The problems with staff at Puerto Pollensa's old people's home not being paid have resurfaced, a protest being staged yesterday outside the home, drawing attention to the fact that the last three salary cheques have not been paid.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Thursday, August 16, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Can Picafort's duck day passes off without incident
The duck-throwing of Can Picafort's Mare de Déu d'Agost fiestas has passed off without live ducks being illegally released. This year's events saw melons being added to the rubber duck prizes on offer to swimmers.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Street battle in Playa de Palma
Video on YouTube shows a street fight between around 50 German youths and 40 African street sellers in Playa de Palma. The fight was the consequence of regular incidents between the two groups, the German youths being "ultra" fans from a football club. The area has been the scene in the past for racist attacks involving German youths.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 August 2012
Very close again overnight and there is a high at 09.00 of 26.3, humidity levels lower than during the night and currently around the 80 mark. Hot again today, into the low 30s, and hotter still tomorrow with no obvious change on the cards.
Afternoon update: Not outlandishly hot with an area high of 33.2, but still very close and temperatures due to rise tomorrow and into Saturday.
Afternoon update: Not outlandishly hot with an area high of 33.2, but still very close and temperatures due to rise tomorrow and into Saturday.
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
A strange thing happened yesterday. A group of us were taking a coffee in an Alcúdia bar and each of us admitted to having experienced the same sensations. They had occurred over the previous few days. What we admitted to was that nothing seemed to be right. Everyone's daily lives were in a state of turmoil, turbulence, confusion perhaps. One of us had to just pack up the day before and call it a day before a gasket was blown. Another said that in his bar, on one day this week, every table appeared to pose a problem, even if there wasn't. A colleague of his had said to him that she felt that things just weren't as they should be. Crucially though, none of this was seemingly only down to stress.
I myself have been in a distinctly odd place over the past few days. It has been a feeling of going mad, but I know why and I know why others have been experiencing similar loss of control or of situations spiralling out of control. It's known as August and the height of the season. This is the superficial explanation, at any rate.
"There is an air of love and of happiness, and this is the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness." Will Smith's summer madness is quite different to the summer madness of August in Mallorca; that of mental disruption, of a perception that you are living outside your body, incapable of getting back in and re-establishing some perspective and some control.
It could all be explained by the heat, I suppose. Is it all simply a case of not knowing what to do with oneself because of the oppressiveness of the heat over the past few days. Maybe, but we've known greater heat. This August isn't unusual. Except that it is. It has got to people. Got to them in ways and in degrees I've not known before.
August madness is heat and it is frustration. Traffic is a nightmare, one created by the regular crossings, the regular roundabouts, the regular, uninterrupted movement of slow-moving aliens with inflatable dinosaurs, the regular slow movement of a hire car undecided as to which way it should be going, which lane it should be in, which action to take when the orange lights flash, the regular fast movement of other cars squeezing into limited areas of tarmac in desperate attempts to steal one or two places in the queue.
The supermarkets are a nightmare of not knowing to have to weigh and label, of the hunt for some identity to support the credit card. The banks are a nightmare of the paying in of wads of cash; the petrol stations their own hire-car logjam nightmares.
But then all of this is August madness. We know it well. None of it is new, but this year there is something different, something intangible, something requiring an explanation. The trouble is, I don't know how to explain it. It had occurred to me that perhaps we are all carrying with us the greater troubles caused by the economy, of greater troubles to come. Maybe this is it. Or maybe there is a collective feeling of something breaking down, for whatever reason, an instinctive sense that all is not right. I can't put my finger on it. And nor, it would seem, can others.
To escape the August madness, there is always the beach, itself a potential nightmare of overcrowding, of the incessant pat-pat of beach tennis, of the interruptions for the massage or sunglasses offer. I stare towards the sun but avoid staring at it directly. For no good reason, the rhythmic pitter-patter of tom-toms comes into my mind. I can hear it clearly, Nick Mason's patented drum sound. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. I know what the reason is. I've had a flashback.
Years ago, I would have been fifteen I suppose, I was listening to the Floyd's magnus opus. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't out of body (of course not), it was a trance, that's all I can think it was. There was nothing lysergic involved, but I hallucinated. What I saw was a decaying body filled with wasps. And all the time there was the rhythm and the softly-breathed incantation to set the controls for the heart of the sun.
We've come to the heart of the sun and we now see decay. Is this the explanation for what's not quite right, a reaching into the subconscious to discover frightening imagery we had hoped we would never see, or never see again? The controls for the heart of the sun are being lost.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
I myself have been in a distinctly odd place over the past few days. It has been a feeling of going mad, but I know why and I know why others have been experiencing similar loss of control or of situations spiralling out of control. It's known as August and the height of the season. This is the superficial explanation, at any rate.
"There is an air of love and of happiness, and this is the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness." Will Smith's summer madness is quite different to the summer madness of August in Mallorca; that of mental disruption, of a perception that you are living outside your body, incapable of getting back in and re-establishing some perspective and some control.
It could all be explained by the heat, I suppose. Is it all simply a case of not knowing what to do with oneself because of the oppressiveness of the heat over the past few days. Maybe, but we've known greater heat. This August isn't unusual. Except that it is. It has got to people. Got to them in ways and in degrees I've not known before.
August madness is heat and it is frustration. Traffic is a nightmare, one created by the regular crossings, the regular roundabouts, the regular, uninterrupted movement of slow-moving aliens with inflatable dinosaurs, the regular slow movement of a hire car undecided as to which way it should be going, which lane it should be in, which action to take when the orange lights flash, the regular fast movement of other cars squeezing into limited areas of tarmac in desperate attempts to steal one or two places in the queue.
The supermarkets are a nightmare of not knowing to have to weigh and label, of the hunt for some identity to support the credit card. The banks are a nightmare of the paying in of wads of cash; the petrol stations their own hire-car logjam nightmares.
But then all of this is August madness. We know it well. None of it is new, but this year there is something different, something intangible, something requiring an explanation. The trouble is, I don't know how to explain it. It had occurred to me that perhaps we are all carrying with us the greater troubles caused by the economy, of greater troubles to come. Maybe this is it. Or maybe there is a collective feeling of something breaking down, for whatever reason, an instinctive sense that all is not right. I can't put my finger on it. And nor, it would seem, can others.
To escape the August madness, there is always the beach, itself a potential nightmare of overcrowding, of the incessant pat-pat of beach tennis, of the interruptions for the massage or sunglasses offer. I stare towards the sun but avoid staring at it directly. For no good reason, the rhythmic pitter-patter of tom-toms comes into my mind. I can hear it clearly, Nick Mason's patented drum sound. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. I know what the reason is. I've had a flashback.
Years ago, I would have been fifteen I suppose, I was listening to the Floyd's magnus opus. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't out of body (of course not), it was a trance, that's all I can think it was. There was nothing lysergic involved, but I hallucinated. What I saw was a decaying body filled with wasps. And all the time there was the rhythm and the softly-breathed incantation to set the controls for the heart of the sun.
We've come to the heart of the sun and we now see decay. Is this the explanation for what's not quite right, a reaching into the subconscious to discover frightening imagery we had hoped we would never see, or never see again? The controls for the heart of the sun are being lost.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 August 2012
Humid overnight and this morning, 24.8 the high at 08.00 on what will be a fine, sunny, hot day, just the day to celebrate a fiesta (Mare de Déu d'Agost), go for a swim off the Mar y Paz in Can Picafort and catch some rubber ducks (or even some live ones?).
Afternoon update: Seriously warm all day. Inland highs to 35, and the Colonia Sant Pere tradition for being the hottest coastal area was maintained by beating even the inland high, 35.7. Another yellow advice has been issued for Friday (meaning it's going to get even hotter?)
Afternoon update: Seriously warm all day. Inland highs to 35, and the Colonia Sant Pere tradition for being the hottest coastal area was maintained by beating even the inland high, 35.7. Another yellow advice has been issued for Friday (meaning it's going to get even hotter?)
Dave's Day Out
So, there I was engrossed in conversation outside Puerto Pollensa's Cultural bar with a wealthy businessman who was explaining to me that neither austerity nor growth is a solution to the economic mess in Western Europe or indeed elsewhere. He has a solution. It is in fact a very good one, which is why I'm not going to tell you. Not just yet anyway. I have to think about the book rights. One doesn't just solve economic crisis over a coffee and water in Puerto Pollensa and give the whole game away without ensuring that one extracts some benefit.
In the course of this conversation, I received a phone call (let's just say it came from a Mallorca-based English newspaper), telling me that the British Prime Minister was apparently staying in a hotel somewhere between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa (and as there are only two of them, you can probably figure out which one).
It must have all been a cunning plan to put the press off the scent of where Dave really was. But knowing better and knowing also that an offer (from the same newspaper) to treat me to a Club sandwich at this particular Club hotel whilst I was lurking in the undergrowth intent on spying the Prime Minister in his speedos and putting away a litre or so of sangria was likely to run up against a bureaucratic problem in accounts for the payment of such a lavish expense, I expressed to the wealthy businessman that I found it highly implausible that Dave would be at the hotel. Dave doesn't do regular tourist hotels, much though, big society, man of the people, the new Boris and all that, he might wish to.
"I can tell you that he's not staying at the Club (add as applicable)," said said wealthy businessman, thus confirming my doubts. There was then a pause (dramatic effect). "He's staying in a villa." "Go on," I thought. "In Cala San Vicente." Which was as far as it went. He knew where, he knew I would like him to tell me, and I knew he wouldn't.
Anyway, armed with this knowledge I then phoned the same newspaper back, somewhat relieved that I didn't have to head off to the hotel and wander around the pool area staring at women who might or might not be the Prime Minister's wife and then being thrown out by security.
Prior to this, however, I had tried my best to home in on which villa when my businessman compatriot suggested that a couple of hours with Cameron explaining the solution to the economic crisis could prove most worthwhile. Well, why don't we go off now and tell him? I was prepared to be blindfolded so that I wouldn't know precisely the whereabouts of the Dave and Sam villa. Nothing doing, though. The meeting with Dave would have to be another day.
Meanwhile, and having thought that this apparent scoop as to Dave's general location would result in press helicopters hovering over Cala San Vicente to try and determine which villa, it would seem that Dave's people were willing to permit photos of Dave to be released. So, it wasn't a scoop at all; not that it really was, as I didn't know which villa. There was therefore a photo of Dave in Pollensa's Plaça Major, yet at the same time it wasn't being confirmed that he was staying in the area, which by now everyone knew was the case. The Prime Minister is, therefore, staying in a villa in Cala San Vicente (or its general environs). Except of course, he isn't. And this is official. Or isn't, as the case may be.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
In the course of this conversation, I received a phone call (let's just say it came from a Mallorca-based English newspaper), telling me that the British Prime Minister was apparently staying in a hotel somewhere between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa (and as there are only two of them, you can probably figure out which one).
It must have all been a cunning plan to put the press off the scent of where Dave really was. But knowing better and knowing also that an offer (from the same newspaper) to treat me to a Club sandwich at this particular Club hotel whilst I was lurking in the undergrowth intent on spying the Prime Minister in his speedos and putting away a litre or so of sangria was likely to run up against a bureaucratic problem in accounts for the payment of such a lavish expense, I expressed to the wealthy businessman that I found it highly implausible that Dave would be at the hotel. Dave doesn't do regular tourist hotels, much though, big society, man of the people, the new Boris and all that, he might wish to.
"I can tell you that he's not staying at the Club (add as applicable)," said said wealthy businessman, thus confirming my doubts. There was then a pause (dramatic effect). "He's staying in a villa." "Go on," I thought. "In Cala San Vicente." Which was as far as it went. He knew where, he knew I would like him to tell me, and I knew he wouldn't.
Anyway, armed with this knowledge I then phoned the same newspaper back, somewhat relieved that I didn't have to head off to the hotel and wander around the pool area staring at women who might or might not be the Prime Minister's wife and then being thrown out by security.
Prior to this, however, I had tried my best to home in on which villa when my businessman compatriot suggested that a couple of hours with Cameron explaining the solution to the economic crisis could prove most worthwhile. Well, why don't we go off now and tell him? I was prepared to be blindfolded so that I wouldn't know precisely the whereabouts of the Dave and Sam villa. Nothing doing, though. The meeting with Dave would have to be another day.
Meanwhile, and having thought that this apparent scoop as to Dave's general location would result in press helicopters hovering over Cala San Vicente to try and determine which villa, it would seem that Dave's people were willing to permit photos of Dave to be released. So, it wasn't a scoop at all; not that it really was, as I didn't know which villa. There was therefore a photo of Dave in Pollensa's Plaça Major, yet at the same time it wasn't being confirmed that he was staying in the area, which by now everyone knew was the case. The Prime Minister is, therefore, staying in a villa in Cala San Vicente (or its general environs). Except of course, he isn't. And this is official. Or isn't, as the case may be.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Hirsts and Pollett guilty of fraud and money laundering
The trial of John Hirst and others at Bradford Crown Court has ended, sentencing to be given later this month, following the jury's guilty verdicts on Linda Hirst (for money laundering) and Richard Pollett (for fraud) and the guilty plea entered by John Hirst for fraud he committed in engineering the Ponzi scheme that operated out of Calvià and which swindled many expatriates out of millions.
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
MALLORCA TODAY - Fines for illegal beach sellers
In a co-ordinated effort by police forces in northern Mallorca, 37 people have been issued with fines for the sale of fruit and goods and for offering massage on beaches in Pollensa and the bay of Alcúdia.
Update: The total number of those dealt with under this co-ordinated police activity has risen to 65.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Update: The total number of those dealt with under this co-ordinated police activity has risen to 65.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Rafael Ayala's body found
The search for missing Alcúdia man, Rafael Ayala, is over, his body having been found this morning on a finca amidst heavy vegetation. Ayala went missing last Wednesday, provoking intensive searches involving volunteers, two of whom found the body.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Three more fires in one day
Another day, another three fires, one of them near Betlem on the bay of Alcúdia. The smoke was very clearly seen yesterday afternoon from beaches in Alcúdia and Muro. The fire affected almost two hectares of woodland.
Update: In the end, the fire in Betlem was more widespread, 20 hectares being affected before the blaze was brought fully under control.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Update: In the end, the fire in Betlem was more widespread, 20 hectares being affected before the blaze was brought fully under control.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Bauzá is invited to La Beata but ...
Santa Margalida's mayor Miguel Cifre has issued an invitation to President Bauzá to attend the traditional La Beata procession in September, but he has made it clear that the president's presence should not be accompanied by the same security measures that the mayor found unacceptable when the president visited the town in May.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Mallorca's Olympians welcomed back
Four Spanish Olympic athletes from Mallorca were welcomed back yesterday at Palma airport. These included Puerto Pollensa's Sete Benavides who finished fourth in the K-1 200 metres kayak final.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 14 August 2012
22.9 at 08.15. Very little more to say than the forecast for today and the rest of the week is for clear blue skies and hot temperatures, the yellow alert being turned on tomorrow.
Afternoon update: Certainly a warm day, though not as humid. 34.8 the inland high in Sa Pobla. 33.2 the highest in coastal areas (Colonia Sant Pere).
Afternoon update: Certainly a warm day, though not as humid. 34.8 the inland high in Sa Pobla. 33.2 the highest in coastal areas (Colonia Sant Pere).
Rapper's Delete
I can't be certain but I wouldn't be at all surprised were Josep Miquel Arenas, aka Josemy Valtonyc Marx Beltrán (Es Rapero Pagés - Marxista Leninista) to receive a visit from someone in the near future. Who is Josemy Valtonyc etc.? He is a 17-year-old rapper and he is not happy with, variously: the King and the royal family; Jorge Campos, the founder of the Círculo Balear; the mayor of Sineu; and the president of Nuevas Generaciones in Sineu.
Referred to as the rapper from Sa Pobla, despite a connection with Sineu (he went to school there and has, you might have noticed, got problems with some people from Sineu), Valtonyc has been creating a right old rapping rumpus. Via his poetry, he has nominated the King for assassination, Jorge Campos for death, and both Pere Joan Jaume, the mayor, and Laura Montenegro, of Nuevas Generaciones, for the receipt of a silver bullet, presumably from the barrel of a gun and not in a velvet-lined presentation box.
In case you are not quite up to speed with some of this, Campos' Círculo Balear is a sort of Catalan anti-Christ, while Nuevas Generaciones are like the Young Conservatives but without the Harris tweeds. Given his various targets, you can conclude that Valtonyc is not exactly a monarchist, not exactly a great admirer of Castellano and not exactly a supporter of the Partido Popular. The "Marxista Leninista", which is how he describes himself on his Facebook page, is a bit of a giveaway, after all. His revolutionary tendencies extend to his also describing himself as an "independentista", which is not a type of orthodontics, but a declaration of support for an independent Mallorca or Balearics or Catalan Lands or probably all three.
Rap is prone to the use of extreme lyrics, but going around suggesting that the King should be assassinated is not likely to be dismissed as rapping poetic licence. It's why I fancy that Valtonyc might just find himself in a spot of bother. One of his latest outpourings is unlikely to endear him to the good people of Sineu either. "Sineu Will Be Afghanistan" is its title, which will come as a shock to the residents of the town though not as much of a shock as to the mayor who is now also being lined up for the guillotine.
While Valtonyc's extremism probably won't be overlooked, might it be better if it were? Is he just an angry young teenager who has found he has a talent (at least one presumes this to be the case) for rap and poetry and has a lot to get off his chest? It might, therefore, be wiser to ignore him rather than fuel his extremism with the publicity of martyrdom that could yet come his way.
Does, however, Valtonyc represent an undercurrent of belief among Mallorcan youth? Mallorca has historically not been especially radical. Quite the contrary, it is an essentially conservative society. But such an undercurrent does exist and not only among the youth.
There is an event called the "Acampallengua". It is held annually and is a youth festival that celebrates Catalan language and culture. During the 2009 event in Sa Pobla, a spokesperson from the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), an organisation that is the complete opposite to the Círculo Balear, delivered a speech in which it was stated that "we will not take a step backwards in the struggle for our language". At the time, I asked whether the Acampallengua might just contribute to a radicalisation of youth. During this year's event in Manacor, there was a performance by ... you've guessed it, Valtonyc.
It would be quite wrong to suggest that all those who attend these events are either radical or are prone to being radicalised or that they have any sympathy for Valtonyc's lyrics. But there will be some, and the organisers of the events, a group called Mallorcan Youths for the Language, have as a key sponsor the OCB. And the OCB promotes independence, just like Valtonyc.
It would be interesting to know what the OCB thinks of Valtonyc's death threats. Chances are that they would be put down to teenage angst and the excesses of rap culture. And to be honest, this is probably what they should be put down to.
Nevertheless, there is an uneasy sense that Valtonyc is tapping into a growth of what I discerned in 2009, a time when there wasn't a ruling political party that took a negative view of Catalan, a time also when economic crisis hadn't caused the decimation it since has.
Will the rapper of Sa Pobla just be ignored or will he join the ranks of the new Catalan martyrs? It won't be the former. Jorge Campos has denounced him.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Referred to as the rapper from Sa Pobla, despite a connection with Sineu (he went to school there and has, you might have noticed, got problems with some people from Sineu), Valtonyc has been creating a right old rapping rumpus. Via his poetry, he has nominated the King for assassination, Jorge Campos for death, and both Pere Joan Jaume, the mayor, and Laura Montenegro, of Nuevas Generaciones, for the receipt of a silver bullet, presumably from the barrel of a gun and not in a velvet-lined presentation box.
In case you are not quite up to speed with some of this, Campos' Círculo Balear is a sort of Catalan anti-Christ, while Nuevas Generaciones are like the Young Conservatives but without the Harris tweeds. Given his various targets, you can conclude that Valtonyc is not exactly a monarchist, not exactly a great admirer of Castellano and not exactly a supporter of the Partido Popular. The "Marxista Leninista", which is how he describes himself on his Facebook page, is a bit of a giveaway, after all. His revolutionary tendencies extend to his also describing himself as an "independentista", which is not a type of orthodontics, but a declaration of support for an independent Mallorca or Balearics or Catalan Lands or probably all three.
Rap is prone to the use of extreme lyrics, but going around suggesting that the King should be assassinated is not likely to be dismissed as rapping poetic licence. It's why I fancy that Valtonyc might just find himself in a spot of bother. One of his latest outpourings is unlikely to endear him to the good people of Sineu either. "Sineu Will Be Afghanistan" is its title, which will come as a shock to the residents of the town though not as much of a shock as to the mayor who is now also being lined up for the guillotine.
While Valtonyc's extremism probably won't be overlooked, might it be better if it were? Is he just an angry young teenager who has found he has a talent (at least one presumes this to be the case) for rap and poetry and has a lot to get off his chest? It might, therefore, be wiser to ignore him rather than fuel his extremism with the publicity of martyrdom that could yet come his way.
Does, however, Valtonyc represent an undercurrent of belief among Mallorcan youth? Mallorca has historically not been especially radical. Quite the contrary, it is an essentially conservative society. But such an undercurrent does exist and not only among the youth.
There is an event called the "Acampallengua". It is held annually and is a youth festival that celebrates Catalan language and culture. During the 2009 event in Sa Pobla, a spokesperson from the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), an organisation that is the complete opposite to the Círculo Balear, delivered a speech in which it was stated that "we will not take a step backwards in the struggle for our language". At the time, I asked whether the Acampallengua might just contribute to a radicalisation of youth. During this year's event in Manacor, there was a performance by ... you've guessed it, Valtonyc.
It would be quite wrong to suggest that all those who attend these events are either radical or are prone to being radicalised or that they have any sympathy for Valtonyc's lyrics. But there will be some, and the organisers of the events, a group called Mallorcan Youths for the Language, have as a key sponsor the OCB. And the OCB promotes independence, just like Valtonyc.
It would be interesting to know what the OCB thinks of Valtonyc's death threats. Chances are that they would be put down to teenage angst and the excesses of rap culture. And to be honest, this is probably what they should be put down to.
Nevertheless, there is an uneasy sense that Valtonyc is tapping into a growth of what I discerned in 2009, a time when there wasn't a ruling political party that took a negative view of Catalan, a time also when economic crisis hadn't caused the decimation it since has.
Will the rapper of Sa Pobla just be ignored or will he join the ranks of the new Catalan martyrs? It won't be the former. Jorge Campos has denounced him.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, August 13, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - External personnel advisor at Pollensa town hall criticised
The Alternativa per Pollença, which had opposed the creation of a post of councillor for personnel, has criticised the appointment by the councillor of an external advisor to draw up a new workforce collective agreement, claiming that there are already people at the town hall who can do this. The town hall says that the move is necessary as the agreement has not been renewed for six years.
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 August 2012
Another close morning, 25 plus at 09.00. The week's forecast is for sun all the way and temperatures remaining in the low 30s.
Afternoon update: 30.5 the Sa Pobla high and only slightly lower on the coasts at 29.7. A new yellow alert for high temperatures is out from Wednesday.
Afternoon update: 30.5 the Sa Pobla high and only slightly lower on the coasts at 29.7. A new yellow alert for high temperatures is out from Wednesday.
The Russian Takeover
Have you ever looked at a Russian tour operator's website? On the assumption that you probably haven't, let me tell you that the Russian holidaymaker has a similar internet experience to everyone else. I don't know why I expected it to be different - sheer ignorance, prejudice or stereotyping I suppose - but it isn't. Not that for Natalie Tours anyway. Here we find the same smiling tour operator representatives with their crisp uniforms beaming from the screen and the same delighted couples and families looking longingly at each other on a romantic beach or splashing in a pool as any Thomson or Thomas Cook website would show.
There is one minor difficulty when it comes to the Natalie Tours website. It is incomprehensible; but fortunately, not entirely. Having clicked on various options, which I had taken, correctly as it turned out, to be country destinations, I got to Spain. Finding Mallorca was simple. With the exception of a k where there should be a c, a p where there should be an r and an n round the wrong way with a small c on its side on top of it (denoting y rather than j or ll), Mallorca is pretty obvious. So I clicked away to see where Natalie sends her Mallorcan tourists on tour.
To my surprise, the resorts with the greatest numbers of hotels (and mercifully the hotels are not listed in Cyrillic script) are Magalluf, Palmanova, Santa Ponsa and Playa de Palma. Why the surprise? Well, I'd assumed that the Russians wouldn't be setting foot in any of them as they are far too well off to be slumming it in Maga and its fellow usual suspects. I had thought that they would all be heading to the likes of Playa de Muro (aka Mypo) with its stock of four and five-star hotels. They do, but what Natalie's website demonstrates is that Russian tourists aren't necessarily all in the oligarch league.
I shouldn't have been completely surprised that there might be some economy-class Russian tourists amongst the Abramovices, as I had been told, admittedly to my surprise, that there are Russians in Alcúdia's Bellevue. What they make of it, Lord alone knows. Perhaps it reminds them of the Gulag. Natalie, it would appear, doesn't send her tourists to Bellevue (or at least she isn't admitting that she does) and though she fesses up to some three-star slummery in Maga, she does send them overwhelmingly to four or five-star establishments, which is what I had expected to find.
The view that Russian tourists are walking banks (ones with cash, as opposed to Spanish ones therefore) is a widely held one, and one that is held with justification. We are being told that the streets of Palma and elsewhere are now lined with 500 euro notes, all stuffed inside a Russian pocket or purse. On the sound of a Russian voice, a restaurant owner rolls out the red carpet, offers his Russian guests the best seats in the house and shoves any Brits who happen to be in the restaurant into a back room where they can't be seen.
Things are changing in Mallorca and they are changing dramatically and will continue to do so. The other day, whilst loitering with intent with a couple of chaps from "Ultima Hora" in Puerto Pollensa, some Russian tourists walked past. "Rusos," I said, obviously, at least it was obvious to me; it was less so to the UH bods. "It's all going to be different," I told them. "In ten years, Mallorca will be very different."
Maybe they were aware that Puerto Pollensa is little Britain, so they thought not so there. Well, maybe not there, but elsewhere, yes. Put it this way. At current rates of growth in the number of Russian tourists coming to Mallorca, by 2020, if these percentage rates were to be repeated year on year, there would be nearly one million Russian tourists.
A million, and Russian tourism would be reaching similar levels to those of Britain and Germany; levels as they currently stand. German tourism isn't likely to be affected, but British tourism could well be; in fact, I'd put money on it. Whereas the British were once upon a time looked upon as the best of all tourist spenders, they most certainly aren't now. The Scandinavians and the Germans have assumed this mantle, along of course with the Russians. There are plenty in the Mallorcan tourism industry who would be quite happy to see a reliance on British tourism reduced, and they may well have their wishes granted.
Mallorca has only so many hotel places (and non-hotel, but let's not get into that discussion again) and it isn't going to be increasing the number to any great extent. Indeed, the number may fall as a consequence of the provisions for hotel conversion. If Russian tourism were to grow as dramatically as I have suggested it might, something would have to give, and this would mean reductions in the number of tourists from certain existing markets. Any guesses which ones or one?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
There is one minor difficulty when it comes to the Natalie Tours website. It is incomprehensible; but fortunately, not entirely. Having clicked on various options, which I had taken, correctly as it turned out, to be country destinations, I got to Spain. Finding Mallorca was simple. With the exception of a k where there should be a c, a p where there should be an r and an n round the wrong way with a small c on its side on top of it (denoting y rather than j or ll), Mallorca is pretty obvious. So I clicked away to see where Natalie sends her Mallorcan tourists on tour.
To my surprise, the resorts with the greatest numbers of hotels (and mercifully the hotels are not listed in Cyrillic script) are Magalluf, Palmanova, Santa Ponsa and Playa de Palma. Why the surprise? Well, I'd assumed that the Russians wouldn't be setting foot in any of them as they are far too well off to be slumming it in Maga and its fellow usual suspects. I had thought that they would all be heading to the likes of Playa de Muro (aka Mypo) with its stock of four and five-star hotels. They do, but what Natalie's website demonstrates is that Russian tourists aren't necessarily all in the oligarch league.
I shouldn't have been completely surprised that there might be some economy-class Russian tourists amongst the Abramovices, as I had been told, admittedly to my surprise, that there are Russians in Alcúdia's Bellevue. What they make of it, Lord alone knows. Perhaps it reminds them of the Gulag. Natalie, it would appear, doesn't send her tourists to Bellevue (or at least she isn't admitting that she does) and though she fesses up to some three-star slummery in Maga, she does send them overwhelmingly to four or five-star establishments, which is what I had expected to find.
The view that Russian tourists are walking banks (ones with cash, as opposed to Spanish ones therefore) is a widely held one, and one that is held with justification. We are being told that the streets of Palma and elsewhere are now lined with 500 euro notes, all stuffed inside a Russian pocket or purse. On the sound of a Russian voice, a restaurant owner rolls out the red carpet, offers his Russian guests the best seats in the house and shoves any Brits who happen to be in the restaurant into a back room where they can't be seen.
Things are changing in Mallorca and they are changing dramatically and will continue to do so. The other day, whilst loitering with intent with a couple of chaps from "Ultima Hora" in Puerto Pollensa, some Russian tourists walked past. "Rusos," I said, obviously, at least it was obvious to me; it was less so to the UH bods. "It's all going to be different," I told them. "In ten years, Mallorca will be very different."
Maybe they were aware that Puerto Pollensa is little Britain, so they thought not so there. Well, maybe not there, but elsewhere, yes. Put it this way. At current rates of growth in the number of Russian tourists coming to Mallorca, by 2020, if these percentage rates were to be repeated year on year, there would be nearly one million Russian tourists.
A million, and Russian tourism would be reaching similar levels to those of Britain and Germany; levels as they currently stand. German tourism isn't likely to be affected, but British tourism could well be; in fact, I'd put money on it. Whereas the British were once upon a time looked upon as the best of all tourist spenders, they most certainly aren't now. The Scandinavians and the Germans have assumed this mantle, along of course with the Russians. There are plenty in the Mallorcan tourism industry who would be quite happy to see a reliance on British tourism reduced, and they may well have their wishes granted.
Mallorca has only so many hotel places (and non-hotel, but let's not get into that discussion again) and it isn't going to be increasing the number to any great extent. Indeed, the number may fall as a consequence of the provisions for hotel conversion. If Russian tourism were to grow as dramatically as I have suggested it might, something would have to give, and this would mean reductions in the number of tourists from certain existing markets. Any guesses which ones or one?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - John Hirst's son not guilty of money laundering
The verdicts of the jury at the trial of John Hirst and others accused of being part of a Ponzi scheme that operated out of Calvià continue to come through. Linda Hirst has been found guilty on a further count of money laundering, but Hirst's son, Daniel, and Linda Hirst's daughter, Zoe Waite, have been found not guilty.
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 August 2012
Quite a lot of light cloud but due to clear away on a morning with a high of 25.7 at 08.15. The advice is out again for high temperatures, though these haven't been as high on the coasts as might have been anticipated. The outlook for the week is remaining hot.
Afternoon update: Not as hot today. A good deal of light cloud along with the sun perhaps keeping things cooler. 32.7 inland in Sa Pobla and just touching 30 on the coasts.
Afternoon update: Not as hot today. A good deal of light cloud along with the sun perhaps keeping things cooler. 32.7 inland in Sa Pobla and just touching 30 on the coasts.
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