MALLORCA TODAY - Boat users offer to take over moorings at Punta Avançada

Boat users in Puerto Pollensa have proposed that they take over the management of moorings at Punta Avançada in Formentor. This is a solution in response to users' protests over charges having been introduced for moorings in this part of Pollensa bay. The conditions of their doing so would include there no longer being any charges.

See more: Diario de Mallorca

MALLORCA TODAY - Civilian use of Puerto Pollensa military base moves closer

Pollensa's mayor Tomeu Cifre met with an advisor at the Ministry of Defence yesterday to discuss the creation of a committee that would oversee the possible opening of Puerto Pollensa's military base to some civilian use in time for the start of the tourism season. Of particular interest is the use of the base's marina, which could provide moorings and so help in limiting congestion in the bay of Pollensa.

See more: Ultima Hora

MALLORCA TODAY - Plan for moorings in Puerto Pollensa

Pollensa town hall has been considering the introduction of more moorings in Puerto Pollensa for some time and is now to submit a plan to the national government Costas Authority for up to 100 new moorings (probably of the floating variety). Part of the rationale behind the plan is to stop illegal anchoring and to bring order to areas designated for swimming, but there is also the fact that each mooring would of course attract a price.

See more: Ultima Hora

MALLORCA TODAY - Control of moorings in bay of Pollensa sought

Pollensa town hall is to request that the Costas Authority allows it to take control of moorings across Pollensa bay from the fort to Llenaire as a means of generating revenue from the boats that come into the bay during the summer and also of avoiding the harm caused to the Posidonia sea grass from anchoring. It is looking at the use of floating platforms and at the contracting of a private company to manage the influx of boats.

See more: Diario de Mallorca

Row The Boat Ashore

Down Playa de Muro way, they're building roundabouts. Have I mentioned this before? Perhaps I have. There is one approaching completion in front of the Parc Natural five-star hotel. A lump of concrete with some bits sticking out of it is emerging as its central focal artistic point. We wait as we would await the latest exhibition of Damien Hirst to see this newest example of roundabout furniture; with huge anticipation. If it - the sculpture - is less than five star, then the accidents that await us on the roundabout will be. There is something I can't put my finger on, but something about the design - as one joins the roundabout from the side road - makes you not want to stop. And I'm not trying to be flippant here. There genuinely is some mysterious impulse at work that seems to make you unaware of slowing and looking to your left. You have all been warned. Then there is exiting the roundabout and turning right in the direction of the other five-star - the Palace de Muro. Something needs to be done about the line of hire cars that are parked on the yellow line because they, too, are going to be a cause of accidents. They were problematic before, but with vehicles coming off the roundabout potentially more swiftly than they used to cross the main road, there is even more scope for a fine old smash.

But I had not intended talking about this. What I had intended was that close to the roundabout is the canal from Albufera; this is known as s'Oberta. (I'm assuming that there are other "s'Oberta's", as I take it to mean "opening".) Whatever. On one side of the canal are moorings for boats. These are all small fishing boats; this is not a grand marina or anything remotely of the sort. The boat owners pay an average of only 400 euros a year, but they are complaining about the state of the place and the lack of security. Apparently there are regular thefts from the boats.

The 400 euros go to the government and the administration of the moorings falls under the environment ministry, albeit, according to "The Diario", this is being transferred to the ports authority. Whoever is responsible, the owners are far from happy, and so they are planning on installing a barrier in order to try and stop the robberies. To be honest, 400 euros does not sound a lot. This is not the marina in Puerto Alcúdia where you can be paying out 300 grand to obtain a mooring, and so would expect a pretty decent level of security; for 400 euros I'm not sure you really can expect a great deal.

Meantime, as part of the road works accompanying the building of the roundabout, the wall to one side of the road bridge over the canal has been demolished. Fortunately, there are some temporary blocks up to stop you driving into the water. With the pathway on the opposite side being upgraded, one can but hope that a result of these road works will be that stupid tourists are somehow prevented from walking on the side of the bridge without a pavement. It probably won't be the result, but should be. The road here is not really wide enough for two lanes and tourists walking two abreast - as is often the case. And this on a bit of road that does not have lighting.


I'm pleased to say that there is a major development to the blog. There is now a "twitter" element, whatever that is. Some of you may have read that this is one of those periodic hugely important things on the internet and with technology that can alter your life - supposedly. Can't say I've noticed. Anyway, if I do actually figure out what the point of it is or what possible benefit there is then I shall probably do something with it. Meantime, if anyone is already twittering or whatever one does, then do contact me and tell me if indeed there is any point to all of it. And there's another thing. In "The Sunday Times" Brian Appleyard has, over the past two weeks, listed the 100 top blogs. I fear that there has been an oversight on this list, and I shall be writing to Mr. Appleyard to point out his omission.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Jimi Hendrix (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4yZXb4aD2Q). Today's title - take your pick.

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Ship To Shore

Just not enough space. Familiar problem, but this is not a land issue, rather a sea one. Moorings. The Balearic Government, as reported in “Ultima Hora", recognises that there needs to be a doubling in the number of moorings around the Balearics to cope with demand.

Nautical tourism is often overlooked in the grand scheme of things. This seems rather odd. In the immediate northern area, each of the main centres - Can Picafort, Puerto Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa - has a marina, and there are others in Bonaire and Son Serra. Sailing is no small minority leisure activity. According to research for the Royal Yachting Association, some 2.5 million people took part in some sailing activity in 2006. (“The Times”, January 2007.)

Boat and yacht ownership is a rich man’s game. The cost of buying the vessel is one thing; the costs of mooring and maintenance are others. The high demand for moorings places them at a premium and at a price. Of course you don’t necessarily need a Bavaria 37 yacht, a small second-hand speedboat could be enough, but there are still those add-on costs.

The use of the boat is another thing entirely. There are few boatowners who actually use their boat for any longer than a few weeks a year, if that. I know people here with boats who complain that they have not been able to get out at all during the summer. What’s the point of having one then?

A growth area is that of co-ownership. In Puerto Alcúdia, for instance, both Challenger and Slice allow groups of owners to share a boat and to be able to use it for a set number of weeks. This spreads the cost of ownership and gets rid of many of the attendant hassles, not least of which are those dealing with the local port authorities and marina operators. Even so, it is not exactly cheap, but it does overcome the faintly absurd situation by which an expensive boat is tied up for weeks on end unused.

Nautical tourism has another side to it. The typical boatowner or yachtie and his chums are seen as, and often are, high net worth consumers. The higher the net worth, the higher the tourist spend; or so the theory goes. And the actual numbers are far from insignificant. At present, the annual value of Balearic nautical tourism is estimated to be 544 million euros; the number of nautical tourists nearly 300,000. The expansion of marina facilities, the increase in the number of moorings and the need for more dry-dock maintenance areas all come with an environmental price attached. What doesn’t? But my guess is that the government will find a way around this. Just think - 2.5 million people, or even a fraction of that number - loadsamoney.


QUIZ
Yesterday - The Who. Today’s title - song by an Irish chap; had one really big hit.

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