One of my favourite Sa Pobla stories is to do with events 62 years ago, when the town hall managed to lose a beach. Commanded by Madrid to sort out municipal boundaries, Sa Pobla engaged in some horse-trading with Muro. The result was that it swapped that part of Albufera which went to the sea (and the beach) in exchange for extending its interior boundary eastwards. It thought it had a deal. It did only insofar as more agricultural possibilities were obtained. Muro, perhaps by luck or possibly by foresight, obtained what is now the main part of Playa de Muro. The ultimate result was to be that Muro's economy, courtesy of its upmarket resort, diversified massively into tourism. Sa Pobla's economy didn't.
The missed opportunity condemned Sa Pobla to rely more or less solely on its agriculture, which has undoubtedly brought it wealth - thanks mainly to potatoes and rice - but which could have been significantly greater. Perhaps in recognition of its historical error in having failed to climb aboard the tourism train, the town - once democracy was established - retrenched. It came to be the island's centre of cultural revivalism. As an example, last Saturday afternoon the town was resonating with the blasts of hundreds of bagpipes: decades of piping revivalism were being celebrated.
A year ago, the town hall held a first series of seminars to consider its tourism future. Or even present. Without a tourism past, notwithstanding the fact that its January Sant Antoni fiestas have officially been in the national touristic interest for fifty years, the citizens who turned up were operating from pretty much a blank canvass. What they started to paint onto this canvass was accommodation, which in Sa Pobla's case means mostly only private properties.
During the second series of seminars, held last week, it was reported that the number of tourist places had virtually doubled in the space of twelve months. The increase was totally due to holiday rentals - all legitimate and all charging the tourist tax. Significant though this rise is, it needs to be placed in context. Compared with another neighbour - Alcudia - the number of places is 3.5% of what Alcudia has in hotel places, with no account taken of holiday rentals, legitimate or not.
Strategically, Sa Pobla is opting for alternative tourism. This inevitably means culture, heritage and gastronomy. Alternative it may be, if not exactly innovative. The alternative tourism seeker can thus be housed in a house (or similar) and enjoy this alternativism. Alternatively, this tourism seeker may well appreciate that the beach isn't so far away, and that the beach (or beaches) in question are considered to be among Mallorca's finest. One of these is Es Comú, part of the beach that had been Muro's before Sa Pobla obliged by handing over the rest and now one subjected to - so we are told - "massification".
Selva is a town further inland. Almost three years ago now, it did something similar to Sa Pobla: invited the locals to talk tourism. At the time, it could muster around 600 places. It will be more now because of an increase to the ninety or so holiday homes it was said to have. The town hall's tourism plan, interestingly enough, made a virtue of the fact that beaches in Alcudia and Pollensa weren't a million miles away. Promoting alternative tourism was going to get it only so far.
Also three years ago, Vilafranca's town hall was keen to find ways of attracting more tourists. There was a problem because it was being bypassed. A further one, the town hall accepted, was that in general terms it was way behind the tourism eight ball. Yet last month, the environmentalists GOB were backing Vilafranca's demands for the regional government to restore "sanity" to tourism. From having been nowhere touristically, the town hall had discovered that tourists were occupying holiday homes in the municipality. It was suffering "massification".
The three cases - Sa Pobla, Selva, Vilafranca - highlight ways in which all Mallorca's municipalities were obliged by the last Partido Popular government to come up with tourism plans. They also show how attitudes to tourism differ. Selva saw itself as being a centre for all types - sun-and-beach included; Sa Pobla would prefer its tourists don't head off to the beach.
Something else which is highlighted is the reform under the 2012 tourism law which made it easier to make rural properties available as holiday homes. While Sa Pobla has embraced this, Vilafranca wants obstacles to be raised.
What is happening is that properties in the island's interior, both rural and urban, are increasingly being devoted to tourism. It's a story which mirrors the experiences on the coasts and so contributes to a distortion in the accommodation market. Sa Pobla has doubled the number of places in a year. Will it double them again next year?
Showing posts with label Villages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Villages. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Who Are Fiestas For?
In the late 1960s, a leaflet was produced to promote the Cossier folk dancers of Algaida. This was a curious time for Mallorca and its traditions, the Franco regime appearing disinterested in them and preferring instead to make them subordinate to standardised tradtions of Spain. Flamenco and so on, therefore became the symbols of tradition in the resorts. Apparent disinterest was compounded by migration. Workers moved to the coasts, so when it came time for the annual fiestas back in the village, any number of them could no longer attend. The old traditions began to wane.
The perception of disinterest wasn't an entirely accurate one though. While initially, at the start of the tourism boom, traditions and fiestas in Mallorca were paid little attention to, there was a gradual appreciation that they might actually have some benefit for tourism. A landmark decision in this regard, where Mallorca was concerned, was the declaration of Sa Pobla's Sant Antoni fiestas as being in the national tourist interest. This was in 1966. Sant Antoni does of course take place in January, but even back then, there was a realisation that tourism had to break out of a seasonal pattern. It was why, for example, the regime made "tourism days" mandatory towards the end of September: the season in the early years more or less stopped once schools in Britain and Germany had gone back.
The Algaida Cossiers had something in common with the Sa Pobla fiesta, and they still do. They dance during the summer fiestas of Sant Jaume, but they also appear at exactly the same time in January, when Algaida honours its winter patron, Sant Honorat. So, by the late 1960s the Fomento del Turismo, the Mallorca Tourism Board, was assisting in the promotion of the Cossiers, which also meant that the fiestas themselves were being promoted.
If you go right back in time to the start of organised tourism development with the formation of the tourism board in 1905, you will find that fiestas and fairs were among promotional efforts. Though these were specifically for Palma, which made perfect sense given the undeveloped nature of the island, the tourism potential was being explored.
Come into the present, and two years ago the town hall in Algaida published its strategy for tourism. All municipalities in Mallorca had been told by the tourism ministry that they had to have one. Though Carlos Delgado, the minister who insisted on this, took his fair share of criticism, the order that was sent out to the town halls was a sensible one. For the first time, an attempt was being made at some form of unified strategy for the whole island, a strategy based on the importance of tourism for each and every part of Mallorca.
Algaida, a town with very little actual tourism in the sense of having tourism accommodation, focused its strategy on a variety of elements, one of which was the dance of the Cossiers and so the fiestas of Sant Jaume and Sant Honorat. If you go to the town's tourism website - www.visitalgaida.com - you will discover a fairly decent effort at promotion, included in which are the fiestas, the Cossiers and indeed the Algaida fair.
The point about Algaida is that it is a typical inland village which is easy to overlook. The same can be said for several other villages (or towns, if you prefer). Take Vilafranca de Bonany or Sant Joan for instance. They are quite near to Algaida, but both suffer as they are off the main Palma-Manacor road. It might also be said that they suffer because neither has immediately obvious tourism interest. Except of course that they do, and one interest is that of fiestas and fairs. Vilafranca, adhering to the command for a tourism strategic plan, wants to push its melon fair in early September. Sant Joan, by its very name, has an obvious association with the fiestas of Sant Joan - John the Baptist - in June and August (one for his birth, one for his death). Neither town has gone as far as Algaida has in promoting fiestas, but both have an appreciation of the potential tourism benefit.
The title of this article asks who the fiestas are for. Fundamentally, they are for the local people. There has, though, been some disquiet expressed at the possibility of village fiestas being the target for tourists. But in one way or another, they always have been. It would be most unlikely, even with stronger promotion, that the village fiestas would ever be flooded with tourists, as it would need excursions' operators to do so, and they, with the odd exception, don't bother. To suggest, however, that these village fiestas are not for tourists would be wrong. The tourism value was recognised over a hundred years ago, it was understood by the Franco regime, and it has now, strategically, also been recognised.
The perception of disinterest wasn't an entirely accurate one though. While initially, at the start of the tourism boom, traditions and fiestas in Mallorca were paid little attention to, there was a gradual appreciation that they might actually have some benefit for tourism. A landmark decision in this regard, where Mallorca was concerned, was the declaration of Sa Pobla's Sant Antoni fiestas as being in the national tourist interest. This was in 1966. Sant Antoni does of course take place in January, but even back then, there was a realisation that tourism had to break out of a seasonal pattern. It was why, for example, the regime made "tourism days" mandatory towards the end of September: the season in the early years more or less stopped once schools in Britain and Germany had gone back.
The Algaida Cossiers had something in common with the Sa Pobla fiesta, and they still do. They dance during the summer fiestas of Sant Jaume, but they also appear at exactly the same time in January, when Algaida honours its winter patron, Sant Honorat. So, by the late 1960s the Fomento del Turismo, the Mallorca Tourism Board, was assisting in the promotion of the Cossiers, which also meant that the fiestas themselves were being promoted.
If you go right back in time to the start of organised tourism development with the formation of the tourism board in 1905, you will find that fiestas and fairs were among promotional efforts. Though these were specifically for Palma, which made perfect sense given the undeveloped nature of the island, the tourism potential was being explored.
Come into the present, and two years ago the town hall in Algaida published its strategy for tourism. All municipalities in Mallorca had been told by the tourism ministry that they had to have one. Though Carlos Delgado, the minister who insisted on this, took his fair share of criticism, the order that was sent out to the town halls was a sensible one. For the first time, an attempt was being made at some form of unified strategy for the whole island, a strategy based on the importance of tourism for each and every part of Mallorca.
Algaida, a town with very little actual tourism in the sense of having tourism accommodation, focused its strategy on a variety of elements, one of which was the dance of the Cossiers and so the fiestas of Sant Jaume and Sant Honorat. If you go to the town's tourism website - www.visitalgaida.com - you will discover a fairly decent effort at promotion, included in which are the fiestas, the Cossiers and indeed the Algaida fair.
The point about Algaida is that it is a typical inland village which is easy to overlook. The same can be said for several other villages (or towns, if you prefer). Take Vilafranca de Bonany or Sant Joan for instance. They are quite near to Algaida, but both suffer as they are off the main Palma-Manacor road. It might also be said that they suffer because neither has immediately obvious tourism interest. Except of course that they do, and one interest is that of fiestas and fairs. Vilafranca, adhering to the command for a tourism strategic plan, wants to push its melon fair in early September. Sant Joan, by its very name, has an obvious association with the fiestas of Sant Joan - John the Baptist - in June and August (one for his birth, one for his death). Neither town has gone as far as Algaida has in promoting fiestas, but both have an appreciation of the potential tourism benefit.
The title of this article asks who the fiestas are for. Fundamentally, they are for the local people. There has, though, been some disquiet expressed at the possibility of village fiestas being the target for tourists. But in one way or another, they always have been. It would be most unlikely, even with stronger promotion, that the village fiestas would ever be flooded with tourists, as it would need excursions' operators to do so, and they, with the odd exception, don't bother. To suggest, however, that these village fiestas are not for tourists would be wrong. The tourism value was recognised over a hundred years ago, it was understood by the Franco regime, and it has now, strategically, also been recognised.
Monday, April 30, 2012
The 1812 Overture: Búger
An overture is not just an orchestral work, it is also a proposal. In 1812, the overture in the tiny village of Búger was such that its proposal to be an independent administration was accepted. It seceded from the union with its neighbour Campanet, and so became what it is today, the smallest - by size - municipality in Mallorca.
Búger is one of those places in Mallorca that might as well, as far as the rest of the island is concerned, not exist. It isn't known for anything and has no claim to fame, other than its smallness (just over eight square kilometres) and, where English speakers are concerned, a name with an unfortunate propensity for lewdness.
Búger's 1812 overture was in effect more a case of unilaterally declaring independence. Thanks to the constitution agreed by the parliament in Cádiz in that year, places that didn't have councils were allowed to have them. If you have ever wondered why there are so many town halls and so many tiny municipalities, then you need look no further than the 1812 declaration for the answer. Two hundred years on, Búger has been celebrating its anniversary and everyone else has been arguing that it is a nonsense that there should be a town hall for such a small place and for many, many other small places in Mallorca and in Spain.
Recently, the UPyD party advanced the case for merging municipalities. It is far from alone in making such a case. The municipalities are on the lowest rung of the ladder of Spain's system of public administration, a system which, because of the cascade from the national centre to the regions, to the provinces, to the islands and then on to the municipalities, costs an absolute fortune to maintain.
It is too simplistic and convenient, however, to believe that municipalities could be merged or local government rationalised by merely sweeping them away. In believing this, one is confronted by at least 200 years of history (more in fact in the case of other towns). One is also confronted by a principle of localism enshrined in the Cádiz declaration. This principle had been borrowed from the French and the "commune", established early on during the French Revolution as the lowest level of public administration.
In September 2007, the one-time editor of "The Times", Simon Jenkins, wrote a passionate defence of localism in which he made reference to the French commune. His point, or one of them, was that, through decentralisation to even the tiniest of administrations (and some French communes are miniscule by comparison with the likes of Búger), local issues were resolved that much more satisfactorily. The main point was that such localism is the best form of democracy because citizen involvement is devolved to the smallest possible unit.
Jenkins drew a comparison between these small units and the smallest unit of democratic administration in Britain which covers an average of 118,000 people. Búger has a population of just over 1,000 people. In terms of inhabitants, it isn't the smallest municipality; Escorca with under 300 people is. The contrast with what, on average, are far larger administrative units in Britain is stark. But this contrast is not solely one of size, it is also one of mentality and identity.
In Britain, the loss of a sense of community is something that is often bemoaned, and successive reorganisations of local government have helped to reinforce this loss and to also make the principle of highly localised government seem anachronistic. The British mentality veers towards the pragmatic, but pragmatism is hard to establish in local administration when there are barriers of local identity and centuries of history.
Britain's insular mentality is, like its system of local government, on nothing like the scale of typical Mallorcan insularity. For many Mallorcans, this insularity is not the island but the village, the family and the network. And for these many Mallorcans, their identity is threatened not just by arguments that would see their councils and mayors abandoned but also by an attack on their language. It is not untypical, especially in times of crisis, such as at present, for there to be a retrenchment into the comfort of identity, and this means the local community. Disruption of this comfort leads to social dislocation and/or dissent. It is disruption that can come at a price.
Jenkins' view of localism can be criticised for being overly romantic. The system doesn't, for all manner of reasons, work satisfactorily in Mallorca. But it is one with which people identify. It is not pragmatic, it is anachronistic, it is hugely expensive, but in 200 years time will Búger be celebrating its four hundredth anniversary of independence?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for April 2012
Argentina: Repsol nationalisation - 19 April 2012
Attractions and all-inclusives - 24 April 2012
Balearic Symphony Orchestra - 6 April 2012
Búger: 200 years of independence - 30 April 2012
Charity and expats - 15 April 2012
Coast law reform - 13 April 2012
Culture: shows and presentation - 27 April 2012
Drunken tourism: tackling - 9 April 2012
Eden Hotels - 21 April 2012
English-speaking radio - 14 April 2012
Es Trenc beach - 4 April 2012
Expat division on social lines - 2 April 2012
Freedom of information: Spain - 8 April 2012
Hotel conversion and town halls - 10 April 2012
IVA increase in 2013 - 28 April 2012
Jumeirah Port Sóller Hotel & Spa - 29 April 2012
King Juan Carlos' apology - 20 April 2012
Palma Sunday trading - 18 April 2012
Palma's logo and slogan - 5 April 2012
Partido Popular: Pastor will not stand - 25 April 2012
Pollensa blue flags - 22 April 2012
Pollensa military theme park (April Fool) - 1 April 2012
Puerto Alcúdia boat and cuttlefish fair - 23 April 2012
Puerto Alcúdia market - 7 April 2012
Republicanism - 16 April 2012
Sa Pobla Jazz Festival - 17 April 2012
Tourism law: hotels and secondary activities - 12 April 2012
Tourism law: slowness in legislation - 26 April 2012
Tourist tax - 3 April 2012
Town hall mergers - 11 April 2012
Búger is one of those places in Mallorca that might as well, as far as the rest of the island is concerned, not exist. It isn't known for anything and has no claim to fame, other than its smallness (just over eight square kilometres) and, where English speakers are concerned, a name with an unfortunate propensity for lewdness.
Búger's 1812 overture was in effect more a case of unilaterally declaring independence. Thanks to the constitution agreed by the parliament in Cádiz in that year, places that didn't have councils were allowed to have them. If you have ever wondered why there are so many town halls and so many tiny municipalities, then you need look no further than the 1812 declaration for the answer. Two hundred years on, Búger has been celebrating its anniversary and everyone else has been arguing that it is a nonsense that there should be a town hall for such a small place and for many, many other small places in Mallorca and in Spain.
Recently, the UPyD party advanced the case for merging municipalities. It is far from alone in making such a case. The municipalities are on the lowest rung of the ladder of Spain's system of public administration, a system which, because of the cascade from the national centre to the regions, to the provinces, to the islands and then on to the municipalities, costs an absolute fortune to maintain.
It is too simplistic and convenient, however, to believe that municipalities could be merged or local government rationalised by merely sweeping them away. In believing this, one is confronted by at least 200 years of history (more in fact in the case of other towns). One is also confronted by a principle of localism enshrined in the Cádiz declaration. This principle had been borrowed from the French and the "commune", established early on during the French Revolution as the lowest level of public administration.
In September 2007, the one-time editor of "The Times", Simon Jenkins, wrote a passionate defence of localism in which he made reference to the French commune. His point, or one of them, was that, through decentralisation to even the tiniest of administrations (and some French communes are miniscule by comparison with the likes of Búger), local issues were resolved that much more satisfactorily. The main point was that such localism is the best form of democracy because citizen involvement is devolved to the smallest possible unit.
Jenkins drew a comparison between these small units and the smallest unit of democratic administration in Britain which covers an average of 118,000 people. Búger has a population of just over 1,000 people. In terms of inhabitants, it isn't the smallest municipality; Escorca with under 300 people is. The contrast with what, on average, are far larger administrative units in Britain is stark. But this contrast is not solely one of size, it is also one of mentality and identity.
In Britain, the loss of a sense of community is something that is often bemoaned, and successive reorganisations of local government have helped to reinforce this loss and to also make the principle of highly localised government seem anachronistic. The British mentality veers towards the pragmatic, but pragmatism is hard to establish in local administration when there are barriers of local identity and centuries of history.
Britain's insular mentality is, like its system of local government, on nothing like the scale of typical Mallorcan insularity. For many Mallorcans, this insularity is not the island but the village, the family and the network. And for these many Mallorcans, their identity is threatened not just by arguments that would see their councils and mayors abandoned but also by an attack on their language. It is not untypical, especially in times of crisis, such as at present, for there to be a retrenchment into the comfort of identity, and this means the local community. Disruption of this comfort leads to social dislocation and/or dissent. It is disruption that can come at a price.
Jenkins' view of localism can be criticised for being overly romantic. The system doesn't, for all manner of reasons, work satisfactorily in Mallorca. But it is one with which people identify. It is not pragmatic, it is anachronistic, it is hugely expensive, but in 200 years time will Búger be celebrating its four hundredth anniversary of independence?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for April 2012
Argentina: Repsol nationalisation - 19 April 2012
Attractions and all-inclusives - 24 April 2012
Balearic Symphony Orchestra - 6 April 2012
Búger: 200 years of independence - 30 April 2012
Charity and expats - 15 April 2012
Coast law reform - 13 April 2012
Culture: shows and presentation - 27 April 2012
Drunken tourism: tackling - 9 April 2012
Eden Hotels - 21 April 2012
English-speaking radio - 14 April 2012
Es Trenc beach - 4 April 2012
Expat division on social lines - 2 April 2012
Freedom of information: Spain - 8 April 2012
Hotel conversion and town halls - 10 April 2012
IVA increase in 2013 - 28 April 2012
Jumeirah Port Sóller Hotel & Spa - 29 April 2012
King Juan Carlos' apology - 20 April 2012
Palma Sunday trading - 18 April 2012
Palma's logo and slogan - 5 April 2012
Partido Popular: Pastor will not stand - 25 April 2012
Pollensa blue flags - 22 April 2012
Pollensa military theme park (April Fool) - 1 April 2012
Puerto Alcúdia boat and cuttlefish fair - 23 April 2012
Puerto Alcúdia market - 7 April 2012
Republicanism - 16 April 2012
Sa Pobla Jazz Festival - 17 April 2012
Tourism law: hotels and secondary activities - 12 April 2012
Tourism law: slowness in legislation - 26 April 2012
Tourist tax - 3 April 2012
Town hall mergers - 11 April 2012
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