The Saviours Of Mallorca

Mallorca needs saving, not from a collective fall from grace but by conservers and preservers of nature and of the manmade, fighting the good fight against claimers and defilers of the environment and of heritage. "Salvem" is the new rallying cry. Save this, save that. If we don't save whatever it is, then Mallorca is lost. Saving is all around us; calls for the conservation and preservation of both the great and the small are as never before.

There are "salvem" campaigns, groups, platforms, blogs, social media sites in abundance. So great is the saving that it might prove counterproductive; the island could sink under its sheer weight. To all the previous savings, two more have just recently sprung up from a land which, while not all of it is fertile, manages to organically grow new sources of saviour sustenance. "Salvem Sa Canova", "Salvem Portocolom" have allied themselves with, inter alia, "Salvem Es Molinar", "Salvem Sant Kanut", "Salvem Ses Fontanelles", "Salvem Andratx", "Salvem Es Trenc", "Salvem els Paisatges de les Illes Balears".

The two most recent campaigns conveniently distinguish between conservation (the environment) and preservation (buildings and traditions). Sa Canova is the former; Portocolom the latter. But there is common ground between both: symbolism, iconic status, heritage. Sa Canova beach is symbolic of unspoiled coast and iconic as a consequence, while the lighthouse in Portocolom is symbolic of a history that stretches back to the middle of the nineteenth century and is iconic because, well, lighthouses are deemed to be iconic.

The descriptions are a touch overworked. So much is symbolic or iconic that the words lose their power through their constant reiteration. But let us not quibble with the sentiments that inspire saving campaigns to invoke them; these campaigns generally have right and sincerity on their side as well as a moral rectitude of conservation and preservation to support them.

Sa Canova beach lies between Son Serra de Marina and Colonia Sant Pere and falls within the municipality of Artà. It is rustic beach, backed by dunes with one-time submarine-target towers that are familiar to the bay of Alcúdia coastline. Part of it is well known for being a nudist beach, but this is not its only attraction. It represents beach life that was once how it was. Son Serra de Marina, from where most of its visitors come, is Mallorca beach of a past time; laidback and undisturbed with a veneer of contemporary coolness and surf.

Somewhere along its length, the town hall in Artà is considering the installation of a chiringuito beach bar. It would, in all likelihood, be in the more popular nudist section, a walk of perhaps five minutes or so from the couple of bars which mark where Son Serra ends. "Salvem Sa Canova" doesn't want this chiringuito. Rustic beach should be rustic beach and that means the exclusion of a building, even if it would only be temporary and would be dismantled at the end of the season.

Justification for the beach bar is slim. It might be argued that it would be advantageous in terms of providing an additional attraction to tourists, but the argument lacks weight. Tourists go there precisely because the beach is unspoiled, while it is not as if there aren't places for refreshment close by or as if it is too far to walk with cool boxes. Artà town hall might eye up some revenue from granting a concession, though even this might have to be shared with the Costas Authority (which appears to have given its blessing). Why bother? It seems unnecessary.

The lighthouse in Portocolom is one of six lighthouses that the Balearics Ports Authority wishes to privatise. It would still operate as a lighthouse but would be converted into a hotel, a form of privatisation which, while not uncommon in other countries, had not been pursued in Spain until the national development ministry gave the go ahead for regional ports authorities to permit it a couple of years ago.

"Salvem Portocolom" is planning a protest against the privatisation plan later this month, arguing that conversion would conflict with the lighthouse's heritage value, history and status within the public domain. However, though the lighthouse is, given its coastal location, within the (state's) public domain, it isn't for public use. At present, it is well maintained but perhaps the fear is that, sometime in the future, it might not be, while clearly the state has a source of revenue to interest it. But if its appearance were not altered, would privatisation and conversion be so harmful? Maybe not, but for the saviours of the lighthouse, what matters are the symbolism and the heritage. The opposition is essentially, therefore, an emotional one, just as it is in Sa Canova, but what's wrong with this? Some things are worth conserving and preserving for their emotional value, and the number of "salvem" campaigns across Mallorca prove the point.

A Torrent Runs Through It: Sa Canova

Sa Canova in Artà lies just over the municipal border with Santa Margalida. One way of getting to Sa Canova beach is to go to Son Serra de Marina and then take a short walk. The other way is to walk from Colonia Sant Pere. Sa Canova was in the news earlier this year because the first official naturist hotel in Mallorca was opened nearby; part of the beach of Sa Canova has long been popular with naturists. It is in the news again because four municipalities in Mallorca have placed it in the news. Two of these - Santa Margalida and Artà - have a clear interest in Sa Canova. But why are Petra and Manacor getting involved?

Council meetings at the four towns have all voted in favour of rejecting a development proposal for Sa Canova. But the rejection is not just confined to Sa Canova, its beach and its dunes, it also includes the torrent of Na Borges. This is the longest torrent in Mallorca. It originates between Porreres and Felanitx and passes through Petra on its way to the bay of Alcúdia. There is a torrent from Manacor which joins it. Na Borges is, where the four towns are concerned, a "place of common interest" which requires a specific plan of management to look after it. Studies have been going on for several years into the torrent's sediments and drainage and also into erosion of farming land that it passes through, so ecologically it is far from unimportant. The torrent enters the bay of Alcúdia at Sa Canova. Indeed, it is the torrent which forms the borderline in Son Serra de Marina between Artà and Santa Margalida.

While this is all very interesting in its own right, it is what has been proposed for Sa Canova which is very much more interesting and which is why the four towns have objected. The development envisaged at Sa Canova is for a holiday complex comprising some 200 bungalows. It was one which the Balearic parliament approved last year, despite Sa Canova being protected as an area of special natural interest and also despite the fact that, in theory, Artà town hall have the final word as to any development.

Artà's word is no. But one doubts that its word is the final word for a development which would occupy some sixty hectares of land that had been earmarked as a golf course back in the 1980s. This development was stopped when the land classification was changed, but there is some development there - five houses, roads, water supplies but not full electricity connections. Some of you might know this area. It is a semi-urbanisation called Ravenna.

The plan for the Sa Canova holiday club would entail the bungalows being built to five-star standard. There is much provision for environmental management, while investors behind the project have proposed that they fund restoration and maintenance work on the various prehistoric sites in the area (one of these, along the coast in Son Real, suffers from almost complete financial neglect). The club would employ up to 150 people in summer but, and crucially, it would remain open all year.

It is the all-year nature of the development, its location in an essentially rural setting and the fact that the investors are Belgian that makes one think of certain other holiday clubs. It is a coincidence that news has come through of Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs opening an all-year holiday complex in Benidorm. P&V, a French company, has its sights set on expansion into Mallorca. It might not create the type of Center Parcs that exists in, say, the Netherlands, but maybe it would.

The Sa Canova development would be in a location that would fit quite closely with the original Center Parcs concept. That's not what it would be, just as the P&V Benidorm complex is also not, but I am far from alone in having thought for many years that it is precisely this type of concept that should be considered for Mallorca.

I know the Sa Canova area reasonably well. There is much to be said for it keeping its "rustic" and unspoilt charm, but then the development wouldn't sit right on top of the beach. It would be set back and probably mostly obscured. As a project it has much to commend it, but whether it would ever go ahead is highly questionable. One thinks of the objections to the development at Es Trenc and so one knows how vociferous the lobby against such developments is and knows also that the competing demands of the environment and of tourism commerce seem to be almost irreconcilable in Mallorca.

* Photo of Sa Canova from Wikimedia Commons

I've Not Booked O-Boner: Nude Mallorca

The largest tour operator in Europe that specialises in naturist holidays is a German company called Oböna. Please note the umlaut over the second "o". Those of you who are familiar with the German umlaut will know that it extends the sound of a vowel. Oböna is, therefore, pronounced O-berner. However, the umlaut is often ignored, perhaps deliberately. The pronunciation then becomes O-boner.

Prurience, as in the wrongful pronunciation, is par for the course when it comes to naturism and naturist holidays. Naturism retains the power to titillate and to arouse titters, all words - titillate, arouse, titters - one uses advisedly in this context. Prurience, innuendo, oo-er missus. Naturism is the stuff of a Carry On film, and it very nearly was, before Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw realised that they had gone to the wrong Paradise campsite.

Mallorca now has, thanks to Oböna, its first naturist hotel. It is the Aparthotel Sa Punta de s'Estanyol in Colonia Sant Pere. Only a small hotel, it is located close to the beach of Sa Canova, one that lies between Colonia and Son Serra de Marina, and which for years has been an unofficial nudist beach.

The unofficial nature of Sa Canova's status might make the choice of hotel seem a little odd. According to the blurb, guests can, after all, stroll to the beach in kitless bliss. Yet being unofficial, you might wonder how they can. The point is that, though there are official nudist beaches in Mallorca - part of Es Trenc being the best known - there is seemingly little difference between what is official and what isn't. At least, this is the interpretation adopted by the Spanish Naturist Federation.

You might be surprised to learn that, according to the federation (and I quote from its website): "In Spain, nudism is another of your rights. At this time, there is freedom of nudism in any public area in Spain and no authorisation is required. Beaches, rivers, lakes, open fields, tracks, roads, streets, squares, parks, etc. are public areas in Spain. According to the current legislation, nudism cannot be limited nor sanctioned and even less so forbidden".

A few years ago, the combined might of Alcúdia and Muro town halls became aware of my having publicised on the internet that the rustic beach in Playa de Muro (known as Es Comú) was popular with naturists. Oh, don't say this, they insisted. Why not? It's a matter of record. One only had to wander along the beach to realise that it was.

There was a lack of keenness for attention to be drawn to the nature of naturism in Muro because of its potentially negative impact. I pointed out what the federation had to say, so suggesting that, in theory, nudism could be practised on any beach. When an attempt was made to check the information on its website, it couldn't be accessed. It had been blocked, presumably by someone administering Alcúdia town hall's web server.

This, in itself, told a story. Naturism might be a minority holidaymaker interest, but interest it nevertheless is. Maps showing nudist beaches on Mallorca have been around for ages, and they are ones that have been produced by a governmental body. Yet, here were two town halls, and two town hall tourism organisations who were rather of the view that the N-word shouldn't be named. Or even viewed on the internet. In Artà, the town which hosts both Sa Canova beach and the aparthotel, they are presumably less bashful.

I could, though, understand that there might be reluctance to draw attention to the legal interpretation adopted by the federation. Whether it is right or not, its implication that one could wander the streets kit off with total impunity sounds very risky, just as going tackle out on any beach might not be looked upon with complete favour. It might not lead to a collar being felt (not that there would be one to feel), but it might lead to one being thought a bit of a berk. Or a plonker, if you'll pardon a further innuendo. On one occasion, on a part of Playa de Muro's beach that isn't naturist, some chap was smugly lying there sunning his crown jewels. As he was the only one who was, he was either extremely stupid or an exhibitionist.

As there are beaches, such as Sa Canova, where it is common knowledge that they are naturist, why isn't there some admission that they are? If there is anxiety over offence being caused, then the simple expedient of a sign would notify the unwary, so long as it's not the sign of an o-boner. 


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.