become a death-trap.
Re markets. I mentioned the other day that Playa de Muro now has two markets a week. Sorry, I got that wrong. The Saturday market has now moved to Mondays. And weather word ... could be hitting 40 degrees this weekend.
Quiz: Congratulations to Anne Marie in Dublin who not only got Stingray but also got Gary Miller: “What are these strange enchantments that start whenever you’re near”. What a cracking record that was. Additional quiz question: which actor was Troy Tempest modelled on? And today’s title - from what famous song does this come?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Anyway, I went to the friendly chemists in Playa de Muro. Said I’d read this article. Ah yes, but it’s “cortada” (finished) for this summer. Demand presumably. Have a look. Oh no, there is some. So I got a bottle. It is from the ISDIN range of sun protectors. Comes as a sun cream, factor 25. Protects against jellyfish, it states, though it also says to avoid going into waters infested with jellyfish. So, it’s ok for the odd jellyfish, not a plague. But at least it’s something. If this is not the cream mentioned in the article, maybe someone can let me know, and I shall put the information up here. Email, as always, to the address below.
Update on a previous item. I quote from 28 March:
“Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Carretera Arta. Well, no it’s a crap idea - the red track I mentioned last time. Karen from Foxes was giving the situation a good once-over and was muttering darkly about drivers using it rather than cyclists, which begs the question - what is the point of it?”
Well, Karen was going on about this again today. And absolutely rightly. Just to give you a picture. As you come from the Magic Roundabout going towards Playa de Muro, there is a red lane which is clearly marked “bicicletes”. This lane then cuts down from the main carretera. The point is that cars and coaches are using this, and then hammering along the side road that runs in front of Foxes, the chemists and Epcot. And I stress “hammering”.
The problem seems to be that no-one is absolutely sure what is and isn’t allowed. The sign suggests cycles only, but there is nothing to say that vehicles are prohibited. Whatever the situation, this cut-through is seriously dangerous if it is used by vehicles going at high speed, which is often the case. We need to find out more, because it’s going to end in tears as there will be a serious accident here before long. For anyone who is staying at the Delfin Azul and other nearby hotels, or just walking on that side road or across it, please take great care. It seems obscene that right at the spot - on the main road - where one of last year’s worst accidents took place, the side road could become a death-trap.
Re markets. I mentioned the other day that Playa de Muro now has two markets a week. Sorry, I got that wrong. The Saturday market has now moved to Mondays. And weather word ... could be hitting 40 degrees this weekend.
Quiz: Congratulations to Anne Marie in Dublin who not only got Stingray but also got Gary Miller: “What are these strange enchantments that start whenever you’re near”. What a cracking record that was. Additional quiz question: which actor was Troy Tempest modelled on? And today’s title - from what famous song does this come?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Marina, Aqua Marina
Or possibly it could be “On The Boardwalk”. Whatever. The thing is that down in the Alcúdia marina (Alcúdiamar) there is a daily evening market. Now, this sounds all well and good, and probably great for the likes of Chili and Varadero, but it ain’t so good for the regular shops in the port. Naturally, you stick some stalls up alongside the boats, and the tourist punter will be attracted like the moth to the flame. But it is good for the port, some might say. Brings people in. Perhaps so, but then they mill around that part of the port - and no other. Besides, you have to ask - how many bloody markets does any place need? Alcúdia town has two; two whacking great big ones per week. Playa de Muro has added another day, so there are now two there as well.
The curse of this marina market was not necessarily a factor, but it could have been a final straw had the decision not already been taken. I’m referring to Jane and Mike Lynham’s move from Alcúdia and Mallorca. The Puddle Duck shop certainly gets no favours from this market. Anyway, they’re out of here, which a number of you probably already know. Bulgaria. Yep, Bulgaria. Where you can shop for a week for what it costs to buy a packet of 20 here. Well, not quite, but you get the drift. So, we shall miss them, and wish them well. And the MYCT Crew Bar will be the rendezvous for the final knockings on Friday, 20 July.
Quiz - Julian Cope, ok, but it was the band I was after: The Teardrop Explodes. And the film? In the video you see a shot of Jack Nance from David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” - weird and horrible. And so to today’s. The title is a song from which TV show? And who sang it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
The curse of this marina market was not necessarily a factor, but it could have been a final straw had the decision not already been taken. I’m referring to Jane and Mike Lynham’s move from Alcúdia and Mallorca. The Puddle Duck shop certainly gets no favours from this market. Anyway, they’re out of here, which a number of you probably already know. Bulgaria. Yep, Bulgaria. Where you can shop for a week for what it costs to buy a packet of 20 here. Well, not quite, but you get the drift. So, we shall miss them, and wish them well. And the MYCT Crew Bar will be the rendezvous for the final knockings on Friday, 20 July.
Quiz - Julian Cope, ok, but it was the band I was after: The Teardrop Explodes. And the film? In the video you see a shot of Jack Nance from David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” - weird and horrible. And so to today’s. The title is a song from which TV show? And who sang it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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