Malta is a curious island. Its population is roughly equivalent to that of Palma, yet in size it is less than one-tenth of Mallorca. Such shoe-horning of humanity into such a small area makes it one of the most densely populated countries of all. And it is of course a country, unlike Mallorca.
There was a time when there was a common link between the two islands, namely Aragon. Indeed, there was a common link between Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Mallorca. All of them in centuries past were united under Aragonese rule. In addition to parts of Spain, southern France, southern Italy and even Greece, the Crown of Aragon at one time ruled as a thalassocracy - rule of the sea, a state with principally maritime realms. It was, if you like, a Mediterranean empire.
It was the lot of Mediterranean islands that they were to pass into the control of others. Being generally of strategic importance, they were tempting to any wannabe imperialists. Malta, like Mallorca, had its share of Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs. Malta was to also, somewhat bizarrely but importantly, to come under the ownership of the Knights Hospitaller in the mid-sixteenth century, and they remained in situ until Napoleon took a fancy to the island. The outcome of the latter's interest was to bring the British Empire into the story. In 1814, under the Treaty of Paris, Malta became part of the empire.
Apart from some protection from the old Kingdom of Sicily, of which it was a part, Malta was never integrated into a Mediterranean country. The rule of the Knights of Malta was a key ingredient in establishing a form of insular independence, which was finally and definitively established in 1964. Under British control, its protector was a long way distant, so it was quite unlike the other western Mediterranean islands with their geographical proximity to Spain, France and Italy. This very distance and membership of empire, as opposed to membership of a nearby nation, were factors in it becoming its own country.
The Malta story is an intriguing one in the context of current Mediterranean politics. Here is a tiny island, a country in its own right, a member of the European Union, with a GDP around a third of that of the Balearics as a whole, with Mallorca providing the lion's share of this. If Malta can do it, then why not other islands?
The circumstances were, on the face of it, quite different, but there are those who will maintain that Mediterranean islands were every bit as much brought under the control of an empire as Malta was. In Mallorca the narrative is one that concerns the Bourbon dynasty. The destruction of the Crown of Aragon brought the island within the Castile sphere: 300 years of hurt and all that.
Earlier this year there was a landmark agreement reached between Corsica and Sardinia. Corsica, more so than any other of the western Mediterranean islands, has long had independence agitation. It has at times been violent. Now, it has come together with its neighbour in not just strengthening inter-island relations but in also establishing a cooperation framework that would include the Balearics. Practical aspects of this relate to transport and energy, but there is an undoubted political dimension. Corsica has a new governing alliance of pro-independence parties. Sardinia has for some time had greater autonomy with real law-making powers.
Biel Barceló, the Balearic vice-president from Més, the Mallorcan (Balearic) nationalist party, made a speech to mark Europe Day earlier this week. He spoke of there being a Europe of shared sovereignties, in which Mediterranean islands are demanding recognition of their own specific needs. "We are working towards specific formulas that will allow there to be effective recognition of our island situation." The islands, with the possible exception of Sicily because of its very much closer location to the mainland, have similar issues in common, ones caused by being islands (connectivity, increased costs, and the like), and varying levels of desire for independence from some quasi-imperialist master.
Jaume Font, leader of the more moderate nationalist El Pi, said recently - apropos travel discounts for residents - that "Madrid never learns anything or knows anything about how things are in the Balearics". They probably say the same about Paris and Rome. It is this perception of being ignored, the consequence of being on the national periphery, that helps breed resentment and desire for greater autonomy if not independence.
And that, independence, is a remote, not to say fanciful notion. Malta might provide a clue, but Malta was and is different. So if not independence, then what about a union? One between the islands. They have much in common and much which, together, they can present at a European table. The Corsica-Sardinia agreement may well be the first step: a new Aragonese empire.
Showing posts with label Sardinia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sardinia. Show all posts
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Into The Blue: Brochure speak
"The bluest Mediterranean waters." "Enchanting coastal towns." "Roman ruins and incredible cuisine." Any guesses yet?
"Fiercely distinct (from the mainland) ... a language all its own ... sun-baked streets ... fine sandy beaches ... azure waters ... dream deeply on its white dunes." Where is this?
Well, it isn't Mallorca. It is in fact Sardinia. The version of Sardinia offered, that is, on the BBC's website by someone on behalf of "Lonely Planet". It could just as easily be Mallorca, were the description not for some specific peculiarities of Sardinia, because some of the features and more importantly the language used to describe them could apply to Mallorca equally as well. Indeed the language could be used to describe any number of places, and that's because the language is default brochure speak.
Shove a blue in as an adjective, consult a thesaurus for an alternative (namely azure), toss in a bit of sun baking, fine sand and dreaming, and bingo you have captured the imagination of the reader.
Is the reader really as unimaginative as this, though? And as unimaginative as the author? Possibly so. When it comes to descriptions of Mediterranean islands (as well as Caribbean islands, various other islands and Lord knows where else), all that's needed is a checklist of adjectives and features and a copy and paste command. The first rule of brochure speak is that thou must refer to blue waters (or turquoise waters, if you are feeling particularly creative).
It's understandable in a way. Assume, for a moment, that the reader lives in Barnsley (and this is not to pick on Barnsley). There is a general absence of much of the above, though possibly a language all its own might apply. It's a pretty simple procedure: depict somewhere that clearly isn't Barnsley, but make it as recognisable as possible, as the Barnsleyite will be familiar with the concept of blue, sandy and sun-baked (if only thanks to the telly), and he or she will be rushing to the nearest travel agent.
It makes not the slightest bit of difference, however, whether it is Sardinia or Mallorca. It could be anywhere. And this is the failure of brochure speak and of its some time fellow traveller, naff travel writing. The failure is a conformity of imagery, lexicographical laziness and a conspiracy of thesaurus, all of which assume the punter can think no further than blue, sandy and sun-baked.
But what purpose does it serve to describe waters as blue or bluest? This is the normal state for waters. It's why, for example, maps have great blobs of blue for sea. You grow up from a very early age aware that the sea is blue, or at least is denoted by blue, even if you have never seen it.
Maybe this is it, though. Brochure speak talks to the inner infant. It will be why much of it has never gone beyond the Janet and John level. It is the shared learning experience of the kindergarten and the primary school, and it is one that survives into adulthood and compels writers of all sorts, not just those producing brochures, to engage in a process of group identity. It is the comfort of a lack of descriptive strangeness.
This compulsion is so strong that it demands constant reinforcement even when the context doesn't demand it. You can barely move, in a textual sense, without being reminded that Mallorca is variously lovely, beautiful or paradise. Even if the context might demand it, the conformism of adjective and analogy is part of a fundamentalist movement that requires a liturgy to be repeated regularly.
The religiosity of the simple and repetitious brochure speak and descriptive groupthink brooks no argument. To suggest, for example, that Mallorca isn't paradise or to simply ignore its pretensions to being so by not even drawing the comparison is to run the risk of a figurative fatwa.
Not, however, that such speak has of necessity to be magniloquent. Not at all. There's simple and then there's simple. Fancy going to Sardinia (or Mallorca)?
"There's a load of sea, resorts with lots to see and do, bits of old ruin, some good nosh, they don't much like the Italians (Spanish) and they talk funny, it's bloomin' hot when you're out walking, the beaches are brill and you can fall asleep on the dunes." Actually you can't fall asleep on most of Mallorca's dunes, because they're off-limits now, but otherwise this says pretty much what you would get but in brochure speak. And there's no blue in sight.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
"Fiercely distinct (from the mainland) ... a language all its own ... sun-baked streets ... fine sandy beaches ... azure waters ... dream deeply on its white dunes." Where is this?
Well, it isn't Mallorca. It is in fact Sardinia. The version of Sardinia offered, that is, on the BBC's website by someone on behalf of "Lonely Planet". It could just as easily be Mallorca, were the description not for some specific peculiarities of Sardinia, because some of the features and more importantly the language used to describe them could apply to Mallorca equally as well. Indeed the language could be used to describe any number of places, and that's because the language is default brochure speak.
Shove a blue in as an adjective, consult a thesaurus for an alternative (namely azure), toss in a bit of sun baking, fine sand and dreaming, and bingo you have captured the imagination of the reader.
Is the reader really as unimaginative as this, though? And as unimaginative as the author? Possibly so. When it comes to descriptions of Mediterranean islands (as well as Caribbean islands, various other islands and Lord knows where else), all that's needed is a checklist of adjectives and features and a copy and paste command. The first rule of brochure speak is that thou must refer to blue waters (or turquoise waters, if you are feeling particularly creative).
It's understandable in a way. Assume, for a moment, that the reader lives in Barnsley (and this is not to pick on Barnsley). There is a general absence of much of the above, though possibly a language all its own might apply. It's a pretty simple procedure: depict somewhere that clearly isn't Barnsley, but make it as recognisable as possible, as the Barnsleyite will be familiar with the concept of blue, sandy and sun-baked (if only thanks to the telly), and he or she will be rushing to the nearest travel agent.
It makes not the slightest bit of difference, however, whether it is Sardinia or Mallorca. It could be anywhere. And this is the failure of brochure speak and of its some time fellow traveller, naff travel writing. The failure is a conformity of imagery, lexicographical laziness and a conspiracy of thesaurus, all of which assume the punter can think no further than blue, sandy and sun-baked.
But what purpose does it serve to describe waters as blue or bluest? This is the normal state for waters. It's why, for example, maps have great blobs of blue for sea. You grow up from a very early age aware that the sea is blue, or at least is denoted by blue, even if you have never seen it.
Maybe this is it, though. Brochure speak talks to the inner infant. It will be why much of it has never gone beyond the Janet and John level. It is the shared learning experience of the kindergarten and the primary school, and it is one that survives into adulthood and compels writers of all sorts, not just those producing brochures, to engage in a process of group identity. It is the comfort of a lack of descriptive strangeness.
This compulsion is so strong that it demands constant reinforcement even when the context doesn't demand it. You can barely move, in a textual sense, without being reminded that Mallorca is variously lovely, beautiful or paradise. Even if the context might demand it, the conformism of adjective and analogy is part of a fundamentalist movement that requires a liturgy to be repeated regularly.
The religiosity of the simple and repetitious brochure speak and descriptive groupthink brooks no argument. To suggest, for example, that Mallorca isn't paradise or to simply ignore its pretensions to being so by not even drawing the comparison is to run the risk of a figurative fatwa.
Not, however, that such speak has of necessity to be magniloquent. Not at all. There's simple and then there's simple. Fancy going to Sardinia (or Mallorca)?
"There's a load of sea, resorts with lots to see and do, bits of old ruin, some good nosh, they don't much like the Italians (Spanish) and they talk funny, it's bloomin' hot when you're out walking, the beaches are brill and you can fall asleep on the dunes." Actually you can't fall asleep on most of Mallorca's dunes, because they're off-limits now, but otherwise this says pretty much what you would get but in brochure speak. And there's no blue in sight.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Careful What You Wish For
Sardinia may seem an unlikely starting-point for a piece on this blog, but bear with me. The island of Sardinia, which is not named by the way after sardines (they were named after it), lies some 260 or so miles to the east of Mallorca. It is quite a bit bigger than Mallorca, but it has some similarities - a Catalan dialect (and an obscure language of its own); it was once under Aragonese dominance; it witnessed a major battle against the Moorish Turks; it is an autonomous region; and it is also a tourism centre and a place for the rich to flaunt themselves, their money and their properties. Maybe you can start to see where I'm coming from.
Some days ago there was en editorial in "The Bulletin" which spoke about the property market in Mallorca. It enthused that the luxury end of the market is holding strong. And this at a time when the market for the ordinary man and woman is floating adrift. Good for the luxury market. The fact that individuals are willing to part with seven figure sums or more was evidence that the island was in grand shape despite other problems. Loadsamoney, fine investment prospects, blah-blah; it was similar to the notion that Freddy Shepherd's one-time interest in Real Mallorca was in some way indicative of wider British confidence to invest in the island. Pass me those straws and let me clutch them; but not for long, they're going in the bin with the rest of the rubbish.
Be careful what you wish for. That wealthy people may wish to line the pockets of estate agents, existing landowners and some professionals is evidence of no more than a desire to purchase a luxury pile. It is not, by some vague implication, the creation of some form of Thatcherite distribution of wealth through entrepreneurialism for the good of all. Some builders, some gardeners, some pool-maintenance firms and a scattering of menials may also benefit but that's it. If I can come back to yesterday's piece, are the wealthy purchasers like to be integrating with Mallorcan society? They take but what do they give back? Are they going to establish high-tech new businesses with high employment opportunities? No they are not. At least Paul Davidson, the likely new owner of Real Mallorca, seems to have the right attitudes. And let us certainly not decry the benevolence and humility of some of the wealthy. I once bumped into the German rock star Peter Maffay as he was getting off his push bike to unlock the gates to the Trencadora in Pollensa; his foundation is lauded for its good works and one only hears good things of the man.
Be careful what you wish for. And who are these wealthy people? Perhaps some warning bells should have been ringing when Matthias Kühn of Kühn & Partner, purveyors of property to the filthy rich, spoke about the opportunities afforded by the new wave of the industrial-scale-minted foreign buyer. Russians, in a word. And Heaven forbid that there is some high-rent, high-security gated villa on the go or perhaps Mark Thatcher will pitch up, giving the luckies the possibility of diversifying into a bit of bounty-hunting in the form of kidnapping on behalf of some God-forsaken African basket case of a nation. Mallorca has a long reputation as a millionaire's playground. There are plenty of wealthy Mallorcans. And now there's this new wave.
Be careful what you wish for. A while back a local politician expressed a concern that the current economic difficulties could lead to increased crime. It was over-blown scare-mongering perhaps, but civil disobedience ...? Which brings me back to Sardinia. What's happening there? "Arrogant ostentation of the super-rich." "These people think they rule the world." Hugely expensive properties, Russian oligarchs and celebrity Italians such as Flavio Briatore who recently was greeted as his motorised dinghies were making shore with cries of "louts, go home" and a barrage of wet sand.
Economic difficulties can create strong reactions. The mega rich are not necessarily the solution to these difficulties; in fact far from it. The Sardinians have had enough of those who show off their wealth. Be careful what you wish for Mallorca.
* The quotes and some Sardinian references are from an article by Alexander Chancellor in "The Guardian" - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/15/italy.globaleconomy.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssqBjaTzOU). Today's title - album by a Scottish band.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Some days ago there was en editorial in "The Bulletin" which spoke about the property market in Mallorca. It enthused that the luxury end of the market is holding strong. And this at a time when the market for the ordinary man and woman is floating adrift. Good for the luxury market. The fact that individuals are willing to part with seven figure sums or more was evidence that the island was in grand shape despite other problems. Loadsamoney, fine investment prospects, blah-blah; it was similar to the notion that Freddy Shepherd's one-time interest in Real Mallorca was in some way indicative of wider British confidence to invest in the island. Pass me those straws and let me clutch them; but not for long, they're going in the bin with the rest of the rubbish.
Be careful what you wish for. That wealthy people may wish to line the pockets of estate agents, existing landowners and some professionals is evidence of no more than a desire to purchase a luxury pile. It is not, by some vague implication, the creation of some form of Thatcherite distribution of wealth through entrepreneurialism for the good of all. Some builders, some gardeners, some pool-maintenance firms and a scattering of menials may also benefit but that's it. If I can come back to yesterday's piece, are the wealthy purchasers like to be integrating with Mallorcan society? They take but what do they give back? Are they going to establish high-tech new businesses with high employment opportunities? No they are not. At least Paul Davidson, the likely new owner of Real Mallorca, seems to have the right attitudes. And let us certainly not decry the benevolence and humility of some of the wealthy. I once bumped into the German rock star Peter Maffay as he was getting off his push bike to unlock the gates to the Trencadora in Pollensa; his foundation is lauded for its good works and one only hears good things of the man.
Be careful what you wish for. And who are these wealthy people? Perhaps some warning bells should have been ringing when Matthias Kühn of Kühn & Partner, purveyors of property to the filthy rich, spoke about the opportunities afforded by the new wave of the industrial-scale-minted foreign buyer. Russians, in a word. And Heaven forbid that there is some high-rent, high-security gated villa on the go or perhaps Mark Thatcher will pitch up, giving the luckies the possibility of diversifying into a bit of bounty-hunting in the form of kidnapping on behalf of some God-forsaken African basket case of a nation. Mallorca has a long reputation as a millionaire's playground. There are plenty of wealthy Mallorcans. And now there's this new wave.
Be careful what you wish for. A while back a local politician expressed a concern that the current economic difficulties could lead to increased crime. It was over-blown scare-mongering perhaps, but civil disobedience ...? Which brings me back to Sardinia. What's happening there? "Arrogant ostentation of the super-rich." "These people think they rule the world." Hugely expensive properties, Russian oligarchs and celebrity Italians such as Flavio Briatore who recently was greeted as his motorised dinghies were making shore with cries of "louts, go home" and a barrage of wet sand.
Economic difficulties can create strong reactions. The mega rich are not necessarily the solution to these difficulties; in fact far from it. The Sardinians have had enough of those who show off their wealth. Be careful what you wish for Mallorca.
* The quotes and some Sardinian references are from an article by Alexander Chancellor in "The Guardian" - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/15/italy.globaleconomy.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssqBjaTzOU). Today's title - album by a Scottish band.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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