Computing And Helicopters: Mallorcan Science

Researchers at the University of the Balearic Islands were able to take pride last week in their having contributed to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics. The Ligo project for the detection of gravitational waves and therefore an understanding of the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang is an example of pure scientific research. Ligo wasn't an invention. It was a massive scientific endeavour conceived over decades that was aimed at testing an element of Einstein's theory of relativity - the existence of gravitational waves. The principal source of funding was the US National Science Foundation.

Societies and cultures play a vital role in the extent to which scientific and technological research and the application of science in the form of inventions or theories that may have practical outcomes can flourish or not. The history of the past eight hundred years or so demonstrates how science can be enabled or disabled by its societies.

The programme for the current series of autumn fairs in Llucmajor features as its key image a drawing of a cometagiroavion, a comet-giro-plane. At the Sant Bonaventura Culture Centre in Llucmajor is a full-scale re-creation of this machine. People in Llucmajor, people in Mallorca will insist that it was the first helicopter, the visionary idea of Pere Sastre Obrador that dates from 1923.

Argument has raged for many years about the apparent plagiarism of Sastre's invention. Juan de la Cierva y Cordorníu is attributed with the invention of the "autogiro". He was the son of the Spanish minister for development, who had decided that Sastre's flying machine lacked "public interest". Argument or not, Sastre provided a rare case of Mallorcan invention. As a society, Mallorca doesn't have much of a past in this respect. Only recently has it embraced a genuinely scientific perspective, and the university's Relativity and Gravitation Group is absolute proof of that.

But if one goes back into the mists of time to mediaeval days, Mallorca did have an inventor. Ramon Llull is known for many things, and among them was what he developed, largely theoretically, in his Arte Luliano. Llull came up with the notion of the combination of symbols to enable knowledge and understanding of more complex concepts. As such, Llull was a very early mover in the development of computing and of notions that were to be elaborated in the seventeenth century by Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz.

At a much higher level of argument than that surrounding Sastre's helicopter has been the one about the development of differential and integral calculus. Leibniz is said to have come to his theories entirely independently of Isaac Newton. Some will say that he didn't. Regardless of this debate, Leibniz, like Newton, was very much a precursor of Einstein and therefore the Ligo project in arguing principles of relativity. He also invented the Leibniz wheel which was to eventually spawn the arithmometer, the first mass-produced mechanical calculator. Moreover, he refined the binary system, the basis of computing.

The Leibniz wheel has distinct echoes of Llull, who had come up with the Llullian circle of truths. In this regard, it is not unreasonable to grant Llull an important place in the history of scientific development that has brought us to the current-day digital world. But Llull remains a largely obscure figure in global terms. His science has not commanded any great acknowledgement for a variety of reasons. One is that he was also a purveyor of scientific charlatanism, i.e. alchemy. A second is that within the Catholic tradition he did not always enjoy unanimous support and continued not to for several centuries. Indeed, he was denounced as a heretic by some because of his dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He was able to flourish largely thanks to the patronage of the early Catalan kings rather than because of any favouritism among the papal hierarchy.

Catholicism explains more about Llull in that it was to fundamentally inhibit rational scientific thought and advance. Newton and Leibniz were of a similar vintage to Galileo, who spent the last ten years of his life under house arrest after the Inquisition had condemned him for heresy. The contrasting societies of the times in England, Germany and Italy say a great deal. An earlier free thinker, Leonardo da Vinci (who of course had his own idea for a flying machine), had powerful friends and patrons, e.g. the Medici family. He might have had far more problems than he did, had it not been for who he knew.

It wasn't as though Spain didn't have its centres of great learning, but the contribution to science was restricted by societal attitudes based on a conservative religion. Mallorca, a backwater anyway, offered no great claim on science or on invention. But then Pere Sastre came along, and - subject to an interpretation of events - he was a victim of a form of corruption and nepotism: his idea for a helicopter was stolen by a political elite in Madrid.

* Photo of the re-created cometagiroavion via Ajuntament de Llucmajor.

The Re-Expanding Council

We need to talk about the Council of Mallorca. Expansionist tendencies have returned. Munarism, even Armengolism appeared to have been consigned to the empire-building waste bin, but only because of Salomism. And she - Maria Salom - now has to watch on from the national government's delegation building while the Council undertakes its 100% U-turn. Or more than 100%.

The Council president, Miquel Ensenyat, seems like one of those rare political beasts - a decent enough bloke. He has had his moments, such as the row over Extremadura farmers being paid to sit around in bars all day, but for the most part he's gone about his presidential business without courting any major controversy of copping for any great flak. He has also not been shy in attracting publicity. There was the visit to Greece to come to the aid of refugees, there has been the recent business about Saint Valentine's Day, there is the "rescue" of the Soller Tunnel, there was the meeting with the Pope to press the claims of Ramon Llull sainthood, and there is now the re-naming of the airport ... after Ramon Llull.

Taking the lead in calling for a new airport name, and insisting that Aena pays for it, speaks volumes for the way in which the Council has been adopting an agenda-setting profile. One might ask why it is doing so. The answer lies - or does it? - with wishing to promote Llull and an alternative image for Mallorca: alternative to sun and beach, that is. There is a good deal of scoffing at the idea, though it might be recalled that a poll indicated that some three-quarters of respondents thought Llull should be the name, if there is to be a new name at all, which is another matter.

Those three-quarters will have predominantly been Mallorcan. They confirmed what Ensenyat is pressing for, a symbol of Mallorcaness, which is reasonable enough, but such Mallorca-centricity overlooks the wider world which Llull would supposedly be exposed to. The wider world really couldn't care less, and it's worth asking what the now finished year of celebration of Llull has achieved. Is the world more knowledgeable of Llull as a result? Well, is it?

Llull, whether he becomes an airport or not, is thus principally for Mallorcan (and Catalan) consumption. Emblazoning his name across departures would be a deeply significant act of identity, and it would be the Council that promoted it. And the Council is all about embedding this identity - one that is Mallorca. But in order to truly establish this identity, more has to be done than adopting the name of a mediaevalist. There is political identity, and that means government.

Recently, Ensenyat was asked whether he might stand as a Més candidate for the regional parliament (and therefore possibly the regional government) in 2019. His reply was instructive. It sounds, he said, as though there is a division one and a division two, with the regional government the number one. That isn't how he sees things. It would be good, he intimated, if he could secure a second term at the Council, for which he envisages very much greater things. The regional government should be slimmed down. Responsibilities should be transferred to the Council (and to the councils on the other islands). Not just responsibilities, but also officials, buildings - the lot.

Ambitions for the Council as an institution are rooted in the fact that it pre-dated the regional government: the first elections were held four years before those for the government. As an entity it has historical antecedent - the great and general council of the island, which brought together institutions for Palma and the "part forana", was established in 1373. History, as if we didn't know, counts for an awful lot in current-day Mallorca politics, not least when it comes to assertions of island "nationalism".

Ensenyat and Més represent one particular take on this nationalism. The alternative, as in having been a centrist-right perspective, was that of the former Unió Mallorquina. Maria Antonia Munar was the UM president of the Council for twelve years, the longest serving president, and during her time the Council grew to a degree that it seemed to all but mirror the government. A consequence of this was the massive amount of duplication and no shortage of debate as to what the purposes of the two institutions were and as to whether one was dispensable.

It was Salom who took the knife to much of this duplication. She got rid, for example, of TV Mallorca, established by the Council under Munar. Ensenyat, acutely aware of the charges of duplication (and therefore additional cost), argues that transferring responsibilities to the Council will be the way to avoid duplications. He may be right, but at the heart of these ambitions is the Council as an expression of nationalism, for which Llull is symbolic.

Renaming Mallorca's Airport

There are any number of airports named after famous people. Generally speaking, they honour someone of particular merit who deserves to be associated with the airport's location. Occasionally, though, the naming causes a fuss. This was the case with Ian Fleming International Airport in Jamaica. Many a local felt that a Jamaican should have provided the name. The Bond writer got it on account of his Goldeneye Estate, which is next to, yes, James Bond Beach.

Names like Liverpool John Lennon brook little argument, except among those on the McCartney side of the divide. But the international fame that Liverpool acquired through Lennon (and the other fabs) was thorough justification. While that city has (or had) other candidates, they might have proved more contentious. It couldn't have been Liverpool Bill Shankly or Kenny Dalglish without having upset the blue side of Stanley Park who would have pressed the case for Liverpool Howard Kendall or Dixie Dean.

Generally speaking, the names are of modern provenance, but not all. No doubt to the disgust of Balearic historians who insist that Columbus didn't come from Genoa but was the son of either Felanitx or Ibiza Town, Genoa's airport is Cristoforo Colombo. It might be hoped that no one suddenly comes up with absolutely incontrovertible evidence of Columbus's Felanitx origins because this might make some pause when it comes to a new name for Palma airport.

A proposal for renaming the airport isn't the consequence of all the nonsense regarding the name of the city - for the moment, it is officially Palma, but will doubtless revert, officially, to Palma de Mallorca when the Partido Popular assume power once more at both town hall and regional government levels. The airport is known and will continue to be known, for the sake of international codes, as Palma de Mallorca. But it has an alternative name as it is, i.e. Son Sant Joan.

This name has a great deal of antiquity. Strictly speaking, its spelling is incorrect. It should be Son Santjoan, as it comes from the Santjoan family who came to Mallorca at the time of the conquest in the thirteenth century and acquired land: one possession was the Son Sant Joan where the airport now is. Other than the name of the possession, the Santjoans don't have any great claim on Mallorca's past, and the family line in fact died out in the seventeenth century.

The alternative name (or one in addition to Son Sant Joan) which is being proposed is Aeropuerto Ramon Llull. The person who has made the proposal is the Council of Mallorca's president, Miquel Ensenyat, and he has done so at the end of the "year" of Ramon Llull and at a time when he has been assisting the case for Llull to be named a saint and a doctor of the Catholic Church. Ensenyat also believes that the use of the Llull name would elevate Mallorca's cultural status and therefore be in line with, for example, Florence being Amerigo Vespucci or Pisa being Galileo Galilei (no mention of Genoa's airport, one notes).

Ensenyat of eco-nationalist, Mallorcan socialists Més appears to have the backing of the PP's Maria Salom, newly the national government's delegate in the Balearics. She says that she likes the idea and will raise it with the national ministry of development (and so also with Aena, the airports' authority). She does recognise that there are likely to be technical issues, though it should be noted that Madrid's airport was renamed following the death of the prime minister who led Spain through its initial democratic transition. The full name is now Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas.

Should they rename the airport after the mediaeval man of mystery? I can think of no particularly good reason why not. Indeed, having often said that Llull isn't anything like as widely known internationally as Mallorcans might like to believe, it could have some benefit. There again, would anyone ever refer to it as Ramon Llull or be aware of the name or know he was? As it is, who outside Mallorca ever refers to the airport as Son Sant Joan? It's Palma (or Palma de Mallorca).

It would be more a case of domestic consumption, one fancies. And in this regard there would be support, if a poll of nearly two years ago is anything to go by. At the start of 2015, the Diario de Mallorca journalist Matias Vallés made a prediction that Mallorca's hoteliers would look to have the airport renamed Aeropuerto Rafael Nadal. A subsequent poll of readers offered four names - Llull, Nadal, Joan March (the widely despised Franco's banker) and Antoni Maura, the only Mallorcan to have been prime minister and one who verged on dictatorship before it had actually come into fashion.

Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a great deal of support for either March or Maura. Overwhelmingly (76% of the vote), Llull was favoured; Nadal got 17%. So there you have it, Llull it will be. Or may be.

Ramon Llull: Immaculate Tourism

Immaculate Conception, which is the excuse for the second public holiday in three days (tomorrow), partly owes its existence (if one can describe it as that) to Ramon Llull. The mediaeval Franciscan came up with what he and other Franciscans believed was a pretty solid argument for the Immaculate Conception. This relied on the notion that Jesus's grandparents had a desire so pure that God graced them with the ability to conceive the Mother of the Son of God. Mary was thus conceived without sin. Given that, in the Llullian version of events, Mary was destined to the Mother of the Son of God, she had to be without sin - actual or original. It was impossible for God and sin to exist within the same person, i.e. Jesus. Ergo, Mary had to be without sin.

While religious philosophers continued their debates as to the Immaculate Conception, it was to become a political tool. Some time in the late fifteenth century, the Franciscans were to convince Isabel and Ferdinand that Spain was without sin and thus free of stain. Spain was therefore pure.

Given all this, you can begin to appreciate how and why the Immaculate Conception is such a big deal in the religious calendar. Or at least why it should have been deemed of major importance several centuries ago. Llull's logic would have been perfect for the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The super-race notion would have chimed well with an expansionist Spain littered with Inquisitional head cases at the end of the fifteenth century. But nowadays?

I recently asked a thirteen-year-old why there is a holiday for Immaculate Conception. It had all been explained at school, she said. But she hadn't really been listening. It was, after all, rather boring. Quite probably. And rather implausible as well. There again, this is how it is with religion. Concepts such as the Immaculate Conception are predicated on beliefs from pre-scientific times. The philosophy that went into them was within the grasp of a select few scholars who grappled with explaining the inexplicable. For a rational and questioning society, and one that is older than a generation hooked up permanently to the ramblings of a Youtuber, arcane theology is indeed boring. It also defies belief. Except to the believers. And also, from a different credo, to contemporary fanatics who mangle ancient and mediaevalist mumbo-jumbo into a form of collective psychopathy.

Although the philosophy is obscure, the history isn't, especially the physical manifestations of it. We have now come to the end of the year of Ramon Llull, who is bound so closely to Mallorca's history. Miramar, the Monestir de la Real, the Puig de Randa in Algaida: here are places which ooze with a Llullian past. But what impact has this year had?

Religious tourism, according to the World Tourism Organisation, moves some 300 million people across the globe per annum. A report for 2014 found that this tourism generated 32,520 million euros. In 2017, there are jubilee years for Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia and the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in Cantabria. Two million visitors are expected in Murcia and one million in Cantabria. These are significant numbers.

The point about the 2014 report can be found in its title: "The Economic Impact of Church Real Estate". This wasn't a report into religion per se. It focused on religious sites. Visitors do not need to be religious to appreciate such sites; they are attractive to and do attract all-comers.

Which brings us back to Llull and his year. In Mallorcan terms, he is the most significant figure in the island's religious past - more so than Juniper Serra, the physical manifestations of whom, save one or two buildings in Petra, are on the Pacific coast of the USA. But what value - in economic terms from religious tourism related to Llull - has been generated? Any?

The Llull year has seemed more a celebration of his obscure side than the commercial side: a celebration of one of the chief scholars who contributed to the Immaculate Conception dogma. Perhaps this is as it should have been, but here was an opportunity to have developed a brand of religious tourism which by and large passes Mallorca by. When one looks at other studies of this tourism in Spain, Mallorca doesn't feature.

Ultimately, it may be because Llull, despite the reverence in which he is held in Mallorca, simply isn't that well known in global terms. But then maybe this is because of a failing to make him better known. Granting him sainthood, and the Pope appears inclined to do so, might help in this regard, but one wouldn't bet on it.

There is a desire to develop religious tourism, there was a conference about it not so long ago in Lluc, but it requires far more than a holiday to honour Catholic dogma.

The Immaculate Confusion

On Tuesday they celebrated Immaculate Conception. Bells rang, some went to church. Good Catholics should go. Immaculate Conception is an event in the church calendar which carries a certain obligation.

There is, to put it mildly, some confusion as to what 8 December is all about, especially among those with limited or zero knowledge of Catholic doctrine. The first point to make is that this is not the conception of Jesus (which should in fact be obvious given the proximity of Christmas), it was the conception of his mother. Consequently, there is, as some might be aware, a feast day on 8 September. Simple maths and a simple knowledge of human biology (lacking when it comes to drawing the mistaken Jesus connection) will allow you to figure out what that's all about.

There is, however, far more to this confused story, one that goes back to before mediaeval times but which really sparked into life some 750 or so years ago. The debate as to the Immaculate Conception was, in no small part, a battle of philosophical and theological wills between Dominicans and Franciscans. And as such, into the whole argument stepped our old friend Ramon Llull.

The Mallorcan man of mystery and general know-all was in the Franciscan camp, and it was this Franciscan faction, within the Catalan Catholic tradition, which was to lead to the suggestion that lands which were associated with the Crown of Aragon, as was the case with Mallorca, were ones from which arose a fundamentalism.

The point to make is that mostly all religious debate of the time was of a fundamental nature. Rationality and logic had yet to be subject to the earth-shattering influences of the scientific revolution which were to draw into question whole bodies of religious work. The scholars of that era, therefore, grappled with the issue of Mary's conception purely from the perspective of notions such as original sin and preparation for the arrival of the Son of God. Most didn't veer away too drastically from such fundamental concepts. To do so was rarely a wise move, as being denounced as a heretic and ending up on the wrong end of a burning stake were not uncommon consequences.

Nevertheless, the debate was fierce, Llull and many others setting about trying to explain how Mary was conceived and why. Neither was as simple as it might have seemed. Essentially, what Llull believed was that Mary was destined to be the Mother of the Son of God. Given this, and so given the fact that the Son of God would eventually, as they liked to put it, "take flesh from her", she could not have been corrupted - at time of conception - by actual or original sin. Had she been, then the Son of God would not have ultimately been able to derive flesh from her, for the simple (?) reason that God and sin cannot co-exist in one person.

In other words, Mary was conceived without sin, and to reinforce this, according to Llull, when Anne and Joachim, Jesus's maternal grandparents, set about conceiving, they did so because their desire was so pure that God bestowed upon them the grace to be able to conceive the Mother of the Son of God, thus guaranteeing the purity of Mary.

Which was all pretty mind-blowing stuff back in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but the idea that Mary was conceived without sin was to cause a schism. Enter, therefore, the Dominicans, and in particular Saint Thomas Aquinas. Though his views have been scrutinised, analysed and revised over centuries, Aquinas seemingly denied the immaculate nature of the conception (as other Dominicans were to). For Aquinas, the Blessed Virgin contracted original sin.

While this whole argument was to rage for years, centuries and still does rage, the fundamental fundamentalism of Llull became a given in Aragon and associated lands at the time. Mallorca, therefore, was driven by the philosophy of the "Immaculists". So this philosophy, despite an outbreak of the burning of Llullian texts for a while (Dominicans who considered the doctrine heretical), dominated political as well as religious thinking and was to transfer, through marriage, to Castile. When Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabel of Castile in the fifteenth century and produced the quasi-unification of Spain, Isabel grabbed hold of the Immaculate Conception and La Immaculada big time. And it was here that the story became distinctly odd, as the Franciscan advisors to the Catholic Kings were able to use the without-sin narrative to arrive at an explanation of the purity of Spain. The country itself had been born "free of stain". To say the least, it was a somewhat racist idea.

So there you have it. A brief story of a very long one. The Immaculate Conception probably better known as The Immaculate Confusion.

Failing Ramon Llull: Cultural tourism

Cultural tourism. Discuss. It's a term we hear a great deal of. It forms part of the grand alternative to Mallorcan sun and beach. But what is it? Of the various elements that comprise this alternative, cultural tourism is the most elusive. Gastronomy is obvious, so is cycling or golf or hiking. Culture, though? So much said but so little definition. Has anyone ever sat down and drawn up a document to explain exactly what it consists of and how precisely it is to be promoted? Or is it simply that they (the anonymous "they" of institutional tourism promotion) talk it up and expect the world to latch onto such an intangible concept?

What is Mallorcan culture in any event? There are differing interpretations thanks to the endless arguments as to Mallorca's history. What, if anything, is unique to this culture? And if there is, how strong is its claim on the perceptions of foreigners and so therefore tourists?

On 24 November there is to be a congress in Palma. It will be an act to celebrate the year of Ramon Llull, who died 700 years ago. This is a year that will straddle two years. The church suggested that it did, doubtless taking into account the fact that there are various interpretations as to when he actually died. So many differing interpretations of culture, and no one can definitively say when Llull went to meet his maker.

If there is one figure from Mallorca's culture who stands out, then it is Llull. He was more important than King Jaume I in that he was Mallorcan and contributed massively to the popularisation of Catalan, apart from everything else that he turned his hand to. Crucially, he was central - and remains so - to the narrative of Mallorca's spirituality, the religious version of this: an intellectual whose thinking went beyond the shores of the island and which came to define aspects of Catholic dogma. He was a towering figure of the mediaeval era who left, among other things, a physical legacy, that of the Miramar in Valldemossa.

The politics of cultural interpretation, however, make Llull as elusive as the notion of cultural tourism itself. Arguments have it that Catalan was not spoken at the time of Llull, that it was a hybrid of the different strands of language from the regions of north-east Spain and south-east France. There is even an argument which insists that Mallorquín existed before the Catalan invasion. This is, if you like, the right-wing perspective which seeks to distance Mallorca from a pure Catalan culture. Differing interpretations, therefore of Mallorca's culture.

Setting the linguistics aside, Llull is elusive in another regard. For most of the world, he is an obscure character. Even within the world of scholarship and academia, he is a lesser figure than a contemporary - Thomas Aquinas. He appears to lack, therefore, some sort of unique selling point that would establish him as a global relic of history and culture. As a consequence, selling Llull as central to Mallorca's culture and its cultural tourism becomes nigh on impossible.

The fact is, though, that there is uniqueness, were it only to be explained. Attempts should therefore be made. But what of these attempts to commemorate the 700th anniversary? Who's running the show, for example? Seemingly, it is the Ramon Llull Institute, headquartered not in Mallorca but in Barcelona, with a separate foundation in Andorra. The institute, it is said, hasn't got or settled on a budget to promote the anniversary, though it remains confident that everything will be right on the night and on the other nights that constitute the year of Ramon Llull. At least the Bishop of Mallorca has come up with a reasonable scheme, and that has been to get Air Europa to name an aircraft Ramon Llull and to show videos about Llull on its flights. Praise the Lord! The bishop has an understanding of marketing: "Ramon Llull is going to fly to many places thanks to Air Europa". But what of others?

Was, as part of the grand alternative, Llull highlighted at the World Travel Market? No. Had he been mentioned in passing, his name would have induced blank looks. The global tourism market can't be expected to grab hold of such a figure from Mallorcan culture without some dynamic effort to make him accessible and understandable, to create real meaning as to what this culture is and as to why the world should be interested.

But there should have been years of advance education about him, not leave it to the year itself and an inaugural concert by the Menorcan baritone, Joan Pons. No one will be interested, because interest hasn't been generated. The year will come, the year will go, and a major opportunity to establish some true meaning to Mallorca's culture will have been lost.

The Week Of Spirituality

Spirituality isn't solely about religion. Indeed it may not have anything to do with religion. It is an intangible sense of being which may be divorced from religion but which, nonetheless, has its roots in something that is other worldly.

I have heard much about Mallorcan spirituality in recent months. In assimilating what this means, I conclude that it is a mix of religion, of symbols of religiosity, philosophy and learning, of the land (especially the Tramuntana) and the strong vestiges of the past that remain, and also of a streak of irreverence, of mischievousness, of insularity.

The next few days, starting today, bring much of this together. This is a week which might be said to epitomise Mallorcan spirituality, which combines an essentially religious element with the land, philosophy and mischief-making through celebrations that are, with two out of three examples, specifically Mallorcan.

The one that is broader than Mallorca alone is the day of the Mare de Déu on 8 September. The birthdate of the Virgin Mary, it does, nevertheless, have a direct connection with Mallorca. For the birthdate to have been established in Catholic tradition there had to have been the dogma regarding the conception. This had to have been proved beyond doubt and thus embedded into the liturgy along with its own day. And one of those who was instrumental in this dogma was the Mallorcan Ramon Llull. The Immaculate Conception of 8 December thus gave birth, so to speak, to the birthdate: 8 September.

Llull, among the many other things for which he is noted, wrote the words of the Lament of the Virgin about the suffering of Christ. It is a text that in its musical form features at Lluc monastery in the Tramuntana, the spiritual land of Mallorca. In those mountains, Llull established his place of learning - Miramar in Valldemossa. The philosophy of the Immaculate Conception and events nine months later can be linked to the mountains of Mallorca.

The monastery is the focal point for the culmination for this week of spirituality. 12 September is the day of the Virgin of Lluc, Mallorca's patron saint. The pilgrimage to the monastery will involve some 10,000 people setting off in the early hours. And once at the monastery, the reverence will be for "La Moreneta", the Black Madonna, the image of the Virgin Mary with its legend of discovery by a shepherd boy (Lluc), who was the son of Muslims who had converted to Christianity.

The legend dates back to the thirteenth century, to a time when Llull was active and when Mallorca was learning about what is now its Catalan heritage. This legacy, it is fair to say, resides in the consciousness, the spirituality if you like of the collective Mallorcan experience. It is one of stability that came from conquest, which created a Mallorcan identity that hadn't truly existed previously.

But into this mix enters the less than reverential, the tradition of the island's "most typical procession", this evening's La Beata in Santa Margalida. As with the Virgin of Lluc, La Beata - Santa Catalina Tomàs - is Mallorca's own. The irreverence arose from the nature of the procession and the comedic antics of demons.

I was aware that Rafael Manso, the Bishop of Mallorca in 1849, had sought the banning of the procession on the grounds that it raised "serious disorders and offences against God" and that it provoked much laughter. It has now come to light that there was a ban - of three years before the bishop relented. The fact that there was a ban only serves to confirm that within the island's spirituality there is also an element of fun and of resistance. It's that island thing.

La Beata represented a spiritual extension to a different land of Mallorca, one away from the mountains and into its farming plain. The legend of Santa Catalina, and the narrative for the procession, involves poor farm workers. Agricultural past and heritage collide with saintliness and irreverence in Santa Margalida and create a specific branch line of Mallorcan spirituality.

Ramon Llull, The Cartoon Version

My suspicion would be that, despite the numerous occasions on which I have written about the old boy, there will still be goodly numbers among you who have never heard of Ramon Llull. I'll put this down to the fact that you happened to miss those previous occasions.

I am not suggesting that I have been acting as an unofficial and therefore unpaid one-man PR operation for this Mallorcan ancient, as there are many others who do this, some of whom do actually receive remuneration: they're known as employees of tourism/cultural promotion authorities. But for the most part, the Llull PR machinery exists within the isolated bubble of Catalan and of Catalanism. Efforts to promote him to wider audiences have, generally speaking, not worked. Largely because, one also suspects, they've never been coherently undertaken outside of the Catalan bubble.

That Llull was a Catalan speaker and writer does help to explain this limited knowledge dissemination, but he deserves to have greater fame, just as he should be central to a whole Mallorcan culture-as-tourism initiative. Why? Well, his list of achievements was phenomenal. There was, among others, his rudimentary computer - the "Ars Magna" (and please, no sniggering at that title) - designed to reveal fundamental truths (as they were understood in the thirteenth century). This kaleidoscopic series of wheels - the Llullian circles - was like a mediaeval punch-card system. Had they thought about it back then, Llull could have made a fortune from having invented the first random lottery system.

Of course, Llull did have a politico-religious thing going on. His system of logic was to prove Christian truths and to thus dispute Islam. Llull was to become a Catholic fundamentalist - he wasn't especially religious until a revelation in his late twenties led him to walk out on the wife and kids - but this didn't mean that he was ill disposed to Islam: just that he wanted to prove that one religion was mightier than another. And his intelligence led him to learn Arabic - still partially surviving in any event in the Mallorca of the thirteenth century (Llull was born three years after the Catalan conquest). If Islam was to be engaged in debate, then it was important to do so in the appropriate language. His mission to prove Christian logic was a key reason for his having persuaded King Jaume II of Mallorca to found Miramar in Valldemossa. The learning of Arabic was part of the curriculum.

Llull should have greater status. He was a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus and an equal in terms of religious philosophy of the High Middle Ages. Llull's logic, and that of his peers, was to be as crucial to the founding of modern philosophy as that of Aristotle and the very much more ancients. This status, unattained, places him at number one in the list of admittedly few genuinely famous Mallorcans from history.

There is debate as to when Llull died. The commonly cited date is 29 June, 1315, but the room that exists for questioning this partly explains why the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of his death haven't yet started. They will do later this year and continue in 2016: an alternative version of his death is that he passed away in 1316.

But once they start, what will they be? Dull but worthy, one imagines. There again, for many this is exactly what Llull was. Theology, philosophy, mediaeval Catalan literature: all terribly well and good but also extremely old and not things to get the pulses racing. In order to try and make Llull more accessible, there are ways, and one fancies that, as the maker of that primitive computer, the old chap would probably heartily approve of new technologies. And with these in mind, there is meant to be some sort of Ramon animation, a cartoon Ramon. Techies at the university have been working on it, but the end result appears to be lost somewhere in the corridors of the Council of Mallorca.

If it emerges, and it probably will, one does rather fear for the worst. Will it be multi-lingual? It damn well ought to be because Llull was a multi-linguist. Will it be, like much of the subject matter, dull but worthy? Hard to say without seeing it, but quite possibly yes.

Opportunities present themselves only rarely. The collision between the 700th anniversary and the availability of advanced animation technologies provides the perfect context for something meaningful to propel Llull into the wider orbit of awareness. But, and always aware of respect for his ancientness, dare one say that an animated Ramon, with suitable PR and promotion, could attain much wider awareness were he to appear elsewhere. In the US in September, the 27th season of "The Simpsons" will start. Ramon meets Homer. They should do it.

Rafael Nadal Airport

It wasn't in fact a news story, but it looked like it. The "Diario de Mallorca" journalist Matias Valles had made some predictions for 2015. One of them was that Mallorca's hoteliers would like Palma's Son Sant Joan airport renamed. Their preference was for Aeropuerto Rafael Nadal.

With the story out, the newspaper asked its readers what they thought of this potential renaming. They gave three other options that could be chosen instead. The result? Well, Nadal didn't win. He came second but he didn't come close. The winner was that old mediaevalist swot and show-off, Ramon Llull. The winning margin over Nadal was by almost sixty percentage points. Llull polled 76%, Nadal 17%. As for the other two, well they were barely at the races. Antoni Maura, the Mallorcan who was several times president of Spain in the early twentieth century and who was generally held responsible for the massacre of "Tragic Week" in Barcelona in 1909, got 4%, one more point than Joan March, founder of the Banca March, associate of Franco's to the extent of having helped him with finance, smuggler, and all-round rotten egg, as history has come to revile him. 

Assuming that there is actually any virtue in naming an airport after someone prominent, what does the overwhelming support for Llull say? Anything? Perhaps the readers were having a bit of a laugh at what was in any event a jokey item, but one doubts this. The reverence shown to Llull is all but absolute. He and Nadal, centuries apart, are the most famous people that Mallorca has produced, even if Nadal's fame (internationally) is of a level that Llull didn't ever and will never attain.

Culturally and historically important he was, Llull, for all his religion and mysticism, was not an insular man in as much as he didn't confine himself to Mallorca in times when most might have done. He had a wider vision, especially that of spreading Christianity and converting Muslims. It was a contentious vision, one made even more so today, but Llull was a man of the world; the part of the world that was understood then.

But now he is a symbol for insularity and for a parochial Catalanism of which I very much doubt he would have approved. Nadal is a global figure, one with much respect in his home island, but a sportsperson removed from the navelgazing nature of Mallorcan society. In a way, and despite his renown and potentially ambassadorial role for Mallorca, he doesn't fit with the earnest, zealous even Mallorcanism. He is simply too famous for his own good.

Of the other two in the poll, neither stood a chance. Maura begat Maurism, the street violence-led movement that wasn't his idea but which was formed in his name nonetheless and which can be seen as a precursor of what was to happen in the 1930s. March? Well, enough has been said and written about him to know that he wouldn't ever be the bookies' choice for an airport naming.

If one considers that there is some validity in and benefit from naming an airport, the foursome reveal that Mallorca has a very limited choice. In truth, only Nadal has any real or true international recognition or reputation. March has been written about often, as of course have Llull and Maura, but they are still names of comparative insignificance outside Mallorca and Spain. The island doesn't deal in the globally recognised, or hadn't until Nadal came along. Its recognition has been more that of what the island is - a holidaying destination - and that, where the world is concerned, is all it is. Renaming the airport? Why not? Call it Mallorca Airport. Everyone would know that.

The Year Of The Archduke

I don't normally buy a German newspaper, but I did on Tuesday. I was attracted by the front page, most of which was filled by a sepia photo of an aristocratic gentleman with a moustache. The headline read "Das Jahr des Erzherzogs" - the year of the Archduke. Inside there were three whole pages devoted to this Archduke, Louis Salvador, who died one hundred years ago. The three pages were deserved. There is no non-Mallorcan, with the exception of King Jaume I, who has contributed more to the island's culture than the Archduke.

2015 is officially the Archduke's year, the regional government having confirmed that it would be in 2013. The statement which the government issued in September of that year referred to its responsibility to promote and celebrate individuals of maximum relevance to the history and culture of the Balearics. There will, therefore, be a good deal spoken and written about the Archduke this year and there will be exhibitions, such as a major one that will open at Palma's Casal Solleric at the end of February.

Yet, for all that this will be the Archduke's year, what sort of an impact will it have? The answer to this may well be reflected in the fact that for some or perhaps many of you reading this, there needs to be an explanation as to who the Archduke was and as to why he is deemed to be important as he was. To cut a long story short, the Archduke Louis Salvador of Austria turned up in Mallorca in the 1860s, was charmed, bought land and properties, invited a load of intellectual friends to the island, became an honorary president of the Mallorca Tourist Board (Fomento del Turismo) and, above all, wrote the many volumes that comprise "Die Balearen", a narrative encyclopedia of the islands, the scope of which remains unmatched and unsurpassed.

The impact will be reserved mainly for the German-speaking market. The books were, after all, written in German. There are Spanish and Catalan versions but no English translation. Promotion will thus focus on German visitors, many of whom will already be very familiar with the Archduke. It is perhaps a generalisation to suggest that German tourists are more curious about Mallorca than their British counterparts, but there is some truth to it, and a good reason why is because of the Archduke and "Die Balearen". It is a work of enormous cultural significance for Mallorca but it is also of enormous significance in having helped to establish a bond between Germany and Mallorca that is far stronger than that between the UK and the island. Arguably, therefore, "Die Balearen" is more culturally relevant to Germans and German-speakers than it is to Mallorcans.

This is the year of the Archduke, but this will also be the first year of another historical figure whose importance is greater still. By a remarkable coincidence, Ramon Llull died 700 years ago, or at least his death is normally said to have occurred in June 1315 (there is some evidence to suggest that it was the following year). Because of this uncertainty the celebration of the anniversary of his death will straddle 2015 and 2016, while it won't officially begin until November. The coincidence of the anniversaries of the deaths of the Archduke and Llull is made stronger because of the connection between the two, principally the fact that the Archduke bought the Miramar monastery in Valldemossa which Llull had persuaded King Jaume II to assist him in founding in 1276.

Mallorca has produced its intellectuals but none can match Llull in terms of the breadth of his interests, studies and innovations and none can lay a claim to his having been the original populariser of Catalan on the island. Llull, therefore, dominates Mallorcan cultural history. He is pre-eminent among a select group whose influence on this history is absolute, and the Archduke is one of that group but the only one of modern times with the possible exception of Antoni Maria Alcover.

Cultural history forms part of what Mallorca desires by way of alternative tourism. But it is a culture which suffers by comparison with parts of Spain in appearing to be less than rich. This year, however, throws up the odd coincidence of the Archduke and Llull's anniversaries, and this coincidence does, moreover, create a link to the current day. From Llull, Miramar and so the Aragon crown and the kings of Mallorca through to the Archduke and his acquisition of Miramar and thence to tourism. The Archduke was not just an honorary president of the tourist board, he is often referred to as the founder of the island's tourism. So, 2015 offers a unique opportunity to promote culture through the joining together of the Archduke and Llull. It would have to be a promotion with sufficient force in order to break through the barrier of unawareness of visitors, but it could be done. Sadly, it won't be. It should be the year of Mallorcan cultural history: the Archduke and Llull side by side.

Stories Of Mallorca: Catalan books

You might not have realised that there is a book fair currently taking place in Palma. It is the 25th Week of the Book in Catalan, which is probably why you wouldn't have realised. But it is an important occasion for celebrating Catalan literature and for showcasing Mallorcan authors, and as with anything to do with the Catalan language, it hasn't entirely been spared some controversy. At the opening event, there was a bit of a rumpus (a quiet one admittedly) when some people left when the vice-president for culture at the Council of Mallorca, Joan Rotger, got up to speak. It was a tad ungracious; the Council is, after all, sponsoring the Week. But, and one presumes this to have been the case, anything which is even remotely linked to the Partido Popular will cause some to be upset and so to walk out on someone's speech.

It was especially ungracious, given that Rotger said that the Week was an indication of the vitality and strength of Catalan and that the language was "vigorous, dynamic and creative" and had "a great future". He did admit there were one or two "difficulties" surrounding the language, but he deserved better than to be snubbed, albeit by a minority.

A Catalan book week might not seem that significant, but it is, and in more ways than just being a celebration of contemporary and past writers. Catalan literature holds a very special place in European literary history, and that very special place came about because of a Mallorcan. Yep, it's that ancient polymath again, Ramon Llull. The old boy wrote what is commonly thought to have been the first European novel, and he wrote it in Catalan. This novel, "Blanquerna", was a ripping yarn in the style of ripping yarns of the thirteenth century. Llull, who walked out on his missus and left her to raise their two kids when he had a sudden religious awakening, became a staunch Catholic, so much so that he was instrumental in confirming the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, but this religiosity, in a mediaeval manner, did not prevent him from creating a novel that was typical of storytelling of the period. Putting it bluntly, there was a fair amount of sex.

There was also a good deal of the stuff of legends. The hero, Blanquerna, appears destined for an unremarkable life until he informs his parents that he intends to devote himself to God. This he does and eventually becomes pope, at which point he decides to take himself off and become a hermit so that he can really communicate with God. The character of Blanquerna was partly autobiographical, but rather than walking out on the family, Blanquerna convinces his girlfriend, Natana, to devote herself to God as well, and so she gets herself to a nunnery. 

Llull wrote the novel some twenty years after he had seen the light and left the marital home. It did entail a certain reinterpretation of his own history, but there were probably few readers who would have been aware of this. The book, which was a sort of bestseller of the times, was written in Montpellier, a city that added to its Catalan credibility because of its association with Jaume I, the conquerer of Mallorca and bringer of Catalan to the island. And there was, arguably, a further confirmation of Catalanism in the very story of Blanquerna becoming a hermit. Sant Antoni, he of the January fiesta, was revered in Catalonia before he became a feature of Mallorcan life, and Antoni was himself a hermit whose cult was promulgated by Jaume's Mallorcan king descendants.

So, a Catalan book week in Mallorca is in a way a celebration of what was written 731 years ago in 1283. And if "Blanquerna" was a bestseller back in the day, what are the hot titles of today? At the book fair the two which have been shifting the most copies are a collection of "gloses" by Llorenç Moya that were written under the pseudonym "Xafarder" and which were originally published in "Ultima Hora" in the late 1970s and a novel by Neus Canyelles in which the heroine, an author/journalist, rewrites classic stories in a way that fits with her own personal story. 

It is probably safe to say, though, that neither of these titles or any others at the book fair are about to break out, be translated widely and become international bestsellers. Mallorcan literature remains something of a closed book, its authors unknown. Canyelles once wrote "La Novella de Dickens", which involved the heroine in conversation with Dickens. It's not fair to compare, but Dickens knew a thing or two about storytelling and about describing time and place. One day, someone will write a book about Mallorca that really tells the story, be it in Catalan or any other language. 

The 781-Year-Old Professor: Ramon Llull

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been fortunate in being entertained by political daftness and political cock-up. In the town of Porreres, the Més leftist grouping wanted to impose a charge on any householder who hung a Santa Claus up on the front of the house (it was a means of tackling what Més considered to be a "plague" of Santas in the town). Then there was the gift which keeps on giving, namely the estate agent education minister Joana Maria Camps, who gave us the international tread-on report into educational performance (the "trepitja", meaning tread on, versus PISA translation muddle). Now, and proving that daftness and ignorance aren't confined to Mallorca, we have the case of some advisor or other at the national education and culture ministry who has rung up the university in Palma to enquire about a salary.

The university, as is common with many universities, has a Chair, and a Chair, in university parlance, means a professorship. The university may have several Chairs for all I know, but it is one Chair in particular that has come to the attention of the national ministry. The Ramon Llull Chair.

Those of you who have followed my writings over the years may well remember my having mentioned Ramon Llull. He is a not unimportant person in Mallorca's history, but I have wondered about how important he is considered to be elsewhere. By which I have meant other countries. I have assumed that Llull would have been considered important and well known elsewhere in Spain, especially to someone who works for the national education and culture ministry.

Llull, in case you need reminding, was alive in mediaeval times. He was born in 1232 and died either in 1315 or 1316 (more on this below). As such therefore, it is unlikely - nay, impossible - for him to occupy the Chair at the university that is named after him. And this, the naming, gets us to the point of the story. The advisor at the ministry wanted to know what salary this Ramon Llull person was receiving. The Chair, or the director of it anyway, is in fact someone called Joan Antoni Mesquida who is also the director of Catalan philology at the university and so is not Ramon Llull, who died almost 700 years ago and who was born getting on for 800 years ago. The advisor was informed of the name of the director, and his interlocutor decided it wasn't worth spending the time trying to explain to him who Ramon Llull was. One trusts that the advisor doesn't now confuse this Joan Mesquida with the one who was once national secretary-general for tourism and national director-general for the National Police and Guardia Civil. For if he does, the hilarity factor will be raised higher.

Of course, this all been meat and drink to those of a Catalanist tendency (and even to those who aren't). It is indicative of a lack of appreciation of all things educationally and culturally Catalan by the anti-Catalanists in Madrid and those in particular in the department of national education minister José Ignacio Wert (though he, one rather suspects, would know who Ramon Llull was; or would he?).

It could be said it was a simple enough mistake, but then this could have been said of Joana Camps translating PISA into tread on. It was a mistake which shouldn't have been made, and political capital has been made out of it by the same political grouping, Més, which is bothered about the plague of Father Christmases in Porreres. Its spokesperson at the Council of Mallorca made a point of pointing out the mistake, accusing the national ministry and therefore the Partido Popular of being insensitive to Catalan cultural matters. This was done at a Council session to declare the years 2015 and 2016 as the years of Ramon Llull.

Years? Why should the old boy have more than one? Well, for a kick-off the Bishop of Mallorca had proposed some twelve months ago that there be more than one year, and it was a proposal, one imagines, to get round the arguments as to when Llull actually died. The Bishop suggested the "year" should cover two years - from November to November - which would mean from and to 27 November, which is Ramon's feast day. But the starting-point in November will be five months after when it is normally thought that Llull died. i.e. on 29 June, 1315. One says normally thought, but there is a good deal of evidence which suggests that he died quite a bit later; in 1316 in fact.

Anyway, whenever he died or didn't, he will be getting two years to his name, and one hopes that his name will become better known than it currently is, especially among advisors to the national education and culture ministry. "Hello, can I speak to Ramon Llull, please ..."

Ramon Llull And The Philosopher's Stone

I have never read "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and nor have I seen the film. I know nothing about either, other than the fact that the philosopher's stone obviously played a key role. And key role was what many an old-time alchemist hoped it would play, if they had only been able to find it. Had they, they would have been capable of turning base metals into gold and silver and discovering the elixir of life. I suppose we should feel aggrieved that they didn't find it. Elixir of life is one thing, but limitless supplies of gold and silver would come in handy right now, though if there were limitless supplies, I guess that gold and silver would lose all their value and would no longer be precious. In hindsight, maybe it was as well that the philosopher's stone remained undiscovered.

Nevertheless, the Spanish Government would presumably not turn down the chance to get its hands on whole stashes of gold. Maybe there are scientists secretly beavering away with the aid of research grants from the government and searching for the elusive philosopher's stone. It would be as worthwhile an activity as almost all others that the government has attempted, if attempted is the right word, as it hasn't actually attempted anything to get Spain out of its hole. In the absence of any other initiative, alchemy has got to be worth a try.

Spain and alchemy have some history. It was the translation of Arabic texts into Latin from the twelfth century that introduced Spain to the potential for wealth creation through the transformation of dross into gold. Toledo in Spain was one of the main centres of this feverish translation process, as Spain led the way in being the first to stake a claim to having unearthed the philosopher's stone. It was all a bit like the space race, except that it was a race that could have no winner. Still, it's easy for us now to take the mick. The boffins back then didn't have the internet to consult to tell them that they were wasting their time.

One of these boffins who may or more likely may not have been searching for the philosopher's stone was a chap called Nicolas Flamel. He was French and apparently J.K. Rowling referred to him. Though Flamel gained a reputation for having been an alchemist and for possibly having had in his possession a mysterious text that unravelled the secrets of the philosopher's stone, it is a reputation that was almost certainly a complete invention, one that was dreamt up several centuries after he died.

It may be true, or there again it may not be true, that Flamel went to Spain - given that it was the centre of all this mediaeval alchemic gold rush - to get help with translations. Once in Spain, en route to Santiago de Compostela, Flamel apparently stumbled across a Jewish convert to Catholicism who pretty much spilled the alchemic beans. If any such Jewish convert had existed and if he had got wind of the secrets of alchemy, well, come on, we're still waiting, and it's been almost 800 years.

A Mallorcan of the era who dabbled in alchemy was our good friend Ramon Llull, the all-round egghead and general know-all of Mallorcan mediaeval times. Llull was big on Arabic, and his interest in the language may have been at least inspired by his wish to be the one who struck gold. Had he, Mallorca would now be able to lay claim to a very much more famous old philosopher-stroke-scientist-stroke-linguist-stroke-everything else that Llull was known for; or not known for, as most foreigners are still pretty ignorant of him.

The problem for serious alchemists of the day was that alchemy began to get a bad name. There were any number of charlatans, frauds and fakers frequenting the alchemy industry. They were the looky-looky men of their day, pretending they had real gold when in fact they'd been down the nearest DIY, got hold of a tin of gold paint and gone to work on a house brick. And in Mallorca, there was one such alchemist charlatans. Or so some alleged. He was Jaume Lustrach, who had got the gig as alchemist to the court of King Juan I of Aragon when the king moved into Bellver Castle in Palma.

Unfortunately for Jaume, he made two mistakes. One was not actually being able to make gold and the other was asking for more money of Juan's successor, his brother Martin I of Aragon. Martin was clearly made of more sceptical stuff than his brother and had Jaume locked up, only to bow to matrimonial pressure from the missus to have him released.

Jaume, Flamel, Llull, none of them of course were able to crack the code, but then they had spent their time consulting the wrong texts. All that Arabic stuff was of no use. What they had all overlooked was that the secret lay instead in a work about a boy wizard. 


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

The Ramon Llull Election

There is some dispute, but 29 June is the date usually given for the death of one of Mallorca's very few famous historical figures, Ramon Llull. The year of his death is generally accepted to have been 1315, even if the exact day is open to question. Despite the uncertainty, you can be sure that in three years time Mallorca will be gearing itself up for some serious Llull-ing; a Llull-tide festival, one would imagine.

29 June, 2015, 700 years after Llull's death (possibly) will also be a week or so after the next president of the Balearics is sworn in, assuming the election and its interminable post-election process follow the same pattern as last year. The anniversary of his death would be symbolic regardless of any political dimension, but it will be even more so given the current politics of Mallorca's languages.

Catalan is the language of Llull (well one of them as he could also speak and write Latin and Arabic), so the coincidence of the anniversary of his death so soon after the culmination of the next electoral process will make that anniversary a major factor in the next election.

The Partido Popular government of José Ramón Bauzá finds its language policy undermined, especially as far as education is concerned. As Llull, a scholar himself, is so closely associated with modern-day education, the policy towards education is particularly apposite.

A key aspect of this policy has been the intention to introduce free selection of teaching language (Castellano or Catalan). This is a subject I have dealt with previously, as recently as 11 May ("Why Is My Friend Different, Mummy?"). I come back to it because, as that previous article suggested, there isn't a groundswell of support among Mallorca's parents for their children to be taught in Castellano. There isn't anything like it, and now we know how little support there is: 10%. Support for Catalan, on the other hand, is 62% (the remaining amount being explained by the fact that parents would go along with whichever language were to be the main teaching language in a particular school).

As education minister Rafael Bosch has implied that there won't be a doubling-up of lessons conducted in the two languages unless there is a critical mass of pupils whose parents want Castellano, where does this leave the government's policy on education language? Indeed, other than the government's perseverance with its downgrading of Catalan as a pre-requisite for public-sector employment, where does it leave its entire language policy? Another aspect, that of changing place names to their Castellano version, is one on which the government has backtracked significantly, to the point where it is likely to be quietly forgotten.

The government has maintained that it had a mandate to go ahead with introducing free selection. Which is true, but only partially. That free selection may have been part of its manifesto doesn't, however, mean that it was something that those who voted for the PP agreed with. The PP were elected last year for two reasons: they weren't PSOE and it was hoped they might do something about the economy, however forlorn a hope that was ever going to be.

Whatever now happens to the free-selection policy, this is a government that will, right up to the next election, be associated with the politics of language that are increasingly looking like a failure as well as a totally unnecessary diversion from far more pressing matters. How is the PP going to react, though? Llull's anniversary is going to play a part in the next election and all political parties will doubtless seek to claim Llull as their own, including the PP. But how will it be able to when it will be remembered as the party that sought to reduce the influence of Llull's language?

The PP might hope that three years will be long enough for it to do something positive about the economy and for everyone to forget about its language policy. It won't be. And opposition parties will use Llull's anniversary as the hook on which to try and hang the PP and its attack on the island's Catalan culture and heritage. This might all seem rather silly to the neutral, foreign observer, but it quite obviously isn't silly for the majority of Mallorca's parents.

If the PP had any sense, it would already be paying serious attention as to how it can handle the inevitable Llull question in three years time. But whatever it might come up with as spin is going to lack credibility, so long as the current leadership remains in place. The way things are going, it will lose the Ramon Llull election.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Something To Remind You: Books

It was St. George's Day on Saturday. Sant Jordi's day. It was also the day of the book and of the curious ritual of exchanging a rose for a book. What happens nowadays? Do Interflora and Amazon both deliver?

The personal may be being taken out of many aspects of life, the Kindle and the iPad may be assuming greater significance, but the book itself endures. Rather like vinyl, the book is more substantial, more tangible than a disc or the physically non-existent, the download. It is more personal.

In Palma, they celebrated book day. Politicians took the opportunity to celebrate some time as last men and women standing. Before they succumb to their probable fate in May, the regional president and the mayor of Palma were among the visitors. Antich was talking a good book, or was he a talking book? The next legislature will introduce initiatives to develop reading, so he said. The education minister was on hand to echo this and to insist that it was necessary to give strength to plans for reading development. What have they been doing for the past four years?

Reading, sales of books, financial assistance for parental purchase of books; these all crop up among the statistics that are regularly trotted out in the press. More than literature, Mallorca has been creating a generation that can read figures rather than prose. The attention that is paid to reading does, though, emphasise the role of the book in local society.

But this same society has been bemoaning standards. Last September, at the literary gathering in Formentor of book publishers, concern was expressed at the fact that children no longer had the "experience of the book". Public education is sub-standard enough for it to have been admitted that, while children read, if not as much as they might, they don't understand. Levels of comprehension in Mallorca and the Balearics, along with other core benchmarks in education, are below those of the Spanish average and well below those of Europe as a whole.

Despite a tradition of the book and literature, Mallorca has produced little by way of great works. Not on an international scale, at any rate. Yet, the island can lay claim to being the birthplace of the European novel. Ramon Llull's "Blanquerna", written in the thirteenth century, is often held up as the first of its kind. It was written in Catalan, emphasising the importance of the language in civilising mediaeval European society, something that is conveniently overlooked by many.

There was a mere gap of some 700 years before something approximating to a great work about Mallorca came along, Llorenç Villalonga's "Bearn" about the fall of the Mallorcan nobility. But for most people outside Mallorca, both it and Llull's work are obscure and generally ignored. A more recent Mallorcan literary tradition hasn't been one at all, but a foreign invasion of Peter Mayle-apeing pap.

For the visitor, Mallorca and books mean not the unknowns such as Villalonga, but what gets thrown into the suitcase. Holidays are reading time; for many, the only time they read a book. New technologies may spawn greater interest in reading, but the Kindle is still subject to the same drawbacks as the book on holiday: Ambre Solaire thumbmarks and grains of sand working themselves into the crevices.

The book on holiday can take on greater significance than merely a means of whiling away some hours on a beach or by the poolside. It is a remembrance, something to remind you. I know exactly where I was when I read William Trevor's gut-wrenchingly sad "The Story of Lucy Gault" or when I laughed hysterically at the insanely irreverent "Henry Root Letters".

Both are somewhere, among all the other books, the old copies of "Wisden", the Ian McEwan first editions, the translation of the bible for the Inquisition, the "Malleus Maleficarum". These are my own descendants of what I grew up among - Hemingway, Dickens and the less cerebral Mickey Spillane and Harold Robbins.

The day of the book is a fine idea. There should be more of them. If only as a reminder of the greater aesthetic of the book. It can be read, but it can also be seen as a single object and even smelt. The new technologies don't offer the same pleasure and appeal to the senses.

In years to come, will the day of the book become the day of the electronic book? Stalls of handheld devices? Will the exchange of gifts mean a rose for a Kindle? I very much doubt it.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Who Are You?

Ramón Llull. I referred to him yesterday and have before on this blog. It is not just Herr Link, to whom I also referred yesterday, who would like to promote Llull, the Mallorcan council is keen to do likewise - as an iconic figure in Mallorcan history in attracting quality and cultural tourism. Well maybe. The problem is obvious: outside of some intellectual circles in other countries, the name of Llull would mean nothing. Llull does deserve greater recognition, if only for the fact that he developed that early system of computing theory, but his writings in Catalan, his philosophy and science remain largely unknown - to an audience outside of Mallorca or Spain. Nevertheless, within those intellectual circles, he has been branded “a great European”; arguably he wrote the first European novel - “Blanquerna” (1283); he wanted more emphasis on the study of Arabic (which he spoke) as a means of converting Muslims to Christianity, while also seeking a unification of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Llull is no minor figure in European history - quite the contrary - but his reputation is minor in the minds of the majority in other European countries; to be more accurate, it is negligible. Ask non-Spaniards here who Llull was, and most would not have a clue, other than as a name given to streets (17 September: Where The Streets Have No Shame).

In seeking to promote Llull as a figure for attracting tourism, the council is starting from a point of almost total lack of awareness. Think of Llull as a brand, and the recall would be more or less non-existent. Compare Llull to historical and cultural figures in other countries and elsewhere in Spain, and the challenge is obvious. Shakespeare has massive international brand awareness, for example, and has lent his name to a “country”, as have the Brontës. In Spain, which names spring to mind? Dali, Picasso, Gaudi; for the visitor to Barcelona, Gaudi’s architecture is a visible presence in the same way as Wren’s is in London, or Michelangelo’s artistic and architectural work is on show in Rome. Llull, in his polymathic way, is comparable to few - da Vinci would most certainly be one, but da Vinci would register right at the top of this brand awareness, and not just because of Dan Brown.

There is an unfortunate aspect to Llull; how he met his end. That he succeeded in persuading some major universities of the time, e.g. Oxford, to undertake Arabic learning, did not prevent him from being stoned in Algeria and dying from his injuries. In current sensitive times, one wonders how well his Christian martyrdom might play in the eyes of some.

The brand awareness of historical figures is something gathered over years; over centuries, in some cases. Llull may have died 700 years ago, but he does not have the benefit of those centuries of awareness. The Mallorcan council can try, but it will have to be something spectacular to induce tourism; not just some museum to a largely obscure figure in history.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Shirley Bassey. Today’s title - song by? They have featured here only very recently.

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Bond Themes

“Me llamo Bond, Jaime Bond, zero-zero-siete.”

Bond looks into the mirror in the room of one of the 32 hotels, adjusts his bow-tie and white jacket, sips his Martini and then slips away, intending to make for the Casino Royale, one of five casinos that comprise “Gran Escala”, somewhere in northern Mallorca. As he makes his way around the vast complex, he is taken aback. Is that John Wayne - “truly he was the son of God”? And that shady KGB agent, he looks remarkably like Vladimir Putin. “What are they doing in these casinos?” thinks Bond. Wayne he could count on, but Putin? What threat could be lurking for the numbers of innocent people here at Gran Escala, a proportion of the 12 million that come each year? But then he realises that they are not real; they are just actors, one from the Roman casino, the other from “Spyland”.

12 million visitors a year, a site that will eclipse EuroDisney, a couple of hours flying from England, huge numbers of jobs, a new version of Las Vegas, a haven for gamblers from the UK and Spain alike, with five theme parks and those 32 hotels to boot.

In your dreams, Mallorca, in your dreams. Or maybe in your nightmares, Mallorca. The Gran Escala is the working name for a complex planned near Zaragoza on the mainland. The environmentalists don’t like the idea, but a number of politicians, attracted by the injection of money and the employment, do. The article in today’s “Sunday Times” makes it clear that it is not, as yet, a done deal, but were it to be then it could be a nightmare of another sort for Mallorca, certainly where the limited winter season is concerned.

This theme park idea. Where have I heard of this before? I know. Right here. On this blog. It has actually been mooted in the past. And it has of course been turned down. Why? The environment. The environment and an abstract retention of the past - a Mallorcan equivalent of John Major’s old maids, cricket and warm beer.

So the mainland maybe gets the gig, while meantime Mallorca struggles on in winter with its closed hotels, rejected golf-course applications, some brave attempts like the Aquarium in Palma, handfuls of walkers, and groups of cyclists who enrage many and mean precious little in terms of real business. And then there are the other ideas that only nibble at the edges of the winter-season biscuit. Here’s another one. In yesterday’s “Brisas” magazine, there was an interview with a German (Jörg Link) who has lived in Mallorca since 1975; his father had bought a house in Son Serra de Marina two years before. He is an enthusiast for the works and thoughts of Ramón Llull, one of Mallorca’s most prominent historical figures. He is planning a centre devoted to Llull. It is a fine idea. I would go. Llull deserves far more attention than he has. But it won’t bring in a load of people. Now a Llull theme park with a heavy techno element in recognition of his role as a founder of computing theory; a theme park combined with the history of King Jaime I, more or less Llull’s contemporary. Maybe we would be getting somewhere. Meantime, the projected complex on the mainland will both shake and stir.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Big Country, “In A Big Country”. Today - not related to the title as such; the question is which artist or artists, apart from John Barry, has/have performed more than one main Bond film song?

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