How much sand, do you suppose, is there in the Sahara? It's not that, following yesterday's piece, I have made sand the theme of the moment, it's just that it has become the subject of protest. Saharan sand has been imported to Mallorca, several thousand tonnes of it, and there are some people who object.
It's why one asks how much sand there actually is in the whole of the desert. Don't reply that there's lots, because I think we can all figure that out for ourselves. I have asked Mr. Google, who hasn't proved to be terribly helpful. Someone has calculated that there are eight octillion grains of sand, but I'm afraid eight octillion doesn't register - not with me anyway - and more to the point this doesn't give tonnage. If someone else can come up with an average weight for a grain of sand and multiply it by eight octillion, then I guess we have the answer. Or possibly not.
One would suppose that shifting some tonnes of sand and depositing them somewhere else wouldn't make a great deal of difference to the overall Saharan sand volume. There again, if everyone was doing this, the sand would eventually disappear. On balance, therefore, it probably isn't such a sensible idea. Moreover, the protesters, the friends of the Saharan people, say that the sand is being stolen; the desert is being plundered. There is perhaps something a tad objectionable to someone else's sand being acquired when Mallorca has a fair amount of it as it is. This said, if a crane with a scooping device rocked up on Es Trenc beach, there'd be hell to pay.
The sand, as such, isn't what concerns me here. It is the protest that does. Some fifty odd people turned out at the dockside in Palma to express their anger. Among them were some usual suspect politicians - the environment minister and Més and Podemos sorts from the town hall. The coverage and attention given to a) the shipping of the sand and b) its unloading and the protest have elevated the affair to the status of a cause célèbre; at least where some are concerned. But other than the protesters, how many people in Mallorca do you suppose are particularly bothered? The answer is as impossible or as vague as with the question about how much sand there is in the Sahara, except that it would be the opposite. Not many, one would guess, as opposed to lots.
Protests, always allowing for the permission that is given for them or not, obviously vary in terms of scale. The largest ever staged in Mallorca was the one against the Bauzá government's trilingual (TIL) teaching project. It was a subject in which the whole island had an interest and on which it had an opinion. Education, one can conclude, is of greater importance than sand. The coverage given to that particular protest was entirely proportionate. The coverage for the sand import seems disproportionate, based on the strength of feeling.
Which isn't to say that the protest was invalid. Even a small protest can raise awareness that would otherwise not exist, so I fully defend its purpose. The issue is, though, that protests, and the publicity given to them, can over-exaggerate the cause and also the amount of support that there is for a cause.
There was a different type of protest in Palma last weekend. This one involved around 200 people. Dressed as tourists, they were protesting against so-called tourist colonialism and in particular the increasing number of apartments that are used for holiday rental purposes. This attracted a fair amount of coverage as well, but was this coverage disproportionate given the numbers?
In one respect it wasn't. That's because the whole issue of holiday rentals has genuinely become a cause célèbre. But how representative of attitudes was the protest? A small number of people have the power to blow something up out of all proportion. There were plenty of reactions to the protest which suggested just that. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence which indicates how much concern there is about the impact of holiday rentals, and it certainly isn't confined to politicians. There may have only been 200, but the groundswell of support, you can be certain, is a great deal stronger.
It was interesting to note that a similar protest last September didn't register with the established media. An anti-tourist route was followed, but there was barely a mention of it. It's not as if "saturation" wasn't a major issue last summer, but since then there has been a constant bombardment. It never lets up.
The scale of a protest doesn't in itself give an accurate reflection of how widespread (or not) attitudes are. The TIL one probably did. In reverse, the Sahara sand protest may also have been fairly accurate. The 200 in Palma? I don't think so.
Showing posts with label Protests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protests. Show all posts
Friday, May 26, 2017
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
The Futility Of Banning: All-inclusives
There is a Facebook page entitled "BAN ALL Inclusive". It asks: "Why would anyone wish to spend there (sic) holiday in all inclusive holiday in Mallorca!!! It's beautiful here get out of the hotel and enjoy 'your' time on this beautiful island. This was the original destination for the package holiday for millions".
The page hasn't attracted a great deal of liking, which may be because it hasn't been that visible on Facebook. In terms of sentiment, however, there is little doubt that there would be a significant level of liking, but this is not the first type of all-inclusive protest page which has appeared on social media and it won't be the last.
Ban all-inclusive. Question. To whom does one address a demand for all-inclusive to be banned? Second question. Even if a Facebook page were to amass thousands of "likes", what would it achieve? The two questions tie in. A massive level of support for an all-inclusive ban would have to be demonstrated to decision-makers who matter. A talking-shop on the internet among mainly like-minded opponents of all-inclusive achieves nothing other than to reinforce these feelings of opposition.
There are other talking-shops, such as one that the Acotur business association sought to establish last year. They met (very few of them; bar owners, that is), talked for a time, realised that talk was all that would happen and did nothing more. As with talk of bans, protests, of whatever sort (and no one has ever come up with a good one) are pretty pointless.
Even with a massive amount of support for a Facebook page, a ban will never happen. It cannot happen. Just as the market drove the popularity of all-inclusive, so it would have to be the market which would drive a loss of popularity and the eventual demise of all-inclusive. One can argue that the market for all-inclusive wasn't created by customer demand, but that it is an historical argument. Today's tourism market has such demand and it shows no sign of going away or of lessening.
The only stakeholders who matter under a hypothetical all-inclusive banning scenario are those stakeholders without whom there would be no all-inclusive - holidaymakers and tour operators. Other stakeholders matter less and in ever-reducing importance - hotels, local government, town halls.
It is the tour operators who, above all, have the greatest interest. One of them, First Choice, was made into an all-inclusive brand. It was the decision to undertake this branding which inspired a BBC report into all-inclusive in Mallorca two years ago. This has had a recent mention on the Facebook page I have referred to. Its message would still apply, and it was one, as an advisor to the programme, to which I contributed.
In that programme, a First Choice executive had to respond to a question about an advertising slogan which ran - "leave your wallet at home". There was an acceptance that this might not have been the most diplomatic of slogans, but it did of course sum up how all-inclusive is often perceived. This perception is one that tour operators try to modify. They say they offer trips out to local markets and so on, they point to their environmental commitments, they highlight the ecological soundness of their establishments and of local sourcing, they refer to local employment opportunities, but none of this convinces.
Tour operators make a great deal of their social responsibility and of how this operates in destinations, but their arguments are thin. And, one would presume, because tour operators aren't stupid, they know that these arguments are thin. Social responsibility is a broad concept, and acting in a truly responsible fashion does not include transporting people hundreds or thousands of miles only for them to occupy a certain amount of real estate for a fortnight and to do little else. This is one-way parasitic tourism and not the formerly two-way symbiosis between hotel and local community and economy. Its ethics are highly questionable.
To whom are tour operators responsible? Ultimately, to themselves and to their shareholders. Yet, for all that tour operators might be seen as the devil of the piece, they are not alone. Mallorca as a tourist destination is equally at fault.
The Facebook page inadvertently alluded to why Mallorca is at fault. "The original destination for the package holiday for millions." Exactly. And it was the destination for masses because of its cheapness. The island's tourism model is and was, from the 1960s, predicated on mass, but once the real cheapness of early years started to be replaced by less cheapness, by a more questioning approach to spending by tourists, to monetary union and to simple economics, keeping hold of the mass required the introduction of a package which promised or at least hinted at cheapness. And that was the all-inclusive: "leave your wallet at home".
You can't ban all-inclusive because it is the logical outcome of the tourism model. You can't ban it unless that model changes, and that will not happen. Just as a ban will never happen.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The page hasn't attracted a great deal of liking, which may be because it hasn't been that visible on Facebook. In terms of sentiment, however, there is little doubt that there would be a significant level of liking, but this is not the first type of all-inclusive protest page which has appeared on social media and it won't be the last.
Ban all-inclusive. Question. To whom does one address a demand for all-inclusive to be banned? Second question. Even if a Facebook page were to amass thousands of "likes", what would it achieve? The two questions tie in. A massive level of support for an all-inclusive ban would have to be demonstrated to decision-makers who matter. A talking-shop on the internet among mainly like-minded opponents of all-inclusive achieves nothing other than to reinforce these feelings of opposition.
There are other talking-shops, such as one that the Acotur business association sought to establish last year. They met (very few of them; bar owners, that is), talked for a time, realised that talk was all that would happen and did nothing more. As with talk of bans, protests, of whatever sort (and no one has ever come up with a good one) are pretty pointless.
Even with a massive amount of support for a Facebook page, a ban will never happen. It cannot happen. Just as the market drove the popularity of all-inclusive, so it would have to be the market which would drive a loss of popularity and the eventual demise of all-inclusive. One can argue that the market for all-inclusive wasn't created by customer demand, but that it is an historical argument. Today's tourism market has such demand and it shows no sign of going away or of lessening.
The only stakeholders who matter under a hypothetical all-inclusive banning scenario are those stakeholders without whom there would be no all-inclusive - holidaymakers and tour operators. Other stakeholders matter less and in ever-reducing importance - hotels, local government, town halls.
It is the tour operators who, above all, have the greatest interest. One of them, First Choice, was made into an all-inclusive brand. It was the decision to undertake this branding which inspired a BBC report into all-inclusive in Mallorca two years ago. This has had a recent mention on the Facebook page I have referred to. Its message would still apply, and it was one, as an advisor to the programme, to which I contributed.
In that programme, a First Choice executive had to respond to a question about an advertising slogan which ran - "leave your wallet at home". There was an acceptance that this might not have been the most diplomatic of slogans, but it did of course sum up how all-inclusive is often perceived. This perception is one that tour operators try to modify. They say they offer trips out to local markets and so on, they point to their environmental commitments, they highlight the ecological soundness of their establishments and of local sourcing, they refer to local employment opportunities, but none of this convinces.
Tour operators make a great deal of their social responsibility and of how this operates in destinations, but their arguments are thin. And, one would presume, because tour operators aren't stupid, they know that these arguments are thin. Social responsibility is a broad concept, and acting in a truly responsible fashion does not include transporting people hundreds or thousands of miles only for them to occupy a certain amount of real estate for a fortnight and to do little else. This is one-way parasitic tourism and not the formerly two-way symbiosis between hotel and local community and economy. Its ethics are highly questionable.
To whom are tour operators responsible? Ultimately, to themselves and to their shareholders. Yet, for all that tour operators might be seen as the devil of the piece, they are not alone. Mallorca as a tourist destination is equally at fault.
The Facebook page inadvertently alluded to why Mallorca is at fault. "The original destination for the package holiday for millions." Exactly. And it was the destination for masses because of its cheapness. The island's tourism model is and was, from the 1960s, predicated on mass, but once the real cheapness of early years started to be replaced by less cheapness, by a more questioning approach to spending by tourists, to monetary union and to simple economics, keeping hold of the mass required the introduction of a package which promised or at least hinted at cheapness. And that was the all-inclusive: "leave your wallet at home".
You can't ban all-inclusive because it is the logical outcome of the tourism model. You can't ban it unless that model changes, and that will not happen. Just as a ban will never happen.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Real Mallorca's relegation sparks off protests
Not unexpectedly, the confirmation of Mallorca's relegation from La Liga after sixteen seasons in the top flight sparked off protests directed primarily at sporting director and major shareholder Llorenç Serra Ferrer. Police became involved when stones started to be thrown.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Friday, November 23, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Car-hire firms plan actions against tax
Car-hire firms in the Balearics, angered by the planned introduction of a daily tax on vehicle, are to stage a day of protest on a day in December that will bring Palma to a standstill and to follow this by withdrawing hire cars for 15 days. The firms are also planning on moving their fiscal base to another part of Spain and so not pay taxes in the Balearics; the Basque Country would be the most likely base.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Monday, October 01, 2012
Why Andrew Mitchell Is Irrelevant
Over the past few days Spain has experienced momentous events that point to more than just some little local difficulties. Catalonia has taken the first step towards seceding and becoming an independent nation. Riots have taken place in Madrid against the government's economic policies. Violence has been perpetrated by both protesters and police; the latter had also infiltrated the protesters - with what aim in mind exactly? The banks need a colossal financial injection from Europe and the government totters on the edge of requesting its own bailout.
Spain's reputation has been dragged through an already deep mud. The prime minister, immune to PR, has been out walking while puffing on a fine cigar; his own twist on Nero by engaging in a form of burning while Spain burns. So widespread and in tatters is this reputation that even the Taiwanese have come up with a satirical video replete with images of police violence and an inept Rajoy as Pinocchio. Closer to Spain, the British media (that in Britain, that is) has drawn attention to chemists in Valencia which have all but run out of medicines and to Spain's cultural fabric being torn apart. It is hard not to feel that with the massive show of support for independence on the streets of Barcelona and the at-times shocking scenes and reports from Madrid that it is more than just the cultural fabric that is being torn apart. This is a country being torn apart.
The morale of the Spanish people is slumping to the point that it has to be asked how much more can they take. On top of the austerity, humiliation is being heaped on the country by foreign media and, in all likelihood, by the act of having to go cap in hand for the bailout; the final humiliation.
Over the past few days Mallorca has experienced less momentous events but it has nevertheless experienced bad news. Finance from national government has been almost halved. The economy has been put on "red alert" by the Centre for Economic Research. The standards of democracy have been attacked by the Economics Society of businesspeople and professionals. Levels of child poverty have been said by Unicef to affect almost a third of under 18s in the Balearics. A separate report, by the Economics and Social Council, has said something similar, while bemoaning an economic over-reliance on tourism and a lack of investment in education and innovation. Pleas for diversification of the economy, for innovation and for improved standards of education have come from other sources. And with September ending and October starting, the first wave of the seasonal unemployed are going in search of benefits that may or may not exist, and which are low in any event, or are going in search of work which is almost totally non-existent.
Mallorca escapes the worst of Spain's implosion because of its geography, and this remoteness adds to a sense of being shielded. Or at least, this is how some of its expatriates would like to think. There is plenty of wealth in Mallorca is just one of the fatuous remarks I have encountered and which is expressed to explain why events in Madrid could not be repeated on the island. Of course there is wealth in Mallorca. So there is in Madrid and even in Extremadura and Andalucía, two of the poorest regions of Spain. Wealth means nothing though to the unemployed, the impoverished, those with no sign of a future.
Expatriates do not exist in a state of blissful ignorance as to what is happening in Spain, though some give a very good impression of doing so. Maybe some are ignorant. Certainly some will consider that all is well in the world so long as there is the golf club and the yacht club, and so long as the greatest concern is for what damage the boat might suffer as a consequence of autumn storms.
No, the expatriate isn't necessarily ignorant but despite living in Mallorca, he or she sees what's happening as somehow distant. He or she is still locked in a world that is in fact distant, in Britain. He or she looks to Britain for solace, because he or she can understand Britain. And so matters in Britain, amidst the gathering turmoil in Spain, acquire or have not lost importance. They can be explained. There is reassurance in being able to explain them, even when they should be of little consequence because they are relatively inconsequential and because they are over there, in Britain, and not over here.
While momentous events occur in Spain, how does the expatriate seek this reassurance? For example, in earnest discussion of what is irrelevant to local life, argument over the meaning of a word ("pleb") and dissection of the character of a stupid Conservative politician who had a stupid brush with a probably equally stupid policeman. I, for one, couldn't give a damn. I do give a damn about what is happening in Spain. I have nothing whatsoever to say about Andrew bloody Mitchell.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Spain's reputation has been dragged through an already deep mud. The prime minister, immune to PR, has been out walking while puffing on a fine cigar; his own twist on Nero by engaging in a form of burning while Spain burns. So widespread and in tatters is this reputation that even the Taiwanese have come up with a satirical video replete with images of police violence and an inept Rajoy as Pinocchio. Closer to Spain, the British media (that in Britain, that is) has drawn attention to chemists in Valencia which have all but run out of medicines and to Spain's cultural fabric being torn apart. It is hard not to feel that with the massive show of support for independence on the streets of Barcelona and the at-times shocking scenes and reports from Madrid that it is more than just the cultural fabric that is being torn apart. This is a country being torn apart.
The morale of the Spanish people is slumping to the point that it has to be asked how much more can they take. On top of the austerity, humiliation is being heaped on the country by foreign media and, in all likelihood, by the act of having to go cap in hand for the bailout; the final humiliation.
Over the past few days Mallorca has experienced less momentous events but it has nevertheless experienced bad news. Finance from national government has been almost halved. The economy has been put on "red alert" by the Centre for Economic Research. The standards of democracy have been attacked by the Economics Society of businesspeople and professionals. Levels of child poverty have been said by Unicef to affect almost a third of under 18s in the Balearics. A separate report, by the Economics and Social Council, has said something similar, while bemoaning an economic over-reliance on tourism and a lack of investment in education and innovation. Pleas for diversification of the economy, for innovation and for improved standards of education have come from other sources. And with September ending and October starting, the first wave of the seasonal unemployed are going in search of benefits that may or may not exist, and which are low in any event, or are going in search of work which is almost totally non-existent.
Mallorca escapes the worst of Spain's implosion because of its geography, and this remoteness adds to a sense of being shielded. Or at least, this is how some of its expatriates would like to think. There is plenty of wealth in Mallorca is just one of the fatuous remarks I have encountered and which is expressed to explain why events in Madrid could not be repeated on the island. Of course there is wealth in Mallorca. So there is in Madrid and even in Extremadura and Andalucía, two of the poorest regions of Spain. Wealth means nothing though to the unemployed, the impoverished, those with no sign of a future.
Expatriates do not exist in a state of blissful ignorance as to what is happening in Spain, though some give a very good impression of doing so. Maybe some are ignorant. Certainly some will consider that all is well in the world so long as there is the golf club and the yacht club, and so long as the greatest concern is for what damage the boat might suffer as a consequence of autumn storms.
No, the expatriate isn't necessarily ignorant but despite living in Mallorca, he or she sees what's happening as somehow distant. He or she is still locked in a world that is in fact distant, in Britain. He or she looks to Britain for solace, because he or she can understand Britain. And so matters in Britain, amidst the gathering turmoil in Spain, acquire or have not lost importance. They can be explained. There is reassurance in being able to explain them, even when they should be of little consequence because they are relatively inconsequential and because they are over there, in Britain, and not over here.
While momentous events occur in Spain, how does the expatriate seek this reassurance? For example, in earnest discussion of what is irrelevant to local life, argument over the meaning of a word ("pleb") and dissection of the character of a stupid Conservative politician who had a stupid brush with a probably equally stupid policeman. I, for one, couldn't give a damn. I do give a damn about what is happening in Spain. I have nothing whatsoever to say about Andrew bloody Mitchell.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, September 28, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - What Taiwan makes of the pain in Spain
The Spanish press has been taken aback that Spain is the focus for so much overseas attention. How can it be? There is so much to sink teeth into, and even the Taiwanese are up to it. The link is to a video (with English subtitles), featuring Rajoy as Pinocchio.
And according to "The Guardian", Spain's cultural fabric is being torn apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRDPnrOIl-o
The Guardian
And according to "The Guardian", Spain's cultural fabric is being torn apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRDPnrOIl-o
The Guardian
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Nothing Changes: All-inclusives
I have a system which highlights the subject matter of every article I have written since 2006 about Mallorca. It won't come as any surprise to know that Mallorca itself is way in the lead when it comes to themes within this archive. Other than similarly general references to the Balearics, to certain towns (Alcúdia and Pollensa most obviously), to the Balearic Government and to tourism, all of which also command particularly high numbers, of specific topics, there, more or less at number one on the list, is the subject of all-inclusives. It beats even corruption and Catalan, though admittedly not by much.
There are roughly 2000 articles in this archive. 3.6% of them have had to do with all-inclusives. Expressed as a percentage, this may not sound a lot, but some 70 or so articles over the years amount to a confirmation of the importance of the subject and also to the fact that there is probably very little more that either I or anyone could actually say on the subject. It has all been said many, many times, and if you were go back before 2006, it would have been said then as well.
It does come, therefore, not as a total surprise but as an exercise of far-too-late futility that tourist businesses in Alcúdia have decided to form a platform from which they intend to express their discontent with not just all-inclusives and their impact but also much of the regional government's new tourism law.
Such a platform is far too late by a good 15 years; more maybe. Expressions of concern as to the impact of all-inclusives date back to the 1990s, but expressions were all they were. It wasn't necessarily the case that there was a lack of foresight as to how the all-inclusive development might pan out, but it was the case that, lulled by the complacency that has dogged Mallorca's tourism and by the still easy money that was to be made, no strong objections were raised that might - one says might - have caused the history of all-inclusives to be rather different. If all-inclusives were to have been challenged, if they were to have been subject to strict controls, if they were to have been a priority for discussion with the all-powerful tour operators, the 1990s were when the challenge should have been made.
What does this Alcúdia platform intend doing? One thing is that it may demonstrate outside the tourism ministry in September. I'm sure Delgado will be sleeping uneasily at the prospect. Another thing is that it wishes to make this platform an island-wide movement, islands' wide probably. And then what?
It is not that I am not supportive of the Alcúdia businesses, not that I am not, as I have been for years, deeply concerned as to the effects of all-inclusives, but I have heard all of the protest talk, the forming of pressure groups talk, the this, that or the next action against all-inclusives that many times that it no longer has the capacity to make me believe that any effort will produce anything other than the normal bluster, hot air, anger, same-old arguments that all the other ones have. Indeed, where Alcúdia is concerned, there was talk this time last year of a protest in the form of a day of restaurant closure. There was never any chance of it happening, though when it was being spoken about was when I was aiding the BBC with a feature on all-inclusives (centred on Alcúdia and Can Picafort), and the BBC were sufficiently interested to know if anything came of it. Why? Because it would have been a dramatic form of protest. So dramatic that there was no possibility of it ever materialising.
The all-inclusive polemic shifts only in the scale of the problem. Economic crisis has made the impact more acute and the availability of all-inclusive more apparent. To add to this, there are the changes in the tourism law which will allow hotels to include in their grounds more of which was only to be found outside them, thus potentially further harming tourist businesses. To cap it all, there is the IVA increase.
Many of these businesses will be headed by people who voted for the Partido Popular, but they did so knowing that Delgado was on a mission for change. They knew, or should have done, that there was precious little that he would or could do about all-inclusives, and the precious little that is contained in the tourism law is little indeed. They might not have envisaged the IVA increase, especially as a reduction had been promised, but whether they did or they didn't, they voted for a government that is doing nothing for them. Well, to be honest, they should have known better.
Maybe the tourism law's insistence on hotels having quality plans will have an effect and lead to some hotels having to abandon all-inclusive. But no one is surely relying on this as an outcome as, in the same way, they are not relying on the daft prohibition of food and drink being taken out of hotels making one iota of difference.
Doubtless I will write further articles about all-inclusives, but this one - number 71 in a series - only really adds to what is already known. 71 articles, enough material for a book. A book with a familiar story line, a familiar plot and a familiar ending. Nothing will change.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
There are roughly 2000 articles in this archive. 3.6% of them have had to do with all-inclusives. Expressed as a percentage, this may not sound a lot, but some 70 or so articles over the years amount to a confirmation of the importance of the subject and also to the fact that there is probably very little more that either I or anyone could actually say on the subject. It has all been said many, many times, and if you were go back before 2006, it would have been said then as well.
It does come, therefore, not as a total surprise but as an exercise of far-too-late futility that tourist businesses in Alcúdia have decided to form a platform from which they intend to express their discontent with not just all-inclusives and their impact but also much of the regional government's new tourism law.
Such a platform is far too late by a good 15 years; more maybe. Expressions of concern as to the impact of all-inclusives date back to the 1990s, but expressions were all they were. It wasn't necessarily the case that there was a lack of foresight as to how the all-inclusive development might pan out, but it was the case that, lulled by the complacency that has dogged Mallorca's tourism and by the still easy money that was to be made, no strong objections were raised that might - one says might - have caused the history of all-inclusives to be rather different. If all-inclusives were to have been challenged, if they were to have been subject to strict controls, if they were to have been a priority for discussion with the all-powerful tour operators, the 1990s were when the challenge should have been made.
What does this Alcúdia platform intend doing? One thing is that it may demonstrate outside the tourism ministry in September. I'm sure Delgado will be sleeping uneasily at the prospect. Another thing is that it wishes to make this platform an island-wide movement, islands' wide probably. And then what?
It is not that I am not supportive of the Alcúdia businesses, not that I am not, as I have been for years, deeply concerned as to the effects of all-inclusives, but I have heard all of the protest talk, the forming of pressure groups talk, the this, that or the next action against all-inclusives that many times that it no longer has the capacity to make me believe that any effort will produce anything other than the normal bluster, hot air, anger, same-old arguments that all the other ones have. Indeed, where Alcúdia is concerned, there was talk this time last year of a protest in the form of a day of restaurant closure. There was never any chance of it happening, though when it was being spoken about was when I was aiding the BBC with a feature on all-inclusives (centred on Alcúdia and Can Picafort), and the BBC were sufficiently interested to know if anything came of it. Why? Because it would have been a dramatic form of protest. So dramatic that there was no possibility of it ever materialising.
The all-inclusive polemic shifts only in the scale of the problem. Economic crisis has made the impact more acute and the availability of all-inclusive more apparent. To add to this, there are the changes in the tourism law which will allow hotels to include in their grounds more of which was only to be found outside them, thus potentially further harming tourist businesses. To cap it all, there is the IVA increase.
Many of these businesses will be headed by people who voted for the Partido Popular, but they did so knowing that Delgado was on a mission for change. They knew, or should have done, that there was precious little that he would or could do about all-inclusives, and the precious little that is contained in the tourism law is little indeed. They might not have envisaged the IVA increase, especially as a reduction had been promised, but whether they did or they didn't, they voted for a government that is doing nothing for them. Well, to be honest, they should have known better.
Maybe the tourism law's insistence on hotels having quality plans will have an effect and lead to some hotels having to abandon all-inclusive. But no one is surely relying on this as an outcome as, in the same way, they are not relying on the daft prohibition of food and drink being taken out of hotels making one iota of difference.
Doubtless I will write further articles about all-inclusives, but this one - number 71 in a series - only really adds to what is already known. 71 articles, enough material for a book. A book with a familiar story line, a familiar plot and a familiar ending. Nothing will change.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Alcúdia tourist businesses plan action against all-inclusives
A meeting in Alcúdia yesterday, convened by Acotur, the association of tourist businesses, has agreed to form a platform to voice dissatisfaction with the new tourism law and the ongoing impact of all-inclusive hotels. The Alcúdia businesses hope to make this an island-wide movement, are considering protests in September, e.g. at the tourism ministry, and are looking at gaining union involvement and support.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Lonely Goatherd
Here's a quiz question for you. Which long-running radio quiz show featured "Mabel at the table" (and also Violet Carson, aka Ena Sharples, on piano)? The answer is "Have A Go" and it was presented by Wilfred Pickles.
Mallorca has a Mabel who is unlikely to be invited to a particular table and who is in a bit of a pickle. Uninvited, this Mabel will be a lonely goatherd, for her surname (Cabrer) means just this - goatherd. High on a hill she will be left, not beckoned down unless she says sorry.
The table to which Mabel may well not be invited would be one reserved for political worthies of the island attending the La Beata fiesta in Santa Margalida in September. Goat isn't eaten as much as it used to be, but La Beata being about the most traditional of the fiestas, it may well be served up. Mabel will not, however, be on hand to provide the goat.
In a pickle, Mabel has also made a bit of a goat of herself. Or at least this is a conclusion one can draw from some of the facts surrounding the protests against President Bauzá last month, which form the background to Mabel being in a pickle. In Artà, for example, there was nary an incident worthy of note, yet Mabel seemed to suggest during a parliamentary session (she is the Partido Popular's spokesperson) that there were violent attacks with batteries, coins, iron balls, pigs' tongues, insults and aggression. Actually, she didn't suggest; this is pretty much word for word what she said. Artà town hall is scandalized. As also is Santa Margalida's.
There were more obvious acts of aggression in Santa Margalida, but there was also a very heavy police presence, one that prevented residents from moving around normally in the centre of the town. Mabel's charges of violence by protesters have implied that Santa Margalida is a violent town full of hooligans.
Talk about a red rag to a bull or the utterances of a goatherd to a veteran socialist. Mayor Miguel Cifre is most definitely not a happy bunny. A previous demand that Mabel apologises for her implication, one echoed in Artà, has now become a demand that she asks to be pardoned. So, they might be prepared to excuse her, if she asks very nicely, or they might not be. Either way, if this request for a pardon is not forthcoming, Mabel will truly be a lonely goatherd on the evening of the La Beata procession because she will not have been invited. So there.
Because of La Beata's importance in the fiesta scheme of things, it is traditional to invite political leaders to this most traditional of fiestas and in particular to the La Beata procession. This is the one where the Saint Catalina rejects the advances of and temptation by the devil. Right now, the PP is being cast in the role of the devil, and the unfortunate Mabel is copping for the full trident treatment.
What should she do? Beg for mercy and she might get an invite. Ignore the demand and she definitely won't. She might be best advised to let it be known that she won't be able to attend anyway; washing her hair or something like that. Were she to attend, apology or no apology, there's almost bound to be a bit of bother. The town hall is minded to not invite the president either, as it doesn't want a repeat of the police presence. If Mabel were to attend, with or without Bauzá, the Guardia would probably feel obliged to have to make its presence felt, which is hardly in keeping with a traditional fiesta procession.
What all the rumpus in Artà and Santa Margalida confirms is the degree to which division is occurring in Mallorca. The regions are none too happy with the PP, support for which resides most obviously in the capital Palma. In Manacor, Antoni Pastor (the Shepherd to Mabel's Goatherd) has formed an alliance with various groups in establishing a virtual independent state, one in which the PP has caused disaffection. In Pollensa, the fines for protesters continue to cause discontent. Goatherds or not, some PP representatives in the regions might well be feeling increasingly lonely.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Mallorca has a Mabel who is unlikely to be invited to a particular table and who is in a bit of a pickle. Uninvited, this Mabel will be a lonely goatherd, for her surname (Cabrer) means just this - goatherd. High on a hill she will be left, not beckoned down unless she says sorry.
The table to which Mabel may well not be invited would be one reserved for political worthies of the island attending the La Beata fiesta in Santa Margalida in September. Goat isn't eaten as much as it used to be, but La Beata being about the most traditional of the fiestas, it may well be served up. Mabel will not, however, be on hand to provide the goat.
In a pickle, Mabel has also made a bit of a goat of herself. Or at least this is a conclusion one can draw from some of the facts surrounding the protests against President Bauzá last month, which form the background to Mabel being in a pickle. In Artà, for example, there was nary an incident worthy of note, yet Mabel seemed to suggest during a parliamentary session (she is the Partido Popular's spokesperson) that there were violent attacks with batteries, coins, iron balls, pigs' tongues, insults and aggression. Actually, she didn't suggest; this is pretty much word for word what she said. Artà town hall is scandalized. As also is Santa Margalida's.
There were more obvious acts of aggression in Santa Margalida, but there was also a very heavy police presence, one that prevented residents from moving around normally in the centre of the town. Mabel's charges of violence by protesters have implied that Santa Margalida is a violent town full of hooligans.
Talk about a red rag to a bull or the utterances of a goatherd to a veteran socialist. Mayor Miguel Cifre is most definitely not a happy bunny. A previous demand that Mabel apologises for her implication, one echoed in Artà, has now become a demand that she asks to be pardoned. So, they might be prepared to excuse her, if she asks very nicely, or they might not be. Either way, if this request for a pardon is not forthcoming, Mabel will truly be a lonely goatherd on the evening of the La Beata procession because she will not have been invited. So there.
Because of La Beata's importance in the fiesta scheme of things, it is traditional to invite political leaders to this most traditional of fiestas and in particular to the La Beata procession. This is the one where the Saint Catalina rejects the advances of and temptation by the devil. Right now, the PP is being cast in the role of the devil, and the unfortunate Mabel is copping for the full trident treatment.
What should she do? Beg for mercy and she might get an invite. Ignore the demand and she definitely won't. She might be best advised to let it be known that she won't be able to attend anyway; washing her hair or something like that. Were she to attend, apology or no apology, there's almost bound to be a bit of bother. The town hall is minded to not invite the president either, as it doesn't want a repeat of the police presence. If Mabel were to attend, with or without Bauzá, the Guardia would probably feel obliged to have to make its presence felt, which is hardly in keeping with a traditional fiesta procession.
What all the rumpus in Artà and Santa Margalida confirms is the degree to which division is occurring in Mallorca. The regions are none too happy with the PP, support for which resides most obviously in the capital Palma. In Manacor, Antoni Pastor (the Shepherd to Mabel's Goatherd) has formed an alliance with various groups in establishing a virtual independent state, one in which the PP has caused disaffection. In Pollensa, the fines for protesters continue to cause discontent. Goatherds or not, some PP representatives in the regions might well be feeling increasingly lonely.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, June 09, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa terrace law and Bauzá protest fines reactions
The more serious issue, that of fines issued to those who protested against President Bauzá when he visited Pollensa, has attracted condemnation from various political parties in the town, the Alternativa having said that it shows that repression of dissent is all that is available to a government which is incapable of tackling economic crisis. More or less all the parties have condemned the violence that occurred. Meanwhile, the ongoing saga of the size of terraces in Pollensa's Plaça Major has led the PSM Mallorcan socialists to dub the square "Terrassa Major".
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
A State Of Welfare? Circus animals
If you happened to be driving along a Mallorcan road one evening and you were confronted by the sight of two tons of hippopotamus lumbering in your general direction, you might have cause to be somewhat surprised. It isn't common to just come across a hippopotamus in Mallorca, as it also isn't common to just come across a camel or a lion cub. But it isn't unknown, and the reason why is that they have all escaped in the past from circuses; Pipo the melon-eating hippo on more than one occasion.
Pipo's most recent excursion occurred in January. He (or possibly she) had previously made him or herself acquainted with Felanitx before taking a look around Marratxí. Where next? Alcúdia possibly, as Pipo has taken up residence as part of the Circo Roma Dola.
Places in Mallorca where Pipo or the odd camel or lion cub might decide to become an animal tourist are gradually becoming fewer. Capdepera is the most recent municipality to ban circuses with animals. In Spain, unlike quite a number of countries, there is no ban on animals; it is down to town halls to decide whether circuses can bring wildlife with them or not. Alcúdia says they can, Pollensa says they can't, as they also can't in Artà, Consell, Manacor, Palma, Puigpunyent, Santa María del Camí, Sóller and Valldemossa.
Pollensa town hall approved a ban in late October last year. This provoked a challenge by the association of Spanish circuses and a Balearics circus company which drew into question the legality of the ban, especially if a circus were to take place on private land. The challenge also questioned the validity of the ban as there was some alleged duress applied by the presence of AnimaNaturalis animal-rights protesters at the open session at which the ban was agreed.
AnimaNaturalis has certainly been instrumental in seeking to have animals removed from circuses. Without mentioning the group specifically, the Circo Roma Dola on its Facebook page stated that the decision to ban animals in Capdepera was one brought about solely by the desire of animal-rights organisations to generate publicity.
Well, yes, the animal-rights organisations probably are seeking to generate publicity. This tends to be what they do when they wish to draw attention to what they consider to be a contravention of animal rights. For circuses, such as the Circo Roma Dola, a different right is being contravened as a consequence, or so it continues to say in its Facebook page statement, and this is the right of the "classic circus" to work with animals. It also says that this work is recognised as an important part of European culture by the European Parliament and that the welfare of animals is not being considered (by the animal-rights objectors, that is).
It is this last bit, about animal welfare, that AnimaNaturalis would quite naturally disagree with. In addition to concerns about security, as evidenced by instances in which animals have escaped, it flatly rejects the circuses' welfare claim. The Capdepera decision, adopted unanimously by the town hall administration, was couched in terms that AnimaNaturalis would have approved (and did); the "seeking of a society free from animal mistreatment".
AnimaNaturalis has staged protests against both the Circo Roma Dola and the Circo Williams. The Williams circus has been a regular visitor to Alcúdia, and Roma Dola is camped in the town until later this month. But it isn't only animal-rights groups which are voicing their protests. I am told that British tourists are as well, in that some have been walking out of the Roma Dola circus while others have expressed their disgust. What the tourists have objected to in particular (or at least what is alleged to have occurred during one show) was the whipping of lions and the beating of camels' legs in order to make the camels kneel down. While the lions were being hit, I understand, the announcer was calling for calm, as in "tranquilo". One assumes he wasn't addressing the lions.
British sensitivity towards animals is different to that in Spain, though the British Government is dragging its heels over what was intended to be a total ban on wild animals in circuses from the start of this July. But the circuses are also sensitive. Are they not? One comes back to that statement about animal welfare, to which one can add the defence that circuses comply with instructions from veterinary officials at the Council of Mallorca and the Guardia Civil's Seprona division. This defence was one that was made in challenging Pollensa town hall's ban.
I have no reason to believe that the circuses do mistreat their animals, but there is the animals' general welfare and their welfare while "performing". Some tourists, at least, would disagree with the welfare argument.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Pipo's most recent excursion occurred in January. He (or possibly she) had previously made him or herself acquainted with Felanitx before taking a look around Marratxí. Where next? Alcúdia possibly, as Pipo has taken up residence as part of the Circo Roma Dola.
Places in Mallorca where Pipo or the odd camel or lion cub might decide to become an animal tourist are gradually becoming fewer. Capdepera is the most recent municipality to ban circuses with animals. In Spain, unlike quite a number of countries, there is no ban on animals; it is down to town halls to decide whether circuses can bring wildlife with them or not. Alcúdia says they can, Pollensa says they can't, as they also can't in Artà, Consell, Manacor, Palma, Puigpunyent, Santa María del Camí, Sóller and Valldemossa.
Pollensa town hall approved a ban in late October last year. This provoked a challenge by the association of Spanish circuses and a Balearics circus company which drew into question the legality of the ban, especially if a circus were to take place on private land. The challenge also questioned the validity of the ban as there was some alleged duress applied by the presence of AnimaNaturalis animal-rights protesters at the open session at which the ban was agreed.
AnimaNaturalis has certainly been instrumental in seeking to have animals removed from circuses. Without mentioning the group specifically, the Circo Roma Dola on its Facebook page stated that the decision to ban animals in Capdepera was one brought about solely by the desire of animal-rights organisations to generate publicity.
Well, yes, the animal-rights organisations probably are seeking to generate publicity. This tends to be what they do when they wish to draw attention to what they consider to be a contravention of animal rights. For circuses, such as the Circo Roma Dola, a different right is being contravened as a consequence, or so it continues to say in its Facebook page statement, and this is the right of the "classic circus" to work with animals. It also says that this work is recognised as an important part of European culture by the European Parliament and that the welfare of animals is not being considered (by the animal-rights objectors, that is).
It is this last bit, about animal welfare, that AnimaNaturalis would quite naturally disagree with. In addition to concerns about security, as evidenced by instances in which animals have escaped, it flatly rejects the circuses' welfare claim. The Capdepera decision, adopted unanimously by the town hall administration, was couched in terms that AnimaNaturalis would have approved (and did); the "seeking of a society free from animal mistreatment".
AnimaNaturalis has staged protests against both the Circo Roma Dola and the Circo Williams. The Williams circus has been a regular visitor to Alcúdia, and Roma Dola is camped in the town until later this month. But it isn't only animal-rights groups which are voicing their protests. I am told that British tourists are as well, in that some have been walking out of the Roma Dola circus while others have expressed their disgust. What the tourists have objected to in particular (or at least what is alleged to have occurred during one show) was the whipping of lions and the beating of camels' legs in order to make the camels kneel down. While the lions were being hit, I understand, the announcer was calling for calm, as in "tranquilo". One assumes he wasn't addressing the lions.
British sensitivity towards animals is different to that in Spain, though the British Government is dragging its heels over what was intended to be a total ban on wild animals in circuses from the start of this July. But the circuses are also sensitive. Are they not? One comes back to that statement about animal welfare, to which one can add the defence that circuses comply with instructions from veterinary officials at the Council of Mallorca and the Guardia Civil's Seprona division. This defence was one that was made in challenging Pollensa town hall's ban.
I have no reason to believe that the circuses do mistreat their animals, but there is the animals' general welfare and their welfare while "performing". Some tourists, at least, would disagree with the welfare argument.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Putting In And Keeping Up Appearances
What do protests against President Bauzá and a visit by Pollensa's mayor to the nature park of La Gola in Puerto Pollensa have to do with each other? Very little on the face of it, but both can be considered as good PR.
Why are the protests good PR? The answer is simple. Get crowds of the youth stroppy mob indulging in some chanting and lobbing the odd missile and the propaganda value is incalculable. It all works in the president's favour. Kick up enough fuss about violent demonstrators and everyone will start tutting and having sympathy for a president battling against problems of economic crisis. The demonstrators would be far better served going along and standing in silence or with their backs to Bauzá when he arrives. This would send out a very different message, and the interpretation of the demonstration would be very different.
Bauzá has been putting in appearances all over the place, conducting a Cook's tour of the provinces. One day Pollensa and Santa Margalida, the next day Artà and Cala Ratjada. The tour is all in aid of getting around the local Partido Popular branches, but it has another, more cynical side to it. The president and his advisors could have expected a spot of bother and demonstrators duly obliged on the first stop of the tour in Inca. They couldn't have hoped for better. One demo spawns another. Copycatism. When politicians then condemn violence (and there has been little or no real violence) and start chucking around insults of their own at opposition parties which don't appear to be as inclined to do some condemning of their own, don't be fooled into believing that they aren't anything but delighted.
The additional PR benefit to Bauzá is that once the demos had started in Inca and then Manacor, he can then say that he will not be cowed or deterred by the "violence" and will continue on his tour. Were he not to, then democracy would be undermined and besides he is the democratically elected president; all this sort of guff. People are astonishingly naïve if they fail to see the propaganda purposes of Bauzá's tour, while the demonstrators have been astonishingly naïve, not to say stupid, in falling into the trap.
Then there was the visit of mayor Cifre to La Gola. He was accompanied by the government's environment minister, Biel Company. No demos, but instead a photo opportunity for the two men who essentially run the nature park. One fancies they were there more out of sufferance rather than really wanting to be there. As someone had decided that Thursday was European Day of Nature Parks, something would have to have been done to acknowledge the fact. Why not go to La Gola as a way of marking the day? At a stroke, not only could the day be given an official stamp of celebration, so also could it be shown that the town hall and the ministry were there at La Gola, taking seriously their responsibilities for its operation and its visitors' centre, a centre which is hardly ever open and will still be open for only parts of the year; it's going to shut again for two months at the end of June.
So, it was all good PR again, designed to quell the criticisms of town hall and ministry alike regarding their management of La Gola. Once more, if anyone truly believes the visit represents a more proactive attitude on behalf of these institutions towards La Gola, then they are being naïve. The visit was about putting in and keeping up appearances by making an appearance that wouldn't normally have been made, had it not been for the fortuitous coincidence of nature parks day.
Back to the Bauzá protests. These have also been somewhat embarrassing for all concerned. The number of school kids shown in a video issued by "Ultima Hora" attending the demo in Santa Margalida suggested that this was far from a protest of real militants and was not something of any "violence". But there is a more serious side to this, which is that the mere presence of those school kids does perhaps represent an example of a growing radicalisation of Mallorca's youth who are embracing more the Catalanist message. This radicalisation is one I have suggested has been occurring before through seemingly innocent events such as the "Acampallengua", the annual camp for promoting Catalan culture and the Catalan language among Mallorca's youth. The next one is to be held over the first weekend of June in Manacor, one of the main centres of opposition to Bauzá. It may not be as innocent as previous ones.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Why are the protests good PR? The answer is simple. Get crowds of the youth stroppy mob indulging in some chanting and lobbing the odd missile and the propaganda value is incalculable. It all works in the president's favour. Kick up enough fuss about violent demonstrators and everyone will start tutting and having sympathy for a president battling against problems of economic crisis. The demonstrators would be far better served going along and standing in silence or with their backs to Bauzá when he arrives. This would send out a very different message, and the interpretation of the demonstration would be very different.
Bauzá has been putting in appearances all over the place, conducting a Cook's tour of the provinces. One day Pollensa and Santa Margalida, the next day Artà and Cala Ratjada. The tour is all in aid of getting around the local Partido Popular branches, but it has another, more cynical side to it. The president and his advisors could have expected a spot of bother and demonstrators duly obliged on the first stop of the tour in Inca. They couldn't have hoped for better. One demo spawns another. Copycatism. When politicians then condemn violence (and there has been little or no real violence) and start chucking around insults of their own at opposition parties which don't appear to be as inclined to do some condemning of their own, don't be fooled into believing that they aren't anything but delighted.
The additional PR benefit to Bauzá is that once the demos had started in Inca and then Manacor, he can then say that he will not be cowed or deterred by the "violence" and will continue on his tour. Were he not to, then democracy would be undermined and besides he is the democratically elected president; all this sort of guff. People are astonishingly naïve if they fail to see the propaganda purposes of Bauzá's tour, while the demonstrators have been astonishingly naïve, not to say stupid, in falling into the trap.
Then there was the visit of mayor Cifre to La Gola. He was accompanied by the government's environment minister, Biel Company. No demos, but instead a photo opportunity for the two men who essentially run the nature park. One fancies they were there more out of sufferance rather than really wanting to be there. As someone had decided that Thursday was European Day of Nature Parks, something would have to have been done to acknowledge the fact. Why not go to La Gola as a way of marking the day? At a stroke, not only could the day be given an official stamp of celebration, so also could it be shown that the town hall and the ministry were there at La Gola, taking seriously their responsibilities for its operation and its visitors' centre, a centre which is hardly ever open and will still be open for only parts of the year; it's going to shut again for two months at the end of June.
So, it was all good PR again, designed to quell the criticisms of town hall and ministry alike regarding their management of La Gola. Once more, if anyone truly believes the visit represents a more proactive attitude on behalf of these institutions towards La Gola, then they are being naïve. The visit was about putting in and keeping up appearances by making an appearance that wouldn't normally have been made, had it not been for the fortuitous coincidence of nature parks day.
Back to the Bauzá protests. These have also been somewhat embarrassing for all concerned. The number of school kids shown in a video issued by "Ultima Hora" attending the demo in Santa Margalida suggested that this was far from a protest of real militants and was not something of any "violence". But there is a more serious side to this, which is that the mere presence of those school kids does perhaps represent an example of a growing radicalisation of Mallorca's youth who are embracing more the Catalanist message. This radicalisation is one I have suggested has been occurring before through seemingly innocent events such as the "Acampallengua", the annual camp for promoting Catalan culture and the Catalan language among Mallorca's youth. The next one is to be held over the first weekend of June in Manacor, one of the main centres of opposition to Bauzá. It may not be as innocent as previous ones.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Bauzá protest in Pollensa
President Bauzá, continuing his protestathon of Mallorca, whereby he turns up at different towns in order that some people can abuse him, yesterday attracted 300 protesters in Pollensa and the odd egg. Santa Margalida did less well, only 200 gathering near a bar where the president was dining.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Guns n' Joses: Bauzá under attack
"Fewer guns and more schools." One of the less insulting insults hurled at El Presidente José Ramón Bauzá who has come out of his Palma bunker and deigned to visit the two larger towns in Mallorca most associated with opposition to his anti-Catalanism. Along with the insults was an egg. It landed on a police bodyguard, a baldy who, on first look, bore a strong resemblance to Bauzá's potential nemesis, Antoni Pastor, the mayor of Manacor.
It didn't seem to have been primarily anti-Catalanism that had stoked the flames of protest in Inca, though it played a part. Here was some good old-fashioned agitprop, a list of subjects for complaint as long as your arm, one that can hurl an egg. "More schools." Well, you never know, there might have to be more schools to cope with the government's potty decision to allow two systems of education to run alongside each other. The fewer-guns demand presumably had something to do with the police. The guns stayed firmly in holster in front of the baying crowd, though in truth it wasn't really all that baying. It was a crowd like crowds normally are. "Bastard" went one of the insults. Bauzá has been called worse and usually by trade union leaders - one in particular.
The Inca agitators were out on what was the second leg of a Bauzá protestathon that comprised only Inca and Manacor. Inca, it would appear, came in a fairly poor second. It could only muster 250 indignant youths (and they were mainly youths), whereas Manacor could stretch to 500. Well, Manacor is a bigger town, so this would explain the higher numbers among the rent-a-mobs. Manacor also outdid Inca in terms of its weaponry - pigs' tongues and full bottles of water went in the Bauzá direction.
A fair old amount of fuss has been kicked up by Bauzá avoiding the odd egg. It's undemocratic - all that sort of guff. It's quite the opposite. Protest is, or should be, part of the democratic process, especially when jobs are going down the pan, and the president in question hasn't got the faintest idea as to how they might be flushed out. Violent demonstration is no answer. Well, no it isn't, but there's violence and there's violence. An egg. This is violence in low-key Mallorcan demo terms. And low-key it all is. Manacor has a population of around 40,000. This would mean that 1.25% of the population turned out to demonstrate violently or in fact to just do what demonstrators do. Of the 1.25%, a number would almost certainly not have come from Manacor. Yet this is meant to be the main centre of dissent, thanks to Pastor.
The Inca and Manacor gatherings are just the latest manifestations of dissatisfaction with Bauzá, but like previous protests, such as in Palma, the numbers were hardly great. In fact, they have been distinctly disappointing. If there are to be demos, at least do them properly and gather more people than might meander through the turnstiles at a Scottish Second Division football match. Perish the thought that Bauzá might extend his protestathon and pitch up at some much smaller places in Mallorca. They'd be lucky to muster a man and his dog, which would not be good in agitprop PR terms.
And those who have been gathering have primarily been the youth, the usual suspects on such occasions therefore, who have come up against an opposition consisting of further youth, members of Nuevas Generaciones, who are like the Young Conservatives. Whereas the anti-Bauzá brigade all have dreadlocks and beards and earnestly attempt to find careers as graphic designers or potters, the Nuevas Generaciones are the Mallorcan versions of Tory Boy Hagues, preposterous haircuts (in the days when the boy Hague had hair), smug jokes and the wearing of ties.
For all that Mallorcans will protest about any damn thing, they don't really do protests. Not very well at any rate. You'd think that from the sheer number of protests that there are for this, that or the other thing, they'd have learnt some of the art by now. Forget the pigs' tongues, just hurl the whole pig's head. Don't stop at an egg, chuck an entire shopping-trolley load of perishables and produce, and then chuck the trolley as well for good measure.
There again, and on second thoughts, maybe not. "Fewer guns." Oh yes, I forgot about those.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
It didn't seem to have been primarily anti-Catalanism that had stoked the flames of protest in Inca, though it played a part. Here was some good old-fashioned agitprop, a list of subjects for complaint as long as your arm, one that can hurl an egg. "More schools." Well, you never know, there might have to be more schools to cope with the government's potty decision to allow two systems of education to run alongside each other. The fewer-guns demand presumably had something to do with the police. The guns stayed firmly in holster in front of the baying crowd, though in truth it wasn't really all that baying. It was a crowd like crowds normally are. "Bastard" went one of the insults. Bauzá has been called worse and usually by trade union leaders - one in particular.
The Inca agitators were out on what was the second leg of a Bauzá protestathon that comprised only Inca and Manacor. Inca, it would appear, came in a fairly poor second. It could only muster 250 indignant youths (and they were mainly youths), whereas Manacor could stretch to 500. Well, Manacor is a bigger town, so this would explain the higher numbers among the rent-a-mobs. Manacor also outdid Inca in terms of its weaponry - pigs' tongues and full bottles of water went in the Bauzá direction.
A fair old amount of fuss has been kicked up by Bauzá avoiding the odd egg. It's undemocratic - all that sort of guff. It's quite the opposite. Protest is, or should be, part of the democratic process, especially when jobs are going down the pan, and the president in question hasn't got the faintest idea as to how they might be flushed out. Violent demonstration is no answer. Well, no it isn't, but there's violence and there's violence. An egg. This is violence in low-key Mallorcan demo terms. And low-key it all is. Manacor has a population of around 40,000. This would mean that 1.25% of the population turned out to demonstrate violently or in fact to just do what demonstrators do. Of the 1.25%, a number would almost certainly not have come from Manacor. Yet this is meant to be the main centre of dissent, thanks to Pastor.
The Inca and Manacor gatherings are just the latest manifestations of dissatisfaction with Bauzá, but like previous protests, such as in Palma, the numbers were hardly great. In fact, they have been distinctly disappointing. If there are to be demos, at least do them properly and gather more people than might meander through the turnstiles at a Scottish Second Division football match. Perish the thought that Bauzá might extend his protestathon and pitch up at some much smaller places in Mallorca. They'd be lucky to muster a man and his dog, which would not be good in agitprop PR terms.
And those who have been gathering have primarily been the youth, the usual suspects on such occasions therefore, who have come up against an opposition consisting of further youth, members of Nuevas Generaciones, who are like the Young Conservatives. Whereas the anti-Bauzá brigade all have dreadlocks and beards and earnestly attempt to find careers as graphic designers or potters, the Nuevas Generaciones are the Mallorcan versions of Tory Boy Hagues, preposterous haircuts (in the days when the boy Hague had hair), smug jokes and the wearing of ties.
For all that Mallorcans will protest about any damn thing, they don't really do protests. Not very well at any rate. You'd think that from the sheer number of protests that there are for this, that or the other thing, they'd have learnt some of the art by now. Forget the pigs' tongues, just hurl the whole pig's head. Don't stop at an egg, chuck an entire shopping-trolley load of perishables and produce, and then chuck the trolley as well for good measure.
There again, and on second thoughts, maybe not. "Fewer guns." Oh yes, I forgot about those.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, April 30, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - "Revolution" called for by union
1500 or so people demonstrating in Palma might signal the onset of revolution, but UGT union leader in the Balearics, Lorenzo Bravo, has called for this and the occupation of ministry buildings in protest against education and health cuts, to which has now been added the threat of a rise in IVA (VAT) next year.
See more: El Mundo
See more: El Mundo
Sunday, March 11, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Protests against anti-Catalan law
Further to the main blog article today re Catalan, the Obra Cultural Balear (the organisation which promotes Catalan language and culture) is to organise a protest on 25 March against the regional government's planned law that would remove the requirement that workers in the public sector speak Catalan. Other demonstrations are also being planned.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Unravelling: Protests and opportunism
On one day, events come together that forge the impression of an unravelling. The word unravelling, in its literal sense, means an undoing or an unknitting of fabric. In an abstract sense, and as the word is often applied, it is an undoing of a different type of fabric, that of society for example.
The one day in question was Monday. The events that came together were a protest against non-payments to ambulance workers, a threat of legal action against the Balearic Government over non-payments to public transport operators, an announcement of sit-ins and a strike by university and secondary education students, and news of alleged over-reaction by police against protesting students in Valencia.
Charges of disproportionate measures being adopted by police in Valencia are not new. They were also made in respect of efforts to clear "indignado" demonstrators last year. The protests staged in many Spanish cities by the indignados and the responses by some police forces were, though, against a political backdrop that had yet to be properly coloured in. It now has been. And this is how it begins. Protests of different types. An unravelling.
At the weekend, there had been another protest, that against the national government's labour reforms. To the fore was Lorenzo Bravo, secretary-general in the Balearics of the UGT union, a Dereck Chisora-David Haye of industrial relations trash talk, upping the ante in publicising the fight with the government by labelling President Bauzá a fascist.
The allusion to Spain's history is a dark colour to be added to the swatch with which the political backdrop is suffused, one embellished by a legal system that permits a tarnishing of Spain's reputation. The actions of a right-wing union with undeniable Francoist sympathies, in forcing the pursuit of Judge Baltasar Garzón and in also seeking the subpoena of Princess Cristina, were born out of democratic sophism; the targets - Garzón's brand of legalistic independence and the royal family - are integral to Spain's democracy and they are being hounded.
The events of Monday and at the weekend and the manipulation of the legal system are not coincidental. They are an opportunistic and inevitable collision within the unravelling framework. Yet, the inevitability of, for example, the public transport operators' federation seeking legal redress might not become reality. Nor is it inevitable that individual bus companies might actually stop services, as they are threatening to.
There is always brinkmanship, and suspension of bus services by companies responsible for places such as Pollensa and Can Picafort, just as the tourism season starts to get underway, would be unlikely to happen. It is not as though we haven't been here before. Pharmacies threatened to pull down their shutters in protest at not being paid by the IB-Salut health service, but the threat didn't materialise, or at least, it hasn't materialised yet.
Things have moved on, though. Pharmacies not being paid was an issue soon after the change of regional government last June. The strains are far greater than they were and the roll call of services being cut or finding themselves without funds grows longer.
At some point, one of the threats will be realised. If it were that of the bus companies, notwithstanding the government's pre-emption by declaring a suspension of services illegal, the ramifications would be significant; in terms of tourism reputation if nothing else. And while the ambulance workers are protesting and the pharmacies remain unpaid, what of another element of the health service - hospital emergency units?
These units have become overstretched as it is, leading to resignations, such as that of the director of Son Espases' emergency department. When the units start to fill up with tourists who have either chucked themselves off balconies, had too much to drink or suffered a severe reaction to a mosquito bite, the last thing the hospitals (or the government) would want would be a "Sun, Sea and A&E" film crew hovering in the background, showing them struggling to cope.
The unions and the students are playing their expected roles as usual suspects when it comes to protest. Their actions will be easier for governments, nationally and regionally, to handle in terms of PR. But these actions are only beginning. Valencia for now, but over the next months?
When hospital directors, pharmacies, bus companies, ambulance workers - to name but a few - add their voices to those who might simply be dismissed as regular agitators, protest is less easy to handle. And all the while, lurking somewhere, is the opportunism of the non-governmental right and further right. On one day, events come together that forge the impression of an unravelling. How about 23 February? Do you know what anniversary this marks?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The one day in question was Monday. The events that came together were a protest against non-payments to ambulance workers, a threat of legal action against the Balearic Government over non-payments to public transport operators, an announcement of sit-ins and a strike by university and secondary education students, and news of alleged over-reaction by police against protesting students in Valencia.
Charges of disproportionate measures being adopted by police in Valencia are not new. They were also made in respect of efforts to clear "indignado" demonstrators last year. The protests staged in many Spanish cities by the indignados and the responses by some police forces were, though, against a political backdrop that had yet to be properly coloured in. It now has been. And this is how it begins. Protests of different types. An unravelling.
At the weekend, there had been another protest, that against the national government's labour reforms. To the fore was Lorenzo Bravo, secretary-general in the Balearics of the UGT union, a Dereck Chisora-David Haye of industrial relations trash talk, upping the ante in publicising the fight with the government by labelling President Bauzá a fascist.
The allusion to Spain's history is a dark colour to be added to the swatch with which the political backdrop is suffused, one embellished by a legal system that permits a tarnishing of Spain's reputation. The actions of a right-wing union with undeniable Francoist sympathies, in forcing the pursuit of Judge Baltasar Garzón and in also seeking the subpoena of Princess Cristina, were born out of democratic sophism; the targets - Garzón's brand of legalistic independence and the royal family - are integral to Spain's democracy and they are being hounded.
The events of Monday and at the weekend and the manipulation of the legal system are not coincidental. They are an opportunistic and inevitable collision within the unravelling framework. Yet, the inevitability of, for example, the public transport operators' federation seeking legal redress might not become reality. Nor is it inevitable that individual bus companies might actually stop services, as they are threatening to.
There is always brinkmanship, and suspension of bus services by companies responsible for places such as Pollensa and Can Picafort, just as the tourism season starts to get underway, would be unlikely to happen. It is not as though we haven't been here before. Pharmacies threatened to pull down their shutters in protest at not being paid by the IB-Salut health service, but the threat didn't materialise, or at least, it hasn't materialised yet.
Things have moved on, though. Pharmacies not being paid was an issue soon after the change of regional government last June. The strains are far greater than they were and the roll call of services being cut or finding themselves without funds grows longer.
At some point, one of the threats will be realised. If it were that of the bus companies, notwithstanding the government's pre-emption by declaring a suspension of services illegal, the ramifications would be significant; in terms of tourism reputation if nothing else. And while the ambulance workers are protesting and the pharmacies remain unpaid, what of another element of the health service - hospital emergency units?
These units have become overstretched as it is, leading to resignations, such as that of the director of Son Espases' emergency department. When the units start to fill up with tourists who have either chucked themselves off balconies, had too much to drink or suffered a severe reaction to a mosquito bite, the last thing the hospitals (or the government) would want would be a "Sun, Sea and A&E" film crew hovering in the background, showing them struggling to cope.
The unions and the students are playing their expected roles as usual suspects when it comes to protest. Their actions will be easier for governments, nationally and regionally, to handle in terms of PR. But these actions are only beginning. Valencia for now, but over the next months?
When hospital directors, pharmacies, bus companies, ambulance workers - to name but a few - add their voices to those who might simply be dismissed as regular agitators, protest is less easy to handle. And all the while, lurking somewhere, is the opportunism of the non-governmental right and further right. On one day, events come together that forge the impression of an unravelling. How about 23 February? Do you know what anniversary this marks?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Students plan sit-ins over cuts
From Thursday a series of protests are to be organised by university and secondary school students over cuts in education (and also in health plus the rise in transport prices and labour reforms) which will culminate in sit-ins over the night of 28 February and a strike on 29 February to coincide with protests across Spain and Europe.
Meanwhile, action by students in Valencia against education cuts there which has been ongoing since last week has become the focal point for protests, with accusations of violence and disproportionate measures being adopted by police.
Meanwhile, action by students in Valencia against education cuts there which has been ongoing since last week has become the focal point for protests, with accusations of violence and disproportionate measures being adopted by police.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Protests over government cuts in Palma
Some one thousand people - from the education, health and social services sectors - staged a protest in Palma yesterday evening against cuts by the regional government and against what they see as the potential destruction of the local welfare state.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Mayoral day of decision
Today is when all the negotiations have to end and that the make-ups of town halls are agreed, along with who is going to be mayor.
Pollensa: Agreement has been reached between the Partido Popular and La Lliga. Under this, Tomeu Cifre of the PP will become mayor and will also have responsibility for urban planning. Malena Estrany of La Lliga will be a second-in-command with responsibilities for finance and culture. This agreement will still leave the coalition one short of a majority, but it hopes to draw on the support of the councillor for the Unió Mollera Pollencina which has been holding out for special responsibilities to be drawn up for a councillor for Puerto Pollensa.
Alcúdia: Controversy will spill over into today's meeting. It is likely that that the PP will now rule in minority, with Coloma Terrasa as mayor. It is unclear if Carme Garcia, now no longer with the PSM (Mallorcan socialists), will formally align with Terrasa, but she is expected to subsequently lend her vote to Terrasa. The PP needed the extra support to reach a majority of nine. However, it is possible that the Convergència and PSOE, with eight councillors between them, will spring a surprise and vote for Garcia as mayor, which would send everything into chaos. Police are to be drafted in today as there are threats of protests directed at Garcia.
Pollensa: Agreement has been reached between the Partido Popular and La Lliga. Under this, Tomeu Cifre of the PP will become mayor and will also have responsibility for urban planning. Malena Estrany of La Lliga will be a second-in-command with responsibilities for finance and culture. This agreement will still leave the coalition one short of a majority, but it hopes to draw on the support of the councillor for the Unió Mollera Pollencina which has been holding out for special responsibilities to be drawn up for a councillor for Puerto Pollensa.
Alcúdia: Controversy will spill over into today's meeting. It is likely that that the PP will now rule in minority, with Coloma Terrasa as mayor. It is unclear if Carme Garcia, now no longer with the PSM (Mallorcan socialists), will formally align with Terrasa, but she is expected to subsequently lend her vote to Terrasa. The PP needed the extra support to reach a majority of nine. However, it is possible that the Convergència and PSOE, with eight councillors between them, will spring a surprise and vote for Garcia as mayor, which would send everything into chaos. Police are to be drafted in today as there are threats of protests directed at Garcia.
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