Morning high (7.58am): 7.2C
Forecast high: 17C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 20 February - Cloud, 17C; 21 February - Cloud, wind, 15C; 22 February - Cloud, 13C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3.
Cloudy. Not much of a day to come. Occasional sunny spells with any luck. The rest of the week's looking grey with rain at times.
Evening update (20.30): High of 18C.
Monday, February 19, 2018
When Luis Riu Became News
It would be wrong to conclude that the owners of Mallorca's Big Four hotel chains actively court publicity. They get it as they can't avoid it: when you're fishes the size of the Big Four in the small business pond of Mallorca, this is inevitable.
The Escarrers, father and son, are the most prominent: Meliá is the biggest of the Big Four. Miquel Fluxá of Iberostar is not far behind: with that mane of silver hair he is the most recognisable. Simon Pedro Barceló's banker appearance is the total opposite of Fluxá's flamboyance. He has rarely enjoyed the sort of coverage he has received recently, because of the now aborted merger with NH Hotels.
The Rius, brother and sister, are the least known, and Luis was less known than Carmen. This was how he had liked it. A somewhat reluctant head of a massive hotel empire, he had to step in (as did Carmen) when his father died in 1998. He had really wanted to be an architect. Everyone knows about Luis now. If he had ever believed that he would attain something approximating to global recognition, he would never have contemplated this being because of images of himself in handcuffs. Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County have given Luis the publicity he has always shunned.
On the face of it, things don't look great for Luis or for Riu Hotels & Resorts. Investigators had amassed 119 pages of documentation. Allegations of free stays in hotels or hefty discounts; Mariano Fernández, the former head of urban planning, was a beneficiary, and Mariano apparently had luxurious suites replete with jacuzzis and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label as a birthday present. The "gifts" seemingly spiralled out of control: one employee of the Miami public works department asked for free nights for her father.
None of this has of course been proven in a court of law. But damage has already been done. The company is threatening to sue individuals who have been making what it considers to be defamatory comments. It naturally and justifiably reserves the right to take action. Damage limitation is needed, and there are those in the Balearics only too ready to increase the damage.
Be it just a whiff or more potent, scandal surrounding any of the Big Four (especially the Big Four) provides an open goal for hotelier critics to net their recriminations. The Panama Papers offered this where Meliá was concerned. With Luis Riu, the goal is more tempting. The prosecutors got their man, even if he did give himself up voluntarily. For observers in Mallorca there is a greater reality with the Riu case than with the Panama Papers. Smoothing things with town hall and local authority officials - allegations or proven facts - has been a way of life on the island. (One says "has been" with a degree of optimism.) Everyone in Mallorca can understand what has happened in Florida, as it could just as easily have been in Mallorca.
For some current elements in higher political echelons in the Balearics, Luis Riu has been like manna from Heaven. It's not difficult to figure out who these include. The Balearic Islands do not deserve to be "shamed" in the way that they have been, has said Alberto Jarabo of Podemos. The image of the islands has been "tainted". Alberto can be thankful for not having tainted the image. Subletting a holiday rental in Son Serra de Marina and forgetting to declare the income is not something that anyone away from the islands gives two hoots about.
David Abril of Més has observed that certain "lobby" groups attempt to influence laws. Who can he possibly have been referring to? In foreign lands, power and influence are used in order to go above the law. Abril, as with Jarabo, could have been expected to have been less than impressed by developments in Miami.
What of the media, though? The broadcaster IB3 is being accused of having already condemned Luis Riu. A witch hunt has been launched. The coverage given to the affair is vast by comparison with other major stories, one of which was the Biel Barceló trip to the Dominican Republic. When a tourism minister from Més runs into controversy because of the supposedly irregular acceptance of a gift, this doesn't merit the same scrutiny as a hotelier allegedly plying individuals with gifts.
With IB3 there is a bigger game going on. The Partido Popular is demanding the resignation of its director, Andreu Manresa. The broadcaster is being politicised (nothing new with this; the same has been said in the past of other directors), its ratings are plummeting, and there are issues to do with the contracting of reporters and with a "poor working environment". Accusations of some bias in the Riu affair have to be considered in the wider context of criticisms coming from the political right.
Meanwhile, Luis Riu has never been such big news.
The Escarrers, father and son, are the most prominent: Meliá is the biggest of the Big Four. Miquel Fluxá of Iberostar is not far behind: with that mane of silver hair he is the most recognisable. Simon Pedro Barceló's banker appearance is the total opposite of Fluxá's flamboyance. He has rarely enjoyed the sort of coverage he has received recently, because of the now aborted merger with NH Hotels.
The Rius, brother and sister, are the least known, and Luis was less known than Carmen. This was how he had liked it. A somewhat reluctant head of a massive hotel empire, he had to step in (as did Carmen) when his father died in 1998. He had really wanted to be an architect. Everyone knows about Luis now. If he had ever believed that he would attain something approximating to global recognition, he would never have contemplated this being because of images of himself in handcuffs. Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County have given Luis the publicity he has always shunned.
On the face of it, things don't look great for Luis or for Riu Hotels & Resorts. Investigators had amassed 119 pages of documentation. Allegations of free stays in hotels or hefty discounts; Mariano Fernández, the former head of urban planning, was a beneficiary, and Mariano apparently had luxurious suites replete with jacuzzis and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label as a birthday present. The "gifts" seemingly spiralled out of control: one employee of the Miami public works department asked for free nights for her father.
None of this has of course been proven in a court of law. But damage has already been done. The company is threatening to sue individuals who have been making what it considers to be defamatory comments. It naturally and justifiably reserves the right to take action. Damage limitation is needed, and there are those in the Balearics only too ready to increase the damage.
Be it just a whiff or more potent, scandal surrounding any of the Big Four (especially the Big Four) provides an open goal for hotelier critics to net their recriminations. The Panama Papers offered this where Meliá was concerned. With Luis Riu, the goal is more tempting. The prosecutors got their man, even if he did give himself up voluntarily. For observers in Mallorca there is a greater reality with the Riu case than with the Panama Papers. Smoothing things with town hall and local authority officials - allegations or proven facts - has been a way of life on the island. (One says "has been" with a degree of optimism.) Everyone in Mallorca can understand what has happened in Florida, as it could just as easily have been in Mallorca.
For some current elements in higher political echelons in the Balearics, Luis Riu has been like manna from Heaven. It's not difficult to figure out who these include. The Balearic Islands do not deserve to be "shamed" in the way that they have been, has said Alberto Jarabo of Podemos. The image of the islands has been "tainted". Alberto can be thankful for not having tainted the image. Subletting a holiday rental in Son Serra de Marina and forgetting to declare the income is not something that anyone away from the islands gives two hoots about.
David Abril of Més has observed that certain "lobby" groups attempt to influence laws. Who can he possibly have been referring to? In foreign lands, power and influence are used in order to go above the law. Abril, as with Jarabo, could have been expected to have been less than impressed by developments in Miami.
What of the media, though? The broadcaster IB3 is being accused of having already condemned Luis Riu. A witch hunt has been launched. The coverage given to the affair is vast by comparison with other major stories, one of which was the Biel Barceló trip to the Dominican Republic. When a tourism minister from Més runs into controversy because of the supposedly irregular acceptance of a gift, this doesn't merit the same scrutiny as a hotelier allegedly plying individuals with gifts.
With IB3 there is a bigger game going on. The Partido Popular is demanding the resignation of its director, Andreu Manresa. The broadcaster is being politicised (nothing new with this; the same has been said in the past of other directors), its ratings are plummeting, and there are issues to do with the contracting of reporters and with a "poor working environment". Accusations of some bias in the Riu affair have to be considered in the wider context of criticisms coming from the political right.
Meanwhile, Luis Riu has never been such big news.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 18 February 2018
Morning high (9.17am): 11.7C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 19 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 20 February - Cloud, 17C; 21 February - Rain, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 easing Variable 2 to 3 this afternoon.
Quite a mild morning but rain is possible. Not much by way of sun anticipated.
Evening update (20.00): High of 14.8C. Some rain this morning, some sun this afternoon.
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 19 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 20 February - Cloud, 17C; 21 February - Rain, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 easing Variable 2 to 3 this afternoon.
Quite a mild morning but rain is possible. Not much by way of sun anticipated.
Evening update (20.00): High of 14.8C. Some rain this morning, some sun this afternoon.
Nomadic
I suppose it's fair to say that I was never particularly drawn to the idea of a British foreign resident amateur dramatics society - Nomads, the North of Mallorca Amateur Dramatics Society. Until, that is, I ended up almost by accident with a small part in 2015. It had been an awfully long time since I had been on stage - school as Thomas Mendip in The Lady's Not For Burning and either of Rosencrantz or Guildenstern in the Tom Stoppard play (not being too sure who was who was part of the deal with the play).
For the following production, I rewrote The Sound of Music, then it was Oliver and this year Mary Poppins. The idea was to make them like pantos, although it was more a case of making them farces. And over these years they have acquired - and one can say this with all due modesty - something of a cult status, typically because of what can go wrong: the prompt, Lorraine, falling backwards through the curtains during The Sound of Nomads has been the high point of the cock-ups.
With this status have come the audiences. The Casa de Cultura in Alcudia was so full for the third and final performance of A Spoonful of Nomads last night that there were kids sitting on the floor in front of the seats. Even the Saturday matinee was two-thirds full; that has never happened before. And remarkably enough, there were quite a number of Spanish in the audience.
So, a success and one for a small part of British resident life. I guess it says something about this foreign community, although I'm not entirely sure what. For one previously reluctant participant, I'm not overly minded to contemplate a so-called expat existence. Like Brexit, I let others worry themselves about that.
For the following production, I rewrote The Sound of Music, then it was Oliver and this year Mary Poppins. The idea was to make them like pantos, although it was more a case of making them farces. And over these years they have acquired - and one can say this with all due modesty - something of a cult status, typically because of what can go wrong: the prompt, Lorraine, falling backwards through the curtains during The Sound of Nomads has been the high point of the cock-ups.
With this status have come the audiences. The Casa de Cultura in Alcudia was so full for the third and final performance of A Spoonful of Nomads last night that there were kids sitting on the floor in front of the seats. Even the Saturday matinee was two-thirds full; that has never happened before. And remarkably enough, there were quite a number of Spanish in the audience.
So, a success and one for a small part of British resident life. I guess it says something about this foreign community, although I'm not entirely sure what. For one previously reluctant participant, I'm not overly minded to contemplate a so-called expat existence. Like Brexit, I let others worry themselves about that.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 17 February 2018
Morning high (8.04am): 7.2C
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 18 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 19 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 20 February - Cloud, sun, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 3 backing Northeast 5 in the afternoon.
The same mix of clear and cloudy sky this morning. Sunny later, clouding over by the evening. The forecast at present into next week suggests we are in for another cold snap from Wednesday.
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 18 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 19 February - Cloud, sun, 16C; 20 February - Cloud, sun, 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 3 backing Northeast 5 in the afternoon.
The same mix of clear and cloudy sky this morning. Sunny later, clouding over by the evening. The forecast at present into next week suggests we are in for another cold snap from Wednesday.
They Sing The Body Politic Electric
Around a month ago, Francina Armengol was ambushed in Madrid. At a pre-Fitur tourism fair session organised by the Exceltur alliance for tourism excellence she was left friendless in the face of an onslaught on various fronts. She couldn't even count on fellow PSOE-ite, the president of Valencia Ximo Puig: Valencia's PSOE is not in favour of a tourist tax.
The Balearic tax was but one issue. It was the one that grabbed most attention, as Francina copped it from the likes of Carmen Riu, whose brother is now of interest to the authorities in Florida. It was as well that the allegations against Luis Riu hadn't surfaced pre-Fitur; Francina might otherwise have wandered into dangerous territory re "irregular" practices in seeking to get her own back on Carmen.
Moderating that session was the president of Exceltur. The moderation was not as moderate as it perhaps should have been. The Exceltur president is José María González Álvarez. His day job is that of the CEO of Europcar, one of the car-hire giants which don't always appear to be the Balearic government's best friends.
Francina couldn't even rely on the moderator. Apart from the fact that José María was supposedly moderating, it wasn't entirely a surprise that he seemed disinclined to give Francina an easy ride. Within Exceltur, one has always felt that there must be business leaders who take a different view to the big hoteliers on an issue as controversial as holiday rentals: the car-hire sector would be one of them. Holiday rentals are good news for Europcar and others.
It wasn't holiday rentals, however, that had moderated José María's moderation. What had annoyed him in particular was an aspect of the Balearic government's proposed legislation for climate change. Faced with the prospect of all hire cars in the Balearics being electric by 2030, he informed Francina that "it will be the sector which decides this and not the Balearics". In actual fact the deadline for all hire cars being electric will be 2035. Seventeen years away; there is surely time for the car-hire sector to fall into line. Isn't there?
José María's apparent disagreement with Francina was not entirely in keeping with Europcar's own thinking. At the International Car Rental Show in Las Vegas last April, Europcar unveiled an initiative to create an all-electric car club. The car-hire sector is fully aware of the dynamics - electric cars, demanded because of their environmental friendliness, are going to have a significant impact on the industry.
In pure PR terms, José María might have adopted a more moderate tone with Francina. But the electric stipulation was just the latest issue in the far from harmonious relationship between the Balearic government and the hire-car multinationals. There has been all the business with not registering cars in the Balearics, with tax being paid elsewhere, with the hire-car sector being accused of "saturating" the islands' roads in summer.
It may have been the case that José María had felt that the Balearic government was stealing Europcar's thunder: look, we're already planning for an electric future, and we don't need a government to impose it. Possibly it was. But setting aside the differences that the multinationals have with the government, why should there be a problem with going all electric? Seventeen years represent a long time for technologies to further advance, for costs to come down, for infrastructure to be in place. The government is planning this infrastructure, and for islands the size of the Balearics, there can ultimately be little doubt that an all-electric future is eminently feasible.
There is a fear with the government's climate change strategy that some of it is just designed to grab headlines and be a potential boost to votes in 2019. Nevertheless, this government is the first to truly attempt to try and get to grips with climate change and with the related subjects, such as switching to renewables, if Madrid wasn't being as obstinate as it is.
An all-electric hire-car future is seventeen years off. Of course it's feasible. Who makes the decision shouldn't be the issue.
The Balearic tax was but one issue. It was the one that grabbed most attention, as Francina copped it from the likes of Carmen Riu, whose brother is now of interest to the authorities in Florida. It was as well that the allegations against Luis Riu hadn't surfaced pre-Fitur; Francina might otherwise have wandered into dangerous territory re "irregular" practices in seeking to get her own back on Carmen.
Moderating that session was the president of Exceltur. The moderation was not as moderate as it perhaps should have been. The Exceltur president is José María González Álvarez. His day job is that of the CEO of Europcar, one of the car-hire giants which don't always appear to be the Balearic government's best friends.
Francina couldn't even rely on the moderator. Apart from the fact that José María was supposedly moderating, it wasn't entirely a surprise that he seemed disinclined to give Francina an easy ride. Within Exceltur, one has always felt that there must be business leaders who take a different view to the big hoteliers on an issue as controversial as holiday rentals: the car-hire sector would be one of them. Holiday rentals are good news for Europcar and others.
It wasn't holiday rentals, however, that had moderated José María's moderation. What had annoyed him in particular was an aspect of the Balearic government's proposed legislation for climate change. Faced with the prospect of all hire cars in the Balearics being electric by 2030, he informed Francina that "it will be the sector which decides this and not the Balearics". In actual fact the deadline for all hire cars being electric will be 2035. Seventeen years away; there is surely time for the car-hire sector to fall into line. Isn't there?
José María's apparent disagreement with Francina was not entirely in keeping with Europcar's own thinking. At the International Car Rental Show in Las Vegas last April, Europcar unveiled an initiative to create an all-electric car club. The car-hire sector is fully aware of the dynamics - electric cars, demanded because of their environmental friendliness, are going to have a significant impact on the industry.
In pure PR terms, José María might have adopted a more moderate tone with Francina. But the electric stipulation was just the latest issue in the far from harmonious relationship between the Balearic government and the hire-car multinationals. There has been all the business with not registering cars in the Balearics, with tax being paid elsewhere, with the hire-car sector being accused of "saturating" the islands' roads in summer.
It may have been the case that José María had felt that the Balearic government was stealing Europcar's thunder: look, we're already planning for an electric future, and we don't need a government to impose it. Possibly it was. But setting aside the differences that the multinationals have with the government, why should there be a problem with going all electric? Seventeen years represent a long time for technologies to further advance, for costs to come down, for infrastructure to be in place. The government is planning this infrastructure, and for islands the size of the Balearics, there can ultimately be little doubt that an all-electric future is eminently feasible.
There is a fear with the government's climate change strategy that some of it is just designed to grab headlines and be a potential boost to votes in 2019. Nevertheless, this government is the first to truly attempt to try and get to grips with climate change and with the related subjects, such as switching to renewables, if Madrid wasn't being as obstinate as it is.
An all-electric hire-car future is seventeen years off. Of course it's feasible. Who makes the decision shouldn't be the issue.
Friday, February 16, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 February 2018
Morning high (7.50am): 8.6C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 17 February - Cloud, sun, 17C; 18 February - Cloud, 15C; 19 February - Cloud, 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 backing South 3 in the afternoon.
Blue and grey sky mix early on. Due to be mainly cloudy all day. Fairly warm.
Evening update (22.15): Not much sun but not band - high of 19.4C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 17 February - Cloud, sun, 17C; 18 February - Cloud, 15C; 19 February - Cloud, 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 backing South 3 in the afternoon.
Blue and grey sky mix early on. Due to be mainly cloudy all day. Fairly warm.
Evening update (22.15): Not much sun but not band - high of 19.4C.
Let's Go!: Stopping Catalanisation
Mos Movem! En Marcha! Let's Go! is the full name given to the Facebook page of a group that started in Menorca - Mos Movem. Let's go or let's get going are probably the best ways of putting this Menorquí into English.
The Facebook group was started some three months ago. There were, as of midday yesterday, 9,337 members. The aim of the group is to "mobilise Balearic civil society". This mobilisation is directed towards Catalanisation, and a key cause has allowed the group to grow stronger - requirements for speaking Catalan in the Balearic health service.
There is to be a demonstration in Palma on Sunday morning. The Catalan requirements will be one aspect, but more broadly this is a group - a movement - which rejects what it sees as dictatorial attitudes on behalf of the current Balearic government. A Catalan "imposition" is said to be indicative of this dictatorialism. Another is the apparent support of independence in Catalonia and a drive towards the fulfillment of an officially created Catalan Lands. President Armengol is accused of wanting the latter just as much as members of the more obviously nationalist Més.
Because of all this, Franco has returned, says one of the spokespeople for Mos Movem, Manuela Cañadas. Franco's return, it might be noted, is of a rather different flavour to the original, but we get the idea. Franco is always hauled out when there is some argument about imposition of one form or another.
In an interview with El Mundo, hardly a natural political ally of the current government, Manuela suggests that attempts have been made to keep the group off the broadcaster IB3; to not give it any publicity airtime. She adds that a request for a meeting with Armengol has gone unheeded. Because there has been no response, there will be the demo. Armengol's insistence that she pursues dialogue, according to Manuela, is a "facade". This may be putting it too strongly, but the president - as I have noted enough times - can make no public statements without stressing how much she and the government seek dialogue (and consensus). As it is said so often, you know it is at least partly phoney. And if it doesn't suit to have dialogue, e.g. with Mos Movem (allegedly), then it doesn't suit, so dialogue can go hang.
Mos Movem is hardly the first group to come along which takes issue with Catalanisation. However, what may distinguish it to the likes of the Circulo Balear or the Fundació Jaume III is that it is tapping into the popular culture of social media and into an issue - Catalan in the health service - that is arousing the sort of opposition that there was under the Bauzá government to trilingual teaching (which was more a case of the Catalan issue from the opposite perspective).
There won't be anything like the numbers protesting as there once was against Bauzá, and that will partly be because the opposition to Bauzá was so coordinated. Nevertheless, the demonstration will demonstrate the divisions that exist in Mallorcan and Balearic society.
One senses, if only from what one is told by Mallorcan people, that there is a majority who sides with Mos Movem. The group advocates, as did Bauzá and as do organisations such as the Fundació Jaume III, the promotion of the islands' languages (or dialects if you prefer) over Catalan. The insistence on Catalan is representative of the desire for there to be the Catalan Lands. In Mallorca, and seemingly also in the other islands, there is not a societal desire, only a partial political one that is bolstered by organisations diametrically opposite to Mos Movem - the Obra Cultural Balear is one.
It's not as though I don't know the ins and outs of the debates and the history. It's not as though I don't have a great deal of sympathy because of the repressions of the past. But with the language, I fail to understand why Catalan is elevated to the level that it is above the islands' languages. The preference for these languages is styled as being right-wing, but left or right politics should not have anything to do with it.
The trouble is that they do, despite the fact that they cause havoc in the two most important public sectors - education and health. Manuela Cañadas accuses Armengol of not engaging in dialogue. Even were she to, there wouldn't be consensus, and it doesn't seem to matter who the president is or what political complexion a government has. Consensus is absent. As a result, the same arguments crop up constantly to the satisfaction of no one or only to those who, for a time, are in power.
What a colossal waste of energy and what an absurd obsession with generating division. And now there's a new political party joining the fray - Jorge Campos of the Circulo Balear has set up Actua Balears to confront the "separatist threat". On and on it goes.
The Facebook group was started some three months ago. There were, as of midday yesterday, 9,337 members. The aim of the group is to "mobilise Balearic civil society". This mobilisation is directed towards Catalanisation, and a key cause has allowed the group to grow stronger - requirements for speaking Catalan in the Balearic health service.
There is to be a demonstration in Palma on Sunday morning. The Catalan requirements will be one aspect, but more broadly this is a group - a movement - which rejects what it sees as dictatorial attitudes on behalf of the current Balearic government. A Catalan "imposition" is said to be indicative of this dictatorialism. Another is the apparent support of independence in Catalonia and a drive towards the fulfillment of an officially created Catalan Lands. President Armengol is accused of wanting the latter just as much as members of the more obviously nationalist Més.
Because of all this, Franco has returned, says one of the spokespeople for Mos Movem, Manuela Cañadas. Franco's return, it might be noted, is of a rather different flavour to the original, but we get the idea. Franco is always hauled out when there is some argument about imposition of one form or another.
In an interview with El Mundo, hardly a natural political ally of the current government, Manuela suggests that attempts have been made to keep the group off the broadcaster IB3; to not give it any publicity airtime. She adds that a request for a meeting with Armengol has gone unheeded. Because there has been no response, there will be the demo. Armengol's insistence that she pursues dialogue, according to Manuela, is a "facade". This may be putting it too strongly, but the president - as I have noted enough times - can make no public statements without stressing how much she and the government seek dialogue (and consensus). As it is said so often, you know it is at least partly phoney. And if it doesn't suit to have dialogue, e.g. with Mos Movem (allegedly), then it doesn't suit, so dialogue can go hang.
Mos Movem is hardly the first group to come along which takes issue with Catalanisation. However, what may distinguish it to the likes of the Circulo Balear or the Fundació Jaume III is that it is tapping into the popular culture of social media and into an issue - Catalan in the health service - that is arousing the sort of opposition that there was under the Bauzá government to trilingual teaching (which was more a case of the Catalan issue from the opposite perspective).
There won't be anything like the numbers protesting as there once was against Bauzá, and that will partly be because the opposition to Bauzá was so coordinated. Nevertheless, the demonstration will demonstrate the divisions that exist in Mallorcan and Balearic society.
One senses, if only from what one is told by Mallorcan people, that there is a majority who sides with Mos Movem. The group advocates, as did Bauzá and as do organisations such as the Fundació Jaume III, the promotion of the islands' languages (or dialects if you prefer) over Catalan. The insistence on Catalan is representative of the desire for there to be the Catalan Lands. In Mallorca, and seemingly also in the other islands, there is not a societal desire, only a partial political one that is bolstered by organisations diametrically opposite to Mos Movem - the Obra Cultural Balear is one.
It's not as though I don't know the ins and outs of the debates and the history. It's not as though I don't have a great deal of sympathy because of the repressions of the past. But with the language, I fail to understand why Catalan is elevated to the level that it is above the islands' languages. The preference for these languages is styled as being right-wing, but left or right politics should not have anything to do with it.
The trouble is that they do, despite the fact that they cause havoc in the two most important public sectors - education and health. Manuela Cañadas accuses Armengol of not engaging in dialogue. Even were she to, there wouldn't be consensus, and it doesn't seem to matter who the president is or what political complexion a government has. Consensus is absent. As a result, the same arguments crop up constantly to the satisfaction of no one or only to those who, for a time, are in power.
What a colossal waste of energy and what an absurd obsession with generating division. And now there's a new political party joining the fray - Jorge Campos of the Circulo Balear has set up Actua Balears to confront the "separatist threat". On and on it goes.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 February 2018
Morning high (8.07am): 7.6C
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 16 February - Cloud, 19C; 17 February - Cloud, 18C; 18 February - Cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 to 3.
A fine, sunny day expected. Tomorrow and the weekend cloudy with some rain at times.
Evening update (21.30): High of 21.3C. Hooray!
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 16 February - Cloud, 19C; 17 February - Cloud, 18C; 18 February - Cloud, 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 to 3.
A fine, sunny day expected. Tomorrow and the weekend cloudy with some rain at times.
Evening update (21.30): High of 21.3C. Hooray!
Keeping Quiet About Holiday Rentals
Tomàs Adrover Albertí is Alcudia's councillor for the environment. They hadn't needed to let Tomás take care of the environment. They hadn't needed to even invite him to be part of the ruling administration. But they did. It was all something to do with being inclusive, if my memory serves me correctly.
They are the centre-right El Pi and the socialist PSOE. The last municipal election in Alcudia produced a situation reminiscent to how it had been for many years prior to the 2011 election (which the Partido Popular won). The former Unió Mallorquina, of which El Pi is not a direct descendant but is a descendant nevertheless, and PSOE used to form pacts. And by and large they worked well. The pact since 2015 has also worked reasonably well.
The inclusion of Tomàs slightly changed the dynamics of this pact. Tomàs is a councillor with GxA, Gent per Alcúdia. This "people's" party was in fact a compromise between Més and the Esquerra Unida (United Left). At each other's throats before the election, in Alcudia they were able to create a mini-pact. Tomás was from the Més wing; the PSM Mallorca Socialist Party to be precise.
Between them, El Pi and PSOE ended up with ten councillors after the election. As the required majority was nine, they didn't require anyone else. Tomàs was brought in nevertheless. Very little, to be honest, has been heard of him, and even on an issue as contentious as holiday rentals, Tomàs - environment portfolio and all - has been quiet.
Somehow, Alcudia town hall manages to keep a lid on things. Perhaps it's the sign of a certain maturity that exists within the corridors of that building on the calle Major. The three ruling parties may not have seen eye to eye on everything, but disagreements and dirty linen do not get a general airing in public. Holiday rentals have provided a perfect opportunity for such an airing, but remarkably enough there seems to be an absence of tension or conflict.
Prior to Tomás becoming a councillor, he stated that Alcudia lives from tourism and not from rubbish (this was a reference to the waste that was being imported via the port for incineration). Mayor Toni Mir (El Pi) told me in an interview that Alcudia lives from tourism. Joan Gaspar Vallori (PSOE), the tourism councillor and fifth deputy mayor, told me the same thing in a different interview. Everyone's agreed then, as they are on the type of tourism that Alcudia wishes to live from - quality, aka a tourism that has plenty of money to spend and isn't inclined to stagger along the streets of the municipality vomiting and urinating everywhere.
Alcudia has its share of the non-quality class. This is a reason why holiday sickness compensation claims farming touts descended on certain all-inclusive hotels and why the owners of one complex - Club Mac - set the whole ball rolling which led to the arrests of touts and their boss.
Holiday rentals, although I personally have an issue with them because of the pressure caused in the residential rental market, generally speaking do conform to the "quality" that Alcudia wants. As with all-inclusives, where not all holidaymakers should be tarnished with the same negative and disparaging brush, the holiday rental tourist is not universally "quality". By and large, though, he or she is.
The town hall held a council meeting on Monday. The Partido Popular opposition raised a motion. In essence, it was against the Council of Mallorca and the holiday rentals zoning. El Pi backed the motion. It was passed. PSOE and Tomàs were against. The pact was therefore fractured. So, has there been a rumpus? No. And nor was there much of an air of conflict when the Council of Mallorca worthies - the Més president and the PSOE councillor for land - turned up at the auditorium for a rentals presentation and discussion. Were this other town halls, Pollensa's for example, you wouldn't hear the end of it.
The point is that all parties are agreed on the principle of quality tourism. Where they do have disagreement is the means of achieving this. El Pi wants less restriction on rentals. PSOE and Tomàs follow the party lines as have been set out by the likes of Mercedes Garrido, the PSOE councillor for land, and Miquel Ensenyat, the Més president of the Council.
My own view is that despite the dog's breakfast approach to zoning, I am generally in agreement with the Council of Mallorca and the Balearic tourism ministry. But having a dispassionate and civilised debate about rentals can at times seem nigh on impossible. In Alcudia, at least on the public surface, they appear to manage this impossibility.
They are the centre-right El Pi and the socialist PSOE. The last municipal election in Alcudia produced a situation reminiscent to how it had been for many years prior to the 2011 election (which the Partido Popular won). The former Unió Mallorquina, of which El Pi is not a direct descendant but is a descendant nevertheless, and PSOE used to form pacts. And by and large they worked well. The pact since 2015 has also worked reasonably well.
The inclusion of Tomàs slightly changed the dynamics of this pact. Tomàs is a councillor with GxA, Gent per Alcúdia. This "people's" party was in fact a compromise between Més and the Esquerra Unida (United Left). At each other's throats before the election, in Alcudia they were able to create a mini-pact. Tomás was from the Més wing; the PSM Mallorca Socialist Party to be precise.
Between them, El Pi and PSOE ended up with ten councillors after the election. As the required majority was nine, they didn't require anyone else. Tomàs was brought in nevertheless. Very little, to be honest, has been heard of him, and even on an issue as contentious as holiday rentals, Tomàs - environment portfolio and all - has been quiet.
Somehow, Alcudia town hall manages to keep a lid on things. Perhaps it's the sign of a certain maturity that exists within the corridors of that building on the calle Major. The three ruling parties may not have seen eye to eye on everything, but disagreements and dirty linen do not get a general airing in public. Holiday rentals have provided a perfect opportunity for such an airing, but remarkably enough there seems to be an absence of tension or conflict.
Prior to Tomás becoming a councillor, he stated that Alcudia lives from tourism and not from rubbish (this was a reference to the waste that was being imported via the port for incineration). Mayor Toni Mir (El Pi) told me in an interview that Alcudia lives from tourism. Joan Gaspar Vallori (PSOE), the tourism councillor and fifth deputy mayor, told me the same thing in a different interview. Everyone's agreed then, as they are on the type of tourism that Alcudia wishes to live from - quality, aka a tourism that has plenty of money to spend and isn't inclined to stagger along the streets of the municipality vomiting and urinating everywhere.
Alcudia has its share of the non-quality class. This is a reason why holiday sickness compensation claims farming touts descended on certain all-inclusive hotels and why the owners of one complex - Club Mac - set the whole ball rolling which led to the arrests of touts and their boss.
Holiday rentals, although I personally have an issue with them because of the pressure caused in the residential rental market, generally speaking do conform to the "quality" that Alcudia wants. As with all-inclusives, where not all holidaymakers should be tarnished with the same negative and disparaging brush, the holiday rental tourist is not universally "quality". By and large, though, he or she is.
The town hall held a council meeting on Monday. The Partido Popular opposition raised a motion. In essence, it was against the Council of Mallorca and the holiday rentals zoning. El Pi backed the motion. It was passed. PSOE and Tomàs were against. The pact was therefore fractured. So, has there been a rumpus? No. And nor was there much of an air of conflict when the Council of Mallorca worthies - the Més president and the PSOE councillor for land - turned up at the auditorium for a rentals presentation and discussion. Were this other town halls, Pollensa's for example, you wouldn't hear the end of it.
The point is that all parties are agreed on the principle of quality tourism. Where they do have disagreement is the means of achieving this. El Pi wants less restriction on rentals. PSOE and Tomàs follow the party lines as have been set out by the likes of Mercedes Garrido, the PSOE councillor for land, and Miquel Ensenyat, the Més president of the Council.
My own view is that despite the dog's breakfast approach to zoning, I am generally in agreement with the Council of Mallorca and the Balearic tourism ministry. But having a dispassionate and civilised debate about rentals can at times seem nigh on impossible. In Alcudia, at least on the public surface, they appear to manage this impossibility.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 14 February 2018
Morning high (8.09am): 12.4C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 15 February - Sun, 20C; 16 February - Sun, cloud, 19C; 17 February - Cloud, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 4 to 6 easing Variable 2 to 3 around midday.
Cloudy but not heavy. Due to be like this for most of the day.
Evening update (20.00): High of 15.5C.
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 15 February - Sun, 20C; 16 February - Sun, cloud, 19C; 17 February - Cloud, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 4 to 6 easing Variable 2 to 3 around midday.
Cloudy but not heavy. Due to be like this for most of the day.
Evening update (20.00): High of 15.5C.
Airbnb: Poacher Turned Gamekeeper
Booking.com is part of the American company The Priceline Group. It is also one of the four largest online travel companies in the world: the others are Expedia, the Chinese Ctrip and Airbnb. Booking offers all sorts of accommodation. As far as its rentals side is concerned, it has been commended by certain regional authorities in Spain for being rather more willing to comply with regulations than other online concerns: Valencia has been one, the Balearics another.
Expedia used to be TripAdvisor's parent company. The website that is ostensibly about user reviews was spun off from Expedia, which has since acquired HomeAway, perhaps the biggest rival to Airbnb. TripAdvisor branched out to become its online travel company as well. It, as with HomeAway and Airbnb, has fallen foul of regulators in Spain, such as the Balearics.
Airbnb, it doesn't really need pointing out, has grown to be the business it is by being an "intermediary" for non-hotel accommodation. This is now, however, all about to change. Airbnb, rather than just being an online travel company (which it would in any event dispute), is to become an online travel agency - an OTA, the term used for the likes of Booking.com. Again, of course, Airbnb would dispute that it is or will be an OTA.
What is changing is that a tie-up with another website - a non-exclusive one with SiteMinder - means that hotels which appear on SiteMinder can also go on Airbnb. Yes, Airbnb is to become a hotel distributor, just like Booking and Expedia. The website so maligned by the hotel industry will now, if hotels wish, become something of a friend. As Airbnb appears to have no limits in its ambitions in becoming an "infinite" company (CEO Brian Chesky's term), you can be pretty sure that the first foray into hotel distribution will only grow much bigger.
Hotels have already been able to use Airbnb, but only an individual basis. They now stand to be incorporated en masse, and they also stand to benefit from the vastly more favourable commissions. Booking and Expedia will be looking on all this with some degree of horror. The difference between Airbnb and Booking/Expedia commissions is anything from three or five per cent to fifteen or thirty per cent.
The Airbnb commission range may change, but for now it will look very tempting. And as such, it puts hoteliers into more of a fix. Can they carry on being as aggressive towards Airbnb if they want to take advantage of the more advantageous commissions?
The massive global industry that is accommodation is undergoing yet more revolution. There is Facebook and there is also Amazon. And as these global concerns move into new product areas, so they move further away from what they were originally, none more so than Airbnb. The disingenuous propaganda about the collaborative, sharing economy is further undermined by having a hotel product. There is nothing sharing about this; it is business pure and simple, and hugely profitable it is, too.
Moreover, the Airbnb (and HomeAway) argument about being merely intermediaries which operate in accordance with European e-commerce regulations is also further undermined. The European ruling regarding Uber, which basically determined that it is a transport services operator subject to member state regulations, has yet to be applied more broadly. But the European Commission will have greater evidence to rule that Airbnb is a travel services company (an OTA), which brings with it very different regulations to that of e-commerce. And that would mean that there would be far less defence against the type of fine that the Balearics and other administrations care to dish out.
Expedia used to be TripAdvisor's parent company. The website that is ostensibly about user reviews was spun off from Expedia, which has since acquired HomeAway, perhaps the biggest rival to Airbnb. TripAdvisor branched out to become its online travel company as well. It, as with HomeAway and Airbnb, has fallen foul of regulators in Spain, such as the Balearics.
Airbnb, it doesn't really need pointing out, has grown to be the business it is by being an "intermediary" for non-hotel accommodation. This is now, however, all about to change. Airbnb, rather than just being an online travel company (which it would in any event dispute), is to become an online travel agency - an OTA, the term used for the likes of Booking.com. Again, of course, Airbnb would dispute that it is or will be an OTA.
What is changing is that a tie-up with another website - a non-exclusive one with SiteMinder - means that hotels which appear on SiteMinder can also go on Airbnb. Yes, Airbnb is to become a hotel distributor, just like Booking and Expedia. The website so maligned by the hotel industry will now, if hotels wish, become something of a friend. As Airbnb appears to have no limits in its ambitions in becoming an "infinite" company (CEO Brian Chesky's term), you can be pretty sure that the first foray into hotel distribution will only grow much bigger.
Hotels have already been able to use Airbnb, but only an individual basis. They now stand to be incorporated en masse, and they also stand to benefit from the vastly more favourable commissions. Booking and Expedia will be looking on all this with some degree of horror. The difference between Airbnb and Booking/Expedia commissions is anything from three or five per cent to fifteen or thirty per cent.
The Airbnb commission range may change, but for now it will look very tempting. And as such, it puts hoteliers into more of a fix. Can they carry on being as aggressive towards Airbnb if they want to take advantage of the more advantageous commissions?
The massive global industry that is accommodation is undergoing yet more revolution. There is Facebook and there is also Amazon. And as these global concerns move into new product areas, so they move further away from what they were originally, none more so than Airbnb. The disingenuous propaganda about the collaborative, sharing economy is further undermined by having a hotel product. There is nothing sharing about this; it is business pure and simple, and hugely profitable it is, too.
Moreover, the Airbnb (and HomeAway) argument about being merely intermediaries which operate in accordance with European e-commerce regulations is also further undermined. The European ruling regarding Uber, which basically determined that it is a transport services operator subject to member state regulations, has yet to be applied more broadly. But the European Commission will have greater evidence to rule that Airbnb is a travel services company (an OTA), which brings with it very different regulations to that of e-commerce. And that would mean that there would be far less defence against the type of fine that the Balearics and other administrations care to dish out.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 February 2018
Morning high (7.43am): 6.8C
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 14 February - Cloud, 15C; 15 February - Sun, cloud, 19C; 16 February - Cloud, 20C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 6.
Clearer skies. Fair bit of sun today. Better all round than yesterday.
Evening update (20.00): Reasonable, as in there was some sun, but there was also a chilly wind. High of 13.7C.
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 14 February - Cloud, 15C; 15 February - Sun, cloud, 19C; 16 February - Cloud, 20C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 6.
Clearer skies. Fair bit of sun today. Better all round than yesterday.
Evening update (20.00): Reasonable, as in there was some sun, but there was also a chilly wind. High of 13.7C.
The Sardines Of A Mallorcan Carnival
* A revival of an article from the past; appropriate as today is the sardine burial day.
Francisco de Goya knew a thing or two about painting. He could turn his hand to pretty much any subject and do so with a remarkable ability for subversion and the portrayal of darkness. His painting of the burial of the sardine is a good example. Apparently there were at least two alternative versions, but the one most commonly known is an expression of supreme grotesqueness with the "sardine" symbolised by a grinning but disturbing face on a banner. Goya's painting, while celebrating the joy of the common man, is a satire on the church and on the crown. It was created during the reign of the absolutist monarch, Ferdinand VII, who had attempted to outlaw Carnival and so the end-game of Carnival, the burial of the sardine before the start of Lent.
Goya didn't invent the tradition of the burial of the sardine but he certainly helped to popularise it. Quite what its origins are is open to debate. The generally held theory is that it arose during the reign of Carlos III, so some time between 1759 and 1788. The king, the story goes, ordered that there be one final party before Lent and, because there was an abundance of sardines, these were the culinary centrepiece. However, because there were so many sardines and because the weather was particularly warm, there was an almighty great pong on account of sardines rotting in the heat. The solution was to bury them. As theories go, it seems as good as any, though the fact that there appears to be no documentary evidence to support this royal command could mean that it is just a tall tale.
Goya's painting (or paintings) most definitely assisted in spreading the sardine tradition and in also reinforcing the bizarre, profane and anti-establishment nature of Carnival as a whole. Over the decades of turmoil through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Carnival and the sardine were symbolic of the people taking over for a short while and poking fun at those who often made their lives a misery.
The burial of the sardine is nowadays absolutely central to the Carnival story. It clearly isn't a Mallorcan tradition as such, but it finds expression here in Mallorca as much as it does on the mainland. Consequently, there are sardine-burial ceremonies, most of which confirm that, on occasion, Mallorcans are more than capable of acting in a totally bonkers fashion.
A sardine, being a sardine, is only small. As such, it doesn't command a great presence when it comes to a spot of street-theatre, fiesta-style celebration. In order to overcome its diminutive nature, there are mock, giant sardines instead, and nowhere does this in any more peculiar fashion than the village of Portol in Marratxi.
Since 1993, the burial of the sardine has taken place on Shrove Tuesday, the last day of feasting before fasting, Ash Wednesday and Lent kick in. Today at 6pm, as has become traditional, a giant, comedy sardine will be paraded through the streets, carried as though by pallbearers, accompanied by suitably solemn music from the local band (music of a tongue-in-cheek variety, if it is possible to describe music in such a fashion) and by ladies of the village, clad in black mourning dresses and weeping (in a hammed-up, over-the-top manner). The weeping, so tradition suggests, is all to do with the people being saddened at the end of the Carnival festivities and being faced with the prospect of several weeks of strict religious observance (or not).
The Portol sardine, as is the case with some sardines elsewhere, doesn't actually get buried. The Mallorcans enjoy nothing more than setting fire to something, and little excuse is needed for a festivity to feature a roaring bonfire. The comedy sardine is toast, its final moments being marked by the sound of a trumpet reveille. Having committed the sardine to its fiery end, it is of course time to get eating. Cue, therefore, many a real sardine and any amount of strong alcoholic beverage plus, of course, the ubiquitous ball de bot folk dance.
The actual burial (or burning) usually requires some form of blessing, which may or may not be serious and may or may not actually feature clergy. These burials can crop up anywhere. So, take note. If you see some strange sorts wandering along the streets carrying something which looks as though it is destined for a funeral, don't be alarmed. In Mallorca, just as you are never far from the sea at any time of the year, at the end of the Carnival, you are never far from a sardine.
Francisco de Goya knew a thing or two about painting. He could turn his hand to pretty much any subject and do so with a remarkable ability for subversion and the portrayal of darkness. His painting of the burial of the sardine is a good example. Apparently there were at least two alternative versions, but the one most commonly known is an expression of supreme grotesqueness with the "sardine" symbolised by a grinning but disturbing face on a banner. Goya's painting, while celebrating the joy of the common man, is a satire on the church and on the crown. It was created during the reign of the absolutist monarch, Ferdinand VII, who had attempted to outlaw Carnival and so the end-game of Carnival, the burial of the sardine before the start of Lent.
Goya didn't invent the tradition of the burial of the sardine but he certainly helped to popularise it. Quite what its origins are is open to debate. The generally held theory is that it arose during the reign of Carlos III, so some time between 1759 and 1788. The king, the story goes, ordered that there be one final party before Lent and, because there was an abundance of sardines, these were the culinary centrepiece. However, because there were so many sardines and because the weather was particularly warm, there was an almighty great pong on account of sardines rotting in the heat. The solution was to bury them. As theories go, it seems as good as any, though the fact that there appears to be no documentary evidence to support this royal command could mean that it is just a tall tale.
Goya's painting (or paintings) most definitely assisted in spreading the sardine tradition and in also reinforcing the bizarre, profane and anti-establishment nature of Carnival as a whole. Over the decades of turmoil through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Carnival and the sardine were symbolic of the people taking over for a short while and poking fun at those who often made their lives a misery.
The burial of the sardine is nowadays absolutely central to the Carnival story. It clearly isn't a Mallorcan tradition as such, but it finds expression here in Mallorca as much as it does on the mainland. Consequently, there are sardine-burial ceremonies, most of which confirm that, on occasion, Mallorcans are more than capable of acting in a totally bonkers fashion.
A sardine, being a sardine, is only small. As such, it doesn't command a great presence when it comes to a spot of street-theatre, fiesta-style celebration. In order to overcome its diminutive nature, there are mock, giant sardines instead, and nowhere does this in any more peculiar fashion than the village of Portol in Marratxi.
Since 1993, the burial of the sardine has taken place on Shrove Tuesday, the last day of feasting before fasting, Ash Wednesday and Lent kick in. Today at 6pm, as has become traditional, a giant, comedy sardine will be paraded through the streets, carried as though by pallbearers, accompanied by suitably solemn music from the local band (music of a tongue-in-cheek variety, if it is possible to describe music in such a fashion) and by ladies of the village, clad in black mourning dresses and weeping (in a hammed-up, over-the-top manner). The weeping, so tradition suggests, is all to do with the people being saddened at the end of the Carnival festivities and being faced with the prospect of several weeks of strict religious observance (or not).
The Portol sardine, as is the case with some sardines elsewhere, doesn't actually get buried. The Mallorcans enjoy nothing more than setting fire to something, and little excuse is needed for a festivity to feature a roaring bonfire. The comedy sardine is toast, its final moments being marked by the sound of a trumpet reveille. Having committed the sardine to its fiery end, it is of course time to get eating. Cue, therefore, many a real sardine and any amount of strong alcoholic beverage plus, of course, the ubiquitous ball de bot folk dance.
The actual burial (or burning) usually requires some form of blessing, which may or may not be serious and may or may not actually feature clergy. These burials can crop up anywhere. So, take note. If you see some strange sorts wandering along the streets carrying something which looks as though it is destined for a funeral, don't be alarmed. In Mallorca, just as you are never far from the sea at any time of the year, at the end of the Carnival, you are never far from a sardine.
Monday, February 12, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 February 2018
Morning high (8.30am): 12.3C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 13 February - Cloud, sun, 15C; 14 February - Cloud, 15C; 15 February - Sun, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6.
Quite a change from yesterday morning; cloudy skies meaning it's not nearly as cold. The cloud will persist. Rain is likely.
Evening update (20.00): Rain was likely. Most of the day. The morning high was the day's high. Tumbled to six or seven degrees.
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 13 February - Cloud, sun, 15C; 14 February - Cloud, 15C; 15 February - Sun, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6.
Quite a change from yesterday morning; cloudy skies meaning it's not nearly as cold. The cloud will persist. Rain is likely.
Evening update (20.00): Rain was likely. Most of the day. The morning high was the day's high. Tumbled to six or seven degrees.
The Dark Night Sky Of Tourism
"The dark night sky is the underlying resource," explains a piece of worthy research. A definition of "underlying" is real but not immediately obvious. I would suggest that the dark night sky is more than underlying when it comes to astronomical tourism. Without the dark night sky there is no astronomical tourism.
The resource itself is abundant. It is theoretically infinite. The dark night sky as with the light day sky is always there in its unfathomable vastness. The resource is, however, greater - or rather better - in different parts of the globe, especially if someone has taken the trouble to advance the cause for its particular dark night sky resource. Here is where underlying enters the adjective-noun conjunction. The resource is certainly real but its status as better is not immediately obvious until it is explained that it is better.
Astronomical tourism is a segment of the tourism market, a niche product. It has existed for centuries, if one cares to define travellers who have wanted to search the dark night skies as tourists. They went to Stonehenge, at least in part, to wonder at the dark night sky. Ancient skies of an English summer might not have been habitually clouded. They most certainly were not affected by light pollution, and nowadays the absence of this pollution holds the key to unlocking the niche potential of the dark night sky and of astronomical tourism.
Mallorca has (or had) an underlying resource other than its dark night sky. One day we might know what really occurred at the observatory in Costitx. What we can say is that it was a resource which was woefully underexploited. It was managed well as a scientific resource but was mismanaged in terms of its tangential potential. Administrations must share the blame. And in this day and age of sustainable tourism, they have missed an almighty trick. The sky is sustainability writ very large. Tourism attracted by the sky is respectful of one of the greatest resources known to mankind.
The Starlight Foundation explains the various dimensions to its activities. One is economic: "To boost the economy through the contemplation and interpretation of the starry sky, promoting infrastructure, products and activities in the field of sustainable tourism which we call 'star tourism'." Starry, starry night; every astronomical tourist is a star.
The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) was founded in 1982. A Spanish public research institution, it is an international benchmark for astrophysics, advanced scientific instrumentation, university education and the cultural dissemination of science. There are observatories in Tenerife (the Teide Observatory) and in La Palma (the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory).
In 2012, the Starlight Foundation, a body that was created by the IAC, recognised La Palma as the first Starlight destination on the planet. There are now others. In the Canaries, the dark night skies - away from the urban centres - are unrivalled for their clarity. The foundation and the IAC might have seemed to have been somewhat self-serving in accrediting La Palma as they did six years ago, but to qualify as "Starlight" there is a requirement to be able to observe the stars in optimal conditions while at the same time being an example of environmental protection and conservation, including protecting the environment from artificial light pollution.
At the Madrid Fitur tourism fair in January, La Palma received a new distinction. It was deemed to be the "best active tourism product"; active as in tourists undertaking an activity - stargazing in this instance. Above all, La Palma - and this is the whole island - was given the award because of the public and private sector collaboration which has enabled the island to become Spain's foremost destination for astronomical tourism; not only Spain's, one of the world's foremost.
Mark the words of Inés Jiménez, the councillor for tourism in Gran Canaria, where they also pursue astronomical star tourism. Various municipalities and the whole business sector - large and small - have come together in not only appreciating that the island is for tourism but also has an "alternative product to sun and beach". The Canaries, admittedly benefiting from the backing that goes back to the 1980s, have made a sustainable tourism virtue of their dark night skies. Not so Mallorca; not so the Balearics.
The Canaries are not alone. In Castile-La Mancha, there is a multi-municipality cooperation project that has created an astronomical park - Serrania de Cuenca. Work has started on certifying as Starlight a new park in the Valle del Alcudia. This is an Alcudia in the Ciudad Real province, not an Alcudia in Mallorca.
Cordoba, Aragon, Navarre, Extremadura; here are other parts of Spain where the underlying resource of dark night skies has been developed to beneficial effect, and all in the name of sustainable tourism. In Mallorca, meanwhile, they seek to blame each other for the loss of what was a real resource.
The resource itself is abundant. It is theoretically infinite. The dark night sky as with the light day sky is always there in its unfathomable vastness. The resource is, however, greater - or rather better - in different parts of the globe, especially if someone has taken the trouble to advance the cause for its particular dark night sky resource. Here is where underlying enters the adjective-noun conjunction. The resource is certainly real but its status as better is not immediately obvious until it is explained that it is better.
Astronomical tourism is a segment of the tourism market, a niche product. It has existed for centuries, if one cares to define travellers who have wanted to search the dark night skies as tourists. They went to Stonehenge, at least in part, to wonder at the dark night sky. Ancient skies of an English summer might not have been habitually clouded. They most certainly were not affected by light pollution, and nowadays the absence of this pollution holds the key to unlocking the niche potential of the dark night sky and of astronomical tourism.
Mallorca has (or had) an underlying resource other than its dark night sky. One day we might know what really occurred at the observatory in Costitx. What we can say is that it was a resource which was woefully underexploited. It was managed well as a scientific resource but was mismanaged in terms of its tangential potential. Administrations must share the blame. And in this day and age of sustainable tourism, they have missed an almighty trick. The sky is sustainability writ very large. Tourism attracted by the sky is respectful of one of the greatest resources known to mankind.
The Starlight Foundation explains the various dimensions to its activities. One is economic: "To boost the economy through the contemplation and interpretation of the starry sky, promoting infrastructure, products and activities in the field of sustainable tourism which we call 'star tourism'." Starry, starry night; every astronomical tourist is a star.
The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) was founded in 1982. A Spanish public research institution, it is an international benchmark for astrophysics, advanced scientific instrumentation, university education and the cultural dissemination of science. There are observatories in Tenerife (the Teide Observatory) and in La Palma (the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory).
In 2012, the Starlight Foundation, a body that was created by the IAC, recognised La Palma as the first Starlight destination on the planet. There are now others. In the Canaries, the dark night skies - away from the urban centres - are unrivalled for their clarity. The foundation and the IAC might have seemed to have been somewhat self-serving in accrediting La Palma as they did six years ago, but to qualify as "Starlight" there is a requirement to be able to observe the stars in optimal conditions while at the same time being an example of environmental protection and conservation, including protecting the environment from artificial light pollution.
At the Madrid Fitur tourism fair in January, La Palma received a new distinction. It was deemed to be the "best active tourism product"; active as in tourists undertaking an activity - stargazing in this instance. Above all, La Palma - and this is the whole island - was given the award because of the public and private sector collaboration which has enabled the island to become Spain's foremost destination for astronomical tourism; not only Spain's, one of the world's foremost.
Mark the words of Inés Jiménez, the councillor for tourism in Gran Canaria, where they also pursue astronomical star tourism. Various municipalities and the whole business sector - large and small - have come together in not only appreciating that the island is for tourism but also has an "alternative product to sun and beach". The Canaries, admittedly benefiting from the backing that goes back to the 1980s, have made a sustainable tourism virtue of their dark night skies. Not so Mallorca; not so the Balearics.
The Canaries are not alone. In Castile-La Mancha, there is a multi-municipality cooperation project that has created an astronomical park - Serrania de Cuenca. Work has started on certifying as Starlight a new park in the Valle del Alcudia. This is an Alcudia in the Ciudad Real province, not an Alcudia in Mallorca.
Cordoba, Aragon, Navarre, Extremadura; here are other parts of Spain where the underlying resource of dark night skies has been developed to beneficial effect, and all in the name of sustainable tourism. In Mallorca, meanwhile, they seek to blame each other for the loss of what was a real resource.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 February 2018
Morning high (8.22am): 1.1C
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 12 February - Rain, 16C; 13 February - Cloud, sun, 15C; 14 February - Sun, cloud, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Cold start to the day but bright. Sun for most of the day. Yellow alert still in place for coastal conditions.
Evening update (19.15): A significant improvement. High of 17.2C.
Forecast high: 15C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 12 February - Rain, 16C; 13 February - Cloud, sun, 15C; 14 February - Sun, cloud, 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 4 to 5.
Cold start to the day but bright. Sun for most of the day. Yellow alert still in place for coastal conditions.
Evening update (19.15): A significant improvement. High of 17.2C.
Will The Davis Cup Really Come To Alcudia?
If one were being purely objective and it was a case of anywhere in Mallorca being lined up for the event, then there are probably easier options. They might even involve existing tennis facilities, such as courts and stands. When the announcement was first made about Alcudia, I was racking my brain - where are they planning on holding the event? They were talking about ten thousand spectators on temporary stands. Where?
From what one can make out, there are two possibilities. The less favoured would appear to be where everyone once thought was going to be something to do with Mercadona - the land that was levelled in front of Garden Lago on Avenida Tucan. The preferred site seemingly involves where the circus used to be held on the land by the Magic Roundabout. The tournament village would go there, while the court and stands would be on another plot behind it.
The cost of all this, never mind the logistics, would be at least one million euros. The government will probably cough up, although the tennis federation - understandably enough - is seeking some assurance as to who will be paying for what and how much. Time is running short. The tennis federation needs all the documented proposal by Monday. The tie is over the weekend of 6 to 8 April. The Spanish federation has to make a decision by Monday week.
Well, it would unquestionably be excellent news if a high-profile sport event such as the Davis Cup were to come to Alcudia. But is it realistic? And why actually is everyone so keen for it to be in Alcudia? One reason is the municipality's profile of being a destination for sports tourism. In this regard, it fits in with the government and the Council of Mallorca's quest for tackling tourism seasonality. Sport is a tourist product mainly for the low season. Another reason is that German tourists will get to know about Alcudia. Yes, and those German tourists would probably then be more inclined to come in the summer, on top of all the thousands who already do.
We will shortly find out if Alcudia will be successful in its bid - there's stiff opposition from the likes of Valencia. But if it is successful and there are indeed to be ten thousand spectators, there is another question. It is being said that the Magic site is well connected in transport terms. Which it may well be, but what happens with the transport, such as cars? Where would they park?
* Would they really hold the Davis Cup on this site? In a residential area near to Sunwing.
Saturday, February 10, 2018
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 February 2018
Morning high (7.44am): 5C
Forecast high: 12C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 11 February - Sun, cloud, 16C; 12 February - Rain, 16C; 13 February - Cloud, sun, 13C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 6 to 7.
Windy and grey. Coastal conditions amber alert and a yellow one for wind. Snow could fall at 200 metres. Alcudia, Muro and Santa Margalida are going to have better conditions for their parades tomorrow. Buger, Campanet, Can Picafort, Pollensa, Sa Pobla may not be too clever today.
Evening update (20.00): At least the sun came out for a bit. High of 10.1C.
Forecast high: 12C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 11 February - Sun, cloud, 16C; 12 February - Rain, 16C; 13 February - Cloud, sun, 13C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 6 to 7.
Windy and grey. Coastal conditions amber alert and a yellow one for wind. Snow could fall at 200 metres. Alcudia, Muro and Santa Margalida are going to have better conditions for their parades tomorrow. Buger, Campanet, Can Picafort, Pollensa, Sa Pobla may not be too clever today.
Evening update (20.00): At least the sun came out for a bit. High of 10.1C.
Spending By Holiday Rental Tourists
Statistics, as we know, can be used to prove anything, and when it comes to tourism statistics, there is no measure more open to interpretation than that for tourist spending. Depending on where one stands on a particular argument, however, the spending stats can be called upon to provide useful support, even perhaps by those who would normally call the stats into question.
The Egatur survey of tourist spending is primarily a tool designed to give the Bank of Spain data for calculating the balance of payments. In this respect it does need to be pretty accurate, despite people often not believing it. A reason for questioning it is that it can seem as if it doesn't correspond with the realities of some resorts. How often does one hear someone complain that no one's spending any money, yet Egatur insists that spending is going up?
The survey isn't and cannot be totally comprehensive, but one has to accept that it is a reflection of variance in the tourism market: not all resorts are the same, not all tourists are the same. But there is one significant ingredient in Egatur that can skew the spending statistics: the cost of the holiday. If this is a package holiday, bought from a foreign tour operator, then much of this spending element never touches the destination. Take away the package and factor in direct bookings, and a more realistic figure is attained; realistic in terms of what goes into local economies.
Egatur does, therefore, seek to reflect the different types of holiday, and the latest survey provides some ammunition for the pro-holiday rentals lobby. Again, not all of the spending is in the destination, if the rentals booking is, say, made via a foreign agency, but for the most part it will be. And where Egatur is concerned, it doesn't distinguish between the nature of rentals - they could be legal, they could be illegal, they could be ones made under the terms of the tenancy act.
Anyway, the survey shows that tourists who last year stayed in holiday rental accommodation (which falls under what Egatur broadly defines as the "rest of the market") spent almost 24% more than tourists who stayed in hotels. The average spend per tourist in non-hotel accommodation was 1,295 euros, and it increased by 20% over 2016. Another survey, the Frontur one that measures foreign tourist arrivals, offered some symmetry in this regard: there was a 20% rise in foreign tourists staying in holiday rentals.
The figures are for the whole of the country, but they clearly tell a story where the Balearics are concerned. Importantly, Egatur (and Frontur) are about as independent as one can get in measuring tourism performance. There are no agendas, which isn't always the case with studies that emanate from rival factions in the rentals argument, most notably the Exceltur alliance for touristic excellence and the Aptur holiday rentals association. Egatur, while noting that spending by tourists in hotels increased by ten per cent, does provide greater support for the Aptur stance than Exceltur's.
As I say, the stats can prove what you want them to, but here - despite the questions that surround the Egatur methodology - is some evidence of what many have long argued: holiday rental tourists spend more.
The Egatur survey of tourist spending is primarily a tool designed to give the Bank of Spain data for calculating the balance of payments. In this respect it does need to be pretty accurate, despite people often not believing it. A reason for questioning it is that it can seem as if it doesn't correspond with the realities of some resorts. How often does one hear someone complain that no one's spending any money, yet Egatur insists that spending is going up?
The survey isn't and cannot be totally comprehensive, but one has to accept that it is a reflection of variance in the tourism market: not all resorts are the same, not all tourists are the same. But there is one significant ingredient in Egatur that can skew the spending statistics: the cost of the holiday. If this is a package holiday, bought from a foreign tour operator, then much of this spending element never touches the destination. Take away the package and factor in direct bookings, and a more realistic figure is attained; realistic in terms of what goes into local economies.
Egatur does, therefore, seek to reflect the different types of holiday, and the latest survey provides some ammunition for the pro-holiday rentals lobby. Again, not all of the spending is in the destination, if the rentals booking is, say, made via a foreign agency, but for the most part it will be. And where Egatur is concerned, it doesn't distinguish between the nature of rentals - they could be legal, they could be illegal, they could be ones made under the terms of the tenancy act.
Anyway, the survey shows that tourists who last year stayed in holiday rental accommodation (which falls under what Egatur broadly defines as the "rest of the market") spent almost 24% more than tourists who stayed in hotels. The average spend per tourist in non-hotel accommodation was 1,295 euros, and it increased by 20% over 2016. Another survey, the Frontur one that measures foreign tourist arrivals, offered some symmetry in this regard: there was a 20% rise in foreign tourists staying in holiday rentals.
The figures are for the whole of the country, but they clearly tell a story where the Balearics are concerned. Importantly, Egatur (and Frontur) are about as independent as one can get in measuring tourism performance. There are no agendas, which isn't always the case with studies that emanate from rival factions in the rentals argument, most notably the Exceltur alliance for touristic excellence and the Aptur holiday rentals association. Egatur, while noting that spending by tourists in hotels increased by ten per cent, does provide greater support for the Aptur stance than Exceltur's.
As I say, the stats can prove what you want them to, but here - despite the questions that surround the Egatur methodology - is some evidence of what many have long argued: holiday rental tourists spend more.
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