Muro town hall's councillors have passed a motion in favour of the defence of Catalan, despite the Partido Popular councillors voting against the motion. The town hall has also agreed to maintain the current contract for water supply in the town which is said to result in higher charges to customers than in other municipalities.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Showing posts with label Water supply. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water supply. Show all posts
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa requests cut to price of water
As previously reported, concerns over water supply during the high season, because of the insufficient supply from local wells, have led Pollensa town hall to formally ask for a cut in the price of water from the desalination plant in Alcúdia, Pollensa being the only municipality that has water supplied from the plant.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Potato Head
Remember Mr. Potato Head? I do. He's still with us, but now he comes with his own head. He became self-sufficient, courtesy of a prosthetic potato, putting an end to the weekly shop being deprived of a King Edward or two, as was once the case. One suspects, though, there is less pleasure to be had than when the eyes or glasses were pressed into a real spud and out squirted some juice. Mr. Potato Head was one of the great toys. Hours of endless amusement. How simple and how much fun.
This all goes by the way of an introduction to yet another of the island's fairs. From yesterday and running until next weeked, it is the Fira de Tardor in Sa Pobla (that's autumn fair for those of you not up to speed with the seasons in Catalan). And what better idea is there in a town known for its potatoes than to make the potato the theme of the fair. Yep, it's potato time in Sa Pobla, coming hard on the heels of the pumpkin revelries in neighbouring Muro. Another fair, another vegetable.
Sa Pobla also has a certain celebrity for toys. They're missing a trick with the autumn fair. Mr. Potato Head should be the mascot, at a stroke combining the Sa Pobla traditions of potato and toy - "Senyor Cap de Patata". But you know, I was writing this piece and thinking about a mascot and then went and actually looked at the events taking place at the fair, and there it was ... a mascot will be presented at the official opening. Could it be that Mr. Potato Head will indeed be in Sa Pobla? Given that they go in for those giants or big head masks at the fairs or fiestas, it would be about right.
Anyway, if you go along to the fair you won't be able to avoid sampling dishes made from potatoes, which kind of seems a bit, well, naff. It's not as though the potato is rarely to be found on one's plate in the normal course of nose-bagging events, but I guess they do rather more than just hand out dollops of mash or something. In fact I know what sort of thing they have on offer because there is a list of restaurants and their "specialities" for the duration of the fair. You can find it on the Sa Pobla town hall's website (in Catalan), if you can be bothered. A couple of them have "bacallà amb patata". Cod 'n' chips, but no mushy peas. Of course it could all be very much worse. Sa Pobla is also known for ... eels. I think I'll stick to the potatoes, if that's ok.
There is, incidentally, a much wider aspect to the potato theme. It may have escaped your attention but 2008 is the United Nations International Year of the Potato, and it is in recognition of this, in addition to the importance of the potato to the Sa Pobla economy, that the fair has adopted the potato.
For information on the Sa Pobla fair, see the WHAT'S ON BLOG - http://wotzupnorth.blogspot.com.
If you've never experienced the delight of stepping under the shower only for the water to stop as you're in mid-hair wash, then you really should come and stay here for a while, because sooner or later there will be a cut to the water supply. It happens not infrequently; in Playa de Muro at any rate. Like yesterday.
On one occasion when the water went off, I called the company - FUSOSA. It was rather alarming as they were unaware of the cut. So I thought I would do the same yesterday, just in case. No, they were fully aware; it was a problem with the supply. Yes, I think we got that much. The point is that the water was off for getting on for four hours. As a result of last week's power cut - all seven hours of it - GESA-Endesa is to give discounts on all electricity bills by way of compensation. Now, I wonder if FUSOSA will be doing the same. I doubt it somewhat.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Billy Idol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grBLbiyJTDk). Today's title - ok, literary quiz time for a change. "Potato head" was an insult directed at a character from one of the outstanding British novels of the last 30 years. It was set in the Fens, and eels (to give a further Sa Pobla link) featured. What was the novel and who was the author?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
This all goes by the way of an introduction to yet another of the island's fairs. From yesterday and running until next weeked, it is the Fira de Tardor in Sa Pobla (that's autumn fair for those of you not up to speed with the seasons in Catalan). And what better idea is there in a town known for its potatoes than to make the potato the theme of the fair. Yep, it's potato time in Sa Pobla, coming hard on the heels of the pumpkin revelries in neighbouring Muro. Another fair, another vegetable.
Sa Pobla also has a certain celebrity for toys. They're missing a trick with the autumn fair. Mr. Potato Head should be the mascot, at a stroke combining the Sa Pobla traditions of potato and toy - "Senyor Cap de Patata". But you know, I was writing this piece and thinking about a mascot and then went and actually looked at the events taking place at the fair, and there it was ... a mascot will be presented at the official opening. Could it be that Mr. Potato Head will indeed be in Sa Pobla? Given that they go in for those giants or big head masks at the fairs or fiestas, it would be about right.
Anyway, if you go along to the fair you won't be able to avoid sampling dishes made from potatoes, which kind of seems a bit, well, naff. It's not as though the potato is rarely to be found on one's plate in the normal course of nose-bagging events, but I guess they do rather more than just hand out dollops of mash or something. In fact I know what sort of thing they have on offer because there is a list of restaurants and their "specialities" for the duration of the fair. You can find it on the Sa Pobla town hall's website (in Catalan), if you can be bothered. A couple of them have "bacallà amb patata". Cod 'n' chips, but no mushy peas. Of course it could all be very much worse. Sa Pobla is also known for ... eels. I think I'll stick to the potatoes, if that's ok.
There is, incidentally, a much wider aspect to the potato theme. It may have escaped your attention but 2008 is the United Nations International Year of the Potato, and it is in recognition of this, in addition to the importance of the potato to the Sa Pobla economy, that the fair has adopted the potato.
For information on the Sa Pobla fair, see the WHAT'S ON BLOG - http://wotzupnorth.blogspot.com.
If you've never experienced the delight of stepping under the shower only for the water to stop as you're in mid-hair wash, then you really should come and stay here for a while, because sooner or later there will be a cut to the water supply. It happens not infrequently; in Playa de Muro at any rate. Like yesterday.
On one occasion when the water went off, I called the company - FUSOSA. It was rather alarming as they were unaware of the cut. So I thought I would do the same yesterday, just in case. No, they were fully aware; it was a problem with the supply. Yes, I think we got that much. The point is that the water was off for getting on for four hours. As a result of last week's power cut - all seven hours of it - GESA-Endesa is to give discounts on all electricity bills by way of compensation. Now, I wonder if FUSOSA will be doing the same. I doubt it somewhat.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Billy Idol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grBLbiyJTDk). Today's title - ok, literary quiz time for a change. "Potato head" was an insult directed at a character from one of the outstanding British novels of the last 30 years. It was set in the Fens, and eels (to give a further Sa Pobla link) featured. What was the novel and who was the author?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Tap Turns On The Water
Another year, another Three Kings celebration. At least it was not as cold as it has been in the past when the “Kings” turned up yesterday at the pier in Puerto Alcúdia. And today marks the end of the protracted festivity period, until the next one in ten days’ time.
To other matters, specifically water. Just prior to going back to England for Christmas, the story broke about the problems with the water in Muro (Playa de Muro). Why it had taken since September for this to become an issue, I don’t know. September it was when residents were being warned about the quality of the drinking water. At least that is what is claimed. First I knew about the warning was the article in “Ultima Hora” just before Christmas. I had received no notification, yet I live in Playa de Muro.
So much for communication. The water company can join the growing list of lousy PR exponents – together with Juaneda. But what of the water problem? Basically, it has all to do with a load of nitrates – too many of them in the water supply. The question I have is why was it only admitted in September (albeit that I didn’t hear about it). I fancy that a nitrate problem doesn’t just suddenly arise.
The reporting of this has been curious. For a kick off, the water company was not named, either in Ultima Hora or in “Euro Weekly” (which ran the misleading headline that Muro residents had been without water, which was not the case). Well, the water company for this area is Fusosa, so presumably it is they who are responsible for the water quality.
The company says that a government department ordered them to issue the warning. Why should it require the department’s intervention for a water company to warn people over a potential health hazard? No points, once more, for terrific PR. It goes on to say that the problem will only be rectified by the building of a desalination unit (whenever that might be). So, in the meantime, residents are advised not to drink the tap water. But how long has this been a problem? As I say, I cannot believe it suddenly became a problem in September.
For my part, I do not drink the water, and have long used bottled water, especially after people complained that tea and coffee tasted salty (and that was a few years ago). It should not be necessary. In fact, the water company should be liable to compensate residents who have had to buy bottled water – in my opinion. Tap water is generally always sound, whether in Mallorca or Britain. Tap water is generally always of a good quality. Not long ago, there was a radio report on blind tests given to “experts” comparing tap water and various brands of bottled water (some quite expensive). Want to know which rated the best for taste etc.? Yep, the tap water.
There is a rip-off regarding bottled water. That it has become a fashion accessory is one thing, but it is no better than the over-hyped “spa” this and that. I have an anecdote. In the late 1980s, I was part of an MBA group. What we said in our group was confidential, but I shall break part of that confidence. One of the group members was both a doctor of chemistry and a senior manager with one of the privatised water companies in England. As part of its new business, it had launched its own bottled water. This particular group member brought a couple of bottles in one day. Tasted ok, nicely packaged, nicely priced as well (if you were the water company). And do you know what? He told us where the water came from. Where do you think it came from? Bloody good taps in that part of England.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Nat King Cole (a sort of Three Kings association – I don’t just throw this together you know). Today’s title – which group and who was the main man in that group?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
To other matters, specifically water. Just prior to going back to England for Christmas, the story broke about the problems with the water in Muro (Playa de Muro). Why it had taken since September for this to become an issue, I don’t know. September it was when residents were being warned about the quality of the drinking water. At least that is what is claimed. First I knew about the warning was the article in “Ultima Hora” just before Christmas. I had received no notification, yet I live in Playa de Muro.
So much for communication. The water company can join the growing list of lousy PR exponents – together with Juaneda. But what of the water problem? Basically, it has all to do with a load of nitrates – too many of them in the water supply. The question I have is why was it only admitted in September (albeit that I didn’t hear about it). I fancy that a nitrate problem doesn’t just suddenly arise.
The reporting of this has been curious. For a kick off, the water company was not named, either in Ultima Hora or in “Euro Weekly” (which ran the misleading headline that Muro residents had been without water, which was not the case). Well, the water company for this area is Fusosa, so presumably it is they who are responsible for the water quality.
The company says that a government department ordered them to issue the warning. Why should it require the department’s intervention for a water company to warn people over a potential health hazard? No points, once more, for terrific PR. It goes on to say that the problem will only be rectified by the building of a desalination unit (whenever that might be). So, in the meantime, residents are advised not to drink the tap water. But how long has this been a problem? As I say, I cannot believe it suddenly became a problem in September.
For my part, I do not drink the water, and have long used bottled water, especially after people complained that tea and coffee tasted salty (and that was a few years ago). It should not be necessary. In fact, the water company should be liable to compensate residents who have had to buy bottled water – in my opinion. Tap water is generally always sound, whether in Mallorca or Britain. Tap water is generally always of a good quality. Not long ago, there was a radio report on blind tests given to “experts” comparing tap water and various brands of bottled water (some quite expensive). Want to know which rated the best for taste etc.? Yep, the tap water.
There is a rip-off regarding bottled water. That it has become a fashion accessory is one thing, but it is no better than the over-hyped “spa” this and that. I have an anecdote. In the late 1980s, I was part of an MBA group. What we said in our group was confidential, but I shall break part of that confidence. One of the group members was both a doctor of chemistry and a senior manager with one of the privatised water companies in England. As part of its new business, it had launched its own bottled water. This particular group member brought a couple of bottles in one day. Tasted ok, nicely packaged, nicely priced as well (if you were the water company). And do you know what? He told us where the water came from. Where do you think it came from? Bloody good taps in that part of England.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Nat King Cole (a sort of Three Kings association – I don’t just throw this together you know). Today’s title – which group and who was the main man in that group?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Part Of The Union
Water. Of the utilities, water provision is arguably the most important. It is why the regular water “outages” are so hard to deal with. They never last that long, but they are frequent, usually in the mornings, disrupting showers or washing-machines. I rang the company this morning. Weren’t aware of any cut to supply, but a “técnico” would have a look. Never saw a técnico but the water came back on again after about an hour. Just one of those small trials of local life that really should not have to be.
Noises emanating from the World Travel Market are all very positive. If proof were needed of the importance of the British market, it has been there in abundance - in addition to the politicians, the top people of TUI, Thomas Cook and the Iberostar hotels have made their way to London, and have combined to declare that 2008 will be another excellent year. There is another side to this. If proof were needed of the importance of the tour operators and the major hotel chains to the Balearic and central governments, it has also been there in abundance. The politicians alienate these businesses at their peril, and so when the president of Iberostar announces, as reported in the “Diario” that the recuperation of the coastlines is a “political responsibility” and not one for the likes of Iberostar to assume, one well imagines that the politicians take due note.
There are few more impressive figures in Mallorcan life than Miquel Fluxà, the Iberostar president. He has presided over a highly successful international hotel chain that locally in Alcúdia and Can Picafort and more so in Playa de Muro is a byword for quality as it is elsewhere. Yesterday I was looking around the work going on at the Iberostar Albufera Playa. The interiors are being gutted and refurbished. Its neighbour, the Albufera Park, was similarly refitted last winter; the old Dunas Park became the remodelled Playa de Muro Village the winter before that. Continuous improvement - the old maxim of the quality movement.
And a bit more on politicians, or to be more precise political parties. The Unió Mallorquina (UM - Mallorcan Union) has celebrated its first 25 years. The UM is a nationalist party dedicated to the preservation of facets of Mallorcan (and Balearic) life, the customs, the language and so on. Its achievements cannot be underestimated. Its representatives hold positions of some power in Mallorca, the departing president was the head of the Mallorca council and is now president of the Balearic parliament, the mayors of both Alcúdia and Pollensa are UM. The Alcúdia mayor, Miquel Ferrer, has been in the running to take over as president of the party, but to the annoyance of Ferrer supporters who see his main rival, Miquel Nadal, as being too Palma-centric and being “of the past”, Nadal looks set to be the new president.
For many British expatriates, were they even to have an interest in local or indeed national politics (which generally they do not), the UM would not, I suspect, be the party of choice; that, one might presume, would be the Partido Popular. I declare no interest other than the fact that the UM has demonstrated that a nationalist party can build respectability in a relatively short period. UM nationalism is no militancy. Mallorca and the Balearics have no separatist tendency nor are they a part of any grand Catalan autonomy. Coincidentally, a survey in today’s “Ultima Hora” refers to the fact that the Balearics rank joint fourth among the regions of Spain in terms of how much the people of these regions identify with Spain (the Basque land and Catalonia being right down the list). It is perhaps a curiosity that this affinity with Spain co-exists with such a strong local political voice.
QUIZ
Yesterday - For all old Moodyists everywhere, The Moody Blues. Today’s title - who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Noises emanating from the World Travel Market are all very positive. If proof were needed of the importance of the British market, it has been there in abundance - in addition to the politicians, the top people of TUI, Thomas Cook and the Iberostar hotels have made their way to London, and have combined to declare that 2008 will be another excellent year. There is another side to this. If proof were needed of the importance of the tour operators and the major hotel chains to the Balearic and central governments, it has also been there in abundance. The politicians alienate these businesses at their peril, and so when the president of Iberostar announces, as reported in the “Diario” that the recuperation of the coastlines is a “political responsibility” and not one for the likes of Iberostar to assume, one well imagines that the politicians take due note.
There are few more impressive figures in Mallorcan life than Miquel Fluxà, the Iberostar president. He has presided over a highly successful international hotel chain that locally in Alcúdia and Can Picafort and more so in Playa de Muro is a byword for quality as it is elsewhere. Yesterday I was looking around the work going on at the Iberostar Albufera Playa. The interiors are being gutted and refurbished. Its neighbour, the Albufera Park, was similarly refitted last winter; the old Dunas Park became the remodelled Playa de Muro Village the winter before that. Continuous improvement - the old maxim of the quality movement.
And a bit more on politicians, or to be more precise political parties. The Unió Mallorquina (UM - Mallorcan Union) has celebrated its first 25 years. The UM is a nationalist party dedicated to the preservation of facets of Mallorcan (and Balearic) life, the customs, the language and so on. Its achievements cannot be underestimated. Its representatives hold positions of some power in Mallorca, the departing president was the head of the Mallorca council and is now president of the Balearic parliament, the mayors of both Alcúdia and Pollensa are UM. The Alcúdia mayor, Miquel Ferrer, has been in the running to take over as president of the party, but to the annoyance of Ferrer supporters who see his main rival, Miquel Nadal, as being too Palma-centric and being “of the past”, Nadal looks set to be the new president.
For many British expatriates, were they even to have an interest in local or indeed national politics (which generally they do not), the UM would not, I suspect, be the party of choice; that, one might presume, would be the Partido Popular. I declare no interest other than the fact that the UM has demonstrated that a nationalist party can build respectability in a relatively short period. UM nationalism is no militancy. Mallorca and the Balearics have no separatist tendency nor are they a part of any grand Catalan autonomy. Coincidentally, a survey in today’s “Ultima Hora” refers to the fact that the Balearics rank joint fourth among the regions of Spain in terms of how much the people of these regions identify with Spain (the Basque land and Catalonia being right down the list). It is perhaps a curiosity that this affinity with Spain co-exists with such a strong local political voice.
QUIZ
Yesterday - For all old Moodyists everywhere, The Moody Blues. Today’s title - who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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