As sure as night follows day, so GOB objects to the Muro golf course. As sure as yesterday I referred to the payment of the tax being the final obstacle overcome in starting work on the course, so it could have been anticipated that the pressure group would exert some pressure to create a new obstacle. GOB is going back to an agreement in 2001 that effectively grouped the site of the course, the Son Bosc finca, with neighbouring Albufera as a protected area of environmental value, an agreement that was broken by the government of Jaume Matas in 2003. In retracing steps, yet again, GOB is levelling responsibility at President Antich (who was president in 2001) for not having "lifted a finger" to stop the work now going ahead.
Where or when does all this stop? The arguments have been going on for that long that GOB can indeed bring up something nine years old. Look back at maps for Playa de Muro of several years vintage or more, and you are likely to see "Golf" represented; it was there because it had been anticipated, years ago. It is fair enough that developments are no longer just bulldozed into being with disregard to opposing views or to environmental issues, but the bulldozers are soon going to be rumbling over Son Bosc, and there is little that GOB can do about it, short of gaining some sort of injunction. Its main political allies appear to be the Mallorcan socialists (PSM) who are trying to make things tough for the environment ministry (which has given the go-ahead) and which is headed by the Unió Mallorquina. Always the UM, seen as the devils of current scandals and the great devils of more and more golf. The PSM wants the ministry to act "urgently" in preventing the work. It won't.
It is in the nature of pressure groups which defend nature to object to just about anything, and GOB is no different. It does much that is good, but it creates its own problems by its constant wolf-crying, as does the enviro lobby as a whole which does itself no favours by coming up with ideas that are just plain bonkers, such as giving the coast road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa back to beach and nature. In truth, the biggest environmental battles have probably been lost, just go and look at Can Picafort's frontline where once there were dunes and forest which served as natural safeguards against sea encroachment. GOB fights the good fight, and its fights can sometimes be justified, but, as ever with single-issue groups with loud voices, how representative is it of the democratic process? It has been said that GOB should front up and join the established political process.
The Muro golf course may be of questionable value in terms of whether it is actually needed, but the environmental issues have been addressed. GOB, and the PSM, should just get over it, and, in GOB's case, move on to the next battle-ground. The course will be built. Long live the golf course of Muro! (I say that with some irony, as some of you may know from previous postings that I don't believe there is a case for it - in terms of demand.)
QUIZ
Today: which group did "Cry Wolf"?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Pressure groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pressure groups. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, October 13, 2008
Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down
Bang bang. The hunting season started yesterday. It lasts until January. There are apparently 26,000 licensed hunters in the Balearics; that sounds like an awful lot. As of yesterday, there were any number of birds, such as thrushes, starlings and partridges, as well as rabbits (and quite possibly other species) keeping a beady eye out for the sight of a long barrel. At least there is some control. A hunter cannot just go and blast everything out of the skies or off the land, but it may well come as a surprise that the likes of the partridge are included in this annual cull, and some of it is just that - a cull, as a proportion of the hunters are so-called preservation hunters.
To what extent the non-preservation hunters are actually making a contribution to planned wildlife management, I am not altogether sure. At a guess, I would suggest it is not that great a contribution. The hunting of wild birds sounds like a sport of the landed classes, as it is elsewhere, though here I wouldn't be so certain; it is still not that long ago that much of Mallorca was essentially rural with therefore rural pursuits. Hunting is as much a tradition as the fiesta; there is an annual hunters' "fiesta" which alternates its venue across the island. Another target of the hunter's gun, the mountain goat, is said to be of superior quality here and one that it is hoped will also attract a certain tourist, one with a rifle.
But one cannot put Mallorcan hunting into the same class as the hoorays who might pitch up for the glorious twelfth. Apart from anything else, there are no hoorays as such here; well, not among the Mallorcans at any rate. Of the older Mallorcans, I know of some who, wealthy, are also what one might describe as the salt of the earth; they shoot, they ride horses, the rural pursuit is still a part of their lives, as it would have been that of their fathers and grandfathers.
Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the hunting. And up pops, once more, our old friends, the environmental pressure group GOB. Barely a day passes it seems without GOB making a pronouncement or a denunciation about something or other. Much as I may incline towards the environmental cause, my take on it is essentially pragmatic; GOB's is if it moves or if it grows or if it's about to be built upon or interfered with in some way by mankind, it should be left alone. It's why I referred the other day to a certain Carlism in the environmental movement here. The desire, it seems, is to revert to the pure and natural state; it is a dogmatic stance.
The power that GOB appears to now exert suggests that it might be brought into the governmental process. I doubt very much if the group would fall for that one. Once formally politicised, its members would be pressured themselves into being somewhat less one-eyed and one-issued; they wouldn't go for it. Far better to be unofficially politicised and to lob the enviro grenades (harmless ones and no doubt biodegradable, to boot) onto the political or commercial or even the environmental agenda, if this last one doesn't sound a tad contrary. For GOB has raised objections as to what is going on at the Son Real finca near to Can Picafort, the one that is managed by the sustainable development foundation, who, one would imagine, wears its environmental badge with pride. GOB would beg to differ, as hunting for birds, specifically thrushes, is to be permitted on the finca. The pressure group believes, not perhaps without some justification, that a preservation area should not be one for the extermination of the very migratory birds that it attracts and which are to the fore in the environmental argument for such preservation in the first place. GOB also reckons that tourists (yes, all those thousands upon thousands who don't come) will find it a mite peculiar that they have to dodge a hunter's aim as they are targetting the very same birds with a binocular lens. (Actually, that's sort of what is reckoned; it's not what has been said in those words exactly.)
GOB may well have an argument, but the sounds of gunshot I now hear are coming from where? Unless the sounds are travelling an awfully long distance, they are emanating from Albufera, the other and more important nature-preservation park in the area; as they have since I have been a neighbour. Even were they not, the problem with GOB is that it just can't keep its gob shut. Its pronouncements are so regular that they start to become tiresome; the group is in danger also of crying wolf (as opposed, naturally, to hunting wolf). What may have escaped GOB's attention is the fact that if it is deemed necessary to cull and to hunt, where better to do it than in areas which attract birds. The hunters are unlikely to be wandering through the middles of towns taking potshots at a passing thrush. It may indeed seem strange, to GOB, that they hunt birds in Son Real, but for the group to now make it an international issue by informing those in countries with tourists to Mallorca is taking it all a bit far. GOB devotes too much energy to hunting for new battles; these get to a stage where those who might otherwise have sympathy switch off, and so they become counter-productive. Just a little less gobby, please.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Commodores - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFHbGuSRAwg. Today's title - the one-time other half of an Irish-sounding fellow.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
To what extent the non-preservation hunters are actually making a contribution to planned wildlife management, I am not altogether sure. At a guess, I would suggest it is not that great a contribution. The hunting of wild birds sounds like a sport of the landed classes, as it is elsewhere, though here I wouldn't be so certain; it is still not that long ago that much of Mallorca was essentially rural with therefore rural pursuits. Hunting is as much a tradition as the fiesta; there is an annual hunters' "fiesta" which alternates its venue across the island. Another target of the hunter's gun, the mountain goat, is said to be of superior quality here and one that it is hoped will also attract a certain tourist, one with a rifle.
But one cannot put Mallorcan hunting into the same class as the hoorays who might pitch up for the glorious twelfth. Apart from anything else, there are no hoorays as such here; well, not among the Mallorcans at any rate. Of the older Mallorcans, I know of some who, wealthy, are also what one might describe as the salt of the earth; they shoot, they ride horses, the rural pursuit is still a part of their lives, as it would have been that of their fathers and grandfathers.
Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the hunting. And up pops, once more, our old friends, the environmental pressure group GOB. Barely a day passes it seems without GOB making a pronouncement or a denunciation about something or other. Much as I may incline towards the environmental cause, my take on it is essentially pragmatic; GOB's is if it moves or if it grows or if it's about to be built upon or interfered with in some way by mankind, it should be left alone. It's why I referred the other day to a certain Carlism in the environmental movement here. The desire, it seems, is to revert to the pure and natural state; it is a dogmatic stance.
The power that GOB appears to now exert suggests that it might be brought into the governmental process. I doubt very much if the group would fall for that one. Once formally politicised, its members would be pressured themselves into being somewhat less one-eyed and one-issued; they wouldn't go for it. Far better to be unofficially politicised and to lob the enviro grenades (harmless ones and no doubt biodegradable, to boot) onto the political or commercial or even the environmental agenda, if this last one doesn't sound a tad contrary. For GOB has raised objections as to what is going on at the Son Real finca near to Can Picafort, the one that is managed by the sustainable development foundation, who, one would imagine, wears its environmental badge with pride. GOB would beg to differ, as hunting for birds, specifically thrushes, is to be permitted on the finca. The pressure group believes, not perhaps without some justification, that a preservation area should not be one for the extermination of the very migratory birds that it attracts and which are to the fore in the environmental argument for such preservation in the first place. GOB also reckons that tourists (yes, all those thousands upon thousands who don't come) will find it a mite peculiar that they have to dodge a hunter's aim as they are targetting the very same birds with a binocular lens. (Actually, that's sort of what is reckoned; it's not what has been said in those words exactly.)
GOB may well have an argument, but the sounds of gunshot I now hear are coming from where? Unless the sounds are travelling an awfully long distance, they are emanating from Albufera, the other and more important nature-preservation park in the area; as they have since I have been a neighbour. Even were they not, the problem with GOB is that it just can't keep its gob shut. Its pronouncements are so regular that they start to become tiresome; the group is in danger also of crying wolf (as opposed, naturally, to hunting wolf). What may have escaped GOB's attention is the fact that if it is deemed necessary to cull and to hunt, where better to do it than in areas which attract birds. The hunters are unlikely to be wandering through the middles of towns taking potshots at a passing thrush. It may indeed seem strange, to GOB, that they hunt birds in Son Real, but for the group to now make it an international issue by informing those in countries with tourists to Mallorca is taking it all a bit far. GOB devotes too much energy to hunting for new battles; these get to a stage where those who might otherwise have sympathy switch off, and so they become counter-productive. Just a little less gobby, please.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Commodores - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFHbGuSRAwg. Today's title - the one-time other half of an Irish-sounding fellow.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Straight Down The Middle
Yet more on the Son Bosc golf development in Muro. A spokesperson for the GOB environmental pressure group is quoted in the “Diario” as saying that 99.9% of local people do not know what they have: it falls to “many foreigners” to come and enjoy the natural world of the Son Bosc finca. He goes on to say that the finca is home to 121 species of bird, while a naturalist from Albufera speaks of the plants, insects and animals to be found there. From the battleground of one particular orchid, the artillery of the environmentalists is now lined up behind a whole battalion of flora and fauna.
That local people may be unaware of what Son Bosc has to offer (they surely cannot be now) would not be a justification for creating a golf course instead, but when GOB refer to “many” foreigners, just how many is many? Knowledge, lack of knowledge, and some overseas naturalists, none of these is especially relevant. What is, is whether Son Bosc is a protected area of natural importance, which it would seem to be. End of story, one would think. It would be were it not for the interests of the developers, some politicians and some hotels.
The Albufera representative talks also about the number of golf courses that already exist on the island, some of them quite close by. This is not an invalid argument. What has been lost in the debate, or at least is not being widely discussed, is the economic argument in favour of the Son Bosc development: that, and the exact nature of the planned course. Both Alcúdia and Pollensa have golf courses. Alcanada is thought to be the more challenging because of its links nature. Pollensa’s course is – I am told as I don’t play – a bit easy, a park course but set in superb countryside and with undulations. A course in Son Bosc would be a park course, on the flat, without the sea and cliffs of Alcanada or the scenic splendour of Pollensa.
But more fundamentally, what is the reality of golf tourism to Mallorca and specifically to the north? Golf tourism is a concept bandied about as part of the solution to winter tourism and as an element of the vaguely defined “quality” tourism. There may be figures which show the numbers of golf tourists, but I am not aware of them. Are there great numbers coming to play at Alcanada? Maybe there are, but were there then perhaps more hotels might be open to accommodate a mass of Titleist-tagged and Wilson-wielding chippers and pitchers. The hotel and the apartments in Alcanada are not exactly thronged with winter golfers: they are not exactly open either.
To what extent are these courses sustained by their local populations? The total population of Muro (Playa de Muro) and Santa Margalida (Can Picafort) combined equates to that of either Alcúdia or Pollensa alone. The expat “market” is widely perceived as being a strong golfing one. The percentages of British-German expatriates for Alcúdia and Pollensa are 7 and 9 per cent respectively: for Muro and Santa Margalida together, the figure is less than 6%. Of course, not only expats play golf and by no means all expats play golf, but however you look at the figures, they are not that great. The total number of British-German expats in the four towns together is a bit over 3,500, and how many actually play golf? Consequently, would another golf course be justifiable, one that might not enjoy, ironically, the natural benefits of Alcanada and Pollensa? Would current Muro or Can Picafort golfers with memberships for the nearby courses stop those in favour of a course merely because it happens to be closer? I have not heard of the Son Bosc development being positioned as satisfying a local need or demand. If it were, then the support of the hotels would be irrelevant.
The Playa de Muro hoteliers may be backing Son Bosc, but where is the evidence that they would get significant business? Neither Alcúdia nor Pollensa have many hotel beds in winter, and what is open is either very small (such as the interior hotels) or smallish (like the Estrella de Mar). Playa de Muro’s hotels are mostly all medium to big. Is it not the case that winter golf tourism to Mallorca is rather overplayed? There are not the complexes of Portugal or mainland Spain, to say nothing of other golfing destinations, including Florida.
The environmental (and legal) case against the Son Bosc development is strong. Although I think that the likes of GOB are making something of a meal out of it, it might help the cause of the pro-course lobby if an equally strong economic and business case could be presented. So … ?
QUIZ
Yesterday – “Dreams”, Fleetwood Mac (The Corrs did the cover). Today’s title – old, old song by a golfing crooner. His good mate had a classic named after him: indeed I think he did too.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
That local people may be unaware of what Son Bosc has to offer (they surely cannot be now) would not be a justification for creating a golf course instead, but when GOB refer to “many” foreigners, just how many is many? Knowledge, lack of knowledge, and some overseas naturalists, none of these is especially relevant. What is, is whether Son Bosc is a protected area of natural importance, which it would seem to be. End of story, one would think. It would be were it not for the interests of the developers, some politicians and some hotels.
The Albufera representative talks also about the number of golf courses that already exist on the island, some of them quite close by. This is not an invalid argument. What has been lost in the debate, or at least is not being widely discussed, is the economic argument in favour of the Son Bosc development: that, and the exact nature of the planned course. Both Alcúdia and Pollensa have golf courses. Alcanada is thought to be the more challenging because of its links nature. Pollensa’s course is – I am told as I don’t play – a bit easy, a park course but set in superb countryside and with undulations. A course in Son Bosc would be a park course, on the flat, without the sea and cliffs of Alcanada or the scenic splendour of Pollensa.
But more fundamentally, what is the reality of golf tourism to Mallorca and specifically to the north? Golf tourism is a concept bandied about as part of the solution to winter tourism and as an element of the vaguely defined “quality” tourism. There may be figures which show the numbers of golf tourists, but I am not aware of them. Are there great numbers coming to play at Alcanada? Maybe there are, but were there then perhaps more hotels might be open to accommodate a mass of Titleist-tagged and Wilson-wielding chippers and pitchers. The hotel and the apartments in Alcanada are not exactly thronged with winter golfers: they are not exactly open either.
To what extent are these courses sustained by their local populations? The total population of Muro (Playa de Muro) and Santa Margalida (Can Picafort) combined equates to that of either Alcúdia or Pollensa alone. The expat “market” is widely perceived as being a strong golfing one. The percentages of British-German expatriates for Alcúdia and Pollensa are 7 and 9 per cent respectively: for Muro and Santa Margalida together, the figure is less than 6%. Of course, not only expats play golf and by no means all expats play golf, but however you look at the figures, they are not that great. The total number of British-German expats in the four towns together is a bit over 3,500, and how many actually play golf? Consequently, would another golf course be justifiable, one that might not enjoy, ironically, the natural benefits of Alcanada and Pollensa? Would current Muro or Can Picafort golfers with memberships for the nearby courses stop those in favour of a course merely because it happens to be closer? I have not heard of the Son Bosc development being positioned as satisfying a local need or demand. If it were, then the support of the hotels would be irrelevant.
The Playa de Muro hoteliers may be backing Son Bosc, but where is the evidence that they would get significant business? Neither Alcúdia nor Pollensa have many hotel beds in winter, and what is open is either very small (such as the interior hotels) or smallish (like the Estrella de Mar). Playa de Muro’s hotels are mostly all medium to big. Is it not the case that winter golf tourism to Mallorca is rather overplayed? There are not the complexes of Portugal or mainland Spain, to say nothing of other golfing destinations, including Florida.
The environmental (and legal) case against the Son Bosc development is strong. Although I think that the likes of GOB are making something of a meal out of it, it might help the cause of the pro-course lobby if an equally strong economic and business case could be presented. So … ?
QUIZ
Yesterday – “Dreams”, Fleetwood Mac (The Corrs did the cover). Today’s title – old, old song by a golfing crooner. His good mate had a classic named after him: indeed I think he did too.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
What About This Overcrowded Land
Further to the “Ultima Hora” piece about the Roman pottery remains in Puerto Alcúdia (27 October: Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect), the paper is now reporting that further sampling has been ordered to ascertain if the site near to the Coral de Mar hotel is indeed that of Pollentia’s port. At present there is an open mind, one possibility also being that the remains could simply be from dumped excavation debris.
Whilst archaeological intervention halts one residential building project, environmental intervention (or rather outcry) has not stopped another. In Cala San Vicente, the demolition of the old Can Colom in the Cala Molins part of the resort has started, much to the disgust of environmental pressure group GOB and others. In its place will be apartments and a swimming-pool that, according to GOB, will lead to the destruction of an important forest area. I don’t know. Instinctively I am on the side of the environmentalists, but the constant opposition is wearisome. There is a sense of here-we-go-again, that perhaps they doth protest too much, that every part of land is important in some way, that wolf is cried when there are bigger beasts to be wary of.
Also on the environment, and back to the plans I referred to on 6 November, I had a chat with an engineer from the power station in Alcúdia, asked him what was with all this stuff about relocating the power station. His reaction - one word, eight letters, begins with “b”. The investment that has already been put into the power station would be a strong argument for doing nothing, and as he also pointed out, it may be that they get a round to relocation in fifty years or so, when they’ll have to because of the rising water level.
Elsewhere, more doom-mongering. “The Bulletin” gives prominence to rising temperatures and drought, the “Diario” also to rising temperatures - an average of 4.83 degrees over the last 100 years in the Balearics - and lower total rainfalls but more torrential outbursts. The Balearic Government minister for the environment says that no-one is any doubt as to climate change, except for one politician, by whom I presumes he means Mariano Rajoy (24 October: It's My Party) who will doubtless be still insisting the Earth is flat while the waters lap around the perimeter of the Alcúdia power station.
QUIZ
Yesterday - New Musik. Today’s title - a line from one of the greatest of all environmental songs.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Whilst archaeological intervention halts one residential building project, environmental intervention (or rather outcry) has not stopped another. In Cala San Vicente, the demolition of the old Can Colom in the Cala Molins part of the resort has started, much to the disgust of environmental pressure group GOB and others. In its place will be apartments and a swimming-pool that, according to GOB, will lead to the destruction of an important forest area. I don’t know. Instinctively I am on the side of the environmentalists, but the constant opposition is wearisome. There is a sense of here-we-go-again, that perhaps they doth protest too much, that every part of land is important in some way, that wolf is cried when there are bigger beasts to be wary of.
Also on the environment, and back to the plans I referred to on 6 November, I had a chat with an engineer from the power station in Alcúdia, asked him what was with all this stuff about relocating the power station. His reaction - one word, eight letters, begins with “b”. The investment that has already been put into the power station would be a strong argument for doing nothing, and as he also pointed out, it may be that they get a round to relocation in fifty years or so, when they’ll have to because of the rising water level.
Elsewhere, more doom-mongering. “The Bulletin” gives prominence to rising temperatures and drought, the “Diario” also to rising temperatures - an average of 4.83 degrees over the last 100 years in the Balearics - and lower total rainfalls but more torrential outbursts. The Balearic Government minister for the environment says that no-one is any doubt as to climate change, except for one politician, by whom I presumes he means Mariano Rajoy (24 October: It's My Party) who will doubtless be still insisting the Earth is flat while the waters lap around the perimeter of the Alcúdia power station.
QUIZ
Yesterday - New Musik. Today’s title - a line from one of the greatest of all environmental songs.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Black Coffee
Relax. It’s a day off. At least it is here. Pour yourself a coffee. It’s the second anniversary of this blog. Two today! Talking well with only the occasional tantrum.
The past twelve months have seen plenty of weather, plenty more road accidents, plenty more debate about the tourism market. These are blog staples. The past twelve months have also witnessed a growing climate-change and environmental concern, an outcry over the redesigned main road through Puerto Alcúdia, corruption, and strange stories of beach umbrella and sunbed subterfuge, of supermarket alcohol being priced in pounds, of masked men in Can Picafort and Crocs shoes in hospitals. The past twelve months have brought trivia in the form of the quiz, essay pieces (The Mile, street names, public toilets) and a growing interaction. To all those of you who take the time to communicate, a big thank you; it is most gratifying, whether you offer bouquets or brickbats, agree or disagree, get the questions right or wrong!
Moving on, or should that be moving up? How was the Balearic Government to tackle the problem of making available the “thousands of dwellings” that I spoke about on 26 October? Where land is a finite resource, the sky is infinite. Building up is the answer. The government is proposing to developers that, in return for building more apartments - upwards - they can sell them - downwards. More flats, lower prices. A brilliant intervention in the free market, or ...?
Meantime, the environmental group GOB is worrying that the government might not stick to its intention not to build on rural land. In fact GOB is doing a lot of worrying at the moment. The group has hit on the idea of an international internet campaign to pressurise the government into not granting licences for the development of the Son Bosc finca in Muro as a golf course. The principal worry - the site is Europe’s most important for a particular orchid, orchis robusta (from what I can make out it is the only one). So that’s the environmental threat I wondered about. Now we know.
Just what is GOB? The name crops up time and time again. Like many of the best organised pressure groups, GOB is relentless in its publicity and activity - gobby one might almost say. The initials stand for Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa - Balearic group for ornithology and the defence of nature. If you are interested, the website is www.gobmallorca.com.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Black Widow. Today’s title - it’s a song title; what association does it have with today? (Check yesterday for a clue.)
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for October 2007
Accident blackspots - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Albufera - 10 October 2007, 26 October 2007
Alcúdia v. Pollensa - 16 October 2007
Alcúdia commercial port - 22 October 2007
Alcúdia Fair - 3 October 2007, 6 October 2007
Alcúdia’s old power station - 27 October 2007
Animals - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007, 10 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Antich, Francesc - 26 October 2007
Architecture - 27 October 2007
Autonomy, Mallorcan - 29 October 2007
Balcony accidents - 9 October 2007, 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Balearic Government - 26 October 2007
Barcarés - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Bars - 15 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bats - 10 October 2007
Beatification - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bellavista (optician) - 17 October 2007
Can Picafort - 9 October 2007
Catholic Church - 28 October 2007
Charities - 3 October 2007
Christopher Columbus - 11 October 2007, 12 October 2007
Climate change - 21 October 2007, 24 October 2007
Coastal properties - 30 October 2007
Cooper, Sara - 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Día de la Hispanidad - 12 October 2007
Environment - 26 October 2007
Excursions - 8 October 2007
Expatriates - 18 October 2007
Franco, General - 28 October 2007
Golf - 26 October 2007
Gore, Al - 24 October 2007
Hallowe’en - 31 October 2007
Ham - 14 October 2007
Holes - 2 October 2007
Holidays - 12 October 2007
Housing - 26 October 2007
Island tour - 8 October 2007
Jamón serrano - 14 October 2007
Kissinger, Henry - 24 October 2007
La Victoria - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Local government - 30 October 2007
Local politics - 4 October 2007
Market saturation - 29 October 2007
Media - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Morer Vermell - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
National anthems - 4 October 2007
Newspapers - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
No Frills Excursions - 8 October 2007
Over-development - 26 October 2007
Pins i Mates Restaurant - 2 October 2007
Politics - 4 October 2007
Pollensa town hall - 30 October 2007
Pollentia - 27 October 2007
Prices - 29 October 2007
Property prices - 29 October 2007
Protected species - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007
Quality - 29 October 2007
Quality of life - 26 October 2007
Rajoy, Mariano - 24 October 2007
Restaurants - 2 October 2007, 22 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Road accidents - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Roman remains- 27 October 2007
Royal family - 4 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Rugby World Cup Final - 20 October 2007
Season’s end - 23 October 2007
Son Bosc - 26 October 2007
Spanish Civil War - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Spanish Government - 30 October 2007
Spanishness - 12 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Sunglasses - 17 October 2007
Taxes - 30 October 2007
Tennant, Jacqueline - 19 October 2007
Tornado - 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007
Tourism statistics - 24 October 2007
Tourism strategy - 26 October 2007
Tourist offices - 9 October 2007
Victoria’s Animal Refuge - 3 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Weather - 1 October 2007, 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 17 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007, 28 October 2007, 30 October 2007
The past twelve months have seen plenty of weather, plenty more road accidents, plenty more debate about the tourism market. These are blog staples. The past twelve months have also witnessed a growing climate-change and environmental concern, an outcry over the redesigned main road through Puerto Alcúdia, corruption, and strange stories of beach umbrella and sunbed subterfuge, of supermarket alcohol being priced in pounds, of masked men in Can Picafort and Crocs shoes in hospitals. The past twelve months have brought trivia in the form of the quiz, essay pieces (The Mile, street names, public toilets) and a growing interaction. To all those of you who take the time to communicate, a big thank you; it is most gratifying, whether you offer bouquets or brickbats, agree or disagree, get the questions right or wrong!
Moving on, or should that be moving up? How was the Balearic Government to tackle the problem of making available the “thousands of dwellings” that I spoke about on 26 October? Where land is a finite resource, the sky is infinite. Building up is the answer. The government is proposing to developers that, in return for building more apartments - upwards - they can sell them - downwards. More flats, lower prices. A brilliant intervention in the free market, or ...?
Meantime, the environmental group GOB is worrying that the government might not stick to its intention not to build on rural land. In fact GOB is doing a lot of worrying at the moment. The group has hit on the idea of an international internet campaign to pressurise the government into not granting licences for the development of the Son Bosc finca in Muro as a golf course. The principal worry - the site is Europe’s most important for a particular orchid, orchis robusta (from what I can make out it is the only one). So that’s the environmental threat I wondered about. Now we know.
Just what is GOB? The name crops up time and time again. Like many of the best organised pressure groups, GOB is relentless in its publicity and activity - gobby one might almost say. The initials stand for Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa - Balearic group for ornithology and the defence of nature. If you are interested, the website is www.gobmallorca.com.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Black Widow. Today’s title - it’s a song title; what association does it have with today? (Check yesterday for a clue.)
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for October 2007
Accident blackspots - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Albufera - 10 October 2007, 26 October 2007
Alcúdia v. Pollensa - 16 October 2007
Alcúdia commercial port - 22 October 2007
Alcúdia Fair - 3 October 2007, 6 October 2007
Alcúdia’s old power station - 27 October 2007
Animals - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007, 10 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Antich, Francesc - 26 October 2007
Architecture - 27 October 2007
Autonomy, Mallorcan - 29 October 2007
Balcony accidents - 9 October 2007, 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Balearic Government - 26 October 2007
Barcarés - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Bars - 15 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bats - 10 October 2007
Beatification - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Bellavista (optician) - 17 October 2007
Can Picafort - 9 October 2007
Catholic Church - 28 October 2007
Charities - 3 October 2007
Christopher Columbus - 11 October 2007, 12 October 2007
Climate change - 21 October 2007, 24 October 2007
Coastal properties - 30 October 2007
Cooper, Sara - 24 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Día de la Hispanidad - 12 October 2007
Environment - 26 October 2007
Excursions - 8 October 2007
Expatriates - 18 October 2007
Franco, General - 28 October 2007
Golf - 26 October 2007
Gore, Al - 24 October 2007
Hallowe’en - 31 October 2007
Ham - 14 October 2007
Holes - 2 October 2007
Holidays - 12 October 2007
Housing - 26 October 2007
Island tour - 8 October 2007
Jamón serrano - 14 October 2007
Kissinger, Henry - 24 October 2007
La Victoria - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
Local government - 30 October 2007
Local politics - 4 October 2007
Market saturation - 29 October 2007
Media - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Morer Vermell - 10 October 2007, 11 October 2007
National anthems - 4 October 2007
Newspapers - 18 October 2007, 25 October 2007
No Frills Excursions - 8 October 2007
Over-development - 26 October 2007
Pins i Mates Restaurant - 2 October 2007
Politics - 4 October 2007
Pollensa town hall - 30 October 2007
Pollentia - 27 October 2007
Prices - 29 October 2007
Property prices - 29 October 2007
Protected species - 1 October 2007, 3 October 2007
Quality - 29 October 2007
Quality of life - 26 October 2007
Rajoy, Mariano - 24 October 2007
Restaurants - 2 October 2007, 22 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Road accidents - 7 October 2007, 25 October 2007
Roman remains- 27 October 2007
Royal family - 4 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Rugby World Cup Final - 20 October 2007
Season’s end - 23 October 2007
Son Bosc - 26 October 2007
Spanish Civil War - 28 October 2007, 29 October 2007
Spanish Government - 30 October 2007
Spanishness - 12 October 2007, 13 October 2007
Sunglasses - 17 October 2007
Taxes - 30 October 2007
Tennant, Jacqueline - 19 October 2007
Tornado - 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007
Tourism statistics - 24 October 2007
Tourism strategy - 26 October 2007
Tourist offices - 9 October 2007
Victoria’s Animal Refuge - 3 October 2007, 22 October 2007
Weather - 1 October 2007, 5 October 2007, 6 October 2007, 17 October 2007, 18 October 2007, 19 October 2007, 21 October 2007, 28 October 2007, 30 October 2007
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