An observation here in line with what I have been saying about the make-up of Pollensa town hall's administration, i.e. that there will have to be changes, now that the coalition between the Partido Popular and La Lliga effectively no longer exists, the consequence of the merger between La Lliga and the Convergència and the infighting that exists between members of these two parties. They should hold another election, as any solution will be unsatisfactory. Crisis, as ever, at Pollensa town hall.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Sunday, January 13, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 12C
Forecast high: 14C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Southwest 4 to 5 and at intervals 6, veering during the morning to West and Northwest and easing by the evening to 3 to 4. Risk of rain and storm.
A mainly bright morning with some cloud. Quite mild but unlikely to get that much warmer during the day. The outlook is unstable for the coming week, Sant Antoni Eve looking potentially wet and very windy, but the forecast for the snow line now places this much higher, so seemingly little chance of any falls near sea level.
Afternoon update (17.15): The morning's brightness quickly gave way to a heavy shower. Some spots of rain mixed with sun on a chilly day, a high of just over 13 degrees.
Agony Without Ecstasy: Glosadors
At a Sant Antoni celebration in Muro one year, a friend and I took ourselves away from our group that was assembled at a bar terrace in order to investigate what could only have been described as a God-awful racket. It was being made by an elderly lady and a younger gentleman. She was playing the ximbomba, he wasn't, and they were taking turns in making utterances in a tuneless half-sung fashion. I knew what they were, as I had encountered such utterances before, though not with the "musical" accompaniment. They were glosadors, two of the many Mallorcan performers of the art of the "glosa".
It's impossible to describe glosadors as singers, as they specialise in singing only in the loosest sense of the word. What they aren't, are straightforward verse poets. The glosa can and does veer off at a tangent, an improvisational element being important, as the glosador rarely, if ever, performs alone; he or she is normally in "competition" with at least one other and quite often with several others. The improvisation, indeed the whole performance, can also be aided by alcohol. Some glosadors stick to water in order to lubricate the vocal chords, such as they are, but others can take on board copious amounts of wine or mezcla, so much so that the performances become more like drinking-song contests.
The glosador tradition dates back at least to the nineteenth century when "professional" glosadors emerged who would travel the island to take on rivals in glosa combats. The glosadors, historically, have played an important part in Mallorca's culture, not just because they are part of a folk tradition but also because they were a vital conduit for disseminating information.
Mallorquín, as with other local Mediterranean dialects and lesser languages, used not to be written, and one reason why it wasn't written was because few Mallorcans would have been able to read it. Lack of education and little by way of print media made the written word pretty much redundant. Those who could read were the elite and they wouldn't have been reading Mallorquín, even if scripts or texts had been available. So the glosadors were a means of communication. Their songs could be ribald, but they also provided political and social commentary, with satire an essential ingredient.
The lack of written Mallorquín means that little of the work of glosadors from years ago has been captured for posterity. While some will have been handed down, in the time-honoured fashion by which storytelling is passed on, only fragments will have been. The essence of the glosa was, in any event, of the time, rather than it being folk storytelling. There is an example, however, of a combat that took place in 1944 in Felanitx and which was written down. What is quite revealing about this contest was that it was of course conducted in Mallorquín, and yet it took place at a time when Catalan and Catalan dialects were supposedly banned - for public purposes at any rate. Perhaps it demonstrates that the totality of proscription wasn't as total as is generally assumed. And perhaps it also shows that it was the glosadors who helped to keep the popular use of Catalan and Mallorquín alive before the Franco regime did start to relax its linguistic prohibition.
Nowadays, the glosadors are identified with the politics of language. One of them, Santa Margalida's "Xurí" (most glosadors have nicknames), contributed to a publication in defence of Catalan in which he referred to history repeating itself in Catalan being attacked. The glosadors are, therefore, very much part of the wider movement to defend the island's Catalan culture, and at a dinner ahead of the Sant Antoni fiestas in Sa Pobla, mayor Biel Serra, a member of the Partido Popular who is one of the more sympathetic towards language defence in the party, fought an impromptu glosa battle with opposition political leaders.
The glosa is most certainly an acquired taste. The chances are that you wouldn't have a clue what the glosadors were on about, while the style can verge on the excruciating. But this is down, in no small part, to the fact that the local accent sounds as though it is being spoken/sung by someone who is in agony. This is the nature of the Mallorquín dialect and accent, however. The vocal sound isn't lovely; it isn't ecstatic, it is in pain. Yet for all that glosadors may seem impenetrable to the foreign observer, it should be noted that they play and have played a significant part in the island's culture. Go along and see them some time, and just laugh when the Mallorcans laugh.
Xurí featured in this glosador combat; Xurí is the young one.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
It's impossible to describe glosadors as singers, as they specialise in singing only in the loosest sense of the word. What they aren't, are straightforward verse poets. The glosa can and does veer off at a tangent, an improvisational element being important, as the glosador rarely, if ever, performs alone; he or she is normally in "competition" with at least one other and quite often with several others. The improvisation, indeed the whole performance, can also be aided by alcohol. Some glosadors stick to water in order to lubricate the vocal chords, such as they are, but others can take on board copious amounts of wine or mezcla, so much so that the performances become more like drinking-song contests.
The glosador tradition dates back at least to the nineteenth century when "professional" glosadors emerged who would travel the island to take on rivals in glosa combats. The glosadors, historically, have played an important part in Mallorca's culture, not just because they are part of a folk tradition but also because they were a vital conduit for disseminating information.
Mallorquín, as with other local Mediterranean dialects and lesser languages, used not to be written, and one reason why it wasn't written was because few Mallorcans would have been able to read it. Lack of education and little by way of print media made the written word pretty much redundant. Those who could read were the elite and they wouldn't have been reading Mallorquín, even if scripts or texts had been available. So the glosadors were a means of communication. Their songs could be ribald, but they also provided political and social commentary, with satire an essential ingredient.
The lack of written Mallorquín means that little of the work of glosadors from years ago has been captured for posterity. While some will have been handed down, in the time-honoured fashion by which storytelling is passed on, only fragments will have been. The essence of the glosa was, in any event, of the time, rather than it being folk storytelling. There is an example, however, of a combat that took place in 1944 in Felanitx and which was written down. What is quite revealing about this contest was that it was of course conducted in Mallorquín, and yet it took place at a time when Catalan and Catalan dialects were supposedly banned - for public purposes at any rate. Perhaps it demonstrates that the totality of proscription wasn't as total as is generally assumed. And perhaps it also shows that it was the glosadors who helped to keep the popular use of Catalan and Mallorquín alive before the Franco regime did start to relax its linguistic prohibition.
Nowadays, the glosadors are identified with the politics of language. One of them, Santa Margalida's "Xurí" (most glosadors have nicknames), contributed to a publication in defence of Catalan in which he referred to history repeating itself in Catalan being attacked. The glosadors are, therefore, very much part of the wider movement to defend the island's Catalan culture, and at a dinner ahead of the Sant Antoni fiestas in Sa Pobla, mayor Biel Serra, a member of the Partido Popular who is one of the more sympathetic towards language defence in the party, fought an impromptu glosa battle with opposition political leaders.
The glosa is most certainly an acquired taste. The chances are that you wouldn't have a clue what the glosadors were on about, while the style can verge on the excruciating. But this is down, in no small part, to the fact that the local accent sounds as though it is being spoken/sung by someone who is in agony. This is the nature of the Mallorquín dialect and accent, however. The vocal sound isn't lovely; it isn't ecstatic, it is in pain. Yet for all that glosadors may seem impenetrable to the foreign observer, it should be noted that they play and have played a significant part in the island's culture. Go along and see them some time, and just laugh when the Mallorcans laugh.
Xurí featured in this glosador combat; Xurí is the young one.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Valladolid 3 : 1 Real Mallorca
Mallorca away at Valladolid, who are having a steady season lodged in mid-table. Bringing the on-loan signing, Antonio Luna from Sevilla, into midfield for his first game, Mallorca came under early pressure, relieved only by an effort by Dos Santos. The lively Omar, though, delivered the pass for Ebert to put Valladolid ahead after 20 minutes. Mallorca responded well, and Victor headed in the equaliser eight minutes before the break. Dos Santos almost put Mallorca ahead immediately after the break when his free kick hit the woodwork, and Mallorca were competing strongly during the second period, even if at times they appeared content to hold on for a point, Dos Santos being booked for timewasting as early as the 60th minute. And just when it looked as the visitors would get their point, Oscar put Valladolid back in front with three minutes of normal time left. In added time, Nsue had a goal disallowed for a clear offside, and caution thrown to the wind, Mallorca conceded a third, Ebert sealing the win for Valladolid with his second of the match. Mallorca stay in 16th position on 17 points, though, dependent on later results, they might drop.
Valladolid:
Hernández; Rukavina, Sereno, Valiente, Balenziaga; Rubio, Sastre; Ebert, Oscar (Baraja 90), Omar (Bueno 71); Larsson (Guerra 80)
Goals: Ebert (21, 90+), Oscar (87)
Yellows: Sastre (48), Sereno (59)
Mallorca:
Aoutae; Nsue, Nunes, Geromel (Hemed 89), Bigas; Pina, Martí (Fontás 85); Arizmendi, Dos Santos, Luna (Pereira 56); Victor
Goal: Victor (37)
Yellows: Dos Santos (60), Bigas (61)
Valladolid:
Hernández; Rukavina, Sereno, Valiente, Balenziaga; Rubio, Sastre; Ebert, Oscar (Baraja 90), Omar (Bueno 71); Larsson (Guerra 80)
Goals: Ebert (21, 90+), Oscar (87)
Yellows: Sastre (48), Sereno (59)
Mallorca:
Aoutae; Nsue, Nunes, Geromel (Hemed 89), Bigas; Pina, Martí (Fontás 85); Arizmendi, Dos Santos, Luna (Pereira 56); Victor
Goal: Victor (37)
Yellows: Dos Santos (60), Bigas (61)
MALLORCA TODAY - 350 cars in Palma protest over hire-car tax
A parade of some 350 cars that was designed to bring Palma to a standstill yesterday passed off with relatively little disruption. The action was staged by associations representing the hire-car sector which is opposed to the introduction of a so-called eco-tax on the hire of vehicles.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Balearics will see minimal growth in 2013
The regional government in the Balearics has admitted that there will be barely any growth of the economy during 2013: at most by an increase of 0.3%. Employment is not expected to show a significant rise until 2014. The region has failed to meet a target of reducing its deficit to 1.5% in 2012, but the government says that the deficit is not as much as 2%.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Seven years imprisonment for Puerto Pollensa burglars
Two men in their thirties have been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for a wave of burglaries committed in March 2011, the most serious of which involved the threatening of an 81-year-old woman in her home in Puerto Pollensa. On that occasion, the burglars took some jewellery, 450 euros and fifteen sobrasada sausages.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.15am): 6C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West 3 to 4 eventually reaching Southwest 5. Swells increasing to one metre.
A clear, cold morning. Sunny all day, but it will be last day that the sun dominates. The prospect of some rain tomorrow and projecting ahead ... there is a risk of rain for Wednesday (Sant Antoni Eve) and especially for strong winds, which could bring their own risks because of the fires for the celebrations. And on Thursday, a strong chance of snow near to or at sea level.
Evening update (18.00): A high of 18.4C on a mostly sunny and warm day, but a breeze was coming in and there is going to a stronger breeze tomorrow, with the maximum temperatures falling by around three degrees.
Communicative: The new bishop of Mallorca
Xavier Salinas is the new Bishop of Mallorca. His appointment will be one that will be of little or no consequence to the overwhelming majority of expatriates on the island, but his is an appointment that is not without importance.
Salinas replaces Jesús Murgui, a bishop who lacked communicative skills to the extent that he never gave a single interview during the eight years of his tenure. He was excused on the grounds of shyness, but communication, be it with churchgoers or the media, comes with the territory. Or it should do. As a consequence of his reticence, Monseñor Murgui was unpopular with the media, and as a further consequence, the media was only too happy to portray him as having been unpopular with his own priests. He was also portrayed, with perhaps greater justification, as one couldn't be entirely sure what his priests really thought of him, as having been firmly on the conservative and reactionary wing of the Catholic Church.
Monseñor Salinas is a breath of fresh air. He is communicative. He has already given interviews and has said that it is important for there to be a dialogue with society. He has spoken about the difficulties that confront society at the present time and, though he has said that it is not his or the Church's intention to be involved in politics, he has given a clear enough signal that he supports Catalan; it is his native tongue, in that he is from Valencia and so speaks the Valencian brand of Catalan.
While Salinas may suggest that the Church doesn't wish to involve itself in politics, the fact is that the Church does just that. Bishop Murgui, without naming names, did so prior to the last national election with his letter regarding the danger of voting for politicians who supported gay marriage, which could easily have been interpreted as having given the thumbs-up to the Partido Popular. Which is of course exactly how it was interpreted.
Declining church attendance has not necessarily been an indication that society is losing its religion, but it can be seen as a turning away from the institution of the Church. Whenever I have spoken to Mallorcans or Spaniards about the Church, the reaction has often been the same. It is one either of contempt or of a shrug of resignation. The Church is lumped in with politicians in being viewed with suspicion or a lack of trust.
There is a difference between having the faith and having faith in the institution which dispenses it, and the fall in attendance in recent times may well be the result of society finally accepting that it doesn't have to be seen to be attending something to which there has been ambivalence for far longer. It may also be the result of the Church being out of step with changes in society's attitudes. While senior figures in the Church might hope for a return to more reactionary attitudes, their wish is unlikely to be granted. The politicians are nibbling at the edges of these attitudes, as with backtracking on advances made under Zapatero with regard to abortion for instance, but the Partido Popular is in danger of being cast in the same light as the Church - out of step.
Rather like the PP is, perhaps deliberately, focusing on issues that might be better left alone, so the Church's hierarchy would be advised to do likewise. It has a role, a very positive role to play during the times of crisis, a role no better demonstrated than through the sterling efforts of its Caritas charitable arm - so badly needed in a country that cannot and shows little desire to look after its people adequately - and its pastoral function is one that it should concentrate on. Instead, it has found itself embroiled in political matters and in controversies over its finances, one of the more spectacular being its stubborn refusal to pay property tax, an arguably scandalous betrayal of society when society is being hit so hard by all sorts of taxes.
Against this background, the more sympathetic figure of Monseñor Salinas is to be welcomed. If he proves to be, as he has already hinted that he will be, a far more accessible voice in local society, and one of sensitivity to the various difficulties Mallorca faces, then he is likely to turn out to be a popular appointment. But popular or not, just how relevant he is to the majority of Mallorcans, let alone foreigners, is another matter.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Salinas replaces Jesús Murgui, a bishop who lacked communicative skills to the extent that he never gave a single interview during the eight years of his tenure. He was excused on the grounds of shyness, but communication, be it with churchgoers or the media, comes with the territory. Or it should do. As a consequence of his reticence, Monseñor Murgui was unpopular with the media, and as a further consequence, the media was only too happy to portray him as having been unpopular with his own priests. He was also portrayed, with perhaps greater justification, as one couldn't be entirely sure what his priests really thought of him, as having been firmly on the conservative and reactionary wing of the Catholic Church.
Monseñor Salinas is a breath of fresh air. He is communicative. He has already given interviews and has said that it is important for there to be a dialogue with society. He has spoken about the difficulties that confront society at the present time and, though he has said that it is not his or the Church's intention to be involved in politics, he has given a clear enough signal that he supports Catalan; it is his native tongue, in that he is from Valencia and so speaks the Valencian brand of Catalan.
While Salinas may suggest that the Church doesn't wish to involve itself in politics, the fact is that the Church does just that. Bishop Murgui, without naming names, did so prior to the last national election with his letter regarding the danger of voting for politicians who supported gay marriage, which could easily have been interpreted as having given the thumbs-up to the Partido Popular. Which is of course exactly how it was interpreted.
Declining church attendance has not necessarily been an indication that society is losing its religion, but it can be seen as a turning away from the institution of the Church. Whenever I have spoken to Mallorcans or Spaniards about the Church, the reaction has often been the same. It is one either of contempt or of a shrug of resignation. The Church is lumped in with politicians in being viewed with suspicion or a lack of trust.
There is a difference between having the faith and having faith in the institution which dispenses it, and the fall in attendance in recent times may well be the result of society finally accepting that it doesn't have to be seen to be attending something to which there has been ambivalence for far longer. It may also be the result of the Church being out of step with changes in society's attitudes. While senior figures in the Church might hope for a return to more reactionary attitudes, their wish is unlikely to be granted. The politicians are nibbling at the edges of these attitudes, as with backtracking on advances made under Zapatero with regard to abortion for instance, but the Partido Popular is in danger of being cast in the same light as the Church - out of step.
Rather like the PP is, perhaps deliberately, focusing on issues that might be better left alone, so the Church's hierarchy would be advised to do likewise. It has a role, a very positive role to play during the times of crisis, a role no better demonstrated than through the sterling efforts of its Caritas charitable arm - so badly needed in a country that cannot and shows little desire to look after its people adequately - and its pastoral function is one that it should concentrate on. Instead, it has found itself embroiled in political matters and in controversies over its finances, one of the more spectacular being its stubborn refusal to pay property tax, an arguably scandalous betrayal of society when society is being hit so hard by all sorts of taxes.
Against this background, the more sympathetic figure of Monseñor Salinas is to be welcomed. If he proves to be, as he has already hinted that he will be, a far more accessible voice in local society, and one of sensitivity to the various difficulties Mallorca faces, then he is likely to turn out to be a popular appointment. But popular or not, just how relevant he is to the majority of Mallorcans, let alone foreigners, is another matter.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, January 11, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 13C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West and Northwest 4 and 5 around Formentor.
Milder night than of late, cloud and sun this morning, but should be mostly sun all day. The forecast for the next few days has, in a respect, improved a bit. Rain still likely on Sunday, but far less of a threat for next week on Sant Antoni Eve (Wednesday). Colder from Sunday but then warming up again by midweek, even if the snow line is set to come down to 400 metres by Thursday.
Evening update (18.15): A high of 17.5C on a day with plenty of warm sun.
Pronouncements: Spain's military should keep quiet
Pedro Morenes' observations regarding the military - its preparedness and its not reacting to absurd provocations - were deliberately vague. But vagueness demands that meaning is sought. And the Catalonians and Basques have taken the vagueness to mean them. A defence minister would be expected to speak positively about the military, but Morenes' veiled comments have been interpreted as a veiled threat.
A national politician can't - or you wouldn't think he could - specifically refer to military action of a domestic nature, but there has not been such reticence within military circles. There has been the example of Colonel Castro, who has stated the case for military intervention in the event of independence by Catalonia. If Morenes was indeed implying the same thing, then it is fair to ask whether his observations represent an alignment with the military - or elements within it, because Castro is well to the right - and as to who exactly might be setting the agenda. Is the military tail wagging the government dog, or is it the other way round? Whichever way round it is, Morenes and parts of the military will have taken note of what Mariano Rajoy had to say last year about upholding the Constitution if necessary. The "if necessary" was loaded with its own euphemistic vagueness.
The role of the military in today's Spain is an oddity. Theoretically, its role was diminished under the Constitution, and so a culture of militarism that had existed for decades and also the military's means of affecting the political process were removed. Historically, it had been the military, through the "pronunciamiento" - an officers' insurrection - which had brought about change to the political landscape. This all became firmly a thing of the past once democracy arrived.
Nevertheless, the military seems to still cling to these old days. You wouldn't have thought that a Colonel Castro could make the sort of comments that he has. And nor would you have thought that he could get away with them. But he appears to have, the Partido Popular excusing them on the grounds that they were personal opinion, a position contrary to that of the former Zapatero regime, which put General Mena under house arrest for daring to suggest something similar.
It isn't the case that parts of the military align themselves solely with the principles of Spanish nationhood and with the defence of the Kingdom of Spain. Again historically, the military didn't always see the nation and the monarchy as meaning the same thing. Franco certainly didn't. He was quite content for Alfonso to be in exile at the time of the Civil War and to overlook his successor, the current King's father. And there have also been elements of the military which have had an ideologically different position to that of Franco's: a Republican ideology.
There is one military Republican who is today commanding a good deal of attention. He is Colonel Amadeo Martínez Inglés, and he faces the prospect (remote, one would imagine) of being sent to prison for 15 years. His alleged crime? He has "injured" the crown. In other words, he has insulted King Juan-Carlos. Among various things of which the Colonel has accused the King, there is the small matter of the King himself having been behind the 1981 coup attempt.
What is attracting particular interest as a result of the Colonel's appearance at the High Court to face his charges is the law under which he has been charged. It is one that the European Court of Human Rights quashed, yet it has been reactivated in the case of Colonel Martínez, despite the European Court having made clear that the law went against the principle of freedom of speech.
The Colonel is insisting that certain witnesses are brought to testify, including Antonio Tejero, the officer remembered as the one who waved the gun around in parliament during the failed coup. He has also stated that he is in favour of the Catalonian wish for a referendum on independence. So in every possible way, he is the complete antithesis of what might be thought to be a typical Spanish military figure.
Considered a nutter by the right-wing, there are serious issues that his case throws up. One is the use of the law limiting freedom of speech. Another is that, for all he has become the darling of Catalanist and Republican supporters, he is from the military (albeit that he has retired). Like Colonel Castro and General Mena, it might be wiser were these military figures to keep quiet; freedom of speech or not. By making pronouncements, they are echoing the past, one that many would prefer was finally laid to rest. A pronouncement bears great similarity with "pronunciamiento".
* I acknowledge Alan Murphy's article about Colonel Martínez Inglés from Iberosphere - http://iberosphere.com/2013/01/spain-news-martinez-ingles-7709/7709
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
A national politician can't - or you wouldn't think he could - specifically refer to military action of a domestic nature, but there has not been such reticence within military circles. There has been the example of Colonel Castro, who has stated the case for military intervention in the event of independence by Catalonia. If Morenes was indeed implying the same thing, then it is fair to ask whether his observations represent an alignment with the military - or elements within it, because Castro is well to the right - and as to who exactly might be setting the agenda. Is the military tail wagging the government dog, or is it the other way round? Whichever way round it is, Morenes and parts of the military will have taken note of what Mariano Rajoy had to say last year about upholding the Constitution if necessary. The "if necessary" was loaded with its own euphemistic vagueness.
The role of the military in today's Spain is an oddity. Theoretically, its role was diminished under the Constitution, and so a culture of militarism that had existed for decades and also the military's means of affecting the political process were removed. Historically, it had been the military, through the "pronunciamiento" - an officers' insurrection - which had brought about change to the political landscape. This all became firmly a thing of the past once democracy arrived.
Nevertheless, the military seems to still cling to these old days. You wouldn't have thought that a Colonel Castro could make the sort of comments that he has. And nor would you have thought that he could get away with them. But he appears to have, the Partido Popular excusing them on the grounds that they were personal opinion, a position contrary to that of the former Zapatero regime, which put General Mena under house arrest for daring to suggest something similar.
It isn't the case that parts of the military align themselves solely with the principles of Spanish nationhood and with the defence of the Kingdom of Spain. Again historically, the military didn't always see the nation and the monarchy as meaning the same thing. Franco certainly didn't. He was quite content for Alfonso to be in exile at the time of the Civil War and to overlook his successor, the current King's father. And there have also been elements of the military which have had an ideologically different position to that of Franco's: a Republican ideology.
There is one military Republican who is today commanding a good deal of attention. He is Colonel Amadeo Martínez Inglés, and he faces the prospect (remote, one would imagine) of being sent to prison for 15 years. His alleged crime? He has "injured" the crown. In other words, he has insulted King Juan-Carlos. Among various things of which the Colonel has accused the King, there is the small matter of the King himself having been behind the 1981 coup attempt.
What is attracting particular interest as a result of the Colonel's appearance at the High Court to face his charges is the law under which he has been charged. It is one that the European Court of Human Rights quashed, yet it has been reactivated in the case of Colonel Martínez, despite the European Court having made clear that the law went against the principle of freedom of speech.
The Colonel is insisting that certain witnesses are brought to testify, including Antonio Tejero, the officer remembered as the one who waved the gun around in parliament during the failed coup. He has also stated that he is in favour of the Catalonian wish for a referendum on independence. So in every possible way, he is the complete antithesis of what might be thought to be a typical Spanish military figure.
Considered a nutter by the right-wing, there are serious issues that his case throws up. One is the use of the law limiting freedom of speech. Another is that, for all he has become the darling of Catalanist and Republican supporters, he is from the military (albeit that he has retired). Like Colonel Castro and General Mena, it might be wiser were these military figures to keep quiet; freedom of speech or not. By making pronouncements, they are echoing the past, one that many would prefer was finally laid to rest. A pronouncement bears great similarity with "pronunciamiento".
* I acknowledge Alan Murphy's article about Colonel Martínez Inglés from Iberosphere - http://iberosphere.com/2013/01/spain-news-martinez-ingles-7709/7709
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Calvià town hall issues formal complaint over The Truth About Magalluf
Calvià town hall has sent a formal complaint to the producer of "The Truth About Magalluf" documentary and to BBC3. The town hall says that it offered its support to the programme and had expected a more positive image of Magalluf to be presented. The town hall and the Mallorca hoteliers federation say that the programme has done the opposite, and have received some support from opposition politicians who suggest that harm could have been done to tourism in Magalluf. But there has also been criticism of the mayor for his "I'm not a magician" statement as well as some support for the programme in highlighting in particular the problem of the prostitutes.
Comment: Calvià town hall must have been stupid to think they would be getting something other than they did. One wonders whether the formal complaint is because the mayor came out of the broadcast as poorly as he did.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Comment: Calvià town hall must have been stupid to think they would be getting something other than they did. One wonders whether the formal complaint is because the mayor came out of the broadcast as poorly as he did.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Sa Pobla wants Sant Antoni fiesta to be declared of cultural interest
Sa Pobla town hall has started the procedure to have the fiestas of Sant Antoni declared as being of cultural interest, something that ensure the traditions of the fiestas and assist in their promotion.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Dangerous boar shot in Inca
A large boar, that had been attacking joggers on the Santa Magdalena hill by Inca, has been shot after vets and police couldn't manage to calm it sufficiently to capture it. The Guardia Civil are trying to determine if the boar had come from a farm.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.45am): 15C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West and Northwest 4 to 5, locally 6 in Formentor and from midday waves reaching one metre.
Much warmer this morning, there having been cloud about overnight as there is this morning along with blue sky and sun. The forecast for the next few days is a mixed bag. Saturday should be the best day but from then until midweek, rain is a regular possibility, though things look a bit better than they had been. Getting colder though.
Evening update (19.45): Some cloud, some breeze and felt quite warm. High of 19.5C (Sa Pobla).
The Stigmas Of Stacey: Magalluf
Zante's Lagana Beach, Crete's Malia, Mallorca's Magalluf. What do they have in common? They have all been, at different times, flavour of the month for a media desperate to wring whatever sensationalism it can from a drink-sodden youth passed out on a pavement.
They are only three. There are others. And like the British media despatches its packs of journalistic wolves in order to gorge on the bodies that have collapsed under the volume of industrial quantities of what can sometimes be industrial alcohol (as in Zante, for instance) or have taken to a night sky and plunged several floors onto rock-hard concrete, so the media in other countries scavenges for its own stories of sex, drink, drugs and very little rock 'n' roll. Which resort has the reputation for being the drunkest? Not Magalluf. It's Lloret de Mar, and Lloret is where French and Italian youth go to lay into each other. Do the Germans know anything about antics in Magalluf? Not really. They know about Arenal instead; Arenal, where German neo-Nazi skinheads set about black bar workers.
Welcome to the world of tourist post-modernism. Once upon a time, in pre-modern days, Cliff Michelmore introduced an ignorant audience to the attractions of Med resorts. Like Magalluf. They were new, exciting and innocent. Presenters and presentation styles changed along with the modern days of increased familiarity with the resorts. And now the post-modernist age has arrived, one in which the travelogue has been swapped for the reality-show appeal of a camera crew hastily racing to a scene of tourist Sodom and Gomorrah, observed by a girl from Luton who has displaced the Lorraine Chase of long ago (not that Lorraine actually came from Luton).
Poor, naïve Stacey Dooley. She has investigated the already investigated. She could as easily have gone off to Malia, though why would she have needed to bother? It is ten years since Sky put out "Sex On The Beach", a documentary which highlighted the drinking binges and sexual promiscuity of young British holidaymakers. Somewhere was needed for Stacey to go to, and as Magalluf has acquired current media flavour-of-the-month status, Magalluf it was.
Stacey's efforts have been a triumph of unearthing the already known. The lesser known she revealed was that the mayor of Calvià isn't a magician - he admitted to not being one - but then mayors rarely are magicians. The greatest problem she presented to a world already in possession of the facts was that of the mugging prostitutes and their organised-crime pimps. You don't actually need the aid of a shoulder-held video camera to observe their activities; just place yourself on a convenient terrace and you can do so live. Manu Onieva's apparent insouciance may reflect the fact that the professional criminal gangs are a Guardia matter, not one that the local police can handle.
The known knowns about Magalluf have been known for long enough. They may have become more exacerbated knowns, but then who helps to make them so? The Staceys of this media world. And will her investigation make any difference? Possibly it will in that it will increase Magalluf's popularity. Bad publicity? Free publicity. All publicity is etc., etc.
Magalluf is popular with the youth end of the tourism market precisely because of Stacey's stigmas (well, not the prostitutes or death by balcony fall perhaps). Magalluf, like Malia, Lagana, Arenal, Lloret and others, and for youth from different European countries (so please, no singling out of the British alone), is popular as it is represents a rite of passage. It is a location for National Disservice in the name of getting laid, getting drunk and getting admitted to hospital. It is an initiation that becomes habit until such time as youth realises it no longer is youth.
You reap what you sow. How did Magalluf become like Magalluf? Only partly because youthful tourists made it so. But they are mere agents of others' designs, included among whom are tour operators. Ever since Club 18-30 was first conceived (and so the history of such organised alcohol and sex-fuelled youth tourism is now heading towards middle age), tour operators have jumped onto the bandwagon, recognising a fruitful means of filling aircraft and hotel places. Magalluf has been a collective exercise in the exploitation of the easily and willingly exploitable - the youth. And the consequence is what you have, to which one pointless solution is to change its name. Sorry, you can take the dirty water out of the name of Magalluf, but - unless the resort's transformation involves the whole resort - you won't take the dirty dancing, drinking and sex out of the resort.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
They are only three. There are others. And like the British media despatches its packs of journalistic wolves in order to gorge on the bodies that have collapsed under the volume of industrial quantities of what can sometimes be industrial alcohol (as in Zante, for instance) or have taken to a night sky and plunged several floors onto rock-hard concrete, so the media in other countries scavenges for its own stories of sex, drink, drugs and very little rock 'n' roll. Which resort has the reputation for being the drunkest? Not Magalluf. It's Lloret de Mar, and Lloret is where French and Italian youth go to lay into each other. Do the Germans know anything about antics in Magalluf? Not really. They know about Arenal instead; Arenal, where German neo-Nazi skinheads set about black bar workers.
Welcome to the world of tourist post-modernism. Once upon a time, in pre-modern days, Cliff Michelmore introduced an ignorant audience to the attractions of Med resorts. Like Magalluf. They were new, exciting and innocent. Presenters and presentation styles changed along with the modern days of increased familiarity with the resorts. And now the post-modernist age has arrived, one in which the travelogue has been swapped for the reality-show appeal of a camera crew hastily racing to a scene of tourist Sodom and Gomorrah, observed by a girl from Luton who has displaced the Lorraine Chase of long ago (not that Lorraine actually came from Luton).
Poor, naïve Stacey Dooley. She has investigated the already investigated. She could as easily have gone off to Malia, though why would she have needed to bother? It is ten years since Sky put out "Sex On The Beach", a documentary which highlighted the drinking binges and sexual promiscuity of young British holidaymakers. Somewhere was needed for Stacey to go to, and as Magalluf has acquired current media flavour-of-the-month status, Magalluf it was.
Stacey's efforts have been a triumph of unearthing the already known. The lesser known she revealed was that the mayor of Calvià isn't a magician - he admitted to not being one - but then mayors rarely are magicians. The greatest problem she presented to a world already in possession of the facts was that of the mugging prostitutes and their organised-crime pimps. You don't actually need the aid of a shoulder-held video camera to observe their activities; just place yourself on a convenient terrace and you can do so live. Manu Onieva's apparent insouciance may reflect the fact that the professional criminal gangs are a Guardia matter, not one that the local police can handle.
The known knowns about Magalluf have been known for long enough. They may have become more exacerbated knowns, but then who helps to make them so? The Staceys of this media world. And will her investigation make any difference? Possibly it will in that it will increase Magalluf's popularity. Bad publicity? Free publicity. All publicity is etc., etc.
Magalluf is popular with the youth end of the tourism market precisely because of Stacey's stigmas (well, not the prostitutes or death by balcony fall perhaps). Magalluf, like Malia, Lagana, Arenal, Lloret and others, and for youth from different European countries (so please, no singling out of the British alone), is popular as it is represents a rite of passage. It is a location for National Disservice in the name of getting laid, getting drunk and getting admitted to hospital. It is an initiation that becomes habit until such time as youth realises it no longer is youth.
You reap what you sow. How did Magalluf become like Magalluf? Only partly because youthful tourists made it so. But they are mere agents of others' designs, included among whom are tour operators. Ever since Club 18-30 was first conceived (and so the history of such organised alcohol and sex-fuelled youth tourism is now heading towards middle age), tour operators have jumped onto the bandwagon, recognising a fruitful means of filling aircraft and hotel places. Magalluf has been a collective exercise in the exploitation of the easily and willingly exploitable - the youth. And the consequence is what you have, to which one pointless solution is to change its name. Sorry, you can take the dirty water out of the name of Magalluf, but - unless the resort's transformation involves the whole resort - you won't take the dirty dancing, drinking and sex out of the resort.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Sevilla 1 (6) : 2 (2) Real Mallorca (Copa del Rey)
The return leg of the cup match and a game in which the teams went through the motions, Sevilla holding a 5-0 lead from the first leg. Del Moral put the hosts further ahead midway through the first period during which neither side offered any great threats. Mallorca, though, broke through the lethargy to score twice in the second half through the substitute Brandon and former Sevilla player Alfaro. 2-1 on the night for Mallorca, but they were always chasing an impossible task.
Sevilla:
Palop; Coke, Cala, Botía, Moreno; Kondogbia, Hervás, Maduro; del Moral (Stevanovic 46), Perotti (Rakitic 71); Babá (Gonzalo 79)
Goal: del Moral (22)
Mallorca:
Calatayud; Ximo, Geromel, Conceiçao, Bigas (Nico 67); Pereira, Fontás, Martí, Kevin (Brandon 46); Alfaro (Álvaro 64), Hemed
Goals: Brandon (52), Alfaro (56)
Sevilla:
Palop; Coke, Cala, Botía, Moreno; Kondogbia, Hervás, Maduro; del Moral (Stevanovic 46), Perotti (Rakitic 71); Babá (Gonzalo 79)
Goal: del Moral (22)
Mallorca:
Calatayud; Ximo, Geromel, Conceiçao, Bigas (Nico 67); Pereira, Fontás, Martí, Kevin (Brandon 46); Alfaro (Álvaro 64), Hemed
Goals: Brandon (52), Alfaro (56)
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.45am): 7C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West and Southwest 3.
A misty morn after a foggy night and a cold morn. 2 to 3 degrees in parts. The mist will clear to leave another fine day, but cloud is going to start to come in tonight, marking a bit of a change. Though there will be good deals of sun around, the next few days will also have cloud, the forecast from Sunday into the start of next week being for rain and colder temperatures.
Afternoon update (17.15): Good amounts of sun, but the highs are slipping; just over 17C the best today.
The Risk Of Tradition
While watching the Three Kings parade in Alcúdia on Saturday evening, an observation was made about the potential for an accident to happen, one that could involve a child scavenging for sweets being hit or run over by one of the floats. Around the time that this observation was being made, a six-year-old boy in Malaga was crushed by a float and killed.
Not all the Kings parades are as lax in terms of security as Alcúdia's is. The floats may have a "watcher", but this is all they have. Otherwise, there is very little control, except parental. The boy in Malaga, though, managed to slip away from his parents and joined other children in the hunt for sweets thrown from the floats. If there is insufficient security, accidents can happen, regardless of parental vigilance.
The mayor of Malaga has said that all safety regulations were in place but that the city's administration will have to look at its safety procedures in light of the accident. As ever, it takes a tragedy for changes to be implemented.
In Sa Pobla next week, thousands of people will descend on the town for the Sant Antoni Eve celebrations. If you have never experienced Sa Pobla's "Nit Bruixa", you will not know just how overwhelming the event can be. Some who have been once swear they will never go again. Those who do go, repeatedly, are aware of the weight of the crowds, but the unaware can be taken aback as much by the pressure of people as by the frights provided by the demons.
The town hall has announced its safety plan, one aspect of which is being able to evacuate the Plaça Major within five minutes if anything were to go wrong. The square has a capacity of 10,000 people. There are many others who aren't in the square. Moving that number of people out of the square, and speedily, requires that there is somewhere for them to go.
And what could go wrong? Very simple. Sant Antoni is about fire and very often about fire in confined areas and close to buildings. Remarkably, there are very few incidents, but they are not unknown in the various towns that celebrate Sant Antoni.
Another aspect of Sant Antoni that comes with a risk is the marauding fire-run by the demons. Some years ago, the fire-run looked as though it was under threat because of a European Union directive on pyrotechnics. So concerned were demons groups and others that a delegation was sent to Brussels to lobby against restrictions. In the end, the directive recognised traditions at fiestas and so didn't expressly proscribe them. It was meant, though, to have introduced some greater restriction on children's involvement. If it did, it has been ignored. At Muro's Sant Antoni fire night, as soon as the fires are lit and the demons start their rampage, any number of kids emerge, their hoodies doused with water, and dance like maniacs under the fire-spitting tridents.
The healthy disregard for health and safety typifies attitudes towards traditions, and inevitably one draws comparisons with elsewhere. There may well be some tightening of procedures in general following the tragedy in Malaga, but will there also be a rush to demand compensation and for criminal proceedings, as would undoubtedly be the case in Britain? Maybe there will be. In Britain, though, none of this - the parades, the fires, the fire-runs - would be permitted; certainly not in the ways that they are conducted at any rate.
Yet, there is a contrariness when it comes to welfare, that of both humans and animals, and it is a contrariness that stems from the arbitrary definition of tradition. It is one that legislates that if a tradition is a hundred years or more old, then the tradition can persist. If it isn't this old, then it can't. Hence, you get the ridiculous situation by which live ducks are banned from being released in Can Picafort, yet a live cockerel can be stuck on top of a greasy pole in Pollensa on the day of Sant Antoni (and the climbing of the pine is another act of thumbing noses at health and safety). Neither should be banned, in my opinion. Certainly not if bullfights and bull-runs can be allowed to take place. The imposition of a time definition on tradition is faintly hypocritical. There is either animal welfare or there isn't.
But such is the way here. No one, least of all me, wants the restrictiveness that exists in Britain, but occasionally, and very sadly, a death brings home the risk. And in Malaga, one small boy who will never be brought home again.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Not all the Kings parades are as lax in terms of security as Alcúdia's is. The floats may have a "watcher", but this is all they have. Otherwise, there is very little control, except parental. The boy in Malaga, though, managed to slip away from his parents and joined other children in the hunt for sweets thrown from the floats. If there is insufficient security, accidents can happen, regardless of parental vigilance.
The mayor of Malaga has said that all safety regulations were in place but that the city's administration will have to look at its safety procedures in light of the accident. As ever, it takes a tragedy for changes to be implemented.
In Sa Pobla next week, thousands of people will descend on the town for the Sant Antoni Eve celebrations. If you have never experienced Sa Pobla's "Nit Bruixa", you will not know just how overwhelming the event can be. Some who have been once swear they will never go again. Those who do go, repeatedly, are aware of the weight of the crowds, but the unaware can be taken aback as much by the pressure of people as by the frights provided by the demons.
The town hall has announced its safety plan, one aspect of which is being able to evacuate the Plaça Major within five minutes if anything were to go wrong. The square has a capacity of 10,000 people. There are many others who aren't in the square. Moving that number of people out of the square, and speedily, requires that there is somewhere for them to go.
And what could go wrong? Very simple. Sant Antoni is about fire and very often about fire in confined areas and close to buildings. Remarkably, there are very few incidents, but they are not unknown in the various towns that celebrate Sant Antoni.
Another aspect of Sant Antoni that comes with a risk is the marauding fire-run by the demons. Some years ago, the fire-run looked as though it was under threat because of a European Union directive on pyrotechnics. So concerned were demons groups and others that a delegation was sent to Brussels to lobby against restrictions. In the end, the directive recognised traditions at fiestas and so didn't expressly proscribe them. It was meant, though, to have introduced some greater restriction on children's involvement. If it did, it has been ignored. At Muro's Sant Antoni fire night, as soon as the fires are lit and the demons start their rampage, any number of kids emerge, their hoodies doused with water, and dance like maniacs under the fire-spitting tridents.
The healthy disregard for health and safety typifies attitudes towards traditions, and inevitably one draws comparisons with elsewhere. There may well be some tightening of procedures in general following the tragedy in Malaga, but will there also be a rush to demand compensation and for criminal proceedings, as would undoubtedly be the case in Britain? Maybe there will be. In Britain, though, none of this - the parades, the fires, the fire-runs - would be permitted; certainly not in the ways that they are conducted at any rate.
Yet, there is a contrariness when it comes to welfare, that of both humans and animals, and it is a contrariness that stems from the arbitrary definition of tradition. It is one that legislates that if a tradition is a hundred years or more old, then the tradition can persist. If it isn't this old, then it can't. Hence, you get the ridiculous situation by which live ducks are banned from being released in Can Picafort, yet a live cockerel can be stuck on top of a greasy pole in Pollensa on the day of Sant Antoni (and the climbing of the pine is another act of thumbing noses at health and safety). Neither should be banned, in my opinion. Certainly not if bullfights and bull-runs can be allowed to take place. The imposition of a time definition on tradition is faintly hypocritical. There is either animal welfare or there isn't.
But such is the way here. No one, least of all me, wants the restrictiveness that exists in Britain, but occasionally, and very sadly, a death brings home the risk. And in Malaga, one small boy who will never be brought home again.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Alternativa slams tourism councillor over "tour operator" for dogs on Pollensa beaches
The Alternativa per Pollença has attacked the Pollensa town hall's tourism councillor, Maria Buades, over the press release that was issued some time ago in which reference was made to contacts having been made between the town hall and a so-called tour operator for dog-friendly holidays. This was all part of the town hall's tentative plan to permit dogs (and indeed other pets) to be taken onto beaches during the summer (two beaches in fact: Llenaire in Puerto Pollensa and Cala Carbó in Cala San Vicente). The Alternativa has criticised Sra. Buades for having confused this "tour operator" with what it really is; no more than a group of friends who lobby for less restrictions on dogs on beaches. The Alternativa has looked into this "tour operator", Guide4Dogs.com, has verified that it has no legal status as a tour operator and has suggested that Sra. Buades takes greater care in understanding who or what it is she is actually in contact with. The party goes on to say that the "group of friends" has laudable intentions, so is not criticising it, just the councillor, and reiterates its call for there to be a pilot project for dogs on beaches, using Can Cullerasa beach outside of Puerto Pollensa, a call that was rejected by Sra. Buades.
MALLORCA TODAY - Mallorca's town halls file accounts more rapidly
Town halls in Mallorca are managing to file accounts and present budgets much more rapidly than they have traditionally done. Many have now complied with the period for submitting accounts, as required by law, for the first time since the public audit office was established some ten years ago. One town hall which appears to have been tardy is Pollensa, though its head of financial affairs, Malena Estrany, says that accounts for 2011 were presented on time. Failure to comply with the filing period can mean loss of funds from Madrid.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Sa Pobla's security plan for Sant Antoni Eve
Sa Pobla is the town with the largest and grandest celebration of Sant Antoni, the "Nit Bruixa" of the evening and night of 16 January. Security for the event is to be provided by 70 police, civil protection and private security agents to ensure that there are no incidents during a night when the capacity of the main square is set at 10,000 people, the security plan including being able to evacuate the square within five minutes.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.45am): 9.5C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West 2 to 3.
A repeat of the previous few days, low temperatures in parts, warmer elsewhere, the range between 3 and 9. More sun all day. The forecast for the later weekend and into next week is looking far less good. By Monday the snow line is likely to be down to 600 metres and otherwise there will be rain about and colder daytime temperatures.
Afternoon update (17.15): The 20 degree mark hit - just - on another clear blue sky day.
The Tourist's Revenge
The national tourism minister, José Manuel Soria, would like to see more developments similar to Eurovegas. He would like to see such developments in the Canary Islands in particular, something you might expect him to say; he is the former president of the islands.
Soria is in a difficult position. His association with the Canaries makes him susceptible to accusations of bias. But in calling for a Eurovegas-style creation in the Canaries, he is recognising the stasis that exists on the islands with regard to new development. The economic situation is not the sole reason for inactivity out in the Atlantic. A further one is attempting to find a sensible compromise between doing anything that would upset sustainable development on the Canaries, i.e. doing absolutely nothing, and unbridled permissiveness. So heightened have been environmental sensibilities in the Canaries that the director of the islands employment service was sacked after having had the audacity to suggest that, as unemployment was so high but that there was so much demand for tourism, consideration should be given to building more accommodation.
Though the Balearics are hardly enjoying a period of feverish development, the contrast here with the Canaries is striking. Opponents of developments can argue that the Balearic Government is hastening the arrival of the new environmental Armageddon, but in citing regional interests as a justification for activity in Magalluf, Canyamel and Sa Rapita (for starters), the government is prepared to throw off the shackles of what has amounted to a virtual self-imposed economic blockade, one created by the inertia-inducing troika of leftist political parties, the eco-warriors and the idealistic Luddite tendency of romantic Catalanist agrarian patrimony.
Soria, in outlining the national plan for tourism, has defended the need to diversify the tourist offer and has also defended the national government's reformed coasts law. Eurovegas is an example of this diversification, designed to reduce dependence on sun and beach tourism and on the summer season. The coasts law, far from being a speculator's charter for unchecked coastal vandalism, has been a largely sensible response to the unfairness of the 1988 act. Even national plans, though, can run up against regional barriers. These have well and truly been erected in the Canaries, but in the Balearics there is a will to pull some if not all of them down.
Where the national government and the Balearics regional government face difficulty is in confronting an attitude that is both parochial and anti-modernity. This is an attitude that isn't solely confined to the usual suspects on the left, it is also one of current officialdom. The head of the Balearics tax agency, in responding to the row over the tax for hire cars, has implied that Mallorca would be better off without these cars in order that Mallorcans could head off to the beaches in peace. It is a most extraordinary observation but it captures the essence of objections to new tourism development. Opposition to Sa Rapita-Es Trenc has been founded, to no small extent, on a desire to keep Es Trenc for the Mallorcans, and only the Mallorcans, a laudable enough wish but not when it flies in the face of the need for badly needed economic activity in a key industry - tourism - that has suffered from a lack of investment and has so seen its competitiveness eroded by newer destinations.
Gabriel Escarrer of Meliá Hotels has said that "the cost of doing nothing was too great". Yet doing nothing has been the preferred option. Until now. Meliá's prescription for Magalluf is an excellent example of urban tourist redevelopment, and more is the pity that there are not similar concentrations of a single hotel chain's establishments in other mature resorts that might easily permit other Magallufs.
The governments in Madrid and Palma have appreciated the need for greater liberalism in the tourism sector, but of the reasons for embarking on development, the emergence of new tourism markets, especially the Russian market, has been a major impulse behind much of this liberalism. The desire to capture this affluent and huge market is fair enough, but it speaks volumes for the way in which traditional tourism markets - British, German, Scandinavian - have been taken for granted for way too long. An attitude of complacent insularity combined with inertia and the wish for Mallorcans to go to the beaches in peace has meant the kind of stasis that the Canaries are experiencing. It has taken the Russian invasion to wake some people up, and with the Russians comes a new reality for tourism, one that attacks the former lethargy and complacent attitude. It is a new reality that is the tourist's revenge for having been taken for granted.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Soria is in a difficult position. His association with the Canaries makes him susceptible to accusations of bias. But in calling for a Eurovegas-style creation in the Canaries, he is recognising the stasis that exists on the islands with regard to new development. The economic situation is not the sole reason for inactivity out in the Atlantic. A further one is attempting to find a sensible compromise between doing anything that would upset sustainable development on the Canaries, i.e. doing absolutely nothing, and unbridled permissiveness. So heightened have been environmental sensibilities in the Canaries that the director of the islands employment service was sacked after having had the audacity to suggest that, as unemployment was so high but that there was so much demand for tourism, consideration should be given to building more accommodation.
Though the Balearics are hardly enjoying a period of feverish development, the contrast here with the Canaries is striking. Opponents of developments can argue that the Balearic Government is hastening the arrival of the new environmental Armageddon, but in citing regional interests as a justification for activity in Magalluf, Canyamel and Sa Rapita (for starters), the government is prepared to throw off the shackles of what has amounted to a virtual self-imposed economic blockade, one created by the inertia-inducing troika of leftist political parties, the eco-warriors and the idealistic Luddite tendency of romantic Catalanist agrarian patrimony.
Soria, in outlining the national plan for tourism, has defended the need to diversify the tourist offer and has also defended the national government's reformed coasts law. Eurovegas is an example of this diversification, designed to reduce dependence on sun and beach tourism and on the summer season. The coasts law, far from being a speculator's charter for unchecked coastal vandalism, has been a largely sensible response to the unfairness of the 1988 act. Even national plans, though, can run up against regional barriers. These have well and truly been erected in the Canaries, but in the Balearics there is a will to pull some if not all of them down.
Where the national government and the Balearics regional government face difficulty is in confronting an attitude that is both parochial and anti-modernity. This is an attitude that isn't solely confined to the usual suspects on the left, it is also one of current officialdom. The head of the Balearics tax agency, in responding to the row over the tax for hire cars, has implied that Mallorca would be better off without these cars in order that Mallorcans could head off to the beaches in peace. It is a most extraordinary observation but it captures the essence of objections to new tourism development. Opposition to Sa Rapita-Es Trenc has been founded, to no small extent, on a desire to keep Es Trenc for the Mallorcans, and only the Mallorcans, a laudable enough wish but not when it flies in the face of the need for badly needed economic activity in a key industry - tourism - that has suffered from a lack of investment and has so seen its competitiveness eroded by newer destinations.
Gabriel Escarrer of Meliá Hotels has said that "the cost of doing nothing was too great". Yet doing nothing has been the preferred option. Until now. Meliá's prescription for Magalluf is an excellent example of urban tourist redevelopment, and more is the pity that there are not similar concentrations of a single hotel chain's establishments in other mature resorts that might easily permit other Magallufs.
The governments in Madrid and Palma have appreciated the need for greater liberalism in the tourism sector, but of the reasons for embarking on development, the emergence of new tourism markets, especially the Russian market, has been a major impulse behind much of this liberalism. The desire to capture this affluent and huge market is fair enough, but it speaks volumes for the way in which traditional tourism markets - British, German, Scandinavian - have been taken for granted for way too long. An attitude of complacent insularity combined with inertia and the wish for Mallorcans to go to the beaches in peace has meant the kind of stasis that the Canaries are experiencing. It has taken the Russian invasion to wake some people up, and with the Russians comes a new reality for tourism, one that attacks the former lethargy and complacent attitude. It is a new reality that is the tourist's revenge for having been taken for granted.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, January 07, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - The Three Kings of Pollensa
The Alternativa per Pollença has issued a message for Three Kings. As the Kings are also the Magi, the party reckons that magic will be required in Pollensa in order to meet obligations for various projects. The card shows Malena Estrany, the deputy mayor (formerly of La Lliga), the mayor Tomeu Cifre, and Martí Roca of La Lliga and in charge of council services with whom Estrany has fallen out over his support for the new El Pi party. The three councillors are shown to favour cuts and piles of euros.
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 9C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; West 3 to 4 veering Northwest from midday.
Very cold in parts, down to two degrees in Sa Pobla earlier, a clear, sunny morning once more. The forecast remains good with lots of sun through the week but by Sunday the daytime temperature will fall and rain is due along with a falling snow line.
Afternoon update (17.45): Another fine warm and sunny day, a high of 21.6C (Sa Pobla).
Reading Without Prejudice
There we were, the sun was all but set after what had been another gloriously sunny day. The masts of yachts in Alcúdia's marina were silhouetted against the final yellow of the sky as it turned to grey and then black. This was the night of the Kings arrival. It was becoming chilly, as it will do in Mallorca once the January sun has gone to bed, but it had been warm earlier, as it had been for the previous two days; warm, sunny, not the slightest risk of rain and certainly no possibility at all of snow. The AEMET forecasts had been accurate.
It came as a surprise when some of us - three at least - all piped up and said that the forecast had been totally different. Mallorca had, according to this same AEMET met office, been expected to have been freezing over the weekend. Temperatures had been due to go as low as minus eight in Lluc and snow at sea level had been forecast. Where had this all come from? There was absolutely no mention of such weather in the AEMET forecast, I insisted. How could the met office be saying one thing on its forecasts - the ones I had seen - and something completely different elsewhere? It made no sense.
The threesome all said that they had read that this was the forecast. They were as insistent as to the prospect of freezing conditions as I was as insistent that the forecast hadn't been for any such conditions. Where had they read it? They weren't one hundred per cent certain, but the source appeared to have been one particular (free) local publication.
Still baffled by the total discrepancy in the weather forecast, I went and had a look at this particular publication. To my amazement, there, in front of me, was exactly what the threesome had been talking about. But it still made no sense, until I realised what I was reading. It wasn't current news. It was news from last year. From a review. In February last year, freezing conditions had indeed been forecast and were right to have been forecast.
If three people could have failed to appreciate that what they were actually looking at was a reproduction from eleven months previously suggests either that they are blind or the presentation in the publication was not as clear as it might have been. It was probably a bit of both. And I then recalled having been initially foxed by an item from the same publication in the past. For the same reason. It was from a review of the year gone, one back in January 2009.
I wonder how many other people had thought this weekend was going to be freezing. That three people could all make the same error suggests that there would have been many more, and one even odder aspect of this error was that there was also a belief that this freezing conditions forecast had been on Spanish television. I suspect that this was some peculiar leap of reinforcement. There had been no such forecast, but because news of it was in one place, it was imagined to have then been in another place.
All this makes me wonder how we digest information. A publication layout that may not be entirely clear can, or so it would appear, induce misunderstanding. But is it the case that we don't properly read, or that we read what we want to read? I have pretty good reason to believe that we do (and by we, I mean some people). It has happened with things I have written. I have been quoted as having written things that I didn't and had blatant send-ups construed as having been serious.
There can be both a preconception as to what one thinks one is going to read and a prejudicial attitude that manifests itself as a misinterpretation of what has been written. People read what they want to read or think they have read. And occasionally this misinterpretation or misunderstanding is given more power through the invention of another medium saying the same thing, as with the television weather forecast which simply couldn't have been.
Cognitive and psychological research has been undertaken into just this phenomenon. And so it should be. A weather report is relatively inconsequential. But misinterpretation, which can border on the deliberate misinterpretation, and the subsequent dissemination of this misinterpreted message can potentially have more serious consequences.
Read, read and read again, preferably without a preconception or prejudice, and then, just for good measure, check that what you have been reading isn't in fact from eleven months before.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
It came as a surprise when some of us - three at least - all piped up and said that the forecast had been totally different. Mallorca had, according to this same AEMET met office, been expected to have been freezing over the weekend. Temperatures had been due to go as low as minus eight in Lluc and snow at sea level had been forecast. Where had this all come from? There was absolutely no mention of such weather in the AEMET forecast, I insisted. How could the met office be saying one thing on its forecasts - the ones I had seen - and something completely different elsewhere? It made no sense.
The threesome all said that they had read that this was the forecast. They were as insistent as to the prospect of freezing conditions as I was as insistent that the forecast hadn't been for any such conditions. Where had they read it? They weren't one hundred per cent certain, but the source appeared to have been one particular (free) local publication.
Still baffled by the total discrepancy in the weather forecast, I went and had a look at this particular publication. To my amazement, there, in front of me, was exactly what the threesome had been talking about. But it still made no sense, until I realised what I was reading. It wasn't current news. It was news from last year. From a review. In February last year, freezing conditions had indeed been forecast and were right to have been forecast.
If three people could have failed to appreciate that what they were actually looking at was a reproduction from eleven months previously suggests either that they are blind or the presentation in the publication was not as clear as it might have been. It was probably a bit of both. And I then recalled having been initially foxed by an item from the same publication in the past. For the same reason. It was from a review of the year gone, one back in January 2009.
I wonder how many other people had thought this weekend was going to be freezing. That three people could all make the same error suggests that there would have been many more, and one even odder aspect of this error was that there was also a belief that this freezing conditions forecast had been on Spanish television. I suspect that this was some peculiar leap of reinforcement. There had been no such forecast, but because news of it was in one place, it was imagined to have then been in another place.
All this makes me wonder how we digest information. A publication layout that may not be entirely clear can, or so it would appear, induce misunderstanding. But is it the case that we don't properly read, or that we read what we want to read? I have pretty good reason to believe that we do (and by we, I mean some people). It has happened with things I have written. I have been quoted as having written things that I didn't and had blatant send-ups construed as having been serious.
There can be both a preconception as to what one thinks one is going to read and a prejudicial attitude that manifests itself as a misinterpretation of what has been written. People read what they want to read or think they have read. And occasionally this misinterpretation or misunderstanding is given more power through the invention of another medium saying the same thing, as with the television weather forecast which simply couldn't have been.
Cognitive and psychological research has been undertaken into just this phenomenon. And so it should be. A weather report is relatively inconsequential. But misinterpretation, which can border on the deliberate misinterpretation, and the subsequent dissemination of this misinterpreted message can potentially have more serious consequences.
Read, read and read again, preferably without a preconception or prejudice, and then, just for good measure, check that what you have been reading isn't in fact from eleven months before.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Real Mallorca 1 : 1 Atlético Madrid
The Christmas break finished, the off-field board disruption ongoing, time for the Mallorca team to get back on the field, hosting second-placed Atlético. In the first half, the visitors were all over Mallorca, without really creating too many threatening opportunities. The dominance continued into the second half, the woodwork intervening before García, who had hit the bar, finally scored for Atlético. The game apparently sealed up, Mallorca stunned Atlético when Kevin scored with four minutes to go after a Nunes header had caused panic in the Atlético defence. Dos Santos then saw a direct free kick hit a post. Had it gone in, it would have given Mallorca an astonishing win. As it is, the draw was pretty astonishing. Up against it for the most of the game, an encouraging point for struggling Mallorca.
Mallorca:
Aouate; Nsue (Álvaro 79), Nunes, Geromel, Bigas; Pina, Márquez; Pereira (Kevin 63), Dos Santos, Arizmendi (Ximo 74); Hemed
Goal: Kevin (86)
Yellow: Nunes (77)
Atlético:
Courtois; Juanfran, Diáz, Godin, Luis; Tiago, Gabi; Koke, García, Adrián (Rodríguez 64); Costa
Goal: García (72)
Yellows: García (19), Tiago (30), Costa (89)
Mallorca:
Aouate; Nsue (Álvaro 79), Nunes, Geromel, Bigas; Pina, Márquez; Pereira (Kevin 63), Dos Santos, Arizmendi (Ximo 74); Hemed
Goal: Kevin (86)
Yellow: Nunes (77)
Atlético:
Courtois; Juanfran, Diáz, Godin, Luis; Tiago, Gabi; Koke, García, Adrián (Rodríguez 64); Costa
Goal: García (72)
Yellows: García (19), Tiago (30), Costa (89)
MALLORCA TODAY - Balearics raised more tax revenue in 2012 than anticipated
For once, a sign that things might (say might) be getting better. The Balearic Government raised more through tax revenues - thanks to tourism and property transfers involving the upper end of the market - than had been anticipated and this revenue has made the region one of the better performing parts of Spain.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Puerto Pollensa fishermen concerned about payment demands
Fishermen in Puerto Pollensa, now required to pay fees in advance to the regional government, are looking to get the government to reverse this demand so that fees can be paid retrospectively. The cost of storage has risen to an average of 900 euros a year (far higher than in Puerto Alcúdia), and the combination of higher fees, advance payment and economic crisis has been forcing fishermen to abandon such storage facilities.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 14C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northwest 2 to 3 locally 4 in Formentor and at intervals North 4 around midday. Waves at times getting to two metres.
More great difference in temperatures on a clear and sunny morning - from 5 to 14 degrees within the area. The forecast for the week is decent with a good deal of sun, quite typical for January, but perhaps getting colder by next weekend.
Afternoon update (17.45): Another stunning day, the sun strong enough to burn. A high of 20.9C (Pollensa).
A Mallorcan Winter Climate Of Distrust
Benidorm and comparisons with Mallorca have found their way into the pages of the Bulletin over the past few days. Firstly, there were Ian Morrison's photos (3 January) showing an empty Magalluf and a busy Benidorm in December. Secondly, there was the letter by Elizabeth Dobson (5 January) which contrasted levels of customer care in Mallorca with those in Benidorm.
From the photos, one could see that while Benidorm is open for business in winter, Magalluf (for which one can also read Mallorca as a whole) is closed. Why is this? It isn't the weather, or only marginally if it is. Benidorm is fractionally further south than Magalluf, but the comparative latitudes make little or no difference to temperatures. The weather can be iffy in both places. Or it can be glorious as it was on Friday when I was in Magalluf and when there were few people around and fewer still bars open in which one could have a coffee.
Because the weather offers no clue as to why Benidorm and not Magalluf (Mallorca), other clues need to be found. And there is one very big clue. People.
We are fed some nonsense about the size of the British expatriate population on Mallorca. A 50,000 figure for the Balearics would suggest that there must be some 40,000 Brits residents on Mallorca. The figure is plain wrong. It is around 16,000. In the Alicante province, of which Benidorm is a part, the official number of UK residents (as of a couple of years ago) is just short of 130,000. The land area of Alicante is 37% greater than Mallorca. Even if one were to factor this in, the British expat population of the island would climb to only 22,000.
One really needs to look no further than this wide difference in populations to understand why, as an example, Ryanair can, over a week in January, fly daily to Alicante from Stansted but can't to Palma.
It isn't only the comparative British populations that have an impact. According to benidormallyearround.com (and yes, it is all year round), Benidorm attracts tourists from the likes of Madrid over the festive season. The number who drive to the resort explains, so the website says, the lack of parking that is available. And note that they drive. They don't need to fly.
It would be too simple and indeed simplistic to use population statistics as the sole explanation as to why Benidorm and not Magalluf, but when airlines have a greater potential pool of demand to supply then they will supply, and from this supply other things follow, like those visiting the expatriates, tourists availing themselves of flights and hotels and bars staying open.
Then there is the contrast in customer care. Ms. Dobson's letter was, to say the least, heartfelt. It also had more than the superficiality of the pure anecdote about it in castigating Mallorcan attitudes and levels of care and in comparing them unfavourably with the mainland and Benidorm in particular. Doubtless there will be those who rush to the anecdote to either challenge her conclusions or support them, but anecdotes and personal experiences amount to only so much.
It is possible to measure how people feel about customer care, and recent tourist satisfaction surveys have shown falls in the level of satisfaction where some aspects of Mallorca are concerned. Generally, though, they don't dig into how people feel they are treated, and it is this that Ms. Dobson was referring to.
Whatever one personally thinks about Ms. Dobson's criticisms, there is one source - a Mallorcan one - that tends to lend support to the argument that tourists (and foreigners in general) are treated less than well. Guy de Forestier's "Beloved Majorcans" has been one of the very attempts to get inside the Mallorcan character, and the book refers variously to a "climate of distrust", always being "on the defensive, extremely prudent, wary and reserved" and "the unsociable nature of the Majorcan".
The letter does offer some harsh comments, ones that cut to the bone: the honeypot having dried up; the island being beautiful on the outside but not being beautiful on the inside. This latter one is a damning observation.
To put the letter into the context of the contrast between Benidorm and Magalluf in winter, perhaps there is, therefore, a reason other than populations. It is all a question of attitude. In Mallorca, tourists are tolerated in summer because of what they can bring in filling the honeypot. But if this tolerance is indeed reluctant, one based on de Forestier's distrust, then not needing or not wishing to extend the tolerance beyond the summer would begin to explain a lot.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
From the photos, one could see that while Benidorm is open for business in winter, Magalluf (for which one can also read Mallorca as a whole) is closed. Why is this? It isn't the weather, or only marginally if it is. Benidorm is fractionally further south than Magalluf, but the comparative latitudes make little or no difference to temperatures. The weather can be iffy in both places. Or it can be glorious as it was on Friday when I was in Magalluf and when there were few people around and fewer still bars open in which one could have a coffee.
Because the weather offers no clue as to why Benidorm and not Magalluf (Mallorca), other clues need to be found. And there is one very big clue. People.
We are fed some nonsense about the size of the British expatriate population on Mallorca. A 50,000 figure for the Balearics would suggest that there must be some 40,000 Brits residents on Mallorca. The figure is plain wrong. It is around 16,000. In the Alicante province, of which Benidorm is a part, the official number of UK residents (as of a couple of years ago) is just short of 130,000. The land area of Alicante is 37% greater than Mallorca. Even if one were to factor this in, the British expat population of the island would climb to only 22,000.
One really needs to look no further than this wide difference in populations to understand why, as an example, Ryanair can, over a week in January, fly daily to Alicante from Stansted but can't to Palma.
It isn't only the comparative British populations that have an impact. According to benidormallyearround.com (and yes, it is all year round), Benidorm attracts tourists from the likes of Madrid over the festive season. The number who drive to the resort explains, so the website says, the lack of parking that is available. And note that they drive. They don't need to fly.
It would be too simple and indeed simplistic to use population statistics as the sole explanation as to why Benidorm and not Magalluf, but when airlines have a greater potential pool of demand to supply then they will supply, and from this supply other things follow, like those visiting the expatriates, tourists availing themselves of flights and hotels and bars staying open.
Then there is the contrast in customer care. Ms. Dobson's letter was, to say the least, heartfelt. It also had more than the superficiality of the pure anecdote about it in castigating Mallorcan attitudes and levels of care and in comparing them unfavourably with the mainland and Benidorm in particular. Doubtless there will be those who rush to the anecdote to either challenge her conclusions or support them, but anecdotes and personal experiences amount to only so much.
It is possible to measure how people feel about customer care, and recent tourist satisfaction surveys have shown falls in the level of satisfaction where some aspects of Mallorca are concerned. Generally, though, they don't dig into how people feel they are treated, and it is this that Ms. Dobson was referring to.
Whatever one personally thinks about Ms. Dobson's criticisms, there is one source - a Mallorcan one - that tends to lend support to the argument that tourists (and foreigners in general) are treated less than well. Guy de Forestier's "Beloved Majorcans" has been one of the very attempts to get inside the Mallorcan character, and the book refers variously to a "climate of distrust", always being "on the defensive, extremely prudent, wary and reserved" and "the unsociable nature of the Majorcan".
The letter does offer some harsh comments, ones that cut to the bone: the honeypot having dried up; the island being beautiful on the outside but not being beautiful on the inside. This latter one is a damning observation.
To put the letter into the context of the contrast between Benidorm and Magalluf in winter, perhaps there is, therefore, a reason other than populations. It is all a question of attitude. In Mallorca, tourists are tolerated in summer because of what they can bring in filling the honeypot. But if this tolerance is indeed reluctant, one based on de Forestier's distrust, then not needing or not wishing to extend the tolerance beyond the summer would begin to explain a lot.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, January 05, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - PP in Sa Pobla accused of favouring friends
A decision by the Partido Popular-led town hall in Sa Pobla to allow businesses of an industrial nature to be located in the town as opposed to having to be on the industrial estate is said by opposition groups to be an act of favouritism towards friends of the party, an accusation that the mayor denies. The opposition maintains that certain businesses have opened illegally and that the decision has been taken in order to legalise them.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.45am): 14.5C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): West and Northwest 3 to 4 locally West 5 at intervals around Formentor. Waves to one metre.
Another bright morning, but likely to fairly windy from the west, the wind easing later for the arrival of the Kings in the ports this evening. A sunny day today, tomorrow and Monday, and feeling warm.
Afternoon update (17.15): Positively springlike. A high of 20.6C (Sa Pobla).
The Truth About Magalluf Is That We Already Know
So, on Monday, the truth is going to be revealed about Magalluf. It will be the truth according to the BBC and the BBC's Stacey Dooley in particular. I hadn't heard of Ms. Dooley prior to the publicity being given to "The Truth About Magalluf" (BBC3, 9pm), but it appears that she specialises (or someone has created the wherewithal for her to specialise) in getting to the heart of the matter on such issues as kids with machetes (child soldiers) and tourism. She has previously revealed that all-inclusive hotels in Kenya don't exactly contribute a great deal to the local economy or benefit local people. Which is a revelation that does need making, and it isn't one that is exclusive to Kenya.
Not being familiar with Ms. Dooley's oeuvre, I shall reserve judgement until the truth has been revealed about Magalluf, but the advance publicity leaves little doubt as to what this truth entails; it's what everyone knows to be the problems that Magalluf faces, and as such, they hardly need repeating. But of what the programme is to show, explicit sex antics have already been done by "Geordie Shore", balcony-diving has been done to death (literally in some cases) and been the subject of a widely publicised campaign involving Tom Daley, heavy drinking has been a facet of Magalluf tourism life for tourism time immemorial, violence has been around since as long as British tourists murdered a taxi driver (and before). So what is really going to be new? The violence and muggings by prostitutes might be, where some viewers are concerned, but these aren't new where people in Magalluf are concerned.
The local Spanish press is giving the programme ample pre-publicity. Anything that comes with the BBC attached to it normally is, even if the programme isn't on one of the main channels. It is a mark of the influence of the BBC that when its reporters come calling, a Spanish readership gets to know about them. Paul Mason's "The Great Spanish Crash", the one that the Spanish Government have taken exception to, was afforded a good deal of publicity when it was being made. The reason why was because it was the BBC. A further reason why was that questions were raised as to why Spanish television and reporters weren't allowed to do something similar or weren't able to.
Mason has, in some quarters, been criticised for a sensationalist style of presentation not in keeping with the BBC's traditions, which is a load of bollocks. The BBC, as with other broadcasters, has adapted to the demands of the times. The result may not be Richard Dimbleby, but then he's been dead for donkey's years. Doubtless, Ms. Dooley will be accused of similar sensationalism, but the sensationalism is not so much how a programme is made as the subject matter. If it's there, if it happens to exist and to reflect a situation, then it isn't sensationalist as such. It can become so if it exaggerates a situation and fails to reflect the lighter side of Magalluf and not only its "dark side" (and the Spanish press is making it clear that the dark side is what is going to be reflected).
The fact is, however, that the BBC is not the first. Spanish TV has also had a look at Magalluf, and the reaction was pretty negative where Magalluf business owners were concerned, as it was for the showing of the "Geordie Shore" Magalluf special on MTV Spain. But ultimately, what impact does such a programme have? It may make parents concerned about where their youngsters are off to for their holiday initiations, but I don't know that it has much impact on the youngsters themselves. And which youngsters are these? They are mainly British. Magalluf, you might be surprised to know, isn't that well known by some other nationalities; the Germans, for example, as their Magalluf is Arenal. The Russians had never heard of Magalluf until very recently, and they are being herded into the brand spanking new developments in the resort.
I was in Magalluf yesterday. These developments are striking. The Wave House, Nikki Beach, they look very good, and there is more to come. The programme probably won't dwell on these developments, and why should it? It's not a travelogue. But this will be the reaction of some who will complain of a lack of balance and look to attack the BBC yet again. It's an absurd reaction. A point I have made before and will continue to make is that journalism is not about balance. A programme is made, an article is written with a purpose not with a requirement for everything to be weighed equally.
The programme will cause some bluster and some outrage, but it will be quickly forgotten, unless people are inclined to keep banging on about it. But it will be hugely hypocritical if the reaction implies bias. As far as I can make out, nothing that is in this programme is unknown; all of it is known, and it is known because the local media talks about it and because local people and local business owners complain about it.
QUIZ: Yesterday - Grace Kelly and Mika.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Not being familiar with Ms. Dooley's oeuvre, I shall reserve judgement until the truth has been revealed about Magalluf, but the advance publicity leaves little doubt as to what this truth entails; it's what everyone knows to be the problems that Magalluf faces, and as such, they hardly need repeating. But of what the programme is to show, explicit sex antics have already been done by "Geordie Shore", balcony-diving has been done to death (literally in some cases) and been the subject of a widely publicised campaign involving Tom Daley, heavy drinking has been a facet of Magalluf tourism life for tourism time immemorial, violence has been around since as long as British tourists murdered a taxi driver (and before). So what is really going to be new? The violence and muggings by prostitutes might be, where some viewers are concerned, but these aren't new where people in Magalluf are concerned.
The local Spanish press is giving the programme ample pre-publicity. Anything that comes with the BBC attached to it normally is, even if the programme isn't on one of the main channels. It is a mark of the influence of the BBC that when its reporters come calling, a Spanish readership gets to know about them. Paul Mason's "The Great Spanish Crash", the one that the Spanish Government have taken exception to, was afforded a good deal of publicity when it was being made. The reason why was because it was the BBC. A further reason why was that questions were raised as to why Spanish television and reporters weren't allowed to do something similar or weren't able to.
Mason has, in some quarters, been criticised for a sensationalist style of presentation not in keeping with the BBC's traditions, which is a load of bollocks. The BBC, as with other broadcasters, has adapted to the demands of the times. The result may not be Richard Dimbleby, but then he's been dead for donkey's years. Doubtless, Ms. Dooley will be accused of similar sensationalism, but the sensationalism is not so much how a programme is made as the subject matter. If it's there, if it happens to exist and to reflect a situation, then it isn't sensationalist as such. It can become so if it exaggerates a situation and fails to reflect the lighter side of Magalluf and not only its "dark side" (and the Spanish press is making it clear that the dark side is what is going to be reflected).
The fact is, however, that the BBC is not the first. Spanish TV has also had a look at Magalluf, and the reaction was pretty negative where Magalluf business owners were concerned, as it was for the showing of the "Geordie Shore" Magalluf special on MTV Spain. But ultimately, what impact does such a programme have? It may make parents concerned about where their youngsters are off to for their holiday initiations, but I don't know that it has much impact on the youngsters themselves. And which youngsters are these? They are mainly British. Magalluf, you might be surprised to know, isn't that well known by some other nationalities; the Germans, for example, as their Magalluf is Arenal. The Russians had never heard of Magalluf until very recently, and they are being herded into the brand spanking new developments in the resort.
I was in Magalluf yesterday. These developments are striking. The Wave House, Nikki Beach, they look very good, and there is more to come. The programme probably won't dwell on these developments, and why should it? It's not a travelogue. But this will be the reaction of some who will complain of a lack of balance and look to attack the BBC yet again. It's an absurd reaction. A point I have made before and will continue to make is that journalism is not about balance. A programme is made, an article is written with a purpose not with a requirement for everything to be weighed equally.
The programme will cause some bluster and some outrage, but it will be quickly forgotten, unless people are inclined to keep banging on about it. But it will be hugely hypocritical if the reaction implies bias. As far as I can make out, nothing that is in this programme is unknown; all of it is known, and it is known because the local media talks about it and because local people and local business owners complain about it.
QUIZ: Yesterday - Grace Kelly and Mika.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, January 04, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Magalluf braces itself for more bad publicity
On Monday evening, 7 January, at 9pm, BBC Three will broadcast a programme entitled "The Truth About Magalluf: Stacey Dooley Investigates". It appears that there will be three further programmes (or perhaps they'll be repeats) in which the reporter, who got "under the skin of this popular resort" (says the BBC website), reveals all manner of unpleasantness - sexually explicit drinking games, vandalism, heavy drinking, violent fights, rape, prostitutes and balcony diving. The local Spanish media is reporting this programme as being broadcast when there is a "maximum audience", though as it's BBC Three it won't be that maximum. Nevertheless, stand back and wait for the indignation.
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 9C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 3 to 4 backing West and Northwest locally West 5 during the morning around Formentor. Waves to one metre easing.
A calmer morning, nice and bright, temperatures varying with a low of 5 degrees. Sunny today and the forecast for Three Kings over the weekend is pretty good: sun, windy at times but no real threat of rain for the evening's processions tomorrow.
Evening update (18.45): A smashing day. Warm in the sun, of which there was a great deal. A high of 18.7C (Sa Pobla).
Hainan And Mallorca's High Noon
The World Travel & Tourism Council sounds as though it should be some quasi international governmental body. It isn't. It is private, the forum for business leaders in the travel and tourism industry. Part of its reason for being is to conduct tourism research, and I have a copy of an impressive research document it has produced, the foreword to which states that "WTTC stands ready to work with you to help you achieve your vision" and then goes on to offer congratulations on behalf of WTTC members.
What is this document about? It concerns the island of Hainan, the Asian Hawaii or even the Asian Mallorca. The WTTC stands ready to work with the Hainan Provincial Government, and it is to it that the Council offers its congratulations for achievements thus far. You bet it stands ready to work with the government.
At the start of the report, a host of members, vice-chairmen and executive committee members are listed. The chairman is Michael Frenzel of TUI. One of the executive committee members is Sebastián Escarrer of Meliá Hotels. Stakeholders, no doubt, in an island whose tourism growth potential is on a scale that Mallorca could only dream of and whose diversity is unlike anything Mallorca could offer. Hainan is the next big thing.
Hainan is an island in the South China Sea. It is roughly equivalent in size to Catalonia, so its scope is that much greater than Mallorca's. And what scope it is. Much as Mallorca likes to boast about culture, nature, beaches, sea, sport, this boast pales against what Hainan has to offer. A tropical island with exotic flora and fauna, lush forest and jungle, waterfalls, hot springs, even an extinct volcano, Hainan is set to be the jewel in the crown of China's burgeoning tourism industry. And so much of a jewel is it, that by 2021 it will be ranked in first position on all of the WTTC performance measures: contributions of tourism to GDP; contributions of tourism to employment; tourist spending; capital investment.
Hainan isn't a competitor to Mallorca. It is up against the likes of Bali, Phuket and Penang. Its market is international, with the Russians an important element, but it has a massive market on its doorstep, the Chinese. It could only assume the position it is going to over the next ten years because of the strength of the Chinese economy, which enables the finance that is being pumped into it and guarantees it a home-grown and ever more affluent and sophisticated market.
For an international hotel group such as Meliá, Hainan is a potential gold mine. The major Mallorcan hotels are to the fore in being represented in new developments like those in Hainan. There are not just the opportunities for business growth, there are also those for the export of know-how. The WTTC report observes that one weakness that Hainan has is the quality of staff. And training, a point Miguel Fluxà of Iberostar made at the 2011 ABTA convention in Palma, is something that these top Mallorcan hotel groups are very good at providing.
It is small wonder that the top hotels eye up destinations such as Hainan. The scope for growth in Mallorca is limited. It is not that there isn't investment, as Meliá are demonstrating in Magalluf, but there are so many constraints in Mallorca: the political and environmental climate; the ancient nature of resorts; and the sheer lack of money.
Though it isn't a competitor, the development of Hainan is reminiscent of that in destinations which are Mallorca's competitors. Egypt and Turkey emerged because of the high priority given to tourism and the fact that decision-making was right at the top of government. And as Hainan and other resorts become better known and so add to the general tourist experience already had in the newer Mediterranean destinations, so Mallorca looks more and more the victim of it having been the first mover in mass tourism. The tattiness that can be found in some (if not all) of the island's resorts will increasingly conflict with altered expectations on behalf of the tourist.
Concerns about the environmental impact of new complexes by Es Trenc and in Canyamel merely highlight the difficulties which Mallorca faces. However, these new complexes are conceived partly because transforming existing resorts to anything like the standards being set elsewhere runs up against similar concerns. The current government is being criticised for returning to the days of playing fast and loose with the environment (an over-exaggerated criticism in my opinion), but it does have a certain vision, one for which it should be getting more credit than it is. Of course there isn't the money to splash around like the Chinese have, but without some investment and without some new development, Mallorca will gradually slip and the tattiness will become ever tattier. And the Hainans will make it look tattier still.
QUIZ: "Twenty Twenty" was The Beach Boys. In the film "High Noon", who played Gary Cooper's love interest, as in wife, and who had a number one hit with a song with her name?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
What is this document about? It concerns the island of Hainan, the Asian Hawaii or even the Asian Mallorca. The WTTC stands ready to work with the Hainan Provincial Government, and it is to it that the Council offers its congratulations for achievements thus far. You bet it stands ready to work with the government.
At the start of the report, a host of members, vice-chairmen and executive committee members are listed. The chairman is Michael Frenzel of TUI. One of the executive committee members is Sebastián Escarrer of Meliá Hotels. Stakeholders, no doubt, in an island whose tourism growth potential is on a scale that Mallorca could only dream of and whose diversity is unlike anything Mallorca could offer. Hainan is the next big thing.
Hainan is an island in the South China Sea. It is roughly equivalent in size to Catalonia, so its scope is that much greater than Mallorca's. And what scope it is. Much as Mallorca likes to boast about culture, nature, beaches, sea, sport, this boast pales against what Hainan has to offer. A tropical island with exotic flora and fauna, lush forest and jungle, waterfalls, hot springs, even an extinct volcano, Hainan is set to be the jewel in the crown of China's burgeoning tourism industry. And so much of a jewel is it, that by 2021 it will be ranked in first position on all of the WTTC performance measures: contributions of tourism to GDP; contributions of tourism to employment; tourist spending; capital investment.
Hainan isn't a competitor to Mallorca. It is up against the likes of Bali, Phuket and Penang. Its market is international, with the Russians an important element, but it has a massive market on its doorstep, the Chinese. It could only assume the position it is going to over the next ten years because of the strength of the Chinese economy, which enables the finance that is being pumped into it and guarantees it a home-grown and ever more affluent and sophisticated market.
For an international hotel group such as Meliá, Hainan is a potential gold mine. The major Mallorcan hotels are to the fore in being represented in new developments like those in Hainan. There are not just the opportunities for business growth, there are also those for the export of know-how. The WTTC report observes that one weakness that Hainan has is the quality of staff. And training, a point Miguel Fluxà of Iberostar made at the 2011 ABTA convention in Palma, is something that these top Mallorcan hotel groups are very good at providing.
It is small wonder that the top hotels eye up destinations such as Hainan. The scope for growth in Mallorca is limited. It is not that there isn't investment, as Meliá are demonstrating in Magalluf, but there are so many constraints in Mallorca: the political and environmental climate; the ancient nature of resorts; and the sheer lack of money.
Though it isn't a competitor, the development of Hainan is reminiscent of that in destinations which are Mallorca's competitors. Egypt and Turkey emerged because of the high priority given to tourism and the fact that decision-making was right at the top of government. And as Hainan and other resorts become better known and so add to the general tourist experience already had in the newer Mediterranean destinations, so Mallorca looks more and more the victim of it having been the first mover in mass tourism. The tattiness that can be found in some (if not all) of the island's resorts will increasingly conflict with altered expectations on behalf of the tourist.
Concerns about the environmental impact of new complexes by Es Trenc and in Canyamel merely highlight the difficulties which Mallorca faces. However, these new complexes are conceived partly because transforming existing resorts to anything like the standards being set elsewhere runs up against similar concerns. The current government is being criticised for returning to the days of playing fast and loose with the environment (an over-exaggerated criticism in my opinion), but it does have a certain vision, one for which it should be getting more credit than it is. Of course there isn't the money to splash around like the Chinese have, but without some investment and without some new development, Mallorca will gradually slip and the tattiness will become ever tattier. And the Hainans will make it look tattier still.
QUIZ: "Twenty Twenty" was The Beach Boys. In the film "High Noon", who played Gary Cooper's love interest, as in wife, and who had a number one hit with a song with her name?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.15am): 10C
Forecast high: 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca): North 7 occasionally gale force 8, easing during the morning to Northeast 5 and by the evening to North 3 to 4. Amber alert for coastal conditions.
Wild morning, winds up to 60kph or more at times, some bursts of rain last night with a rogue storm around Pollensa but not a murmur elsewhere. Amber alert for the coasts, so very special care needed along coastal roads and by beaches as waves will be high. The wind should calm down later and there may be some sun. Tomorrow will be much better, still breezy but sunny and a little warmer. The Three Kings forecast for the evening of the 5th and for the 6th remains ok.
Evening update (18.30): Things got better in that the wind died down, the sun came out for a time but it still rained a bit more. A high of just 14.4C (Puerto Pollensa).
Twenty Twenty: The bid that shouldn't be?
While the British honours system and Sports Personality of the Year have brought the London Olympics orgy to an end, it seems only appropriate to remind you what will happen on 7 January. Don't worry, it's not another awards ceremony, it is far duller than even that.
Submitting official bid books ranks pretty low on the excitement levels created by the Olympics, but this coming Monday is the day for the submission of the bid books for the 2020 Olympics. There will be three bids: Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid.
Having managed to fail to secure the Games on the last two occasions, Madrid is hoping it will be third time lucky when Jacques Rogge picks the lucky number on 7 September in Buenos Aires. There's fortuitous you might think. Argentine capital, Spanish speaking, Lionel Messi and all that; Madrid must be a banker to get pulled out in September. It might have been before the Argentine president started going around nationalising Repsol's interests, but even this slight hiccup in fraternal Hispanidad relations probably isn't sufficient to scupper Madrid's chances and make all parties look decidedly embarrassed when they pitch up in Buenos Aires for the grand un-opening of the Olympic envelope.
There is a far greater risk to Madrid's bid, and I suspect you all know what it is. Money. The absence thereof. If there is any money, whose is it going to be? Because it won't be Spain's. It will be numbered notes from the IMF or the ECB, and neither of them, one would imagine, would be overly keen to see great wads of cash being thrown at an Olympics, least of all by a country with a well-earned reputation for turning major projects into nice little earners for all manner of politicians and others.
In the scheme of things, the 16 million euros that have apparently been spent thus far do not represent a huge amount, but of this spend, there have been one or two embarrassments, such as the report which, so it has been claimed, ran to a cost of nearly 700,000 euros but which proved to be worthless because one particular bank appeared as the main private-sector partner for the Olympics. Which bank do you think this might have been? If you reckon Bankia, then you have earned yourself a gold medal, one that isn't gold at all but is made out of worthless fool's gold. The mind boggles not only at the fact that someone was daft enough to even involve Bankia but also because of the associations the bank has (political involvement and a spot of alleged malfeasance).
In fact, Madrid's application document was pretty impressive. But then, producing a report detailing the application is one of the easier parts of the process. It was littered with the usual guff about what the Games would bring as well as all the stuff necessary to deal with accommodation, press, security and so on. However, other aspects of the preliminaries haven't been quite so impressive. The Games logo was unveiled to general bafflement and criticism. It looks like five flip-flops was one quip. One of the promotional videos (pura pasión) has been slated for the fact that it features flamenco, which isn't representative of Madrid, and people sitting around at cafés doing very little.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't quibble with Madrid's ambitions for the Games. But circumstances aren't normal. Were Madrid to be pulled out on 7 September, one can but only imagine the reaction of a shocked world that the capital of a country in such dire financial straits could be. It is no argument to suggest that the economy might be in better shape in seven years time, as commitments would have to start this year, were Madrid to win. And some of those commitments would come from the city of Madrid itself, already cash-strapped and in debt.
It wouldn't only be the infrastructure that would need funding, there would be the athletes as well. Spain would not have been as successful as it was at the 1992 Games had it not been for special funding. Its performances before Barcelona were poor and they have not come to close to matching those of 1992 since. The Spanish Olympic Committee just doesn't have the money. So where would this come from?
Monday marks only a further step along the way. The IOC evaluation commission will visit the candidate cities in March, report some time after, and the cities will brief IOC members in June. And on 7 September, the decision will be announced. Madrid? Well, part of me hopes that it succeeds. But it is a part that most certainly isn't my head.
QUIZ: "Libra, and my name is Charles. Now I like a woman that's quiet." It was of course The Floaters and it was truly awful. "Twenty Twenty". This was the 15th studio album by which American group?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Submitting official bid books ranks pretty low on the excitement levels created by the Olympics, but this coming Monday is the day for the submission of the bid books for the 2020 Olympics. There will be three bids: Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid.
Having managed to fail to secure the Games on the last two occasions, Madrid is hoping it will be third time lucky when Jacques Rogge picks the lucky number on 7 September in Buenos Aires. There's fortuitous you might think. Argentine capital, Spanish speaking, Lionel Messi and all that; Madrid must be a banker to get pulled out in September. It might have been before the Argentine president started going around nationalising Repsol's interests, but even this slight hiccup in fraternal Hispanidad relations probably isn't sufficient to scupper Madrid's chances and make all parties look decidedly embarrassed when they pitch up in Buenos Aires for the grand un-opening of the Olympic envelope.
There is a far greater risk to Madrid's bid, and I suspect you all know what it is. Money. The absence thereof. If there is any money, whose is it going to be? Because it won't be Spain's. It will be numbered notes from the IMF or the ECB, and neither of them, one would imagine, would be overly keen to see great wads of cash being thrown at an Olympics, least of all by a country with a well-earned reputation for turning major projects into nice little earners for all manner of politicians and others.
In the scheme of things, the 16 million euros that have apparently been spent thus far do not represent a huge amount, but of this spend, there have been one or two embarrassments, such as the report which, so it has been claimed, ran to a cost of nearly 700,000 euros but which proved to be worthless because one particular bank appeared as the main private-sector partner for the Olympics. Which bank do you think this might have been? If you reckon Bankia, then you have earned yourself a gold medal, one that isn't gold at all but is made out of worthless fool's gold. The mind boggles not only at the fact that someone was daft enough to even involve Bankia but also because of the associations the bank has (political involvement and a spot of alleged malfeasance).
In fact, Madrid's application document was pretty impressive. But then, producing a report detailing the application is one of the easier parts of the process. It was littered with the usual guff about what the Games would bring as well as all the stuff necessary to deal with accommodation, press, security and so on. However, other aspects of the preliminaries haven't been quite so impressive. The Games logo was unveiled to general bafflement and criticism. It looks like five flip-flops was one quip. One of the promotional videos (pura pasión) has been slated for the fact that it features flamenco, which isn't representative of Madrid, and people sitting around at cafés doing very little.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't quibble with Madrid's ambitions for the Games. But circumstances aren't normal. Were Madrid to be pulled out on 7 September, one can but only imagine the reaction of a shocked world that the capital of a country in such dire financial straits could be. It is no argument to suggest that the economy might be in better shape in seven years time, as commitments would have to start this year, were Madrid to win. And some of those commitments would come from the city of Madrid itself, already cash-strapped and in debt.
It wouldn't only be the infrastructure that would need funding, there would be the athletes as well. Spain would not have been as successful as it was at the 1992 Games had it not been for special funding. Its performances before Barcelona were poor and they have not come to close to matching those of 1992 since. The Spanish Olympic Committee just doesn't have the money. So where would this come from?
Monday marks only a further step along the way. The IOC evaluation commission will visit the candidate cities in March, report some time after, and the cities will brief IOC members in June. And on 7 September, the decision will be announced. Madrid? Well, part of me hopes that it succeeds. But it is a part that most certainly isn't my head.
QUIZ: "Libra, and my name is Charles. Now I like a woman that's quiet." It was of course The Floaters and it was truly awful. "Twenty Twenty". This was the 15th studio album by which American group?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa street-cleaning report still not published
The Alternativa party has condemned the Pollensa councillor with responsibility for public services, Martí Roca, for not ensuring that annual reports related to the work of Llabres-Amer Adrover, the company that was contracted in 2010 to provide street-cleaning services (at a cost of 750,000 euros a year), are published. The first report was due to have been published and made available via the town hall website two years ago, yet still nothing has been made public.
MALLORCA TODAY - Demands on charities increase in the Balearics
The two charities, the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and Caritas (the church's charitable wing), are facing increased demands for assistance not just from immigrants but also from native Balearic citizens. Caritas say that they need to attend to some 600 people per month. Requests for help range from help to pay bills and to providing presents for Three Kings.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Real Mallorca's organisation to be decided today
Following the announcement by Jaume Cladera that he is stepping down as president of Real Mallorca, a meeting this afternoon should decide the future direction of the club, German Utz Claassen holding all the aces in choosing which way to go. There is speculation, despite Claassen's well-publicised disagreements with major shareholder Llorenç Serra Ferrer, that the German could support him.
Update: The meeting failed to arrive at an agreement, but a new member of the board to replace Cladera should be decided on Monday next week, and the election of a new president should take place on 29 January.
See more: Ultima Hora
Update: The meeting failed to arrive at an agreement, but a new member of the board to replace Cladera should be decided on Monday next week, and the election of a new president should take place on 29 January.
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Wine to celebrate Fray Juniper's anniversary
Much will be heard about Fray Juniper Serra this year as it is the 300th anniversary of his birth and has been declared the "year" of this missionary from the town of Petra. A bodega in the town, Vins Can Coleto, has issued a special wine in his honour, simply labelled 1713.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.15am): 10C
Forecast high: 15C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca): North and Northeast 4 to 5 reaching North 6 to 7 during the morning. Yellow alert for coastal conditions.
Spitting rain overnight, a grey morning with the prospect of some rain. Strong north winds and a warning in place for rough conditions by the coasts, so watch out for heavy waves. Looking ahead, the evening of the 5th should be fine for the arrival of the Three Kings, though it will also be quite windy.
Evening update (19.30): Some rain about, not heavy though, and chilly, a high of just 13.4C (Sa Pobla). The alert for coastal conditions has now been raised for orange tomorrow. So plenty of wind likely on land as well.
Float On: Shares in Spain
I have a solution for all Spain's economic woes. As far as I am aware, my solution is mine and mine alone. It is, therefore, a unique prescription, and as such, I claim my Nobel Prize for Economics.
What is this solution? It is in fact very simple. Spain should float itself on the stock exchange. Several stock exchanges: London, New York, Frankfurt and Shanghai. Offer shares in Spain S.A. and the money would flow into the country. It beats me why no one has never thought of this before.
Floating on a stock exchange removes all the nasty consequences of raising money through bond issues, i.e. debt financing, such as high interest rates, failing to meet payment deadlines and guaranteeing sound cash flows. Equity financing, on the other hand, comes without the interest rates, with the cash flows, because cash isn't needed to repay interest, and there are no deadlines for payments as shareholders aren't necessarily guaranteed dividends.
Were Spain to float itself, it would need to introduce itself to the market with a prospectus. Think of all the advantages it could boast: dynamic economy, highly skilled and highly educated workforce, scrupulous politicians ... erm, well, there might be a slight problem with some of these, but then there would also be pristine beaches available for construction (and there are some which remain), world-beating football teams and a thriving donkey-with-straw-hats market. The advantages to an investor would certainly outweigh any small disadvantages, like the country being up to its neck in debt.
I'm not sure how one would value the shares, as there isn't an obvious precedent, but doubtless some consultant or banker could come up with a reasonable valuation, somewhere between a handful of centimos and a million euros per share. Let's just say that ten million shares were made available for an initial offer at 500 euros a pop, that would be 5,000 million, just like that, and only for starters. What would there be to stop more share offers being released? There would be no worries about any tax, as the country would simply be paying itself, always assuming it gets its fiscal domicile right.
A further matter that would need to be addressed prior to flotation would be the make-up of the board and the management. Sorry, Sr. Rajoy, but I think you would need to be ditched. A more acceptable CEO would be required, a foreign one even, like the Canadian who has just got his hands on the Bank of England's billions or a high-flying businessman. Michael O'Leary, for instance. They could always make the King honorary chairman or some such.
A mechanism would also be required to ensure correct governance, a pretty alien concept to the Spanish corporate world, and so stop whoever was on the board just siphoning off the profits in the form of a bonus or handing them over to mates. A tricky one this, as the natural reaction of Spanish politicians or businesspeople, when confronted by a pile of easily made loot, is to grab hold of it for themselves. Strict remuneration and audit committees would need to be established. Merkel, Merkel and Merkel of Berlin might be called on to oversee them.
As far as I can see, there are few obvious disadvantages with the flotation scheme. One might be that investors see through the whole thing and reject a valuation that is more than a handful of centimos. But I fancy there would be plenty of suckers knocking around who would want a piece of the action as well as those who aren't suckers. Like the Chinese, for instance. As they already own a good chunk of Spain as it is, thanks to the buying of bonds, then shares should be attractive to a savvy authoritarian regime that wishes to diversify its investment portfolio and export its own brand of imperialistic commie-capitalism. This does, though, raise the minor drawback of Spain being acquired, as in an investor or investors start snapping up shares. China might well fancy buying its own European country, but never mind, it would do wonders for Chinese tourism.
Another slight drawback could be the underwriting of the share offer. Which would mean a bank or banks. There again, Spain has some fine examples of highly liquid and properly managed banks that could do the job. Bankia would be one. So, no problem here.
Overall, therefore, the perfect solution to Spain's economic crisis. Please note that the value of shares can down as well as up.
THE QUIZ IS BACK! Yes, everyone, it's back. "Mmm, take my hand. Come with me baby to love land." Which group was responsible for this abomination and for floating on? Easy. Answer tomorrow.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
What is this solution? It is in fact very simple. Spain should float itself on the stock exchange. Several stock exchanges: London, New York, Frankfurt and Shanghai. Offer shares in Spain S.A. and the money would flow into the country. It beats me why no one has never thought of this before.
Floating on a stock exchange removes all the nasty consequences of raising money through bond issues, i.e. debt financing, such as high interest rates, failing to meet payment deadlines and guaranteeing sound cash flows. Equity financing, on the other hand, comes without the interest rates, with the cash flows, because cash isn't needed to repay interest, and there are no deadlines for payments as shareholders aren't necessarily guaranteed dividends.
Were Spain to float itself, it would need to introduce itself to the market with a prospectus. Think of all the advantages it could boast: dynamic economy, highly skilled and highly educated workforce, scrupulous politicians ... erm, well, there might be a slight problem with some of these, but then there would also be pristine beaches available for construction (and there are some which remain), world-beating football teams and a thriving donkey-with-straw-hats market. The advantages to an investor would certainly outweigh any small disadvantages, like the country being up to its neck in debt.
I'm not sure how one would value the shares, as there isn't an obvious precedent, but doubtless some consultant or banker could come up with a reasonable valuation, somewhere between a handful of centimos and a million euros per share. Let's just say that ten million shares were made available for an initial offer at 500 euros a pop, that would be 5,000 million, just like that, and only for starters. What would there be to stop more share offers being released? There would be no worries about any tax, as the country would simply be paying itself, always assuming it gets its fiscal domicile right.
A further matter that would need to be addressed prior to flotation would be the make-up of the board and the management. Sorry, Sr. Rajoy, but I think you would need to be ditched. A more acceptable CEO would be required, a foreign one even, like the Canadian who has just got his hands on the Bank of England's billions or a high-flying businessman. Michael O'Leary, for instance. They could always make the King honorary chairman or some such.
A mechanism would also be required to ensure correct governance, a pretty alien concept to the Spanish corporate world, and so stop whoever was on the board just siphoning off the profits in the form of a bonus or handing them over to mates. A tricky one this, as the natural reaction of Spanish politicians or businesspeople, when confronted by a pile of easily made loot, is to grab hold of it for themselves. Strict remuneration and audit committees would need to be established. Merkel, Merkel and Merkel of Berlin might be called on to oversee them.
As far as I can see, there are few obvious disadvantages with the flotation scheme. One might be that investors see through the whole thing and reject a valuation that is more than a handful of centimos. But I fancy there would be plenty of suckers knocking around who would want a piece of the action as well as those who aren't suckers. Like the Chinese, for instance. As they already own a good chunk of Spain as it is, thanks to the buying of bonds, then shares should be attractive to a savvy authoritarian regime that wishes to diversify its investment portfolio and export its own brand of imperialistic commie-capitalism. This does, though, raise the minor drawback of Spain being acquired, as in an investor or investors start snapping up shares. China might well fancy buying its own European country, but never mind, it would do wonders for Chinese tourism.
Another slight drawback could be the underwriting of the share offer. Which would mean a bank or banks. There again, Spain has some fine examples of highly liquid and properly managed banks that could do the job. Bankia would be one. So, no problem here.
Overall, therefore, the perfect solution to Spain's economic crisis. Please note that the value of shares can down as well as up.
THE QUIZ IS BACK! Yes, everyone, it's back. "Mmm, take my hand. Come with me baby to love land." Which group was responsible for this abomination and for floating on? Easy. Answer tomorrow.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Political corruption - cases outstanding
If you weren't aware of the scale of political corruption, then this article sums it up. With the Balearics and Valencia the worst regions in Spain, there are more than 300 politicians indicted by investigations into corruption. The number of mayors and former mayors implicated is quite astonishing.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Now the Lluc monastery suffers a fire
Having recently had a good part of its roof ripped off during a storm, the monastery at Lluc has now suffered a fire which broke out this morning, the 200 or so people staying overnight there having to be evacuated, one 37-year-old man having been taken to hospital in a serious condition.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Sa Pobla project investment negligible in 2013
Sa Pobla town hall is expected to approve at its next meeting this coming Thursday a budget for investment on projects for 2013 that will be only 200,000 euros, three million less than 2012.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 January 2013
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.30am): 10C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca): Southwest 4 to 5 easing through the morning to Northwest 3 to 4.
Welcome to 2013. Some cloud, some blue sky and early sun. Likely to be mostly cloudy today with the possibility of rain overnight and tomorrow windy (alerts in place for wind and coastal conditions) and a bit colder. Thursday remaining cloudy but from Friday and for the Three Kings celebrations warmer and sunnier.
Afternoon update (17.00): An ok day with sunny intervals but not especially warm, a high of 15.6C (Sa Pobla).
Ozzy Osborne And The Missing Horns
Start the year as you mean to go on. Or finish the year as you have been doing during the year. And the year before. I feel really sorry for the Osborne bull. What's it ever done to anyone? It stands in a field, minding its own business, and what does it get for its trouble? Some berk goes and paints it or commits other atrocities on its noble presence. Now the statue has had its horns lopped off. A kind soul will probably make sure it gets the horns back, just like someone made sure it got its tackle back when it went AWOL, but restoration can't compensate for the distress. Leave it alone.
Whenever some group or other has a political, cultural or gender beef, it heads off in the middle of the night and gives the bull a good dose of Dulux, drapes flags over it, cuts bits off and then glories in the publicity for about as long as it takes for everyone to forget (about a day, if that) or for some other group to come along and subject the bull to further propagandist indignity. The latest lot is a bunch called Arran, the name given to the youth organisation that has succeeded the Maulets. Arran, Maulets, it's the same and it's bloody angry that Catalonia and the Catalan Lands don't have independence. So angry, it has gone and de-horned the Osborne bull.
Arran timed its attack on Ozzy to coincide with the annual demo in Palma that doesn't celebrate Mallorca day. Arran, and others, would prefer that it did celebrate Mallorca day, but as it was decided some years ago that Mallorca day would be the anniversary of the creation of the Kingdom of Mallorca and not when Jaume I invaded, 31 December isn't Mallorca day. I hope that's cleared that up. Nevertheless, or probably because, there is, every year, this demo, which occasionally gets out of hand. It seems to have passed off without too much incident this year, but probably only because more radical elements were off in the Mallorcan countryside vandalising the statue of a bull.
Arran had staged a grand demo as part of a "platform" that comprised most of the usual Catalanist suspects. Its poster for the demo made it clear that it wasn't only about independence. It was also about socialism and feminism and possibly some other isms that there wasn't space for on the poster. I'm sorry but what has feminism got to do with independence? Indeed, what has socialism got to do with it? It's not as though Artur Mas is a card-carrying Trot or even vaguely red.
Anyway, everyone might well simply forget about the business with the bull were it not for our good friends, the Círculo Balear. For a load of Catalan independentists, be they Arran or Maulet or whoever, to mess around with the bull, protected for its artistic and heritage status (Spanish, that is), is like a red rag to a bull where the Círculo are concerned, and they, or at least their founder and restored president Jorge Campos, have had many a run-in with the Maulets in the past. And these run-ins typically end up with a "denuncia", something in which the Círculo specialises where the Maulets are concerned. The bull is no different. The Círculo has fired off a denuncia to the Guardia. It is all, I'm sorry to have to say, rather predictable. Naughty independentist boys get up to some mischief and no good, and outraged defender of all things Castellano and Spanish, Sr. Campos, drags the law in, and they, the law, must be getting pretty brassed off with being dragged into such puerility - by both sides. I don't know about the Guardia, but personally I wish a plague on both houses; they are as bad as each other.
One does wonder, given the regularity of the vandalism that the bull has to endure, whether it might not get some form of protection. It is pretty vulnerable, stuck in a field on its own, but the field might give a clue as to the security the bull could get. How about half a dozen proper bulls? All of them extremely bloody angry themselves, so that when some angry Arrans or Maulets or whoever other lunatic decides to go on a spot of nocturnal decorating, the miscreants might get rather more than they bargained for. Not a docile, inanimate animal, but some distinctly animate animals with horns that are definitely not for tampering with. Olé.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Whenever some group or other has a political, cultural or gender beef, it heads off in the middle of the night and gives the bull a good dose of Dulux, drapes flags over it, cuts bits off and then glories in the publicity for about as long as it takes for everyone to forget (about a day, if that) or for some other group to come along and subject the bull to further propagandist indignity. The latest lot is a bunch called Arran, the name given to the youth organisation that has succeeded the Maulets. Arran, Maulets, it's the same and it's bloody angry that Catalonia and the Catalan Lands don't have independence. So angry, it has gone and de-horned the Osborne bull.
Arran timed its attack on Ozzy to coincide with the annual demo in Palma that doesn't celebrate Mallorca day. Arran, and others, would prefer that it did celebrate Mallorca day, but as it was decided some years ago that Mallorca day would be the anniversary of the creation of the Kingdom of Mallorca and not when Jaume I invaded, 31 December isn't Mallorca day. I hope that's cleared that up. Nevertheless, or probably because, there is, every year, this demo, which occasionally gets out of hand. It seems to have passed off without too much incident this year, but probably only because more radical elements were off in the Mallorcan countryside vandalising the statue of a bull.
Arran had staged a grand demo as part of a "platform" that comprised most of the usual Catalanist suspects. Its poster for the demo made it clear that it wasn't only about independence. It was also about socialism and feminism and possibly some other isms that there wasn't space for on the poster. I'm sorry but what has feminism got to do with independence? Indeed, what has socialism got to do with it? It's not as though Artur Mas is a card-carrying Trot or even vaguely red.
Anyway, everyone might well simply forget about the business with the bull were it not for our good friends, the Círculo Balear. For a load of Catalan independentists, be they Arran or Maulet or whoever, to mess around with the bull, protected for its artistic and heritage status (Spanish, that is), is like a red rag to a bull where the Círculo are concerned, and they, or at least their founder and restored president Jorge Campos, have had many a run-in with the Maulets in the past. And these run-ins typically end up with a "denuncia", something in which the Círculo specialises where the Maulets are concerned. The bull is no different. The Círculo has fired off a denuncia to the Guardia. It is all, I'm sorry to have to say, rather predictable. Naughty independentist boys get up to some mischief and no good, and outraged defender of all things Castellano and Spanish, Sr. Campos, drags the law in, and they, the law, must be getting pretty brassed off with being dragged into such puerility - by both sides. I don't know about the Guardia, but personally I wish a plague on both houses; they are as bad as each other.
One does wonder, given the regularity of the vandalism that the bull has to endure, whether it might not get some form of protection. It is pretty vulnerable, stuck in a field on its own, but the field might give a clue as to the security the bull could get. How about half a dozen proper bulls? All of them extremely bloody angry themselves, so that when some angry Arrans or Maulets or whoever other lunatic decides to go on a spot of nocturnal decorating, the miscreants might get rather more than they bargained for. Not a docile, inanimate animal, but some distinctly animate animals with horns that are definitely not for tampering with. Olé.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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