In 1405, the Kingdom of Mallorca went bankrupt. It was one of the most spectacular failures of the mediaeval depression that had brought down banks in Mallorca and on the peninsula. Kingdoms, albeit minor ones like Mallorca's, subordinate to a greater Crown, that of Aragon, didn't typically go bust even in those days. But Mallorca's did, and it was the culmination of a number of factors: tax fraud and unsustainable debt and interest repayments, a housing bubble, to which could be added the effects of wars and their financing and the legacy of the Black Death in the middle of the fourteenth century.
The story of the kingdom's bankruptcy is one that deserves its own treatment, if only because it is a story which highlights the fact that there is nothing that new under a Mallorcan sun. It is a story that tells of island councils - those of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza - and their own debts, taxes imposed on meat, fish, oil and various produce as well as on the movement of people and goods, and of good old-fashioned corruption.
Of the consequences of this prolonged mediaeval recession, which in effect lasted for the whole of the second half of the fourteenth century and into the next one, there was one that didn't occur because physically and logistically it wasn't possible to occur. And that was migration. Even if it did occur, there weren't lands grassed with gold to head for; the east of the peninsula (Tarragona and Barcelona, as examples) was only slightly less of an economic basket case than Mallorca was.
Go forward some centuries, and migration had become a consequence of economic crisis. Mallorca's history, in more modern times, is one of migration. The staggering increase in the island's population from the 1960s was largely due to immigration, but emigration had been a factor decades before the island's demographics were to be changed utterly by mass tourism and competitively priced new apartments and villas which attracted foreign owners.
Between 1860 and 1887, there was an earlier population boom. It wasn't one caused by migration but by human biology, and of an increase of 40,000 people over that period, over three-quarters of them were inhabitants of the "part forana", i.e. they weren't inhabitants of Palma, and as they were living in the sticks, this meant that they were mainly engaged in agriculture.
There were various responses to this population boom, one of which was the establishment of the "colonies" (Sant Pere, Sant Jordi, for instance), which were designed to alleviate strains on living space and to cultivate new land to feed this increasing population. But though this boom might have been considered a positive, it was to prove to be anything but, as various factors conspired to make it a negative. In 1889, things came to a head. There was a farming crisis, brought about by successive poor harvests, disease which decimated the pig population, unfairly low wages and even less fair taxes. Over the next few years, there were to be further blows. One was the destruction of vineyards by phylloxera in 1891. Another was the loss of overseas markets in Cuba and Puerto Rico because of their wars of independence.
These were to exacerbate the crisis that had become evident in 1889 and which was partly the consequence of the previous population boom in the "part forana". Poverty was appalling, jobs were disappearing, families couldn't be fed and the Guardia Civil had to intervene, such as in Pollensa, where there were riots. The town hall in Pollensa was, by then, already aware of a potential solution. In June 1888, it raised the possibility of the provincial authority making resources available for people to emigrate. By 1889, this emigration drive was in full swing, assisted by emigration agents from Argentina and Chile and by subsidised or assisted travel and low interest rates provided by the governments of those two countries.
Rather like the bankruptcy of the Kingdom of Mallorca deserves its own detailed treatment, so also does the story of this mass emigration to South America. It was one of the movement of some 5,000 people and of a scandal of appalling conditions that they encountered on their journeys. It wasn't, though, the only story of migration. There were others, such as to Algeria, and it wasn't a story that had an even impact across the island. Pollensa, Manacor, Sant Joan, Felanitx were among the towns which lost relatively more people than others.
Depression, recession, crisis, call it what you will, it has the same consequence. History repeats itself. In the late nineteenth century, the Mallorcan migrants were part of the 70,000 Spaniards who left for South America. In last year alone, 125,000 Spaniards headed abroad. Of Balearics citizens, the number who now reside overseas is 24,600; this figure rose by 10.4% last year.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 22 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.15am): 10.5C
Forecast high: 20C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Southwest 4 easing West 3 during the afternoon, increasing Northeast 4 to 5 during the evening. Possible storm.
Grey morning, a bit breezy. Greyness the order of the day with rain later. A yellow alert for rough coastal conditions for tomorrow with the wind up and rain possible.
Evening update (19.30): A high of 16.5C. No real sun today but some wind and some rain.
Spring Backward: Mallorca's tragic spring of 1936
Spring. In one regard, there is no such thing as a Mallorcan spring. In tourism terms, there is winter and there is summer, two seasons determined not by equinoxes or solstices but by employment contracts and by flight and tour operator programmes. "The season" is typically taken (officially even) as starting on 1 May, more or less halfway through spring, but it marks the start of summer, just as 1 November - and the appropriate connotations of the day of the dead - signals the start of winter.
Spring. It has so many meanings. Renewal, rebirth, advance. Even the aide- mémoire for instruction as to which way the clocks are changed hints at advance: spring forward, though it is possible to also spring backward. Advance, renewal and rebirth, they are words of optimism, and the word "spring" has been attached to optimistic movements, those of hoped-for renewal and advance, yet which have proved that optimism can soon be lost. Spring backward. Spring is renewal. It is also revolution. Prague Spring, Arab Spring, the Spring of Nations, the latter a reference to the revolutions of 1848 which swept across Europe, only for them to collapse a year later.
Mallorca has had its own "Spring". It wasn't an optimistic spring, it was the "primavera trágica". 1936. With tragedy evident across Spain, Mallorca was caught up in the prelude to the coup in July and the Civil War. Getting a handle on how this tragic spring played out in Mallorca helps to give a better appreciation of just what Mallorca was like in 1936, because there is often an erroneous view of the island in the mid-1930s - one which suggests an indifference towards politics as a whole and so, therefore, to the politics of the mainland.
In the spring of 1936, working the land dominated the island's economic landscape, but agriculture was not as dominant as it had been even thirty years before, when some 70% of the economy was tied to the land. Urbanisation was such that 30% of the population lived in Palma alone, while industrial development, including tourism, had made significant inroads into a predominantly agrarian economy. Far from being populated by ignorant and apathetic peasants, Mallorca had a wealthy and educated middle-class and a network of workers' organisations. In other words, the island, though still mainly rural, possessed enough ingredients for modern attitudes and beliefs to take hold, which, at that time, included Republicanism.
Mallorca was then, as it still is, a conservative place. Though the cause of Republicanism on the island had been advanced considerably by 1936, it was a minority movement. Electorally, Calvia and Palma were exceptions rather than the rule in the February municipal elections of that year in returning Republicans (for the national election, no Republican was returned). An innate conservatism, perhaps because of the traditional agrarianism, perhaps because of insularity, held sway.
Despite this conservatism, two minority influences were to enter the equation. Over the course of the spring, Communist membership doubled. Though there was a significant Communist protest march in Palma, the Communists were not the main instigators of the violence that was to break out. Its primary cause were the pockets of the Falange who had arrived on the island in 1934. The Falange, a curious mix of its own republicanism, arch-Catholicism but also modernism, barely even registered in the 1936 elections. It had secured only around 200 votes across the Balearics; conservative, right-wing Mallorca was not about to embrace it. In March, the national government proscribed it. This, as much as anything else, was the signal for the outbreak of the tragic spring. Though the press attempted to portray Mallorca as being peaceful, it couldn't ignore acts of violence from Palma to Campanet to Porreres. A reason why some commentators and historians refer to Mallorca's "primavera trágica" is because it unleashed the violence it did on an island unused to such turmoil, largely because of the Falange. Clandestine though it became, it could count on as many members as the Communists; more in fact. In June, less than two weeks before spring became summer, a Falange bomb went off at the Casa del Pueblo in Palma.
A tragic spring might seem like an odd way to introduce a Mallorcan spring, but not really. The circumstances of the Civil War and of its prelude hold a fascination, if not necessarily for the best of reasons. And around the island there are places which have a perhaps surprising and certainly unwanted connection with events leading up to the Civil War and with the rise of the Falange. Sant Martí de Lanzell in Vilafranca de Bonany, one of the most important and oldest "possession" country estates in Mallorca, Vallgornera Vell in Llucmajor, Son Vivot in Inca, now an agrotourism rural hotel; these were, from March 1936, locations for pockets of the Falange to prepare for armed intervention. Spring backward.
* I am indebted to an article by David Ginard i Féron for information here. http://www.historica.cat/?p=6155
Spring. It has so many meanings. Renewal, rebirth, advance. Even the aide- mémoire for instruction as to which way the clocks are changed hints at advance: spring forward, though it is possible to also spring backward. Advance, renewal and rebirth, they are words of optimism, and the word "spring" has been attached to optimistic movements, those of hoped-for renewal and advance, yet which have proved that optimism can soon be lost. Spring backward. Spring is renewal. It is also revolution. Prague Spring, Arab Spring, the Spring of Nations, the latter a reference to the revolutions of 1848 which swept across Europe, only for them to collapse a year later.
Mallorca has had its own "Spring". It wasn't an optimistic spring, it was the "primavera trágica". 1936. With tragedy evident across Spain, Mallorca was caught up in the prelude to the coup in July and the Civil War. Getting a handle on how this tragic spring played out in Mallorca helps to give a better appreciation of just what Mallorca was like in 1936, because there is often an erroneous view of the island in the mid-1930s - one which suggests an indifference towards politics as a whole and so, therefore, to the politics of the mainland.
In the spring of 1936, working the land dominated the island's economic landscape, but agriculture was not as dominant as it had been even thirty years before, when some 70% of the economy was tied to the land. Urbanisation was such that 30% of the population lived in Palma alone, while industrial development, including tourism, had made significant inroads into a predominantly agrarian economy. Far from being populated by ignorant and apathetic peasants, Mallorca had a wealthy and educated middle-class and a network of workers' organisations. In other words, the island, though still mainly rural, possessed enough ingredients for modern attitudes and beliefs to take hold, which, at that time, included Republicanism.
Mallorca was then, as it still is, a conservative place. Though the cause of Republicanism on the island had been advanced considerably by 1936, it was a minority movement. Electorally, Calvia and Palma were exceptions rather than the rule in the February municipal elections of that year in returning Republicans (for the national election, no Republican was returned). An innate conservatism, perhaps because of the traditional agrarianism, perhaps because of insularity, held sway.
Despite this conservatism, two minority influences were to enter the equation. Over the course of the spring, Communist membership doubled. Though there was a significant Communist protest march in Palma, the Communists were not the main instigators of the violence that was to break out. Its primary cause were the pockets of the Falange who had arrived on the island in 1934. The Falange, a curious mix of its own republicanism, arch-Catholicism but also modernism, barely even registered in the 1936 elections. It had secured only around 200 votes across the Balearics; conservative, right-wing Mallorca was not about to embrace it. In March, the national government proscribed it. This, as much as anything else, was the signal for the outbreak of the tragic spring. Though the press attempted to portray Mallorca as being peaceful, it couldn't ignore acts of violence from Palma to Campanet to Porreres. A reason why some commentators and historians refer to Mallorca's "primavera trágica" is because it unleashed the violence it did on an island unused to such turmoil, largely because of the Falange. Clandestine though it became, it could count on as many members as the Communists; more in fact. In June, less than two weeks before spring became summer, a Falange bomb went off at the Casa del Pueblo in Palma.
A tragic spring might seem like an odd way to introduce a Mallorcan spring, but not really. The circumstances of the Civil War and of its prelude hold a fascination, if not necessarily for the best of reasons. And around the island there are places which have a perhaps surprising and certainly unwanted connection with events leading up to the Civil War and with the rise of the Falange. Sant Martí de Lanzell in Vilafranca de Bonany, one of the most important and oldest "possession" country estates in Mallorca, Vallgornera Vell in Llucmajor, Son Vivot in Inca, now an agrotourism rural hotel; these were, from March 1936, locations for pockets of the Falange to prepare for armed intervention. Spring backward.
* I am indebted to an article by David Ginard i Féron for information here. http://www.historica.cat/?p=6155
Friday, March 21, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 21 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.30am): 10C
Forecast high: 20C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Variable 2, occasionally East until midday, veering South and Southwest 3 to 4 by the evening.
While absent over the past few days, there has been some serious weather. Serious as in very warm. Still warm, but likely to be far less so from Sunday. Make the most of it then, as the temperature is due to dip to the low to mid-teens. Nice bright morning with plenty of sun today.
Evening update (19.00): A 20.8C high. Nice enough day.
Back Again
So, as you can see, I have returned following what was not a self-imposed blogging exile but one imposed on me by technology. To cut to the chase, changing internet providers is not necessarily straightforward, but suffice to say that the past is bright, the past is Orange. Bye, bye. This may not have caused the unintentional blogging hiatus it did had it not also been for the fact that I am the only person in the world who relies on only piece of kit - a large Macintosh desktop, which is not the sort of thing you can lug around and take to a wifi zone. Keeping up to internet speed (more internet slowness) has therefore required borrowing someone else's system or going to an internet café. I have now experienced two in Alcúdia. In both, several of the keys were unreadable, the mouse in one was so clogged up on its bottom that it was virtually unusable, while you can understand why the speed would be low; in order to get you to spend more.
Anyway, in the intervening time little of real note has occurred, but then little of real note does occur in Mallorca. I do begin to wonder quite how it is that I manage to bang stuff out day after day, but then there is always some story to tell behind even the slightest news or event. Take the Hotel Illa d'Or in Puerto Pollensa, for instance. It celebrated its 85th anniversary the other day. Why 85? It seems like an odd number to celebrate (odd in that 85 is not usually the criterion for a celebration as opposed to 85 not being an even number). Anyway, celebrate 85 years they did, and grand nosebag was to be had - lobster, partridge, beef amongst the 85 courses. For the Illa d'Or, fine pile that it is, one of Puerto Pollensa's Old Dame hotels, there is a back story, which makes it more interesting than it would otherwise be. It is there where Agatha Christie was inspired to write "Problem At Pollensa Bay" (though there is a rival argument that she was at the Hotel Formentor instead) and it is also there where members of the German Condor Legion were housed when they were based in Puerto Pollensa during the Civil War.
So, yes, there is always something to be said, even when nothing happens.
Anyway, in the intervening time little of real note has occurred, but then little of real note does occur in Mallorca. I do begin to wonder quite how it is that I manage to bang stuff out day after day, but then there is always some story to tell behind even the slightest news or event. Take the Hotel Illa d'Or in Puerto Pollensa, for instance. It celebrated its 85th anniversary the other day. Why 85? It seems like an odd number to celebrate (odd in that 85 is not usually the criterion for a celebration as opposed to 85 not being an even number). Anyway, celebrate 85 years they did, and grand nosebag was to be had - lobster, partridge, beef amongst the 85 courses. For the Illa d'Or, fine pile that it is, one of Puerto Pollensa's Old Dame hotels, there is a back story, which makes it more interesting than it would otherwise be. It is there where Agatha Christie was inspired to write "Problem At Pollensa Bay" (though there is a rival argument that she was at the Hotel Formentor instead) and it is also there where members of the German Condor Legion were housed when they were based in Puerto Pollensa during the Civil War.
So, yes, there is always something to be said, even when nothing happens.
Sick Smiley: Quality
SICK TED. Ok, I've done it before, but here goes again. Is this pervy Edward or infirm Eddie? Because urban vernacular now decrees that sick means something completely different to what it ought to mean, as in good or (to use an out-of-date urbanism) wicked, is SICK TED also good Ted? And the answer is ... yes. SICTED. The Sistema Integral de Calidad Turística en Destinos. Get a SICTED and you too can boast your touristic quality in destination. Sick. Wicked. Good.
They've been SICTED-ing in Alcúdia and Pollensa. They don't SICTED everywhere. I'm not sure why not. Only Palma and Artà also SICTED in Mallorca. Is there no touristic quality in other destinations? No, but it would seem that other destinations have not been in touch with Turespaña (area of quality and technological development) or something called FEMP (the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias) in order to obtain this mark of quality. Alcúdia and Pollensa have been pioneering destinations, therefore, and the latest businesses in the two towns to have been inducted into the SICTED hall of fame have recently been announced.
Both town halls posted photos of the happy winners onto their websites or Facebook pages. Spot the restaurant owner (and various others) time. I got four in Alcúdia - Bodega d'es Port, Café Illa, Diana Apartments and Magdalena, boss of the tourist offices - and a measly one in Pollensa (Posada d'Ariant), but there were more to choose from in Alcúdia, as they included businesses renewing their SICTEDs as well. I should have done better.
I was thinking I might list all the SICTED diploma holders. A cheap and easy way to fill some space, but I have standards; I'm applying for my own SICTED. So, if you want to know which businesses have this quality accreditation, you will need to look out for the logo. You can't miss it because it looks like TUI's, in that there's some of that smiley thing going on as there is in TUI's logo, assuming it is a smiley thing, which it might not be when you're in for fifty million euros to the Balearics tax office.
Good, sick, though this all is for the Alcúdia and Pollensa businesses, they will be horrified to learn that having had to go through the rigmarole to get their certificates and plaques, the regional government has come up with yet another quality wheeze. Under this one, there would be a special category for bars and restaurants with superior quality. It would also have a rather easier name. Or one that doesn't lend itself to having the rise taken out of it. GOLD is the probable title. I can already hear Spandau Ballet blaring out of the speakers at the inaugural ceremony. (Perhaps they could get Tony Hadley, as he's a regular in Pollensa and, let's face it, isn't doing much these days.) This GOLD award would be handed out by the tourism ministry and winners determined by a technical committee from the Chamber of Commerce and restaurant associations, and winners will also apparently be entitled to some tax benefits (unspecified), which sounds like a real incentive. More than a smiley logo. Sick.
They've been SICTED-ing in Alcúdia and Pollensa. They don't SICTED everywhere. I'm not sure why not. Only Palma and Artà also SICTED in Mallorca. Is there no touristic quality in other destinations? No, but it would seem that other destinations have not been in touch with Turespaña (area of quality and technological development) or something called FEMP (the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias) in order to obtain this mark of quality. Alcúdia and Pollensa have been pioneering destinations, therefore, and the latest businesses in the two towns to have been inducted into the SICTED hall of fame have recently been announced.
Both town halls posted photos of the happy winners onto their websites or Facebook pages. Spot the restaurant owner (and various others) time. I got four in Alcúdia - Bodega d'es Port, Café Illa, Diana Apartments and Magdalena, boss of the tourist offices - and a measly one in Pollensa (Posada d'Ariant), but there were more to choose from in Alcúdia, as they included businesses renewing their SICTEDs as well. I should have done better.
I was thinking I might list all the SICTED diploma holders. A cheap and easy way to fill some space, but I have standards; I'm applying for my own SICTED. So, if you want to know which businesses have this quality accreditation, you will need to look out for the logo. You can't miss it because it looks like TUI's, in that there's some of that smiley thing going on as there is in TUI's logo, assuming it is a smiley thing, which it might not be when you're in for fifty million euros to the Balearics tax office.
Good, sick, though this all is for the Alcúdia and Pollensa businesses, they will be horrified to learn that having had to go through the rigmarole to get their certificates and plaques, the regional government has come up with yet another quality wheeze. Under this one, there would be a special category for bars and restaurants with superior quality. It would also have a rather easier name. Or one that doesn't lend itself to having the rise taken out of it. GOLD is the probable title. I can already hear Spandau Ballet blaring out of the speakers at the inaugural ceremony. (Perhaps they could get Tony Hadley, as he's a regular in Pollensa and, let's face it, isn't doing much these days.) This GOLD award would be handed out by the tourism ministry and winners determined by a technical committee from the Chamber of Commerce and restaurant associations, and winners will also apparently be entitled to some tax benefits (unspecified), which sounds like a real incentive. More than a smiley logo. Sick.
Friday, March 14, 2014
A Short Break
Just to say that I'm having a short break while some internet issues get sorted out. I'll be back in a few days with any luck. Sorry for the interruption in service!!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (6.30am): 11C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northeast 4.
Damp start, there having been some rain around. More dampness possible during the day, but from tomorrow things look really very good with temperatures due to be on the rise by the start of next week.
Evening update (23.00): A high of 18C. Not too bad.
Hunting Quarry: Mallorca's mining law
In 1989 the Sa Truiola coal mine in Lloseta was closed, and with its closure came an end to coal mining in Mallorca that had occurred since at least the first half of the nineteenth century. Once upon a time, in the 1930s, mines in Lloseta, Selva, Consell, Sineu and Binissalem provided 85% of the island's coal requirements for generating electricity. There were other mines, those for iron and copper, but they, like the coal mines, are things very much of the past. The only mining which occurs in Mallorca now is quarrying.
Stone that is extracted around Mallorca has different characteristics, ranging in colour from the almost pure white, such as a stone from Petra, to golden in Porreres, and it is the quarry in Porreres which is one of the main targets of a mining law that is to be brought before the Balearics Parliament. The quarry, argues the regional government, is too big and too much of a blot on the landscape. Quarries such as it and one in Establiments will not be possible in future while they are going to have be restored in such a way as to minimise their current visual impact.
In the case of the Establiments quarry, it hasn't been worked on for ten years. Activity there started in the 1950s and an authorisation of sorts came from the national industry ministry in 1959, but there was always a dispute as to whether there was a licence for quarrying to be carried out. Almost thirty years later, in 1988, a court decision upheld an appeal by Palma's city council to deny a licence for one of what are in fact two quarries. Between 1981 and 1994, there were four separate legal resolutions which deemed that the quarrying was illegal. Regardless of whatever courts decided or the city council wished, it wasn't to be until 2004 that work at the quarry ceased. It was closed but it most certainly wasn't forgotten. "An open wound on the Palma skyline" is just one description.
When Establiments was closed, the land was supposed to have been regenerated. It wasn't and still hasn't been. There was some hope that it might have been when Jaume Matas became president in 2007. 25 million euros were due to have been spent on a plan that would have turned the former quarry into an area with sports facilities, walks, playgrounds and what have you. But as we know, Matas was full of grand and ambitious plans that cost a great deal of money. Unlike some others on which great deals of money were spent, the plan for the quarry never went further than an election promise.
Under the mining bill that the government is to introduce, a Mining Council will be created, and this body will oversee existing quarries and authorise new works. Where Establiments is concerned, the council will, so it is hoped, force the owners to undertake the regeneration that should have started ten years ago. The council will also ensure that new phases of quarrying cannot start until the land at existing ones is restored. The bill will also give the government the right to expropriate quarries in order to ensure that they are regenerated. Bonds, as a form of guarantee for quarrying, are to be increased substantially, and these could, if necessary, be withheld by the government in order to cover the costs of regeneration that an owner fails to do.
While this all sounds reasonable enough, will a new law and a new council be any more effective in enforcement than has been the case up till now? It hardly needs pointing out that the track record with enforcement has not been good. And how effective might this new council be? It is to be made up of representatives from government, the industry, various institutions (unspecified at present) and environmental organisations, which probably means GOB or Friends of the Earth (Amics de la Terra in its Mallorcan guise). The government's director-general for industry and energy has made a point of talking to and involving the environmental groups in the drafting of the bill, but while such a multi-agency council sounds good in theory, would its differing representatives be able to agree on anything?
Still, if the government has discovered something of an environmental consciousness in addressing the absurdity of the quarrying at Establiments without the appropriate licences and checks and balances, then good for it. But there is an irony in the government indicating that it will be acting tough in one way to restore the landscape while in another way it has adopted a different approach in the Ley del Suelo that has just been approved. Under this there will be an amnesty for illegal buildings on rural land (said to number around 20,000). One law for one, one law for another.
Stone that is extracted around Mallorca has different characteristics, ranging in colour from the almost pure white, such as a stone from Petra, to golden in Porreres, and it is the quarry in Porreres which is one of the main targets of a mining law that is to be brought before the Balearics Parliament. The quarry, argues the regional government, is too big and too much of a blot on the landscape. Quarries such as it and one in Establiments will not be possible in future while they are going to have be restored in such a way as to minimise their current visual impact.
In the case of the Establiments quarry, it hasn't been worked on for ten years. Activity there started in the 1950s and an authorisation of sorts came from the national industry ministry in 1959, but there was always a dispute as to whether there was a licence for quarrying to be carried out. Almost thirty years later, in 1988, a court decision upheld an appeal by Palma's city council to deny a licence for one of what are in fact two quarries. Between 1981 and 1994, there were four separate legal resolutions which deemed that the quarrying was illegal. Regardless of whatever courts decided or the city council wished, it wasn't to be until 2004 that work at the quarry ceased. It was closed but it most certainly wasn't forgotten. "An open wound on the Palma skyline" is just one description.
When Establiments was closed, the land was supposed to have been regenerated. It wasn't and still hasn't been. There was some hope that it might have been when Jaume Matas became president in 2007. 25 million euros were due to have been spent on a plan that would have turned the former quarry into an area with sports facilities, walks, playgrounds and what have you. But as we know, Matas was full of grand and ambitious plans that cost a great deal of money. Unlike some others on which great deals of money were spent, the plan for the quarry never went further than an election promise.
Under the mining bill that the government is to introduce, a Mining Council will be created, and this body will oversee existing quarries and authorise new works. Where Establiments is concerned, the council will, so it is hoped, force the owners to undertake the regeneration that should have started ten years ago. The council will also ensure that new phases of quarrying cannot start until the land at existing ones is restored. The bill will also give the government the right to expropriate quarries in order to ensure that they are regenerated. Bonds, as a form of guarantee for quarrying, are to be increased substantially, and these could, if necessary, be withheld by the government in order to cover the costs of regeneration that an owner fails to do.
While this all sounds reasonable enough, will a new law and a new council be any more effective in enforcement than has been the case up till now? It hardly needs pointing out that the track record with enforcement has not been good. And how effective might this new council be? It is to be made up of representatives from government, the industry, various institutions (unspecified at present) and environmental organisations, which probably means GOB or Friends of the Earth (Amics de la Terra in its Mallorcan guise). The government's director-general for industry and energy has made a point of talking to and involving the environmental groups in the drafting of the bill, but while such a multi-agency council sounds good in theory, would its differing representatives be able to agree on anything?
Still, if the government has discovered something of an environmental consciousness in addressing the absurdity of the quarrying at Establiments without the appropriate licences and checks and balances, then good for it. But there is an irony in the government indicating that it will be acting tough in one way to restore the landscape while in another way it has adopted a different approach in the Ley del Suelo that has just been approved. Under this there will be an amnesty for illegal buildings on rural land (said to number around 20,000). One law for one, one law for another.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.30am): 11C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): East and Northeast 3 increasing 4.
Clearish skies. Possibility of a shower today but otherwise sunny. Forecast looking ahead to the weekend seems to suggest some real spring weather.
Evening update (20.45): A high of 17C. A sharp downpour in parts, but remained mostly sunny.
Dancing In The English Rain: Eurovision
)
It is remarkable how certain subjects crop up at precisely the same time each year and have an almost unfathomable ability to generate some form of controversy. Nevertheless, their recurrence is a sign of cultural importance, and there is little that is more culturally important than the Eurovision Song Contest.
Last year - at this time - it was the UK creating the discussion and controversy. Was it right that a pop dinosaur like Bonnie Tyler should be dragged onto a soggy Welsh beach and appear to be sinking into the sand while gyrating unconvincingly for the video to promote "Believe In Me"? There was little to believe in, and Bonnie didn't disappoint, failing spectacularly when it came to the actual contest and so perpetuating a tradition of UK Eurovision disaster. This year it's Spain generating the controversy and, according to one critic at any rate, it is the fossils if not the dinosaurs of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (RAE) who are at its centre.
So, what is the fuss all about? Ruth Lorenzo, that's what. Or rather, that's who. Ruth, those of you with long and detailed memories of "X Factor" will know, took part in the British talent show in 2008. She didn't do all that badly, getting as far as show eight before being ushered off stage. And being the British "X Factor", she did something that most people in Britain would have expected her to have done - she sang in English.
It is English that is proving to be controversial. Ruth sings in English. Actually, she sings part of the song - "Dancing In The Rain" - in Spanish and a part in English, the crucial part, i.e. the chorus, which is replete with repetition of "rain". Ruth can certainly hold a tune. No one has ever before belted out "rain" in such dramatic and regular fashion. If it is true that a song's chart success is partly a function of the number of times the title is repeated, then Ruth is on to a surefire winner, assuming, that is, that text voters in Serbia and Azerbaijan understand "rain".
Ruth secured victory on the show broadcast by the national broadcaster RTE over two weeks ago. That she sang partly in English didn't appear to bother anyone, certainly not the Spanish public who voted for her. Two weeks on, though, and the RAE has got involved and stoked the controversy. Some of its academics (not the RAE directly) have fired off a missive to RTE, expressing their "disquiet" at the intrusion of English and prompting RTE to say that a final decision has yet to be made as to whether Ruth will perform at Eurovision only in Spanish, only in English or in the Spanglish that got her to the final.
Why, though, are some of the academics agitated enough to send a letter to the broadcaster? It is not as if Spain hasn't had a Eurovision entry which is partly in English in the past; it has happened on five occasions previously. Is it because the academy senses that its role is being diminished?
Jaime Amador, the critic who has described the academy as a group of fossils, would argue that this is the reason. The academy, he says, adopts resolutions on language that interest nobody; it is the body which arbitrates on standard use of Spanish. He goes on to call the academy a "delusion", implying that it is out of touch with the real world, especially the one which attracts millions of tourists to Spain who aren't about to suddenly think that English is the language in Spain purely because part of a song at Eurovision is in English.
What he's getting at, other than intimating that the academy has become increasingly irrelevant, is that there are occasions when language becomes the cause of cultural navel-gazing. Eurovision isn't culturally important. Above all, it is or should be entertainment and not an exercise in nationalism or linguistic imperialism. It might offend some that English insinuates itself to the extent that it does, but this is a song contest for the "X Factor" era not a platform for promoting global Spanishness, which was how Franco was inclined to see it but also how the academy appears to perceive it. One of the justifications for the academics' "disquiet" is that messages have been received from some Latin American countries where they don't understand why English has been incorporated into the song. What's it got to do with Latin American countries? They can't vote in Eurovision.
We'll have to wait until the contest to find out what Ruth sings in, though one can be sure that it won't be Catalan, which would make for a far better controversy, and that the UK's young Bonnie for 2014, Molly Smitten-Downes, won't be singing in Spanish.
It is remarkable how certain subjects crop up at precisely the same time each year and have an almost unfathomable ability to generate some form of controversy. Nevertheless, their recurrence is a sign of cultural importance, and there is little that is more culturally important than the Eurovision Song Contest.
Last year - at this time - it was the UK creating the discussion and controversy. Was it right that a pop dinosaur like Bonnie Tyler should be dragged onto a soggy Welsh beach and appear to be sinking into the sand while gyrating unconvincingly for the video to promote "Believe In Me"? There was little to believe in, and Bonnie didn't disappoint, failing spectacularly when it came to the actual contest and so perpetuating a tradition of UK Eurovision disaster. This year it's Spain generating the controversy and, according to one critic at any rate, it is the fossils if not the dinosaurs of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (RAE) who are at its centre.
So, what is the fuss all about? Ruth Lorenzo, that's what. Or rather, that's who. Ruth, those of you with long and detailed memories of "X Factor" will know, took part in the British talent show in 2008. She didn't do all that badly, getting as far as show eight before being ushered off stage. And being the British "X Factor", she did something that most people in Britain would have expected her to have done - she sang in English.
It is English that is proving to be controversial. Ruth sings in English. Actually, she sings part of the song - "Dancing In The Rain" - in Spanish and a part in English, the crucial part, i.e. the chorus, which is replete with repetition of "rain". Ruth can certainly hold a tune. No one has ever before belted out "rain" in such dramatic and regular fashion. If it is true that a song's chart success is partly a function of the number of times the title is repeated, then Ruth is on to a surefire winner, assuming, that is, that text voters in Serbia and Azerbaijan understand "rain".
Ruth secured victory on the show broadcast by the national broadcaster RTE over two weeks ago. That she sang partly in English didn't appear to bother anyone, certainly not the Spanish public who voted for her. Two weeks on, though, and the RAE has got involved and stoked the controversy. Some of its academics (not the RAE directly) have fired off a missive to RTE, expressing their "disquiet" at the intrusion of English and prompting RTE to say that a final decision has yet to be made as to whether Ruth will perform at Eurovision only in Spanish, only in English or in the Spanglish that got her to the final.
Why, though, are some of the academics agitated enough to send a letter to the broadcaster? It is not as if Spain hasn't had a Eurovision entry which is partly in English in the past; it has happened on five occasions previously. Is it because the academy senses that its role is being diminished?
Jaime Amador, the critic who has described the academy as a group of fossils, would argue that this is the reason. The academy, he says, adopts resolutions on language that interest nobody; it is the body which arbitrates on standard use of Spanish. He goes on to call the academy a "delusion", implying that it is out of touch with the real world, especially the one which attracts millions of tourists to Spain who aren't about to suddenly think that English is the language in Spain purely because part of a song at Eurovision is in English.
What he's getting at, other than intimating that the academy has become increasingly irrelevant, is that there are occasions when language becomes the cause of cultural navel-gazing. Eurovision isn't culturally important. Above all, it is or should be entertainment and not an exercise in nationalism or linguistic imperialism. It might offend some that English insinuates itself to the extent that it does, but this is a song contest for the "X Factor" era not a platform for promoting global Spanishness, which was how Franco was inclined to see it but also how the academy appears to perceive it. One of the justifications for the academics' "disquiet" is that messages have been received from some Latin American countries where they don't understand why English has been incorporated into the song. What's it got to do with Latin American countries? They can't vote in Eurovision.
We'll have to wait until the contest to find out what Ruth sings in, though one can be sure that it won't be Catalan, which would make for a far better controversy, and that the UK's young Bonnie for 2014, Molly Smitten-Downes, won't be singing in Spanish.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 9.5C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 2 to 3 increasing 4 and occasionally 5, veering East towards the end of the day.
Bright and chilly. Due to cloud over by the evening bringing possible rain tomorrow.
Evening update (18.00): A high of 17.1C. Mostly sunny.
The Rubbish Of Son Real
In the years that I have been writing about Mallorca there is one story which, when one takes all its component parts, accumulates into a vast volume of work which relates all you need to know about institutional incompetence and grandiosity, practical failure and political infighting. This is a story which has reached its denouement: the accumulation of rubbish found by a partially hidden hut. The location of the hut is the Son Real finca near Can Picafort. The accumulated rubbish is (now was, because it's been cleaned up) thousands of unused "green cards", promotional leaflets and DVDs.
The story of Son Real and the sub-plot that was the "tarjeta verde" is one that I have followed over the years. Partly, this is because the finca is quite near to me, but more importantly because it has been a story of quite staggering stupidity and ineptitude that has crossed over into the scandalous.
Where to start with this story? Let's start in the middle. September 2008. One evening in that month a number of government officials and businesspeople attended the official opening of the "interpretation centre" at Son Real. The grand fanfare for the opening included a statement as to expected numbers of visitors to the finca. 20,000 per annum, paying five euros a time. The work on the centre and other property on the finca had cost three million euros. This was on top of the over 17 million euros that the Balearic Government had paid for the finca in 2002 (when the story really started). At a rough estimate, it was going to take two hundred years for there to be a payback.
The investment was justifiable because of Son Real's importance, but it was an investment which was the first example of grandiosity. The finca was acquired with the help of funds raised by the eco-tax, a project therefore which was in keeping with the principle of the tax - environmental conservation with a tourist application. Six years later, it was evident that it had limited tourist application. The 20,000 per annum visitors would have also included local residents and school groups.
As a way of attracting tourists, the government of Jaume Matas, which scrapped the eco-tax in 2003, launched an alternative scheme. This was the green card. At a cost of ten euros, the card offered discounts, such as one for Son Real. When an audit of the card's performance was undertaken for 2008, it was found that the regional government had received the princely sum of 13,524 euros. The card was an unmitigated disaster (the practical failure) and was made more so because hoteliers couldn't be bothered selling it and even when they did, weren't handing over the cash. On top of this, no one had the faintest idea how many cards had actually been sold.
Matas and the then environment minister, Jaume Font, had launched the card in typically grandiose fashion, employing Michael Douglas and Claudia Schiffer. The card was to be operated by a body called the Fundación Balears Sostenible, a creation of the Matas administration which was linked to the tourism ministry and which also took on responsibility for managing certain sites - Son Real and Costa Nord.
In June 2010, police raided the Costa Nord headquarters of this foundation. Its new director said that there was a "leak" of some three million euros in its accounts. He also said that he was surprised, on taking up his appointment, to find fifteen pallets of publicity and other material stashed away in a storage facility: the green card and accompanying leaflets. The foundation became just one element in anti-corruption investigations that related to the Matas government and to the tourism ministry in particular.
It is an assumption, but some of the material from those fifteen pallets may well have been what was found scattered around Son Real. Wherever it had come from and whoever had sanctioned it being stored at the finca, the fact is that the green card was quietly dropped at the end of 2012, while the foundation was absorbed by the tourism agency and its responsibility for Son Real transferred to a department within the environment ministry.
The green card, as I say, was a sub-plot in the whole Son Real story. How awfully appropriate, though, that its remains should be found as piles of rubbish on the finca, one which was supposed to have benefited from it. The truth is that Son Real has received no benefit and certainly not from political figures. The most ludicrous of the political scraps occurred when Jorge Campos, an arch anti-Catalanist, took over as director of the foundation and insisted on flying the Spanish flag at its entrance. The greatest failure, though, has been in the finca's management. The environment ministry is now meant to be managing it, but Santa Margalida town hall has consistently criticised it for its mismanagement. All that money, all that grandiosity and now all those unused green cards. What a terrible waste.
The story of Son Real and the sub-plot that was the "tarjeta verde" is one that I have followed over the years. Partly, this is because the finca is quite near to me, but more importantly because it has been a story of quite staggering stupidity and ineptitude that has crossed over into the scandalous.
Where to start with this story? Let's start in the middle. September 2008. One evening in that month a number of government officials and businesspeople attended the official opening of the "interpretation centre" at Son Real. The grand fanfare for the opening included a statement as to expected numbers of visitors to the finca. 20,000 per annum, paying five euros a time. The work on the centre and other property on the finca had cost three million euros. This was on top of the over 17 million euros that the Balearic Government had paid for the finca in 2002 (when the story really started). At a rough estimate, it was going to take two hundred years for there to be a payback.
The investment was justifiable because of Son Real's importance, but it was an investment which was the first example of grandiosity. The finca was acquired with the help of funds raised by the eco-tax, a project therefore which was in keeping with the principle of the tax - environmental conservation with a tourist application. Six years later, it was evident that it had limited tourist application. The 20,000 per annum visitors would have also included local residents and school groups.
As a way of attracting tourists, the government of Jaume Matas, which scrapped the eco-tax in 2003, launched an alternative scheme. This was the green card. At a cost of ten euros, the card offered discounts, such as one for Son Real. When an audit of the card's performance was undertaken for 2008, it was found that the regional government had received the princely sum of 13,524 euros. The card was an unmitigated disaster (the practical failure) and was made more so because hoteliers couldn't be bothered selling it and even when they did, weren't handing over the cash. On top of this, no one had the faintest idea how many cards had actually been sold.
Matas and the then environment minister, Jaume Font, had launched the card in typically grandiose fashion, employing Michael Douglas and Claudia Schiffer. The card was to be operated by a body called the Fundación Balears Sostenible, a creation of the Matas administration which was linked to the tourism ministry and which also took on responsibility for managing certain sites - Son Real and Costa Nord.
In June 2010, police raided the Costa Nord headquarters of this foundation. Its new director said that there was a "leak" of some three million euros in its accounts. He also said that he was surprised, on taking up his appointment, to find fifteen pallets of publicity and other material stashed away in a storage facility: the green card and accompanying leaflets. The foundation became just one element in anti-corruption investigations that related to the Matas government and to the tourism ministry in particular.
It is an assumption, but some of the material from those fifteen pallets may well have been what was found scattered around Son Real. Wherever it had come from and whoever had sanctioned it being stored at the finca, the fact is that the green card was quietly dropped at the end of 2012, while the foundation was absorbed by the tourism agency and its responsibility for Son Real transferred to a department within the environment ministry.
The green card, as I say, was a sub-plot in the whole Son Real story. How awfully appropriate, though, that its remains should be found as piles of rubbish on the finca, one which was supposed to have benefited from it. The truth is that Son Real has received no benefit and certainly not from political figures. The most ludicrous of the political scraps occurred when Jorge Campos, an arch anti-Catalanist, took over as director of the foundation and insisted on flying the Spanish flag at its entrance. The greatest failure, though, has been in the finca's management. The environment ministry is now meant to be managing it, but Santa Margalida town hall has consistently criticised it for its mismanagement. All that money, all that grandiosity and now all those unused green cards. What a terrible waste.
Monday, March 10, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.15am): 9.5C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 3.
Pleasant, calm morning. The breeze likely to pick up and so possibly making things feel a bit chilly. Otherwise sunny. The outlook is now more mixed with rain possible later in the week.
Evening update (20.30): A high of 17.9C, so just about on the forecast high for once.
From Isabel To Ibex: Spanish women
On 19 October 1469 there was a wedding in Valladolid. It was a wedding that was notable for a number of reasons, not least because it established a union between two kingdoms and announced the arrival of a nation state. When Isabel of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, it is doubtful that anyone could have predicted where their union would lead. It was a marriage that was to travel to the Americas, along the rivers of gold and to an imperial destination, and though ostensibly a marriage of equals, Isabel was the dominant partner. She was tougher than Ferdinand. She believed in justice, even if this justice was far from always benign; the Inquisition was established nine years into their reign.
Isabel is arguably the most important woman in Spain's history, but more than three centuries later the second Isabel also became important, albeit for a different reason. Isabel I may have led Spain to its empire, but she was still only a woman, and Isabel II was responsible, merely for being a woman, for the Carlist Wars. Her father, the generally mad absolutist Ferdinand VII, had dispensed with Salic law, meaning that there could be the succession of a female sovereign. The Carlists rejected Ferdinand's "pragmatic sanction" and supported the pretender to the throne, Ferdinand's brother, the Infante Carlos. Carlism, a movement characterised by Catholic traditionalism, was to be a factor in Spain's history for more than a hundred years.
Kings and queens tell only part of a society's story, but the story of Isabel II shows that, despite the achievements of the first Isabel more than three hundred years before, entrenched attitudes hadn't changed. Indeed, because Carlism and its traditional Catholicism remained factors into and during the Franco era, those attitudes prevailed for very much longer than they did in other societies. In Franco's Spain discrimination against women was such that there existed the "permiso marital". A woman couldn't work or even travel away without her husband's permission.
The changed role of women in Spanish society is one of the most profound of all the changes that has come about since the establishment of democracy. If one looks around the political scene, one finds a female vice-president in the national government, a trend started by the previous Zapatero administration. In the Balearics two women will be fighting it out to lead PSOE into the next regional elections. Either might just become the first female president of the islands. In the business world, such as in Mallorca's hotel industry, women occupy top roles in hotel chains and in hotelier organisations. The changed role of women has been dramatic.
To celebrate International Women's Day a conference was held in Palma which was entitled "Work, family and personal life: a triangle in constant evolution". It looked at issues surrounding equality and the reconciling of family and working lives. The conference would have been able to draw on a substantial body of research, such as that from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and from the European Commission, which has detected a wage gap of 16.4% between men and women that applies across Europe but which has been widening in Spain. This 16.4% gap just so happens, according to the UGT union, to exist in the Balearics, though it isn't as wide as a national 23% level, which might sound like a reason to be cheerful but in the union's opinion isn't; it says that it reflects generally lower salary levels because of the nature of the Balearics labour market and the high level of seasonality.
From this research one also discovers that the percentage of female representation at board level in Ibex 35 companies (those that comprise the stock market index) is 16%, while among unlisted companies with between 100 and 500 employees, a third of them do not have any women in their management teams. This suggests that women are getting a raw deal, but if one considers the situation in the UK, it isn't all that different. There, a 15% wage gap is said to exist (the figure is probably open to interpretation), while female representation on the boards of FTSE100 companies has only recently topped 20% for the first time.
To combat this inequality the ILO suggests measures that were on the table for discussion at the Palma conference - improved child care services, codes of practice to tackle gender stereotyping and such like. It all sounds incredibly familiar. In the early 1980s my company was the first to publish a journal in the UK devoted to women in management. The issues were the same then as they are now. That was the UK though. This is Spain. The advances here have been remarkable in that there is now some comparison with the UK. But these things take time, though perhaps not as long as the period between the first Isabel and the final years of the Carlist tradition.
Isabel is arguably the most important woman in Spain's history, but more than three centuries later the second Isabel also became important, albeit for a different reason. Isabel I may have led Spain to its empire, but she was still only a woman, and Isabel II was responsible, merely for being a woman, for the Carlist Wars. Her father, the generally mad absolutist Ferdinand VII, had dispensed with Salic law, meaning that there could be the succession of a female sovereign. The Carlists rejected Ferdinand's "pragmatic sanction" and supported the pretender to the throne, Ferdinand's brother, the Infante Carlos. Carlism, a movement characterised by Catholic traditionalism, was to be a factor in Spain's history for more than a hundred years.
Kings and queens tell only part of a society's story, but the story of Isabel II shows that, despite the achievements of the first Isabel more than three hundred years before, entrenched attitudes hadn't changed. Indeed, because Carlism and its traditional Catholicism remained factors into and during the Franco era, those attitudes prevailed for very much longer than they did in other societies. In Franco's Spain discrimination against women was such that there existed the "permiso marital". A woman couldn't work or even travel away without her husband's permission.
The changed role of women in Spanish society is one of the most profound of all the changes that has come about since the establishment of democracy. If one looks around the political scene, one finds a female vice-president in the national government, a trend started by the previous Zapatero administration. In the Balearics two women will be fighting it out to lead PSOE into the next regional elections. Either might just become the first female president of the islands. In the business world, such as in Mallorca's hotel industry, women occupy top roles in hotel chains and in hotelier organisations. The changed role of women has been dramatic.
To celebrate International Women's Day a conference was held in Palma which was entitled "Work, family and personal life: a triangle in constant evolution". It looked at issues surrounding equality and the reconciling of family and working lives. The conference would have been able to draw on a substantial body of research, such as that from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and from the European Commission, which has detected a wage gap of 16.4% between men and women that applies across Europe but which has been widening in Spain. This 16.4% gap just so happens, according to the UGT union, to exist in the Balearics, though it isn't as wide as a national 23% level, which might sound like a reason to be cheerful but in the union's opinion isn't; it says that it reflects generally lower salary levels because of the nature of the Balearics labour market and the high level of seasonality.
From this research one also discovers that the percentage of female representation at board level in Ibex 35 companies (those that comprise the stock market index) is 16%, while among unlisted companies with between 100 and 500 employees, a third of them do not have any women in their management teams. This suggests that women are getting a raw deal, but if one considers the situation in the UK, it isn't all that different. There, a 15% wage gap is said to exist (the figure is probably open to interpretation), while female representation on the boards of FTSE100 companies has only recently topped 20% for the first time.
To combat this inequality the ILO suggests measures that were on the table for discussion at the Palma conference - improved child care services, codes of practice to tackle gender stereotyping and such like. It all sounds incredibly familiar. In the early 1980s my company was the first to publish a journal in the UK devoted to women in management. The issues were the same then as they are now. That was the UK though. This is Spain. The advances here have been remarkable in that there is now some comparison with the UK. But these things take time, though perhaps not as long as the period between the first Isabel and the final years of the Carlist tradition.
Sunday, March 09, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Mallorca draw in Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza 1 : 1 Real Mallorca
Both relegated from La Liga last season and both might have been anticipating a prompt return, but neither Zaragoza nor Mallorca has enjoyed the best of times in the "segunda división". But at least Mallorca managed a draw, an improvement following the horror show at home in new coach Carreras's first match in charge against Barcelona B. The goal action occurred within the first few minutes, Thomas scoring for Mallorca after five minutes and Roger replying for Zaragoza seven minutes later. Roger caused Mallorca regular problems, Miño saving the visitors halfway through the first period and again in the second half when Roger drew a penalty which Miño saved with three minutes of the match to go. Mallorca, for now, are in fourteenth spot, four points short of a play-off position but only three points above the best-placed side (Hércules) in the relegation zone.
Both relegated from La Liga last season and both might have been anticipating a prompt return, but neither Zaragoza nor Mallorca has enjoyed the best of times in the "segunda división". But at least Mallorca managed a draw, an improvement following the horror show at home in new coach Carreras's first match in charge against Barcelona B. The goal action occurred within the first few minutes, Thomas scoring for Mallorca after five minutes and Roger replying for Zaragoza seven minutes later. Roger caused Mallorca regular problems, Miño saving the visitors halfway through the first period and again in the second half when Roger drew a penalty which Miño saved with three minutes of the match to go. Mallorca, for now, are in fourteenth spot, four points short of a play-off position but only three points above the best-placed side (Hércules) in the relegation zone.
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.15am): 12.5C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): East and Northeast 3 to 4 backing North 3 by the evening.
Milder morning, bright with good amounts of sun in prospect. The outlook has altered with more cloud due to be around during the week and temperatures decreasing from Tuesday.
Evening update (18.30): Breeze a bit chilly today. Sunny though. A high of 17.3C.
Bono Comes To Spain's Rescue
The European People's Party, "the political family of the centre-right" apparently, had gathered in the Irish capital for its summit. Among the political leaders who form this family are Angela Merkel and Spain's very own Mariano Rajoy. And Mariano made a speech at the gathering. Unfortunately, it wasn't Mariano Rajoy but Mariano Rayor, a simple enough mistake perhaps or alternatively a massive great howler. The name that was projected behind someone who looked remarkably like Mariano Rajoy was Mariano Rayor.
Of course, the Irish might not be terribly familiar with Mariano, but they would most certainly be very familiar with one of the non-political-leader speakers. They can't avoid him. Indeed, no one can avoid him. He still hasn't found what he's looking for, but Bono has spent the past several years in earnest pursuit of its discovery. World peace, poverty, you name it, Bono is seeking a solution.
And in Dublin he came up with a solution for Spain. "Where is the response of the European family? Where is the pan-European campaign for people to take their holidays in Spain, to buy Spanish products and listen to Spanish music?" There has to be European support for the Spanish economy, he went on, as a response to the reforms and measures that the Spanish Government has put in place.
It was all very curious, and doubly so when Bono seemed to intimate that U2 might be about to record a flamenco album. But has there not been European support for the Spanish economy? Or did we imagine all the intervention by Brussels? And what exactly was all this stuff about a pan-European campaign for Spanish tourism? Is Brussels about to diversify into the travel industry?
Unless you prefer Bono sticking to telling us all it's a beautiful day and so stop sticking his nose into European affairs, you will probably think it does little harm for him to make a plea on behalf of the Spanish tourism industry. To be fair, it doesn't do any harm because very few people are likely to pay much attention, but by calling for a campaign for more holidaymaking in Spain, Bono falls into the trap marked "over-reliance on the tourism industry". This may not be a reliance which is common to all parts of Spain, but it is to some, such as Mallorca.
Tourism, and more of it, as an antidote to economic crisis is both necessary and welcome, but tourism has, for too long, been a strength balanced, or rather imbalanced, by the weakness that this strength produces. Mallorca displays this better than anywhere. Its economy does not have adequate balance. There is little scope for a major increase in Mallorca's summer tourism (peak summer, that is), while there is enormous scope for a major increase in the off-season, as I think we know. But the angst that is caused by the absence of off-season tourism and the resultant debates, suggestions and prescriptions create a polemic which is itself imbalanced. The arguments should be about economic well-being from sources other than tourism and about attempting to establish a balance in the economy rather than one in which the summer scale is so heavily loaded that it tips the empty winter scale to an almost vertical position.
The Bono prescription is, therefore, simplistic and short-termist, but then he is a rock singer not a politician, though being a politician offers little guarantee of there being a true understanding of issues, tourism being one of them. Take Mariano, for example. Among his arguments for defending oil exploration off the Balearics was one which drew a comparison with the United Kingdom, Norway and Canada. In each of these countries oil co-exists with fishing and tourism, he said. Which may well be true, but the tourism is of a very different order to that in the Balearics. And as for fishing, with his newly acquired moniker, he might bear in mind that the Mediterranean is very different to the Atlantic. Perhaps he can seek Bono's advice.
Photo: Wikipedia.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 9.5C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northwest 2 to 3 veering Northeast during the afternoon.
Chilly morning with temperatures as low as 4C in parts. Bright, clear and sunny and staying so. Glorious weather just at the moment.
Evening update (20.00): A high of 21.2C. Very nice indeed.
Political Infirmity
How have you been this week? Been feeling ok? Or have you had a touch of flu perhaps? Been confined to bed? Been unable to travel to Berlin? If your travel plans were indeed disrupted owing to illness, then you don't need to feel too guilty. You are in good company. Well, you are in company. Good or bad, that's for you to decide, the company being that of national minister for energy, industry and tourism, José Manuel Soria, and Balearics president, José Ramon Bauzá. The two Joes both came down with a bad dose of political infirmity.
Mallorca Joe, i.e. the president, had, even before seeking a refund from or rearrangement with Air Berlin (something that's probably not too difficult), put in a sick note and absented himself from the presidential seat in the Balearics Parliament. The empty chair was poignantly photographed next to a serious-looking vice-president, who probably wasn't serious on account of fearing for the presidential well-being but because he was pressing the parliamentary case for him and his fellow cabinet members enjoying a 25% increase in their salaries. Antonio Gómez, the vice-president, was mayor of Escorca in a former life, a task which entailed administering a municipality comprising one man, his dog and several hundred mountain goats. Had he not been reborn as the governmental VP, he might still be mayor of Escorca and be struggling to draw any form of salary in future, thanks to his friends in Madrid having changed the rules regarding salaries for mayors of municipalities with barely any inhabitants (other than the goats).
On a better earner therefore than he would have been on back in the mountains, the VP took issue with legal opinion on the small matter of the 25% salary rise. This legal opinion had been offered by the Balearics High Court, which had revoked the rise, but the VP was having none of it. The cabinet's own legal opinion begged to differ with m'luds at the High Court. Moreover, the rise was fair because the total salary bill for cabinet members had in fact gone down because there were fewer members than previously. Which is an interesting piece of logic and one that the VP might care to run past workforces which remain following major job losses and which have not experienced a rise; more likely, they have experienced a fall in wages and greater demands on their working hours and responsibilities.
As he was already on a sickie, Bauzá's change of travel plans might have been anticipated, but the ranks of the press massed at Berlin's ITB travel fair were none too impressed by both his absence and that of Canaries Joe, minister Soria. There are various sub-plots where the two Joes are concerned, one being that they don't see eye to eye other than for Bauzá to eye Soria up with a suggestive I'm-after-your-job look (or so it has been alleged). But the bigger sub-plot is the one to do with the oil exploration business, Soria having reported the content of a private conversation in which Bauzá admitted to knowing that there was nothing that Madrid could do to prevent exploration going ahead. The two Joes aren't the best of mates just at the moment, and they weren't about to kiss and make up in Berlin. Had they, then they would have passed on even more political infirmity bugs.
A press conference at which oil was going to feature large was, therefore, cancelled, leaving the hacks decidedly hacked off. A general view coming out of Berlin was that it was better to keep mum about the oil and not spoil the good news about even more thousands of Germans descending on Balearics beaches this summer. But, though Soria was away, nursing his ministerial malady, his second-in-command at tourism, the Mallorcan Isabel Borrego, hadn't succumbed to the virus that was decimating the political class. She was in Berlin and she spoke to tour operators and yes the O-word did crop up together with the G-word. Much to everyone's astonishment, she said that all this prospecting that might take place off the Balearics wasn't for oil after all. Only for gas. So, there we are. No worries about any oil being washed up on the beaches, because the secretary-of-state for tourism has said so.
Mallorca Joe, i.e. the president, had, even before seeking a refund from or rearrangement with Air Berlin (something that's probably not too difficult), put in a sick note and absented himself from the presidential seat in the Balearics Parliament. The empty chair was poignantly photographed next to a serious-looking vice-president, who probably wasn't serious on account of fearing for the presidential well-being but because he was pressing the parliamentary case for him and his fellow cabinet members enjoying a 25% increase in their salaries. Antonio Gómez, the vice-president, was mayor of Escorca in a former life, a task which entailed administering a municipality comprising one man, his dog and several hundred mountain goats. Had he not been reborn as the governmental VP, he might still be mayor of Escorca and be struggling to draw any form of salary in future, thanks to his friends in Madrid having changed the rules regarding salaries for mayors of municipalities with barely any inhabitants (other than the goats).
On a better earner therefore than he would have been on back in the mountains, the VP took issue with legal opinion on the small matter of the 25% salary rise. This legal opinion had been offered by the Balearics High Court, which had revoked the rise, but the VP was having none of it. The cabinet's own legal opinion begged to differ with m'luds at the High Court. Moreover, the rise was fair because the total salary bill for cabinet members had in fact gone down because there were fewer members than previously. Which is an interesting piece of logic and one that the VP might care to run past workforces which remain following major job losses and which have not experienced a rise; more likely, they have experienced a fall in wages and greater demands on their working hours and responsibilities.
As he was already on a sickie, Bauzá's change of travel plans might have been anticipated, but the ranks of the press massed at Berlin's ITB travel fair were none too impressed by both his absence and that of Canaries Joe, minister Soria. There are various sub-plots where the two Joes are concerned, one being that they don't see eye to eye other than for Bauzá to eye Soria up with a suggestive I'm-after-your-job look (or so it has been alleged). But the bigger sub-plot is the one to do with the oil exploration business, Soria having reported the content of a private conversation in which Bauzá admitted to knowing that there was nothing that Madrid could do to prevent exploration going ahead. The two Joes aren't the best of mates just at the moment, and they weren't about to kiss and make up in Berlin. Had they, then they would have passed on even more political infirmity bugs.
A press conference at which oil was going to feature large was, therefore, cancelled, leaving the hacks decidedly hacked off. A general view coming out of Berlin was that it was better to keep mum about the oil and not spoil the good news about even more thousands of Germans descending on Balearics beaches this summer. But, though Soria was away, nursing his ministerial malady, his second-in-command at tourism, the Mallorcan Isabel Borrego, hadn't succumbed to the virus that was decimating the political class. She was in Berlin and she spoke to tour operators and yes the O-word did crop up together with the G-word. Much to everyone's astonishment, she said that all this prospecting that might take place off the Balearics wasn't for oil after all. Only for gas. So, there we are. No worries about any oil being washed up on the beaches, because the secretary-of-state for tourism has said so.
Friday, March 07, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.15am): 13C
Forecast high: 18C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 4 backing Northwest by the afternoon and easing 2 to 3 by the evening.
Nice morning, and the forecast for the next few days is very good with lots of sun. Temperatures due to fall a little by Sunday but the sun is due to stay out and the wind won't be a huge factor.
Evening update (18.45): A fine day with a high of 20.8C.
The Certainty Of Mallorca
This is the week of the Berlin ITB travel fair, the biggest of the winter's fairs and the last one before the season commences. It was the scene of acute embarrassment for the Balearics last year when a stripped-down presence reduced to the stand to hiding itself away inside the grander pavilion for Turespaña, the budget having been slashed by over half a million euros. One critic, from the socialist opposition, denounced the "ridiculous size" of the "chiringuito", saying that it undermined any impression of international prestige at a time when the islands' tourism was not certain.
This year, the Balearics tourism agency is once more sharing with Turespaña. Indeed, it also has the Palma 365 Foundation, Manacor town hall and the Cala Millor hoteliers to keep it company. No doubt there will be more criticisms. But are they really valid?
Fairs such as Berlin's are an exercise in showing-off. The bigger, the better the stand, the greater the kudos. It doesn't automatically follow that bigger and better mean more business. Perhaps Mexico, the fair's official "partner" this year will secure a substantial rise in tourism. Or perhaps it won't. Putting on a show only amounts to so much.
The travel fair plays to different audiences. The public, only admitted for two days, is one, but it is less important than the tour operators and other decision-makers, and the fact is that these decision-makers do not make decisions based on the nature of an exhibition stand. The fairs are talking-shops and networking opportunities for the travel and tourism industry, but much talking and networking occur without the need to attend fairs. Size of a stand doesn't really matter, and one only has to consider some of the news coming out of Berlin to know that it doesn't. Far from the islands' tourism being uncertain, as was alleged last year, it couldn't be much more certain. Tour operators are on the prowl, buying up hotels in Mallorca in order to guarantee beds for the next few years. Mallorca's tourism is certain, because Mallorca's tourism is safe. This has been a key message over the past few years. While other destinations have experienced problems, such as unrest, Mallorca has kept going on its own sweet way, causing very little or no trouble.
Avoiding trouble is the key to tourism success. Tour operators need to minimise risk, just as tourists need to know there is minimum risk where their holidays are concerned, but one piece of trouble might yet loom, and that is the threat of strikes in the hotel sector. They are never far away from being a possibility, given the somewhat volatile nature of certain unions, but the current round of wage negotiations for the coming season are stalled; the unions are looking for at least a 3% rise, but the hoteliers aren't budging an inch.
The unions, though, can point to price rises by hoteliers and ask, perhaps legitimately, where are our rises. Some concern has been expressed by tour operators who believe that the quality of some of Mallorca's hotels does not match the prices being demanded by the hoteliers. These tour operators are not about to accept any additional prices because of higher wages, and it is this price-quality equation which goes to the heart of much discussion of Mallorca's tourism. A reason, only one, why hotels don't open in winter and why Mallorca is a less than attractive proposition is because prices and so therefore costs are that much lower in other parts of the world. The tour operators can extract far higher margins as a consequence.
And if the tour operators are buying up hotels - as also are foreign investors, such as those from China - they are likely to insist on a harder playing of the hardball with unions. There may be an at-times frosty relationship between unions and Mallorca's hoteliers, but add multinational, foreign ownership into the mix and the relationship could be destined to become tundra-like.
The prognosis from Berlin is very positive, but down the line might there be trouble? The current round of wage negotiations will say much, and they are being conducted against a background of the hoteliers asking the regional government for specific legislation to limit the possibility of strike action in the tourism sector, a demand that is naturally opposed by the unions. If there were to be strikes this summer then the certainty of Mallorca suddenly becomes less certain.
This year, the Balearics tourism agency is once more sharing with Turespaña. Indeed, it also has the Palma 365 Foundation, Manacor town hall and the Cala Millor hoteliers to keep it company. No doubt there will be more criticisms. But are they really valid?
Fairs such as Berlin's are an exercise in showing-off. The bigger, the better the stand, the greater the kudos. It doesn't automatically follow that bigger and better mean more business. Perhaps Mexico, the fair's official "partner" this year will secure a substantial rise in tourism. Or perhaps it won't. Putting on a show only amounts to so much.
The travel fair plays to different audiences. The public, only admitted for two days, is one, but it is less important than the tour operators and other decision-makers, and the fact is that these decision-makers do not make decisions based on the nature of an exhibition stand. The fairs are talking-shops and networking opportunities for the travel and tourism industry, but much talking and networking occur without the need to attend fairs. Size of a stand doesn't really matter, and one only has to consider some of the news coming out of Berlin to know that it doesn't. Far from the islands' tourism being uncertain, as was alleged last year, it couldn't be much more certain. Tour operators are on the prowl, buying up hotels in Mallorca in order to guarantee beds for the next few years. Mallorca's tourism is certain, because Mallorca's tourism is safe. This has been a key message over the past few years. While other destinations have experienced problems, such as unrest, Mallorca has kept going on its own sweet way, causing very little or no trouble.
Avoiding trouble is the key to tourism success. Tour operators need to minimise risk, just as tourists need to know there is minimum risk where their holidays are concerned, but one piece of trouble might yet loom, and that is the threat of strikes in the hotel sector. They are never far away from being a possibility, given the somewhat volatile nature of certain unions, but the current round of wage negotiations for the coming season are stalled; the unions are looking for at least a 3% rise, but the hoteliers aren't budging an inch.
The unions, though, can point to price rises by hoteliers and ask, perhaps legitimately, where are our rises. Some concern has been expressed by tour operators who believe that the quality of some of Mallorca's hotels does not match the prices being demanded by the hoteliers. These tour operators are not about to accept any additional prices because of higher wages, and it is this price-quality equation which goes to the heart of much discussion of Mallorca's tourism. A reason, only one, why hotels don't open in winter and why Mallorca is a less than attractive proposition is because prices and so therefore costs are that much lower in other parts of the world. The tour operators can extract far higher margins as a consequence.
And if the tour operators are buying up hotels - as also are foreign investors, such as those from China - they are likely to insist on a harder playing of the hardball with unions. There may be an at-times frosty relationship between unions and Mallorca's hoteliers, but add multinational, foreign ownership into the mix and the relationship could be destined to become tundra-like.
The prognosis from Berlin is very positive, but down the line might there be trouble? The current round of wage negotiations will say much, and they are being conducted against a background of the hoteliers asking the regional government for specific legislation to limit the possibility of strike action in the tourism sector, a demand that is naturally opposed by the unions. If there were to be strikes this summer then the certainty of Mallorca suddenly becomes less certain.
Thursday, March 06, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.45am): 10.5C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 4 to 5.
Mix of cloud and blue first thing, the mix likely to remain. Northerlies not too strong, so reasonably calm and mild. Sun all the way for the next few days from tomorrow, according to the forecast.
Evening update (19.00): Some rain in parts at times, otherwise not bad and a high of 17.3C.
Promoting Mallorca's Old Towns
The town of Capdepera occupies the north-eastern tip of Mallorca. For most tourists, it is a town whose name will mean relatively little. Capdepera's tourists go to Cala Ratjada, the Germanised resort whose reputation has taken a slight battering over the past two to three years on account of youthful German behaviour; but Magalluf or indeed Arenal it isn't. In addition to Cala Ratjada, the town's smaller Canyamel tourism area will become more known than it is, thanks to the luxury Hyatt holiday village complex that is currently being built there, and this new luxury complex, and the guests it will attract, form just one reason why the town of Capdepera is to undergo improvements in order to attempt to attract more tourists to it. For a town with an astonishing amount of history, and striking history at that, Capdepera doesn't do well in the tourism stakes; visitors go to the resorts and there they tend to stay.
It's a familiar tale. Capdepera is not alone in being a municipality with seaside resorts whose original, old town tends to get overlooked. Two nearby municipalities, Muro and Santa Margalida, are similarly neglected. But the feelings about tourists in the resorts and their avoidance of the old towns was once summed up by the owner of a grand old pile that doubles as a restaurant between Can Picafort and Santa Margalida who said that tourists just never ventured out of the resort. This was an exaggeration but it was perfectly understandable.
There are old towns which do very much better in attracting tourists. Pollensa is most certainly one of them and this to some extent reflects the fact that despite the distance between, Pollensa town and its port have tended to be promoted as more of a unified entity. Alcúdia is another, but Alcúdia's old town is unusual insofar as it isn't separated by distance from its tourism centres. It is not too arduous to walk to Alcúdia town. But it is arduous if you want to walk from, say, Playa de Muro to Muro town. The distance is one thing, the absence of pavements alongside what can be a dodgy road anyway is another; you would need your head examining were you to want to undertake such a walk.
The old towns, while all different, tend to have similar features; churches, squares and what have you. Not all of the towns have a blooming great castle. Capdepera does. Yet, for all that it can boast this edifice whose walls were completed at the end of the fourteenth century, the town still manages not to get the volume of tourists it would like or which it deserves.
The interior of the castle, in days of yore, became the main living space for the good folk of Capdepera, thanks to incentives offered by one-time king of Mallorca, Sancho I. Some centuries later, by which time piracy had become less of an everyday hazard, the good folk's descendants ventured out of the castle and so the town began to take shape. The point about this is that the castle, though it is in the old town, is to one side of it because of the way in which the town subsequently developed. For the tourist in a hurry to return to the beach or to a bier-und-wurst kneipe in Cala Ratjada, it is easy to "do the castle" and ignore the rest of the town.
Capdepera town hall has, therefore, adopted a plan to attract more tourists to the town. This plan consists of improved access for buses, a taxi rank by the Plaça Constitució, possible financial incentives for small shops to open and changes to local ordinance in order to permit the establishment of a petit hotel. Which all sounds fair enough but at the same time underwhelming. Making physical alterations is only part of the story, and Capdepera should look at Muro to understand why. This town, admittedly without a castle as an added attraction, underwent a significant beautification some five years. It would have been more beauteous had the money not run out, but that money which was spent - courtesy of the tourism ministry - stretched to a seven-figure sum and it was allocated primarily on improving pavements. Did it make any difference? Has it made any difference? For the people of Muro, it probably has, as they have some better pavements, but for tourists, it has made no difference at all. The reality of the anticipation that Muro might actually get more tourists can be seen by what isn't anywhere to be seen - a tourist information office.
While improvements are to be welcomed, the moral of the story for some of Mallorca's old towns which might covet greater tourism numbers lies with their promotion. Making things easier for buses or laying better pavements do not amount to promotion.
It's a familiar tale. Capdepera is not alone in being a municipality with seaside resorts whose original, old town tends to get overlooked. Two nearby municipalities, Muro and Santa Margalida, are similarly neglected. But the feelings about tourists in the resorts and their avoidance of the old towns was once summed up by the owner of a grand old pile that doubles as a restaurant between Can Picafort and Santa Margalida who said that tourists just never ventured out of the resort. This was an exaggeration but it was perfectly understandable.
There are old towns which do very much better in attracting tourists. Pollensa is most certainly one of them and this to some extent reflects the fact that despite the distance between, Pollensa town and its port have tended to be promoted as more of a unified entity. Alcúdia is another, but Alcúdia's old town is unusual insofar as it isn't separated by distance from its tourism centres. It is not too arduous to walk to Alcúdia town. But it is arduous if you want to walk from, say, Playa de Muro to Muro town. The distance is one thing, the absence of pavements alongside what can be a dodgy road anyway is another; you would need your head examining were you to want to undertake such a walk.
The old towns, while all different, tend to have similar features; churches, squares and what have you. Not all of the towns have a blooming great castle. Capdepera does. Yet, for all that it can boast this edifice whose walls were completed at the end of the fourteenth century, the town still manages not to get the volume of tourists it would like or which it deserves.
The interior of the castle, in days of yore, became the main living space for the good folk of Capdepera, thanks to incentives offered by one-time king of Mallorca, Sancho I. Some centuries later, by which time piracy had become less of an everyday hazard, the good folk's descendants ventured out of the castle and so the town began to take shape. The point about this is that the castle, though it is in the old town, is to one side of it because of the way in which the town subsequently developed. For the tourist in a hurry to return to the beach or to a bier-und-wurst kneipe in Cala Ratjada, it is easy to "do the castle" and ignore the rest of the town.
Capdepera town hall has, therefore, adopted a plan to attract more tourists to the town. This plan consists of improved access for buses, a taxi rank by the Plaça Constitució, possible financial incentives for small shops to open and changes to local ordinance in order to permit the establishment of a petit hotel. Which all sounds fair enough but at the same time underwhelming. Making physical alterations is only part of the story, and Capdepera should look at Muro to understand why. This town, admittedly without a castle as an added attraction, underwent a significant beautification some five years. It would have been more beauteous had the money not run out, but that money which was spent - courtesy of the tourism ministry - stretched to a seven-figure sum and it was allocated primarily on improving pavements. Did it make any difference? Has it made any difference? For the people of Muro, it probably has, as they have some better pavements, but for tourists, it has made no difference at all. The reality of the anticipation that Muro might actually get more tourists can be seen by what isn't anywhere to be seen - a tourist information office.
While improvements are to be welcomed, the moral of the story for some of Mallorca's old towns which might covet greater tourism numbers lies with their promotion. Making things easier for buses or laying better pavements do not amount to promotion.
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 13C
Forecast high: 17C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northwest 2 to 4 increasing North 4 to 5 by the late afternoon.
Wind down, so calm for now, but likely to be breezier later. Some heavy clouds around as well as sun, but a mostly sunny day forecast. The outlook is good through the weekend, but the lack of rain is now becoming something of an issue, both January and February having been pretty dry.
Evening update (18.45): A high of 16.4C. Not a bad day.
Selling The Countryside
Mallorca has a total land area of 3,640 square kilometres and it has 41 municipalities which are categorised as being rural. Qualification for being a rural or an urban municipality throws up one or two anomalies. Of the twelve municipalities considered to be urban, there isn't much debate with some of them - Palma, for example - but Sa Pobla is categorised as being urban, despite it being the centre for the island's potato-growing trade (and other agriculture), and Binissalem, the main centre of the island's wine trade, is also "urban". The determinant of rural or urban is the number of inhabitants per square kilometre: 150 or more, then it's urban; fewer, then it's rural.
Anomalies or not, 73% of the land is occupied by rural municipalities, while 62% of all Mallorca's land is categorised as being Superficie Agricola Utilizada - land that is used for farming purposes. From a report entitled the "Programme for Rural Development in the Balearic Islands 2007-2013" that was issued by the Balearic Government and the European Commission in May 2010, we learn that this 62% of land contributes 1.1% of Gross Value Added to the local economy and that 2.4% of the working population is engaged in agriculture.
We further learn that between 1999 and 2005 in the Balearics as a whole the number of agricultural business declined by almost a third and that the age profile of those working in the agricultural industry was heavily skewed towards older workers. Over 62% were over 60 years of age and 20% were aged between 50 and 59. None of the figures has changed markedly since the report was issued.
Agriculture does require a lot of land. That almost two-thirds of Mallorca's land is dedicated to agricultural use isn't necessarily an issue, but issues there most certainly are in terms of the productive use of this land, the decline in the number of agricultural businesses and the alarming lack of employment among younger people.
The 2010 report set out a number of areas for consideration, not least those for diversification, and the regional government now wishes to act by introducing legislation designed to stimulate economic activity in the agricultural sector and indeed to preserve the countryside. The minister responsible for agriculture, Biel Company, who was brought into the government from the agriculture industry, has unveiled the farming bill, but rather than it being greeted with praise it has been met with howls of protest.
What Company's bill envisages is something similar to that which was contained in the 2012 tourism law, namely that there can be secondary activities. The tourism law permits hotels to offer things which are open to the general public which previously had not been permitted (rock concerts, to give one example). The farming bill would permit the opening of restaurants and shops as well as the establishing of sporting activities of a country style, e.g. equestrianism, and possibly the building of processing plants or mills.
The protests against the bill have come from different sources: the environmentalists GOB and from business - the Balearics business confederation and the restaurant association. Where business is concerned, there is no opposition if produce that comes from a farm is then sold, but there is opposition if the bill means that any type of product could be sold. GOB believes that the bill would represent the sale of the countryside to speculators. Rather than preservation of the countryside, the bill would lead to its destruction.
But Company, an agriculture man and arguably the only cabinet minister at the regional government with any real credibility, has got a strong case, especially when one takes into account the employment profile. Preservation of the countryside comes in different forms, but if there's no one working on it, then it will not be preserved. Instead, it will be abandoned, and it is potential abandonment that he is trying to avoid.
The bill will also attempt to cut through much of the red tape regarding land use. So long as the agricultural land holder is registered with a municipality, this will be sufficient for the municipality to authorise a change of use of the land. However, and as was seen with the tourism law, the municipalities fought to retain their rights to veto planning or change of use by hotels, and they won that fight. It is quite possible, therefore, that they will raise their own objections, concerned at seeing their powers being eroded. GOB has said that the bill would in fact eliminate the powers of the municipalities and also of the island councils, but then maybe this wouldn't altogether be a bad thing.
Company has said that the bill will be fundamental in maintaining and developing the rural community over the coming years and in bringing young people back to the land. At times, one feels that people protest too much. It might just be a very good bill.
Anomalies or not, 73% of the land is occupied by rural municipalities, while 62% of all Mallorca's land is categorised as being Superficie Agricola Utilizada - land that is used for farming purposes. From a report entitled the "Programme for Rural Development in the Balearic Islands 2007-2013" that was issued by the Balearic Government and the European Commission in May 2010, we learn that this 62% of land contributes 1.1% of Gross Value Added to the local economy and that 2.4% of the working population is engaged in agriculture.
We further learn that between 1999 and 2005 in the Balearics as a whole the number of agricultural business declined by almost a third and that the age profile of those working in the agricultural industry was heavily skewed towards older workers. Over 62% were over 60 years of age and 20% were aged between 50 and 59. None of the figures has changed markedly since the report was issued.
Agriculture does require a lot of land. That almost two-thirds of Mallorca's land is dedicated to agricultural use isn't necessarily an issue, but issues there most certainly are in terms of the productive use of this land, the decline in the number of agricultural businesses and the alarming lack of employment among younger people.
The 2010 report set out a number of areas for consideration, not least those for diversification, and the regional government now wishes to act by introducing legislation designed to stimulate economic activity in the agricultural sector and indeed to preserve the countryside. The minister responsible for agriculture, Biel Company, who was brought into the government from the agriculture industry, has unveiled the farming bill, but rather than it being greeted with praise it has been met with howls of protest.
What Company's bill envisages is something similar to that which was contained in the 2012 tourism law, namely that there can be secondary activities. The tourism law permits hotels to offer things which are open to the general public which previously had not been permitted (rock concerts, to give one example). The farming bill would permit the opening of restaurants and shops as well as the establishing of sporting activities of a country style, e.g. equestrianism, and possibly the building of processing plants or mills.
The protests against the bill have come from different sources: the environmentalists GOB and from business - the Balearics business confederation and the restaurant association. Where business is concerned, there is no opposition if produce that comes from a farm is then sold, but there is opposition if the bill means that any type of product could be sold. GOB believes that the bill would represent the sale of the countryside to speculators. Rather than preservation of the countryside, the bill would lead to its destruction.
But Company, an agriculture man and arguably the only cabinet minister at the regional government with any real credibility, has got a strong case, especially when one takes into account the employment profile. Preservation of the countryside comes in different forms, but if there's no one working on it, then it will not be preserved. Instead, it will be abandoned, and it is potential abandonment that he is trying to avoid.
The bill will also attempt to cut through much of the red tape regarding land use. So long as the agricultural land holder is registered with a municipality, this will be sufficient for the municipality to authorise a change of use of the land. However, and as was seen with the tourism law, the municipalities fought to retain their rights to veto planning or change of use by hotels, and they won that fight. It is quite possible, therefore, that they will raise their own objections, concerned at seeing their powers being eroded. GOB has said that the bill would in fact eliminate the powers of the municipalities and also of the island councils, but then maybe this wouldn't altogether be a bad thing.
Company has said that the bill will be fundamental in maintaining and developing the rural community over the coming years and in bringing young people back to the land. At times, one feels that people protest too much. It might just be a very good bill.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 12C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northwest 7 occasionally gale force 8 until midday, easing North 3 by the evening.
High winds again. Sunny. Amber alert for coastal conditions. The wind is likely to remain a factor for the next couple of days.
Evening update (19.00): A high of 16.1C on what has been a very blustery day but with a good deal of sunshine.
Stories Of Mallorca: Catalan books
You might not have realised that there is a book fair currently taking place in Palma. It is the 25th Week of the Book in Catalan, which is probably why you wouldn't have realised. But it is an important occasion for celebrating Catalan literature and for showcasing Mallorcan authors, and as with anything to do with the Catalan language, it hasn't entirely been spared some controversy. At the opening event, there was a bit of a rumpus (a quiet one admittedly) when some people left when the vice-president for culture at the Council of Mallorca, Joan Rotger, got up to speak. It was a tad ungracious; the Council is, after all, sponsoring the Week. But, and one presumes this to have been the case, anything which is even remotely linked to the Partido Popular will cause some to be upset and so to walk out on someone's speech.
It was especially ungracious, given that Rotger said that the Week was an indication of the vitality and strength of Catalan and that the language was "vigorous, dynamic and creative" and had "a great future". He did admit there were one or two "difficulties" surrounding the language, but he deserved better than to be snubbed, albeit by a minority.
A Catalan book week might not seem that significant, but it is, and in more ways than just being a celebration of contemporary and past writers. Catalan literature holds a very special place in European literary history, and that very special place came about because of a Mallorcan. Yep, it's that ancient polymath again, Ramon Llull. The old boy wrote what is commonly thought to have been the first European novel, and he wrote it in Catalan. This novel, "Blanquerna", was a ripping yarn in the style of ripping yarns of the thirteenth century. Llull, who walked out on his missus and left her to raise their two kids when he had a sudden religious awakening, became a staunch Catholic, so much so that he was instrumental in confirming the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, but this religiosity, in a mediaeval manner, did not prevent him from creating a novel that was typical of storytelling of the period. Putting it bluntly, there was a fair amount of sex.
There was also a good deal of the stuff of legends. The hero, Blanquerna, appears destined for an unremarkable life until he informs his parents that he intends to devote himself to God. This he does and eventually becomes pope, at which point he decides to take himself off and become a hermit so that he can really communicate with God. The character of Blanquerna was partly autobiographical, but rather than walking out on the family, Blanquerna convinces his girlfriend, Natana, to devote herself to God as well, and so she gets herself to a nunnery.
Llull wrote the novel some twenty years after he had seen the light and left the marital home. It did entail a certain reinterpretation of his own history, but there were probably few readers who would have been aware of this. The book, which was a sort of bestseller of the times, was written in Montpellier, a city that added to its Catalan credibility because of its association with Jaume I, the conquerer of Mallorca and bringer of Catalan to the island. And there was, arguably, a further confirmation of Catalanism in the very story of Blanquerna becoming a hermit. Sant Antoni, he of the January fiesta, was revered in Catalonia before he became a feature of Mallorcan life, and Antoni was himself a hermit whose cult was promulgated by Jaume's Mallorcan king descendants.
So, a Catalan book week in Mallorca is in a way a celebration of what was written 731 years ago in 1283. And if "Blanquerna" was a bestseller back in the day, what are the hot titles of today? At the book fair the two which have been shifting the most copies are a collection of "gloses" by Llorenç Moya that were written under the pseudonym "Xafarder" and which were originally published in "Ultima Hora" in the late 1970s and a novel by Neus Canyelles in which the heroine, an author/journalist, rewrites classic stories in a way that fits with her own personal story.
It is probably safe to say, though, that neither of these titles or any others at the book fair are about to break out, be translated widely and become international bestsellers. Mallorcan literature remains something of a closed book, its authors unknown. Canyelles once wrote "La Novella de Dickens", which involved the heroine in conversation with Dickens. It's not fair to compare, but Dickens knew a thing or two about storytelling and about describing time and place. One day, someone will write a book about Mallorca that really tells the story, be it in Catalan or any other language.
It was especially ungracious, given that Rotger said that the Week was an indication of the vitality and strength of Catalan and that the language was "vigorous, dynamic and creative" and had "a great future". He did admit there were one or two "difficulties" surrounding the language, but he deserved better than to be snubbed, albeit by a minority.
A Catalan book week might not seem that significant, but it is, and in more ways than just being a celebration of contemporary and past writers. Catalan literature holds a very special place in European literary history, and that very special place came about because of a Mallorcan. Yep, it's that ancient polymath again, Ramon Llull. The old boy wrote what is commonly thought to have been the first European novel, and he wrote it in Catalan. This novel, "Blanquerna", was a ripping yarn in the style of ripping yarns of the thirteenth century. Llull, who walked out on his missus and left her to raise their two kids when he had a sudden religious awakening, became a staunch Catholic, so much so that he was instrumental in confirming the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, but this religiosity, in a mediaeval manner, did not prevent him from creating a novel that was typical of storytelling of the period. Putting it bluntly, there was a fair amount of sex.
There was also a good deal of the stuff of legends. The hero, Blanquerna, appears destined for an unremarkable life until he informs his parents that he intends to devote himself to God. This he does and eventually becomes pope, at which point he decides to take himself off and become a hermit so that he can really communicate with God. The character of Blanquerna was partly autobiographical, but rather than walking out on the family, Blanquerna convinces his girlfriend, Natana, to devote herself to God as well, and so she gets herself to a nunnery.
Llull wrote the novel some twenty years after he had seen the light and left the marital home. It did entail a certain reinterpretation of his own history, but there were probably few readers who would have been aware of this. The book, which was a sort of bestseller of the times, was written in Montpellier, a city that added to its Catalan credibility because of its association with Jaume I, the conquerer of Mallorca and bringer of Catalan to the island. And there was, arguably, a further confirmation of Catalanism in the very story of Blanquerna becoming a hermit. Sant Antoni, he of the January fiesta, was revered in Catalonia before he became a feature of Mallorcan life, and Antoni was himself a hermit whose cult was promulgated by Jaume's Mallorcan king descendants.
So, a Catalan book week in Mallorca is in a way a celebration of what was written 731 years ago in 1283. And if "Blanquerna" was a bestseller back in the day, what are the hot titles of today? At the book fair the two which have been shifting the most copies are a collection of "gloses" by Llorenç Moya that were written under the pseudonym "Xafarder" and which were originally published in "Ultima Hora" in the late 1970s and a novel by Neus Canyelles in which the heroine, an author/journalist, rewrites classic stories in a way that fits with her own personal story.
It is probably safe to say, though, that neither of these titles or any others at the book fair are about to break out, be translated widely and become international bestsellers. Mallorcan literature remains something of a closed book, its authors unknown. Canyelles once wrote "La Novella de Dickens", which involved the heroine in conversation with Dickens. It's not fair to compare, but Dickens knew a thing or two about storytelling and about describing time and place. One day, someone will write a book about Mallorca that really tells the story, be it in Catalan or any other language.
Monday, March 03, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 17.5C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Southwest 3 to 4, Northwest 5 to 6 at intervals during the morning increasing West 6 occasionally 7.
Very mild and windy with alerts in place for wind and coastal conditions. The wind will continue into tomorrow. Should be generally sunny today, the forecast high lower than at present (8am).
Evening update (20.00): With the wind there were lows of just over 11 degrees. Wind has eased off for now but it'll be back - amber alert for coastal conditions tomorrow.
Cat Among Pigeons: Council of Mallorca
President Bauzá let a cat out of the bag last week and it ran amok among the pigeons, scattering them and producing an almighty racket and squawking. These were the pigeons of the Council of Mallorca and its friends and defenders. The cat had previously only been allowed to peer through the cage of the fenced-off Council. Now, the cage door was opened, and Bauzá, having made less assertive intimations in the past, was alongside the cat with both barrels of a gun loaded. If it were down to him, he would shoot most of the pigeons dead, reduce the Council to a minimum, and he would do so immediately.
Bauzá made his feelings about the Council known at a debate organised by Deloitte for the Association of Advanced Management. It would seem that these feelings drew applause from the assembled businesspeople. And why might they applaud? Probably for the same reasons that many others would applaud. What really is the point of the Council of Mallorca? Is it not just an expensive and somewhat unnecessary level of government? Is it not a means of providing jobs for the boys and girls?
Before considering the merits of Bauzá's argument and those who have been doing the squawking, it is instructive to know something of the background to the Council. It was, as was the case with the councils on the other islands (with the exception of Formentera, whose separate council was only established seven years ago), a product of the immediate post-Franco period. The councils replaced the Balearics provincial deputation, and they were formed to reflect the needs of the individual islands and also to dilute a concentration of administrative power in Mallorca. But having established the councils, a few years later (1983), the autonomous community of the Balearics came into existence, which meant a regional government. The roles of the councils, which might then have been considered to have been superfluous, were written in to the statutes of autonomy, and there they have stayed ever since.
These statutes set out the various responsibilities of the councils, and armed with this list of responsibilities, the councils grew like Topsy, becoming larger and more powerful and creating bigger and more local government with no small amount of duplication. The councils, therefore, took on a life of their own, and it wasn't until Bauzá became president that these life forms began to become the focus for some serious scrutiny, especially the Council of Mallorca.
In the address to his business audience, Bauzá said that he would prefer to see the Council reduced to a role in which it provided legal and technical assistance to the municipalities and no more. He didn't envisage the same for the other island councils, and this was an acknowledgement and reinforcement of the particular needs of the other islands, as had been established back in the 1970s. But having put the cat among the pigeons, there was the inevitable squawking: Bauzá doesn't understand the island's institution; Bauzá is acting like a "dictator" (again); Bauzá wishes to destroy regionalism, blah, blah.
While there are those at the Council of Mallorca who are said to be privately angered by Bauzá opening up with both barrels, the loudest squawking has come from opposition parties, notably those on the left. But behind their protests, one has the distinct impression of anxieties being expressed as to a loss of significance and of potential jobs for politicians of all parties, not only those on the left. Were the centrist Unió Mallorquina still in existence, one could have imagined that it would have been squawking the loudest of all; the Council of Mallorca was once its virtual fiefdom, and we all know where that led - to the courts.
Bauzá is right to question the role of the Council, but a reduction in its powers and role might not be that simple. Apart from the statutes of autonomy, there are some of its functions, and under national reform of local government these could in fact be increased if responsibilities currently held by municipalities were to be transferred to it. But if not the Council, then it would have to be the regional government. Some organisation has to take responsibility for services; cutting out or reducing a layer of government means savings but only some.
If it is the president's intention to kick off a reasoned debate about the Council, then he has failed. He won't get one because there are too many vested interests who would not be prepared to even enter into a debate. Moreover, going in with both barrels loaded, shooting from the hip is no way to persuade. He is firing at pigeons who can strike back from on height, not at fish in a barrel. He should be more cognisant of sensitivities. If he were, then he might get a reasoned debate.
Bauzá made his feelings about the Council known at a debate organised by Deloitte for the Association of Advanced Management. It would seem that these feelings drew applause from the assembled businesspeople. And why might they applaud? Probably for the same reasons that many others would applaud. What really is the point of the Council of Mallorca? Is it not just an expensive and somewhat unnecessary level of government? Is it not a means of providing jobs for the boys and girls?
Before considering the merits of Bauzá's argument and those who have been doing the squawking, it is instructive to know something of the background to the Council. It was, as was the case with the councils on the other islands (with the exception of Formentera, whose separate council was only established seven years ago), a product of the immediate post-Franco period. The councils replaced the Balearics provincial deputation, and they were formed to reflect the needs of the individual islands and also to dilute a concentration of administrative power in Mallorca. But having established the councils, a few years later (1983), the autonomous community of the Balearics came into existence, which meant a regional government. The roles of the councils, which might then have been considered to have been superfluous, were written in to the statutes of autonomy, and there they have stayed ever since.
These statutes set out the various responsibilities of the councils, and armed with this list of responsibilities, the councils grew like Topsy, becoming larger and more powerful and creating bigger and more local government with no small amount of duplication. The councils, therefore, took on a life of their own, and it wasn't until Bauzá became president that these life forms began to become the focus for some serious scrutiny, especially the Council of Mallorca.
In the address to his business audience, Bauzá said that he would prefer to see the Council reduced to a role in which it provided legal and technical assistance to the municipalities and no more. He didn't envisage the same for the other island councils, and this was an acknowledgement and reinforcement of the particular needs of the other islands, as had been established back in the 1970s. But having put the cat among the pigeons, there was the inevitable squawking: Bauzá doesn't understand the island's institution; Bauzá is acting like a "dictator" (again); Bauzá wishes to destroy regionalism, blah, blah.
While there are those at the Council of Mallorca who are said to be privately angered by Bauzá opening up with both barrels, the loudest squawking has come from opposition parties, notably those on the left. But behind their protests, one has the distinct impression of anxieties being expressed as to a loss of significance and of potential jobs for politicians of all parties, not only those on the left. Were the centrist Unió Mallorquina still in existence, one could have imagined that it would have been squawking the loudest of all; the Council of Mallorca was once its virtual fiefdom, and we all know where that led - to the courts.
Bauzá is right to question the role of the Council, but a reduction in its powers and role might not be that simple. Apart from the statutes of autonomy, there are some of its functions, and under national reform of local government these could in fact be increased if responsibilities currently held by municipalities were to be transferred to it. But if not the Council, then it would have to be the regional government. Some organisation has to take responsibility for services; cutting out or reducing a layer of government means savings but only some.
If it is the president's intention to kick off a reasoned debate about the Council, then he has failed. He won't get one because there are too many vested interests who would not be prepared to even enter into a debate. Moreover, going in with both barrels loaded, shooting from the hip is no way to persuade. He is firing at pigeons who can strike back from on height, not at fish in a barrel. He should be more cognisant of sensitivities. If he were, then he might get a reasoned debate.
Sunday, March 02, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (8.00am): 11.5C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): North 4 easing Variable 2 to 3 by the afternoon, increasing Southwest 3 to 4 by the evening.
The wind has gone for now. Reasonable morning and should be a reasonable day, but the wind will return tomorrow. Outlook - not especially warm for the week ahead but quite sunny as well as windy.
Evening update (18.45): Decent day with a high of 18.4C. Alerts in place for more wind and rough coastal conditions as from tomorrow. Chances of rain remote though.
Landscaping Pollensa
This external view isn't that different, though, to other towns. It depends on your entrance point to them, but both Alcúdia and Muro - just as examples - can appear similarly dull; indeed, the entrance to Muro from Can Picafort might be thought to be a positive deterrence, marked as it is by its row of industrial units and a petrol station. At least with Alcúdia, if you drive past the town going towards the horse roundabout, you can look across and see the enormity of Sant Jaume church rising out of what seems virtually nothing. The view is very much more convincing than were you to approach Alcúdia from Puerto Pollensa.
All towns are essentially externally unlovely. Inca, just to cite another example, appears to be a total dump from the outside. It isn't the most beautiful town in Mallorca by any stretch of the imagination, but it is far more attractive and interesting than its outskirts industrial image suggests. But should it just be accepted that there is an inevitability that the less glamorous or less beautiful entry points to towns should disguise the greater beauty which lies inside? In Pollensa this inevitability is being challenged.
The town hall has teamed up with students from the university to consider different projects to make parts of Pollensa and its port more attractive and to improve the general landscape, and one of these projects is that view as one drives past on the main road. What might emerge from this is anyone's guess, though a whole load of greenery that obscures the unremarkable residential accommodation might help. One other project is for a "landscape intervention" for the connection between Pollensa and the port, but, and notwithstanding the presence of supermarkets, the entrance to the largely unused industrial estate and the building materials store to either side of the road as one leaves Pollensa, is there anything fundamentally wrong with the current landscape? Some of this sounds like a case of finding something to do rather than something that needs doing.
Which isn't to say that more attractive vistas might not be the end result, but one worries that the result might be projects which demand a fair amount of money yet which bring little benefit. The connection between Pollensa and the port has already had a goodly amount of money spent on it; the walkway which, while no doubt useful, was a project of questionable benefit. How many people does one ever see actually walking along it? Perhaps there are many, just that I have never noticed them.
A further project that is to be looked at will bring back bad memories. It is the one which involves the coast road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa. Some years ago it seemed as if the Costas Authority was determined to get rid of the road and to allow it to return to a natural state. There is one good reason why this road might be got rid of and that is the problems that can be caused when the sea is turbulent and starts throwing stones and rocks onto the road. Otherwise, it is hard to think of a good reason why a great deal of money would have to be spent on creating a new road connection. Indeed, where might an alternative go? Wherever it might go would be bound to require some expropriation and would probably raise environmental objections, given the presence of Albufereta and wetlands. When the Costas, for environmental reasons, first mooted the possibility of eliminating the coast road, the notion seemed insane as not only would an alternative bring up different environmental issues but the two hotels plus restaurant along the road would need new access roads. One had thought and hoped that the whole idea had been forgotten. Obviously it hasn't been.
There again, any coast road project would, the town hall has explained, depend on viability and the town hall's financial wherewithal. This suggests that an alternative would apply only to the coast road that is part of Pollensa. What about the rest? And as the road is a carretera, is this not a matter for a Council of Mallorca decision? It does, after all, have responsibility for main roads, not town halls.
Landscaping the entrance to Pollensa sounds a fair enough project for investigation, but as for some of the rest, they sound like projects for projects' sake with, in the case of the coast road, little likelihood of being implemented.
* Photo: the cock roundabout is a striking element of what otherwise is the unremarkable entrance to Pollensa.
Saturday, March 01, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - New coach, new disaster for Real Mallorca
Real Mallorca 1 : 2 Barcelona B
Even by Mallorca's standards, this has been a chaotic and embarrassing week, one that has made the club more of a laughing-stock than it has managed to aspire to be in the past. José Luis Oltra was sacked as coach, or was he? Such is the power struggle, pettiness, stupidity and fighting at board level that it wasn't clear what was happening, the appointment of Lluis Carreras as Oltra's successor initially being opposed by German shareholder Utz Claassen, who was in favour of ex-Mallorca, former Spain international and uncle of Rafa, Miguel Angel Nadal, taking over. Finally, Carreras was confirmed. A former Mallorca player himself, the job at Mallorca is his third coaching job. He had three seasons with Sabadell, getting them promoted to the Liga Adelante Second Division. So, Carreras's first game in charge at home to Barcelona's B, the team for which he made his professional debut in 1990 ...
And it couldn't have started more badly, Mallorca's goalkeeper Aouate being sent off after five minutes for deliberate handling outside the box. Barcelona B scored six minutes later and added a second after 20 minutes. Disaster became even greater disaster when Iriney was sent off two minutes before the break; Mallorca down to nine men. Despite being two players down and despite the calls for resignations (for the board) from the terraces, Mallorca did keep going, and Kevin pulled one back, albeit two minutes from the end. Too little, too late though. An awful result for Mallorca for whom automatic promotion is out of the question but for whom the play-offs are still not out of the question; and nor is relegation.
Even by Mallorca's standards, this has been a chaotic and embarrassing week, one that has made the club more of a laughing-stock than it has managed to aspire to be in the past. José Luis Oltra was sacked as coach, or was he? Such is the power struggle, pettiness, stupidity and fighting at board level that it wasn't clear what was happening, the appointment of Lluis Carreras as Oltra's successor initially being opposed by German shareholder Utz Claassen, who was in favour of ex-Mallorca, former Spain international and uncle of Rafa, Miguel Angel Nadal, taking over. Finally, Carreras was confirmed. A former Mallorca player himself, the job at Mallorca is his third coaching job. He had three seasons with Sabadell, getting them promoted to the Liga Adelante Second Division. So, Carreras's first game in charge at home to Barcelona's B, the team for which he made his professional debut in 1990 ...
And it couldn't have started more badly, Mallorca's goalkeeper Aouate being sent off after five minutes for deliberate handling outside the box. Barcelona B scored six minutes later and added a second after 20 minutes. Disaster became even greater disaster when Iriney was sent off two minutes before the break; Mallorca down to nine men. Despite being two players down and despite the calls for resignations (for the board) from the terraces, Mallorca did keep going, and Kevin pulled one back, albeit two minutes from the end. Too little, too late though. An awful result for Mallorca for whom automatic promotion is out of the question but for whom the play-offs are still not out of the question; and nor is relegation.
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 March 2014
No Frills Excursions
Morning high (7.00am): 11C
Forecast high: 16C
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays): Northwest 6 easing West 5 by the afternoon and 4 by the evening.
Very blowy, an alert still in place for coastal conditions. The wind should ease later. Some sun this morning with possible rain in the evening. Tomorrow fine and calmer, but the wind is due to pick up again by Monday.
Evening update (18.30): The wind has eased off, as had been forecast. A high of 16.7C.
Carnival: Inverting the established order
The Cadíz Carnival was the original carnival in Spain, and its inspiration was the carnival tradition in Italy, notably that of Venice, but also elsewhere. It was Italian merchants, especially those from Genoa, who helped to create the Cadíz Carnival, and despite various attempts over the centuries by the church to ban it, it continued and grew until Franco stepped in.
The banning orders weren't necessarily that well observed. Even in Cadíz, they managed to have a carnival in secret - quite how, I'm not entirely sure - while in more remote parts of Spain, the islands for instance, they could get away with more than was the case in the main urban centres on the mainland. The carnival in Santa Cruz in Tenerife more or less carried on uninterrupted but under a different name, the Winter Festival.
Mallorca doesn't have the same tradition of carnival as, say, Tenerife, but carnival there most definitely is and its popularity has arguably never been stronger than it is today. Every town has its carnival, and in some towns there are more than the one, depending on the parts of a town - Santa Margalida, just as an example, has three separate carnival parades.
Yet, and it is a familiar lament with the winter fiestas and celebrations, little attempt is made to turn carnival in Mallorca into something with which to attract the tourism punter. There may not be parades on a similar scale to those of Cadíz or Santa Cruz, but there is often much to be said for events that are less grand; it can be easier to enjoy them.
Observed through British eyes - the eyes of the British tourist, that is - it might be argued that carnival doesn't carry a great deal of weight because it isn't a British tradition. Perhaps so, but the British have their own way of celebrating the days preceding the start of Lent, and they are as peculiar as some aspects of carnival. Pancake Day is as mad as the burying of the sardine, and once upon a time it was a staple of news reports. Perhaps it still is, I couldn't honestly say, but I well recall the footage of housewives with headscarves and curlers dashing along streets with frying-pans. Things don't get much madder than that. Or do they?
German tourists, unlike their British counterparts, would be fully aware of the craziness that carnival can create. Unaware of the strength of carnival in Germany, I once switched on the telly there and was confronted with what looked like some parliamentary session or other that was being staged by Coco the Clown and his friends. After some minutes I realised it was a parliamentary session being staged by Coco. Politician sorts actually dress up in silly outfits for carnival. Whoever said the Germans lacked a sense of humour? And a sense of humour is required, if you happen to be a male, for the tradition of females seeking out males wearing ties and cutting these ties off with pairs of scissors. Bonkers or what?
And that - bonkers - is the essence of carnival. Masks, fancy dress, colour and even more colour; they will all be in evidence today, as they have already been in evidence around Mallorca these past couple of days. Maybe there is something to be said for Mallorca inventing itself as a sort of carnival island, staging grander parades and seeking to upstage Tenerife. But one supposes that would be beyond the wit of someone to organise it and, as importantly, promote it.
That there isn't really much by way of carnival promotion for the tourist is, in one particular way, odd. This is because of how carnival is now perceived, if only in scholarly circles. The foremost authority on carnival in Mallorca is Caterina Valriu. She has written two books about carnival which draw on the research that went into her dissertation. This was based on oral history, i.e. people's personal recollections. And she considered how carnival was - pre-tourism - with how it now is. It is the very use of the term pre-tourism which indicates that current-day carnival has, not unlike other celebrations on the island, been moulded to suit a potential tourism market. Pre-tourism, carnival was an occasion to "invert the established order" and for satire, excess, food, drink and sex. While some of this does still exist, Caterina Valriu's point is that sophistication and originality have taken precedence over simpler and baser instincts that prevailed pre-tourism.
And it was those baser instincts which of course didn't appeal to Franco. He wasn't one for people having fun, as fun was not compatible with another F-word.
Photo: http://www.firesifestesdemallorca.com
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