MALLORCA TODAY - Old people's homes staff still not paid

A further protest took place yesterday by staff at old people's homes in Mallorca who have not been paid because the regional government has not paid their employing companies. President Bauzá has promised that payments will be made to the company Nova Edat which is owed 4.5 million euros.

MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa mayor responds to Acotur criticisms

The president of Acotur, the association of tourist businesses, attended a meeting with the mayor of Pollensa, Tomeu Cifre, to discuss complaints by businesses in Puerto Pollensa. One of these complaints, regarding parking, is to be addressed by the re-introduction from next year of the "blue zones". Of others, the mayor said that litter bins overflowing were an indication of a successful tourism season, the local hotels full, and that the effects of the twice-weekly additional market had been exaggerated and that this market had been introduced because local restaurants had asked for it as a way of improving the general atmosphere in the port.

On a different matter, town halls in Mallorca are looking at divesting themselves of the running of old people's homes and, as a way of saving costs, handing the responsibility over to the Council of Mallorca. Pollensa currently has two old homes, the one in the old town still operable despite the opening of a new centre in the Llenaire district of Puerto Pollensa.

Another cost-saving idea for towns with fewer than 20,000 people (which would therefore include both Alcúdia and Pollensa) is that a tax which is currently paid to the Council of Mallorca for fire services be scrapped.