Amidst the fuss about tourist rentals that the recent draft tourism decree has caused were others matters of policy, equally as arcane in their actual comprehensibility to the layman, which failed to work their way into the headlines. One of these other matters has to do with the removal of certain competences that the islands' councils have for tourism promotion and organisation.
If you have not seen the draft tourism decree (or other items of Balearics legislation come to that), you will not know just how convoluted it is and how, in its preamble in particular, it manages to refer to that many items of other legislation that any sane person would give up after a couple of pages. (Perhaps the government hopes people do give up.) If you persevere, however, and disentangle what is contained in all this mind-boggling legalese, you discover that statutes of autonomy, which apply not just to the regional government but also to the islands' councils, and a general law of 2007 to do with these statutes have been invoked by the regional government in its having now claimed exclusive right to decide on certain tourism matters.
In Menorca, they are bloody furious. The other islands will probably also be mad, but the Menorcans more than the other islands. They have been vocal in asserting their rights to introduce their own regulations in line with what they thought were their competences and responsibilities. The government has taken them away and in one particularly significant way. The Menorcans believed that they would be able to regulate on tourism rentals: not under this decree they can't.
According to Salomé Cabrera, Menorca's councillor for tourism, the decree "violates" competences that the council has for tourism organisation, and she has drawn attention to what was an agreement by the regional government to amend the 2012 law by stating that Menorca could regulate on the matter of tourist stays (which, in translation, is the official term for tourist rentals). Menorca had, before the passing of the 2012 law, lobbied for a more permissive rental regime. It has maintained its opposition since then, its president having not attended a meeting with then tourism minister Carlos Delgado a year ago at which Delgado claimed there was consensus on rentals. This was a barefaced untruth. Its opposition had, nonetheless, looked as if it had worked and had given Menorca the means to counter the harmful effects of all-inclusives on the island through the permissive regulation of private accommodation for rent.
PSOE, in responding to the Martínez decree last week, argued that other competences were being taken away from the councils. It remains to be seen what responsibilities they will be left with, but they are supposed to be getting one that allows them to promote tourism. This was promised by President Bauzá, and it was a promise that had a hefty dose of political expediency about it: smoothing unrest in the other islands.
The change of mind on Menorca's rental responsibilities is indicative of the way in which the statutes of autonomy and the relationships between tiers of government can become political footballs of interpretation, power politics and potential abuse. They are used by Palma where the islands are concerned, and they are also used by Madrid where the Balearics are concerned.
The tourism law and now the new decree are ways in which Palma can assert its authority. It can do so with carte blanche because it, as with other regional administrations, has been allowed to by Madrid, which abrogated its responsibility for legislating on tourist rentals. Had it not and had it opted to legislate centrally, it is quite possible, given how every other region of Spain has been moving, that the Balearics would now be facing a permissive system of regulation. It suited Madrid not to legislate because by not doing so it was able to appear to be acting in a decentralised fashion but more importantly it was able to avoid an almighty great conflict with the hotel lobby. It bottled it, in other words.
The statues of autonomy have created a system of pick 'n' mix whereby Madrid can wield the stick of centralisation or dangle the carrot of decentralisation as it sees fit. The result is one great big power game in which Bauzá has been revealed as impotent on two key issues - oil and financing from central government. Moreover, Madrid has, we now understand, approved some twenty laws which have stripped the Balearics of its own competences. In addition, several articles contained in the new Balearics fishing law have been queried by Madrid.
Because he is so impotent, Bauzá acts on things he knows will show him as being tough without upsetting his political masters. Tourism rentals are one. Education and trilingualism are another. But unfortunately, all that legal mumbo-jumbo can come back and bite. Menorca is threatening to go to court on tourism rentals, which could mean calling for a decision by the Constitutional Court in Madrid, a body which is in constant session, attempting to make sense and arbitrate on issues which are a direct consequence of the political power games played out through the statutes of autonomy. There surely has to be a better way.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 17 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (8.00am): 18.5C
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 18 August - Sun, 31C; 19 August - Sun, 26C; 20 August - Sun, cloud, 25C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 veering East 2 to 3 during the morning.
Back to normal this morning. Blue skies. Somewhat fresher feel than of late. General outlook is reasonable but with high temperatures due to fall to the mid-20s during the week.
Evening update (20.30): A high of 29C. Nice day. Hot but not with the stifling feel.
No Frills Excursions
Keep Calm And Wait Till November
A regrettable piece of contemporary sloganising that has the power to destroy my normally calm manner and to make me wish to punch the perpetrator is the "Keep Calm And ..." poster. Its omnipotence is testimony to creative impotence. Can't think of a slogan? Keep calm and use keep calm.
As supremo for all things touristic in these islands, Jaime Martínez shouldn't be short of the odd, snappy slogan. One fears, though, that his promotional abilities are confined to that of a perambulating giant sandwich without the sandwich board. Yep, he's a walking, talking, masticating, marketing mechanism for Mallorcan gastronomy - breakfast, lunch, dinner and several snacks in between each of them. Officially, Jaime is minister for both tourism and sport, a portfolio that had been hoovered up by his predecessor, one who was evidently familiar with a sports field and with a personal trainer (and whatever happened to the fuss about the personal trainer?). Together, when Carlos Delgado and Jaime strode side by side, shoulder to stomach through the corridors of Calvia town hall and then in the ministry, they were the Little and Large of tourism and sport without the gags (such as Syd and Eddie's gags could be said to have been gags). Syd, having departed the scene to concentrate on his verbal assaults on the Guardia Civil, has left behind Eddie, who had always been the straight man (or the square man, some have said), for whom sports promotion can only be that for a singularly non-Mallorcan sport, i.e. sumo wrestling.
Sport loomed neither large nor little in the Magnum Opus that Jaime delivered to a bewildered audience last week (and also, or so I am led to believe, others at the ministry). As a work in promotional terms - if only indirectly - it did contain some items of merit. Well, one at any rate; that to do with car-rental agencies. The Magnum Opus was of course not intended for a lifetime achievement award for tourism promotion. The real promotional work which was referred to last week was The Campaign, one that has been postponed until Jaime can sample the hospitality at London's ExCel in November. The necessity for The Campaign was not as pressing as it had been, explained Jaime-Eddie. And that was because, he claimed, things were now calm on the streets of Magalluf. The Pre-Campaign Campaign was working. Keep Calm And Stop Rushkinoff Coughing. Keep Calm And Jump Off Balconies Only In The Event Of Alien Attack. Keep Calm And Keep Your Flies Zipped Up, Lads.
The worst thing about it all is that I have a horrible feeling they might actually use the Keep Calm slogan when they do eventually work out The Campaign. Keep Calm And Pass Me The Punchbag.
As supremo for all things touristic in these islands, Jaime Martínez shouldn't be short of the odd, snappy slogan. One fears, though, that his promotional abilities are confined to that of a perambulating giant sandwich without the sandwich board. Yep, he's a walking, talking, masticating, marketing mechanism for Mallorcan gastronomy - breakfast, lunch, dinner and several snacks in between each of them. Officially, Jaime is minister for both tourism and sport, a portfolio that had been hoovered up by his predecessor, one who was evidently familiar with a sports field and with a personal trainer (and whatever happened to the fuss about the personal trainer?). Together, when Carlos Delgado and Jaime strode side by side, shoulder to stomach through the corridors of Calvia town hall and then in the ministry, they were the Little and Large of tourism and sport without the gags (such as Syd and Eddie's gags could be said to have been gags). Syd, having departed the scene to concentrate on his verbal assaults on the Guardia Civil, has left behind Eddie, who had always been the straight man (or the square man, some have said), for whom sports promotion can only be that for a singularly non-Mallorcan sport, i.e. sumo wrestling.
Sport loomed neither large nor little in the Magnum Opus that Jaime delivered to a bewildered audience last week (and also, or so I am led to believe, others at the ministry). As a work in promotional terms - if only indirectly - it did contain some items of merit. Well, one at any rate; that to do with car-rental agencies. The Magnum Opus was of course not intended for a lifetime achievement award for tourism promotion. The real promotional work which was referred to last week was The Campaign, one that has been postponed until Jaime can sample the hospitality at London's ExCel in November. The necessity for The Campaign was not as pressing as it had been, explained Jaime-Eddie. And that was because, he claimed, things were now calm on the streets of Magalluf. The Pre-Campaign Campaign was working. Keep Calm And Stop Rushkinoff Coughing. Keep Calm And Jump Off Balconies Only In The Event Of Alien Attack. Keep Calm And Keep Your Flies Zipped Up, Lads.
The worst thing about it all is that I have a horrible feeling they might actually use the Keep Calm slogan when they do eventually work out The Campaign. Keep Calm And Pass Me The Punchbag.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.30am): 20C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 17 August - Sun, 30C; 18 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 19 August - Sun and some cloud, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4. Rain and possible storm through the morning.
So, there is some rain around, but only light. There is an alert out for rain, which suggests downpours. Clearing from around midday. Tomorrow, it's back to sun.
Evening update (18.30): A high of just 22.5C, the sun finally coming out in the later afternoon following what was a fairly wet morning.
No Frills Excursions
Tradition And Sport: Alcudia's Regatta
Photos from the past show what was once just a pier that jutted out into the sea with nothing on it. The physical foundation of the marina required further human intervention in order to begin to make the marina what it has now become. And so, in 1968, the Club of Friends of Alcudia (nautical section) began the process that ultimately led to Alcudiamar.
The marina is one of the obviously visible signs of Alcudia's present-day nautical industry. This is an industry that has tumbled over into tourism in a very significant fashion. Alcudia, and the bay, have become one of the premier locations for sports tourism in Mallorca. A combination of initiative on behalf of Alcudia town hall and Alcudiamar (with some help from regional government) has realised ambitions to truly make the resort a centre for sports tourism, and sea-based sports tourism in particular.
In April this year, I spent some time chatting to Pep Hernàndez Forteza at the port's boat show. Pep, or "Bibi" to give him his nickname, is a boat restorer, a qualified shipwright, of whom there are very few nowadays in Mallorca, who operates out of a workshop tucked away in the Manresa area. I mention him because next week the associations I referred to above - nautical sports and restoration - come together. The Trofeo Almirante Conde de Barcelona regatta will once more take place in the bay of Alcudia.
The origins of the regatta lie with restoration and with the creation of the Hispania Foundation for Vintage Boats. Among the achievements of the foundation was the recovery of the yacht "Hispania". Ordered in 1909 by King Alfonso XIII, it was being used as a floating home at West Mersea in Essex. It was purchased by the foundation, refitted, was able to take to the sea again and to take part in regattas. A great deal of the work in restoring the yacht was undertaken by Astilleros de Mallorca in Palma.
The foundation was also responsible for creating the Trofeo Almirante Conde de Barcelona regatta. The regatta's name was taken from a great supporter of the foundation's efforts, Juan de Borbón, the father of Juan Carlos, the former king, who had been given the title of Count of Barcelona, a title which subsequently passed to Juan Carlos. Last year, Juan Carlos visited the "Hispania" and met its crew. The king may have abdicated but the spirit lives on. This year will be the 30th staging of the regatta.
In 2012, the regatta came to Alcudia for the first time. It had normally been held in Palma but also in Mahon in Menorca. Only once in its history, to coincide with the 1992 Olympics, has it been staged outside the Balearics - in Barcelona. Moving the regatta to Alcudia was a recognition of the status that the resort had acquired for nautical sports. Added to which was a further recognition - that of the advantageous sailing conditions in the bay.
In keeping with the philosophy of the foundation, the regatta is for vintage and classic boats. The vintage boats, either wooden or steel hulled, have to have been launched before the end of 1949. The classic boats date from between 1950 and 1974. In addition, there are boats built in the "spirit of tradition", i.e. ones which, despite the use of contemporary techniques, have similarities in appearance to vintage boats. The final class is that of the "vela latina", the triangular sail boat.
Originally, the regatta was solely for vintage boats. The first regatta was won by "Refanut" from Sweden. Since then, the winners of the vintage class have been dominated by boats from Spain and England. The last four winners have all been English, taking the English winning total to nine, three behind Spain. Other winners have come from Italy, Germany, France, the US and Peru. The classic boats trophy, in existence since 1999, has been the preserve of Spain, Italy and England.
The regatta starts on Thursday next week, the first race being at 1.30pm. Races on Friday and Saturday are at the same time, and there is a service by "golondrinas", i.e. the tourist boats, to enable the watching of the races. And what can be seen is unquestionably spectacular, as nautical sports, tradition and restoration come together in the bay of Alcudia.
Friday, August 15, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (8.00am): 21C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 16 August - Rain, 29C; 17 August - Sun, 26C; 18 August - Cloud, sun, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 occasionally 2 during the morning.
A national holiday, and a pleasant morning, but there is the chance of a spot of rain later. Tomorrow's forecast suggests that there will be rain, clearing later. Sunday, much better.
Evening update (19.00): A mostly cloudy day with some rain. A high of 27.7C but down below 22C at one point. There is a yellow alert for rain for tomorrow, so could be in for some heavy stuff.
No Frills Excursions
The Law According To Martínez
We finally came to understand this week what Jaime Martínez actually does with himself. He spends long days bunkered in an office drawing up incomprehensible laws or decrees or whatever they're called. Architect by background, he was the architect of the 2012 tourism law and the designer of its 2014 offspring, the new law or decree. Only he probably truly understands the "typologies" of properties outlined in the decreto Martínez. Certainly only he can understanding the thinking. Everyone else was baffled, except his supporters at the islands' hotel federations, and everyone took aim at this new law/decree, with the exception of course of the hoteliers.
While Martínez doublespeak stated that there would be more private tourist accommodation, he was the only one who actually believed this to be the case (though his lackeys in the ministry who are under instruction will also believe it to be so). The UPyD party spoke of the "persecution" of holiday homes. "If Bauzá reckons that tourism is our oil, we do not understand why he persecutes it and drowns it in such a manner." The Més grouping wanted the whole decree withdrawn. El Pi blasted the "battle against tourist rentals", condemning the government as "sectarian and irresponsible". PSOE described the typologies as "arbitrary" and believed that the latest legislation could be unconstitutional.
The government was sneaky. To bring out this draft when it did, slap bang in the middle of August, was a disgracefully undisguised act of contempt for a sector that has other things on its mind. That the consultation period may have been extended does not let the government off the hook. It has acted in bad faith.
And there were other elements that raised the hackles of opposition parties and other organisations. There was the matter of competences that were meant to be transferred to the island councils. These have been scaled back. In Minorca they are especially annoyed. In theory, its council could have introduced its own regulations on tourist rentals. Not now it can't.
Then there were all-inclusives. Martínez was clear that there would be no prohibition. It was one of the few aspects of his explanation of the new decree that made sense. He said that all-inclusives were a matter for Europe, and he is right. Any attempt at prohibition would end up in front of the competition commission, and it will never agree to prohibition. The one small crumb of comfort was that all-inclusives would be subject to quality standards. Possibly so, but how effective will the monitoring be and what exactly are these standards? We've been down this path before, and there are still all-inclusives in Mallorca whose standards are simply awful.
That the hoteliers were the one obvious group who firstly found it perfectly acceptable that the decree should be published at the height of the season and with such a short consultation and who secondly considered the decree to be very positive tells us all we really need to know about the motivation behind many of the decree's provisions. One of these, related to secondary activities in hotels, was confirmed and explained in more detail. I believed that when these activities were first spoken of and then included in the 2012 law they could be as controversial or as damaging as all-inclusives. They have yet to really hit home, but they are in evidence. The Ushuaia Beach in Ibiza is an example. Operated by Abel Matutes' Fiesta Group, it is a blueprint of sorts for what will happen with the Matutes hotels in Magalluf, now that Cursach has replaced Mallorca Rocks. One big club inside a hotel complex. The complementary sector, i.e. the non-hotel tourism sector, is going to be clobbered even harder.
While Martínez doublespeak stated that there would be more private tourist accommodation, he was the only one who actually believed this to be the case (though his lackeys in the ministry who are under instruction will also believe it to be so). The UPyD party spoke of the "persecution" of holiday homes. "If Bauzá reckons that tourism is our oil, we do not understand why he persecutes it and drowns it in such a manner." The Més grouping wanted the whole decree withdrawn. El Pi blasted the "battle against tourist rentals", condemning the government as "sectarian and irresponsible". PSOE described the typologies as "arbitrary" and believed that the latest legislation could be unconstitutional.
The government was sneaky. To bring out this draft when it did, slap bang in the middle of August, was a disgracefully undisguised act of contempt for a sector that has other things on its mind. That the consultation period may have been extended does not let the government off the hook. It has acted in bad faith.
And there were other elements that raised the hackles of opposition parties and other organisations. There was the matter of competences that were meant to be transferred to the island councils. These have been scaled back. In Minorca they are especially annoyed. In theory, its council could have introduced its own regulations on tourist rentals. Not now it can't.
Then there were all-inclusives. Martínez was clear that there would be no prohibition. It was one of the few aspects of his explanation of the new decree that made sense. He said that all-inclusives were a matter for Europe, and he is right. Any attempt at prohibition would end up in front of the competition commission, and it will never agree to prohibition. The one small crumb of comfort was that all-inclusives would be subject to quality standards. Possibly so, but how effective will the monitoring be and what exactly are these standards? We've been down this path before, and there are still all-inclusives in Mallorca whose standards are simply awful.
That the hoteliers were the one obvious group who firstly found it perfectly acceptable that the decree should be published at the height of the season and with such a short consultation and who secondly considered the decree to be very positive tells us all we really need to know about the motivation behind many of the decree's provisions. One of these, related to secondary activities in hotels, was confirmed and explained in more detail. I believed that when these activities were first spoken of and then included in the 2012 law they could be as controversial or as damaging as all-inclusives. They have yet to really hit home, but they are in evidence. The Ushuaia Beach in Ibiza is an example. Operated by Abel Matutes' Fiesta Group, it is a blueprint of sorts for what will happen with the Matutes hotels in Magalluf, now that Cursach has replaced Mallorca Rocks. One big club inside a hotel complex. The complementary sector, i.e. the non-hotel tourism sector, is going to be clobbered even harder.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 14 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (6.45am): 21C
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 15 August - Sun, cloud, 29C; 16 August - Cloud, rain, 23C; 17 August - Sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5 veering East and Southeast and easing 3 during the morning.
Decent enough day in prospect. Fairly cloudy to begin with, though. The forecast is for rainy weather to come in late tomorrow and to continue into the first part of Saturday, with an improvement by Sunday.
Evening update (19.15): There were some dark and threatening clouds at one point this morning but nothing came of them. A high of 28C.
No Frills Excursions
The Mini-Train Wars
When, following a hiatus of some twelve years, Alcúdia revived its mini tourist train service last year, the war that erupted was one that involved the local taxi drivers. They were far from happy about the appearance of two brand spanking new, shiny mini trains. They raised a petition against the train, citing loss of business of anything up to 40%, lodged the petition with Alcúdia town hall and got precisely nowhere. The train was to stay.
The company running this new service was and is Carrilets Turistics Catalunya. It has been operating mini tourist trains since 1995. The first service was in Gerona, where it is headquartered. Founded by Ramon Fuertes Jordà, its director is his son, Marc Fuertes Garcia. It is quite an impressive outfit, with large storage facilities at its Gerona HQ. It is very active in Mallorca: in Alcúdia, in Can Picafort, in Manacor. But not in Sant Llorenç. It wants to be active there, but ...
On 28 March this year, Sant Llorenç town hall's "mesa de contractació" met. The president of this "table" was Mateu Puigròs, the mayor of Sant Llorenç, and a member of the Grup Independent de Son Carrió (GISCa), who was returned as mayor in 2011 with the support of PSOE and and another group of independents, despite the PP having had most councillors voted in (the PP was unable to form a coalition). The meeting of this mesa considered the offers of five businesses which had tendered for the concession to operate the mini-train. The minutes of the meeting mainly comprise a lengthy communication from Marc Fuertes which challenged the valuations placed on the services being proposed by the five companies.
This communication detailed problems with some of these proposals, for example those of Cala d'Or Express SA. One of the problems with its proposals was the absence of a garage or workshop. Sr. Fuertes noted that Carrilets Turistics Catalunya had offered, inter alia, storage both in neighbouring Son Servera and in Puerto Alcúdia. He also noted the greater capacity of the Carrilets' trains and their superior environmental performance.
Of course, you might have expected Sr. Fuertes to have done this. He was defending his company's interests, after all. But Sr. Fuertes had smelt a rat. The goalposts for the valuation scoring system had, he argued, been moved. The award went to Cala d'Or Express. Carrilets Turistics Catalunya filed a denuncia, claiming irregularities in the award and levelling a criminal charge against the mayor and others. Personal friendship had been behind the award, it was alleged.
Mayor Puigròs refuted the allegations. He accepted that one of the owners of the rival operator was not unknown to him, but that was because he was a resident of Sant Llorenç, nothing more. The mayor was scandalised to the point of considering action for defamation. Meanwhile, the PP, which had missed out at the election in 2011, was calling for the award to be set aside and for there to be a repeat process "in the name of transparency". It was then suggested, in a short item in the local press, that there was "something mysterious" about the relationship between the PP in Sant Llorenç and Carrilets Turistics, the mystery - if one understands the implication - having been that the PP had consistently failed to get itself elected, so it was looking for a means of attacking Puigròs.
This little jibe at the PP was probably uncalled-for. It was made in early June, a month after the train service should have started. It still hasn't started. And a key reason why it hasn't started is that the winning operator did not have permission for garage facilities, just as Sr. Fuertes had pointed out in his communication that had been considered at the "mesa" more than a month before the service should have commenced, a communication which had included the allegation that photographic images presented by its rival had been Photoshopped. A few days ago, Sr. Fuertes noted that had everything been ok with the rival bid, then the train would have been running.
Appropriate licences, the town hall says, will be in order very shortly, and so the train will once again operate. It is now, of course, the middle of August, three and a half months after the train should have started running. Carrilets Turistics' complaint is still being considered by the courts, but meanwhile the resorts of Cala Millor, Sa Coma and S'Illot have been deprived of their train. The war in Sant Llorenç is of a different order to that in Alcúdia, and it is one which has a feel of blocking an outsider company. Carrilets Turistics may be moving into a dominant position in the lucrative mini-train business in Mallorca (minimum annual income of 150k in Sant Llorenç), but if it's a good company - and there's no reason to believe it isn't - then so be it.
The company running this new service was and is Carrilets Turistics Catalunya. It has been operating mini tourist trains since 1995. The first service was in Gerona, where it is headquartered. Founded by Ramon Fuertes Jordà, its director is his son, Marc Fuertes Garcia. It is quite an impressive outfit, with large storage facilities at its Gerona HQ. It is very active in Mallorca: in Alcúdia, in Can Picafort, in Manacor. But not in Sant Llorenç. It wants to be active there, but ...
On 28 March this year, Sant Llorenç town hall's "mesa de contractació" met. The president of this "table" was Mateu Puigròs, the mayor of Sant Llorenç, and a member of the Grup Independent de Son Carrió (GISCa), who was returned as mayor in 2011 with the support of PSOE and and another group of independents, despite the PP having had most councillors voted in (the PP was unable to form a coalition). The meeting of this mesa considered the offers of five businesses which had tendered for the concession to operate the mini-train. The minutes of the meeting mainly comprise a lengthy communication from Marc Fuertes which challenged the valuations placed on the services being proposed by the five companies.
This communication detailed problems with some of these proposals, for example those of Cala d'Or Express SA. One of the problems with its proposals was the absence of a garage or workshop. Sr. Fuertes noted that Carrilets Turistics Catalunya had offered, inter alia, storage both in neighbouring Son Servera and in Puerto Alcúdia. He also noted the greater capacity of the Carrilets' trains and their superior environmental performance.
Of course, you might have expected Sr. Fuertes to have done this. He was defending his company's interests, after all. But Sr. Fuertes had smelt a rat. The goalposts for the valuation scoring system had, he argued, been moved. The award went to Cala d'Or Express. Carrilets Turistics Catalunya filed a denuncia, claiming irregularities in the award and levelling a criminal charge against the mayor and others. Personal friendship had been behind the award, it was alleged.
Mayor Puigròs refuted the allegations. He accepted that one of the owners of the rival operator was not unknown to him, but that was because he was a resident of Sant Llorenç, nothing more. The mayor was scandalised to the point of considering action for defamation. Meanwhile, the PP, which had missed out at the election in 2011, was calling for the award to be set aside and for there to be a repeat process "in the name of transparency". It was then suggested, in a short item in the local press, that there was "something mysterious" about the relationship between the PP in Sant Llorenç and Carrilets Turistics, the mystery - if one understands the implication - having been that the PP had consistently failed to get itself elected, so it was looking for a means of attacking Puigròs.
This little jibe at the PP was probably uncalled-for. It was made in early June, a month after the train service should have started. It still hasn't started. And a key reason why it hasn't started is that the winning operator did not have permission for garage facilities, just as Sr. Fuertes had pointed out in his communication that had been considered at the "mesa" more than a month before the service should have commenced, a communication which had included the allegation that photographic images presented by its rival had been Photoshopped. A few days ago, Sr. Fuertes noted that had everything been ok with the rival bid, then the train would have been running.
Appropriate licences, the town hall says, will be in order very shortly, and so the train will once again operate. It is now, of course, the middle of August, three and a half months after the train should have started running. Carrilets Turistics' complaint is still being considered by the courts, but meanwhile the resorts of Cala Millor, Sa Coma and S'Illot have been deprived of their train. The war in Sant Llorenç is of a different order to that in Alcúdia, and it is one which has a feel of blocking an outsider company. Carrilets Turistics may be moving into a dominant position in the lucrative mini-train business in Mallorca (minimum annual income of 150k in Sant Llorenç), but if it's a good company - and there's no reason to believe it isn't - then so be it.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.30am): 23C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 14 August - Sun, cloud, 30C; 15 August - Sun, cloud, 28C; 16 August - Cloud, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South and Southeast 3 to 4 backing and increasing Northeast 4 to 5 around midday. Possible rain and storm from midday.
Pleasant enough morning, some light cloud around but the cloud may well develop. There is a chance of a storm later. The outlook until Saturday is rather unsettled. Still very warm but quite a bit of cloud if not actual rain.
Evening update (21.00): A high of 33C, but there was a dramatic tumble in temperatures mid-afternoon - between eight and ten degrees. Some rain in areas but not much.
No Frills Excursions
Going Bust?: Emperor Augustus
The Emperor Augustus was a big noise in Roman imperial circles. He was the first emperor. The rise, the fall of the Roman Empire, the subsequent centuries of competing emperors, numerous wars across Europe can all be attributed to the man who was given the name Augustus (he had originally been Octavius) when he officially became emperor in 27BC.
By the time he assumed the imperial title, the Romans, if not their empire as such, had been in Mallorca for around a hundred years. They created their settlements, of which Pollentia was the most significant. It was not surprising, therefore, that among the possessions in Pollentia was a bust of Augustus. Where exactly the bust would have been displayed is anyone's guess, but it is known - more or less - where it was found and when.
The oratory of Santa Anna is situated just off the road that connects the horse roundabout of Puerto Alcudia to the old town. The road, unsurprisingly as it runs past the municipal cemetery, is known as Cemetery Road. The small oratory, opposite the entrance to the cemetery, has been taking on increasing significance in the archaeological digs at Pollentia. It is one of the few examples of a church from the first years of Catalan occupation of Mallorca in the thirteenth century that survives, and it was somewhere by the oratory that the bust of Augustus was found some time in the sixteenth century. The exact date is unknown, but by 1593 it was forming part of a collection of antiquities that belonged to one Raimundo de Veri, the hearer or judge of the Audiencia Real in Mallorca. It is quite possible, therefore, that the bust had at some point been moved to the oratory, though the fact that it was apparently just found somewhere by the oratory suggests that the bust hadn't been treated with the kind of respect that it might have been expected would have been bestowed on an image of the founder of the Roman Empire.
That it was found by the oratory, however, might be deemed significant in light of latest discoveries by the oratory which have led archaeologists to believe that they have found the location of the great port, which would correspond with how far inland the sea used to once be. It has been thought that the sea came as far as just before the Roman theatre in Pollentia. It is situated pretty much the same distance inland as the oratory but is away from the main residential area of the Roman town. This area, La Portella, is close by the oratory.
The bust found its way into a collection held by the Marquis of Campofranco. Quite when the Marquis got hold of the bust is also unknown, but it would appear that he had his hands on other works of art from Pollentia. It has been documented that in 1832 the Marquis's library included a marble bust that some believed was that of Cecilio Metelo, who led the conquest of the Balearics and founded Pollentia in 123BC. The story of this bust bears a similarity to that of Augustus. It was said that it was found by the oratory of Santa Anna as well, but not until 1832.
Whatever the truth of the Cecilio Metelo bust, there was and isn't any doubting the authenticity of the Augustus bust. It was sculpted, so it is reckoned, when he was about thirty years of age and engaged with his battles with Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It's hard to know for certain, but it is just possible that the bust was made before he was actually named emperor when he was 36 years old and after he had defeated Mark Antony.
But emperor he became, and so the bust is of great historical importance. It was sold by the Campofranco family some ten years or so ago to a private collector, and this collector now wishes to put it up for auction, the Archaeological Museum of Madrid being the go-between with the Christie's auction house. The planned auction has caused something of an uproar. The Spanish state hasn't exercised first refusal on its purchase, and so it is possible that the bust will be lost to Spain and also Mallorca; it was exhibited in 2005 in Palma as part of an exhibition of the Roman world in the Balearics. The national culture ministry is studying the auction proposal.
The Més party, which includes the PSM Mallorcan socialists, is insisting that the Council of Mallorca gets involved and exercises its right of first refusal. Its culture councillor is saying that the council will do all it can to ensure the bust stays in Mallorca. Alcúdia town hall also wants the bust to stay, but if there is an auction, would the money be available? It could be worth as much as half a million euros.
By the time he assumed the imperial title, the Romans, if not their empire as such, had been in Mallorca for around a hundred years. They created their settlements, of which Pollentia was the most significant. It was not surprising, therefore, that among the possessions in Pollentia was a bust of Augustus. Where exactly the bust would have been displayed is anyone's guess, but it is known - more or less - where it was found and when.
The oratory of Santa Anna is situated just off the road that connects the horse roundabout of Puerto Alcudia to the old town. The road, unsurprisingly as it runs past the municipal cemetery, is known as Cemetery Road. The small oratory, opposite the entrance to the cemetery, has been taking on increasing significance in the archaeological digs at Pollentia. It is one of the few examples of a church from the first years of Catalan occupation of Mallorca in the thirteenth century that survives, and it was somewhere by the oratory that the bust of Augustus was found some time in the sixteenth century. The exact date is unknown, but by 1593 it was forming part of a collection of antiquities that belonged to one Raimundo de Veri, the hearer or judge of the Audiencia Real in Mallorca. It is quite possible, therefore, that the bust had at some point been moved to the oratory, though the fact that it was apparently just found somewhere by the oratory suggests that the bust hadn't been treated with the kind of respect that it might have been expected would have been bestowed on an image of the founder of the Roman Empire.
That it was found by the oratory, however, might be deemed significant in light of latest discoveries by the oratory which have led archaeologists to believe that they have found the location of the great port, which would correspond with how far inland the sea used to once be. It has been thought that the sea came as far as just before the Roman theatre in Pollentia. It is situated pretty much the same distance inland as the oratory but is away from the main residential area of the Roman town. This area, La Portella, is close by the oratory.
The bust found its way into a collection held by the Marquis of Campofranco. Quite when the Marquis got hold of the bust is also unknown, but it would appear that he had his hands on other works of art from Pollentia. It has been documented that in 1832 the Marquis's library included a marble bust that some believed was that of Cecilio Metelo, who led the conquest of the Balearics and founded Pollentia in 123BC. The story of this bust bears a similarity to that of Augustus. It was said that it was found by the oratory of Santa Anna as well, but not until 1832.
Whatever the truth of the Cecilio Metelo bust, there was and isn't any doubting the authenticity of the Augustus bust. It was sculpted, so it is reckoned, when he was about thirty years of age and engaged with his battles with Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It's hard to know for certain, but it is just possible that the bust was made before he was actually named emperor when he was 36 years old and after he had defeated Mark Antony.
But emperor he became, and so the bust is of great historical importance. It was sold by the Campofranco family some ten years or so ago to a private collector, and this collector now wishes to put it up for auction, the Archaeological Museum of Madrid being the go-between with the Christie's auction house. The planned auction has caused something of an uproar. The Spanish state hasn't exercised first refusal on its purchase, and so it is possible that the bust will be lost to Spain and also Mallorca; it was exhibited in 2005 in Palma as part of an exhibition of the Roman world in the Balearics. The national culture ministry is studying the auction proposal.
The Més party, which includes the PSM Mallorcan socialists, is insisting that the Council of Mallorca gets involved and exercises its right of first refusal. Its culture councillor is saying that the council will do all it can to ensure the bust stays in Mallorca. Alcúdia town hall also wants the bust to stay, but if there is an auction, would the money be available? It could be worth as much as half a million euros.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.30am): 26C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 13 August - Sun, rain, 31C; 14 August - Sun, cloud, 26C; 15 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4 veering East 3 by the afternoon.
Another very muggy night. Humidity down for now, though. Around the 70% mark generally. A cloudy morning, although the forecast is for a sunny day. A chance of rain tomorrow, and the rest of the week tending to be cloudy with the risk of possible showers.
Evening update (20.00): A high of 31.2C. The morning cloud gave way to sun. Not a bad day, but still muggy. Rain is looking like a possible feature for the next four days.
No Frills Excursions
Politics Of The Madhouse: Tourist rentals
What on earth is the Balearics tourism ministry playing at? If we understand correctly provisions contained in the draft decree that will amplify the 2012 tourism law, it would appear that the ministry is playing a very strange game. The headline aspect of this amplification of the law is the requirement that owners of properties for tourist rental need to get permission from neighbours. It is only one aspect. There is the further stipulation that properties have to have been built before 1960. Are they serious?
This decree is directed at "chalets", standalone, detached houses and also townhouses, those which conform to the law on "horizontal property". Apartments are considered to be horizontal property as well. The terms refers to shared buildings. In the case of townhouses, they are deemed to share because they are adjoining. I mention them because, as ever, we are in definition territory. I've put chalets in quotation marks. What is a chalet? Is it what might also be referred to as a villa?
The ministry and the regional government have over the years gone out of their way to obfuscate when it comes to the matter of private tourist accommodation. One is tempted to conclude that such obfuscation has been deliberate. The greater the confusion, the greater the government might hope that the problem of so-called illegal or "alegal" accommodation will just go away. It has been wrong to have hoped this.
But now we have a new set of rules that are likely to enter the statute books, and they are rules which will unquestionably raise the level of confusion and the level of owner anxiety and which will also contradict government PR since the tourism law was enacted. The minister, Jaime Martínez, has boasted about how the law has led to the legalisation of houses for tourism accommodation. As an example, he has said that 4,500 "viviendas" have been regularised; almost as many as in the preceding 25 years. If this is the case, what now happens to these regularised dwellings? How many, if any, are older than 54 years? How many, if any, will escape a rejection by neighbours of their use as tourist accommodation? If we understand the decree, then these newly regularised properties will be very swiftly unregularised. On the face of it, the new decree makes absolutely no sense.
The 1960 stipulation is the maddest part of this decree. It is a date which has clearly been taken for a very good reason. There was little by way of property on the coasts of Mallorca (or the other islands) before 1960. In effect, therefore, the ministry is on the point of excluding virtually all property in coastal areas for commercialised tourism rental. One can draw no other conclusion.
The decree also deals with apartments, those which are deemed to be illegal if they are rented out on a commercial basis. Somewhat bizarrely, given that such property is categorised as illegal under the 2012 law (and indeed has been ever since the 1980s), the decree will nevertheless apply the 54-year rule and the neighbour approval requirement. Bizarre it might seem, but perhaps not. This will kill, once and for all, any prospect of regularising apartments for tourist rental. The chances of any community of apartment owners agreeing to allow certain apartments to be made available for tourist rental are virtually zero.
The ministry and government will argue, and they do, that the tenancy act will still apply. The reason why is that rentals made under this act (and which have to be clearly contracted to prove that they are) are not classified as tourist rentals in the commercial sense. Government doublespeak and hypocrisy is truly staggering. Everyone knows that the tenancy act is used as a loophole, if only by some and not by owners who need to genuinely commercialise properties. If neighbours might object to a property being commercialised for rental, why should they not object to one that is rented out under the tenancy act? The law is an absolute ass and it gives rise to a total lack of logic.
This new decree comes at a time when every other main sun-and-beach region in Spain, including the Canaries, has or is moving towards a properly regulated tourism-rental market, one that is permissive but subject to specific controls and standards. In the Balearics, by way of contrast, the ministry is becoming less permissive to the point of total destruction of the private market. Not that this will happen. P2P renting, e.g. through Airbnb, has been something of a game-changer, and the ministry knows it. Might there just be some other motivation behind this latest decree? One that can enable the government to collect ever more fines? It wouldn't be unknown. Mallorcan government and local authorities draw up budgets based on fines' revenue. They cultivate an atmosphere of mistrust and exaggerate this mistrust by issuing the draft in the middle of August and giving precious little or no time for response. It is no way to run a tourism industry. Unless the industry is being run from a madhouse.
This decree is directed at "chalets", standalone, detached houses and also townhouses, those which conform to the law on "horizontal property". Apartments are considered to be horizontal property as well. The terms refers to shared buildings. In the case of townhouses, they are deemed to share because they are adjoining. I mention them because, as ever, we are in definition territory. I've put chalets in quotation marks. What is a chalet? Is it what might also be referred to as a villa?
The ministry and the regional government have over the years gone out of their way to obfuscate when it comes to the matter of private tourist accommodation. One is tempted to conclude that such obfuscation has been deliberate. The greater the confusion, the greater the government might hope that the problem of so-called illegal or "alegal" accommodation will just go away. It has been wrong to have hoped this.
But now we have a new set of rules that are likely to enter the statute books, and they are rules which will unquestionably raise the level of confusion and the level of owner anxiety and which will also contradict government PR since the tourism law was enacted. The minister, Jaime Martínez, has boasted about how the law has led to the legalisation of houses for tourism accommodation. As an example, he has said that 4,500 "viviendas" have been regularised; almost as many as in the preceding 25 years. If this is the case, what now happens to these regularised dwellings? How many, if any, are older than 54 years? How many, if any, will escape a rejection by neighbours of their use as tourist accommodation? If we understand the decree, then these newly regularised properties will be very swiftly unregularised. On the face of it, the new decree makes absolutely no sense.
The 1960 stipulation is the maddest part of this decree. It is a date which has clearly been taken for a very good reason. There was little by way of property on the coasts of Mallorca (or the other islands) before 1960. In effect, therefore, the ministry is on the point of excluding virtually all property in coastal areas for commercialised tourism rental. One can draw no other conclusion.
The decree also deals with apartments, those which are deemed to be illegal if they are rented out on a commercial basis. Somewhat bizarrely, given that such property is categorised as illegal under the 2012 law (and indeed has been ever since the 1980s), the decree will nevertheless apply the 54-year rule and the neighbour approval requirement. Bizarre it might seem, but perhaps not. This will kill, once and for all, any prospect of regularising apartments for tourist rental. The chances of any community of apartment owners agreeing to allow certain apartments to be made available for tourist rental are virtually zero.
The ministry and government will argue, and they do, that the tenancy act will still apply. The reason why is that rentals made under this act (and which have to be clearly contracted to prove that they are) are not classified as tourist rentals in the commercial sense. Government doublespeak and hypocrisy is truly staggering. Everyone knows that the tenancy act is used as a loophole, if only by some and not by owners who need to genuinely commercialise properties. If neighbours might object to a property being commercialised for rental, why should they not object to one that is rented out under the tenancy act? The law is an absolute ass and it gives rise to a total lack of logic.
This new decree comes at a time when every other main sun-and-beach region in Spain, including the Canaries, has or is moving towards a properly regulated tourism-rental market, one that is permissive but subject to specific controls and standards. In the Balearics, by way of contrast, the ministry is becoming less permissive to the point of total destruction of the private market. Not that this will happen. P2P renting, e.g. through Airbnb, has been something of a game-changer, and the ministry knows it. Might there just be some other motivation behind this latest decree? One that can enable the government to collect ever more fines? It wouldn't be unknown. Mallorcan government and local authorities draw up budgets based on fines' revenue. They cultivate an atmosphere of mistrust and exaggerate this mistrust by issuing the draft in the middle of August and giving precious little or no time for response. It is no way to run a tourism industry. Unless the industry is being run from a madhouse.
Monday, August 11, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (6.00am): 25C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 12 August - Sun, 32C; 13 August - Sun, rain, 28C; 14 August - Sun, some cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4, occasionally 3 during the morning.
A stifling night and morning with barely a hint of breeze. A clear, full-mooned sky early on but cloud expected to feature through the day, though there seems little prospect of any rain. That may come later in the week.
Evening update (19.00): A very muggy day with a high of 32.6C inland. Quite a bit of light cloud. Little breeze away from the coast but good, freshening breezes right by the sea. High humidity - up to the mid 80% mark.
No Frills Excursions
The Tour Guide: An endangered species
Article 65 of the Balearics' 2012 tourism law refers to the activities of tour guides. "The profession of the tour guide is carried out by people who ... are paid to interpret and to provide information related to the historical and natural heritage, cultural assets and other touristic resources of the Balearic Islands to tourists and visitors in the two official languages of the Balearics as well as in any foreign language, for which the guide will have to be accredited." The law goes on to refer to the professional, legally required qualification of tour guides, the whole Article being a furtherance of the legally defined role of tour guides that had been enshrined in previous legislation and also being a mark of the high regard with which guides have been held over decades, stretching back to beyond the days when mass tourism began. Just one tour guide, from the early 1950s, was the man who founded what became Meliá Hotels International, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá.
The School of Tourism was founded in 1964. It was the body which originally regulated this profession, and note the word "profession". In that the tour guide has to gain specific qualifications, then the word is not misused. It is a word which also reinforces the standing of the tour guide. He or she has been for many years a respected member of the tourism community.
Has been, but now the tour guide is well and truly under threat. In June this year, notwithstanding Article 65 of the 2012 law, the Balearics High Court decreed that the European Union services directive - the so-called Bolkestein directive - had to apply to tour guides. This means, in effect, that pretty much anyone from any country within the European Union can be a guide and that there is very little control as to ability or quality. The Official College of Tour Guides in the Balearics - and professions in the Balearics are operated through their "colleges" - is appalled by the situation and by the fact that tour operators can contract someone who in all likelihood does not have sufficient knowledge of subject matter.
The Balearics is not the only region of Spain where there is concern about the future of the professional tour guide. The Community of Madrid, in 2009, introduced a legislative reform which showed "absolute disregard" for the professional work of guides. So said a spokesperson for Madrid's Professional Association of Tour Guides. The city has since been swamped with so-called guides, most if not all without qualification and some outside employment and social security regulations; they're doing it black, in other words.
Elsewhere, there is the "free" guide, the volunteer guide, often retired, but who similarly doesn't necessarily have any qualification for the task or the right level of knowledge. On the blog for professional tour guides, there was a post last year which criticised these "free" tours and which also criticised local authorities for providing them and so showing a lack of dignity to the tour guide profession and indeed to local culture.
This all said, the Balearics High Court was reacting in part to what had been denounced as something of a closed shop. There were too few possibilities to become a tour guide, while the legal stipulations going back over the years, such as an ability in the two official languages, tended to bar entry to the profession. And the High Court, rather like Madrid, didn't quite see the job of tour guide as being truly professional. It would not, for example, have permitted anyone to start practising as a doctor or as a lawyer. A profession means something specific. Qualifications alone - knowledge in the case of tour guides - are only part of the equation.
The tour guides face other threats. Audio guides, apps and technology might come to replace them, though it is unlikely that they will do any time soon. The demand for personal service and human interaction still greatly outweighs the convenience of some information provided by a smartphone. And this "some information" is just that. Some. It is very limited and, just as mostly all websites fail to do justice and cannot do justice to Mallorca's culture and history, there is nothing that compares with a guide who is truly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his or her subject.
While there was some justification for the allegations of there having been a closed shop, the High Court's decision is concerning. Tour operators, and this is the charge which the College levels at them, have so little regard for the island's culture that they will take on guides without qualification and without adequate knowledge. Tour guides still have an important role to play. They are guardians of the island's culture and history. Sometimes you have the impression, though, that officialdom cares as little for this culture as tour operators seem to.
The School of Tourism was founded in 1964. It was the body which originally regulated this profession, and note the word "profession". In that the tour guide has to gain specific qualifications, then the word is not misused. It is a word which also reinforces the standing of the tour guide. He or she has been for many years a respected member of the tourism community.
Has been, but now the tour guide is well and truly under threat. In June this year, notwithstanding Article 65 of the 2012 law, the Balearics High Court decreed that the European Union services directive - the so-called Bolkestein directive - had to apply to tour guides. This means, in effect, that pretty much anyone from any country within the European Union can be a guide and that there is very little control as to ability or quality. The Official College of Tour Guides in the Balearics - and professions in the Balearics are operated through their "colleges" - is appalled by the situation and by the fact that tour operators can contract someone who in all likelihood does not have sufficient knowledge of subject matter.
The Balearics is not the only region of Spain where there is concern about the future of the professional tour guide. The Community of Madrid, in 2009, introduced a legislative reform which showed "absolute disregard" for the professional work of guides. So said a spokesperson for Madrid's Professional Association of Tour Guides. The city has since been swamped with so-called guides, most if not all without qualification and some outside employment and social security regulations; they're doing it black, in other words.
Elsewhere, there is the "free" guide, the volunteer guide, often retired, but who similarly doesn't necessarily have any qualification for the task or the right level of knowledge. On the blog for professional tour guides, there was a post last year which criticised these "free" tours and which also criticised local authorities for providing them and so showing a lack of dignity to the tour guide profession and indeed to local culture.
This all said, the Balearics High Court was reacting in part to what had been denounced as something of a closed shop. There were too few possibilities to become a tour guide, while the legal stipulations going back over the years, such as an ability in the two official languages, tended to bar entry to the profession. And the High Court, rather like Madrid, didn't quite see the job of tour guide as being truly professional. It would not, for example, have permitted anyone to start practising as a doctor or as a lawyer. A profession means something specific. Qualifications alone - knowledge in the case of tour guides - are only part of the equation.
The tour guides face other threats. Audio guides, apps and technology might come to replace them, though it is unlikely that they will do any time soon. The demand for personal service and human interaction still greatly outweighs the convenience of some information provided by a smartphone. And this "some information" is just that. Some. It is very limited and, just as mostly all websites fail to do justice and cannot do justice to Mallorca's culture and history, there is nothing that compares with a guide who is truly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his or her subject.
While there was some justification for the allegations of there having been a closed shop, the High Court's decision is concerning. Tour operators, and this is the charge which the College levels at them, have so little regard for the island's culture that they will take on guides without qualification and without adequate knowledge. Tour guides still have an important role to play. They are guardians of the island's culture and history. Sometimes you have the impression, though, that officialdom cares as little for this culture as tour operators seem to.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.30am): 23C
Forecast high: 33C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 11 August - Sun, 32C; 12 August - Sun, 28C; 13 August - Sun, some cloud, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3 increasing South 3 occasionally 4 by midday.
Another hot one in store today, the yellow alert still in place and the high temperatures lasting at least until tomorrow, with the rest of the week forecast to be cooler.
Evening update (19.00): Not as hot as the alert suggested it might be. 33.4C the maximum inland. Lower on the coasts by about two to three degrees. Looks like the weather's going to break by the midweek.
No Frills Excursions
The PP's Oil Crisis
All was going so well. The king was in his palace and Mallorca's politicarrati was queuing up to wish him and Tizzy a happy holiday. Bauzá, Isern, Salom, they all came and went, the first of these pausing to inform the press that the king is well apprised of issues regarding the Balearics. Such as the oil prospecting issue. Bauzá let the king know that the Balearics just say no to oil. But then there was the blowout. Oil was splattered all over the PP. The black stuff hit the fan and then fell on Bauzá and environment minister Company. Someone let it be known that in April last year, and possibly also in July last year, there had been test explorations for oil in the turquoise waters off the Balearics, those which must be solely reserved for tourists, as the president has consistently argued. And no one had thought it necessary to seek permission to do so or to inform the public. Bauzá denied everything and blamed Company. He is only the president, after all.
With oily egg on faces and with the king no doubt wondering if he had been told a porky, government spokesperson Nuria Riera attempted a Red Adair act in seeking to cap the blowout. She fights fires here, she fights fires there, Red Riera insisted that it had all been part of gathering evidence against oil prospecting. So, there was nothing wrong with the tests, even if she seemed uncertain as to who had actually authorised them, given that the government has - she added - not authorised any action regarding surveys. It was, therefore and as usual, all rather confusing. But we can expect minister Company, once he's washed the oil out of his hair, to get in front of parliament next week and give a clearer explanation. Or possibly not.
The oil crisis was nevertheless eased somewhat thanks to Mariano Rajoy making his annual pilgrimage to Mallorca to meet the king - same holidays, same palace, different monarch - and announcing that if there is a risk from oil prospecting around the Balearics, it will not go ahead. All good stuff, therefore, for Bauzá, who is is in need of any good stuff nowadays and all good PP boys together. Over in the Canaries, where the president Rivero is anything but a good PP boy, they were hopping mad at the statement. The black sands of Lanzarote might yet get blacker, they fear.
With oily egg on faces and with the king no doubt wondering if he had been told a porky, government spokesperson Nuria Riera attempted a Red Adair act in seeking to cap the blowout. She fights fires here, she fights fires there, Red Riera insisted that it had all been part of gathering evidence against oil prospecting. So, there was nothing wrong with the tests, even if she seemed uncertain as to who had actually authorised them, given that the government has - she added - not authorised any action regarding surveys. It was, therefore and as usual, all rather confusing. But we can expect minister Company, once he's washed the oil out of his hair, to get in front of parliament next week and give a clearer explanation. Or possibly not.
The oil crisis was nevertheless eased somewhat thanks to Mariano Rajoy making his annual pilgrimage to Mallorca to meet the king - same holidays, same palace, different monarch - and announcing that if there is a risk from oil prospecting around the Balearics, it will not go ahead. All good stuff, therefore, for Bauzá, who is is in need of any good stuff nowadays and all good PP boys together. Over in the Canaries, where the president Rivero is anything but a good PP boy, they were hopping mad at the statement. The black sands of Lanzarote might yet get blacker, they fear.
Saturday, August 09, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.15am): 22.5C
Forecast high: 33C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 10 August - Sun, 31C; 11 August - Sun, cloud, 28C; 12 August - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southeast 4 occasionally 5 and for a time East 3 to 4 during the morning.
A warm morning and a very warm day in prospect, an alert in place over the weekend for high temperatures. The forecast high of 33C is likely to be topped noticeably. Breezes set to swing north tomorrow, so it might not feel as hot.
Evening update (20.45): Big heat today. High of 35.6C.
No Frills Excursions
Duck's Off: Defining Traditions
There is a legal oddity in Spain which prescribes how old a tradition must be in order that it can qualify for being a tradition - if this doesn't sound somewhat Irish (or Spanish). It is not a legal mechanism which defines all traditions but it is one that applies to traditions which involve animals. In a nutshell, older than one hundred years equals tradition, younger than one hundred equals non-tradition. To say that the law is somewhat arbitrary is a bit of an understatement. Nevertheless, it is a law which forms part of wider legislation - that of animal protection. It is one which rarely needs to be invoked, but in Mallorca it has been, and Can Picafort has been the main battleground for questioning the law. It's all to do with ducks.
Some time back in the 1930s, or so the story goes, underpaid local workers (of which there couldn't have been that many) were offered a little treat. A landowner made available a number of ducks, for the eating thereof. There was a catch. The workers would have to swim for their supper. The ducks were released in the sea, in dived the downtrodden peasantry and, amidst what was doubtless a great deal of quacking and general flapping around, the ducks were captured and were subsequently served up on a plate - à l'orange or sans orange. Such was the success of the watery duck chase that a tradition was born. Except of course, it wasn't. For the purposes of the law when it was drawn up, it was not more than one hundred years old. To borrow from Basil Fawlty, the law declared: "duck's off".
It was only relatively recently that the 100-year rule came into effect and put an end to the use of live ducks for the annual dive, swim and catch at the Can Picafort summer fiestas. Santa Margalida town hall was none too impressed with the law. Only when it was threatened with legal action did it reluctantly agree to substituting the real ducks with unreal ducks. The manufacturers of rubber and plastic ducks were in ducky heaven.
While the town hall bowed to the force of law, not every citizen of the town did likewise. Into Can Picafort folklore was etched the image of the Power Rangers' mask. Real ducks were released by miscreant traditionalists wearing non-traditional masks who thumbed their noses at the legality of the 100-year rule.
The masks were on show in 2007, the first year in which real ducks were banned. They were to be seen again, along with more ducks, over the next three years. The flouting of the law required the town hall, still reluctantly complying with it, to order the local police to stop the miscreants and the Guardia to send a submarine diving unit. No one was ever actually caught. In 2010, the defenders of the duck tradition released a video. It featured a "pope" and some ducks. The pope was shown beckoning the ducks towards him. It was to be the last year that a real duck put in an appearance at the 15 August event.
Despite some Can Picafort old-timers and some not so old-timers having said that the swim is not how it used to be and that they refuse to take part and go in pursuit of a rubber duck, the event's popularity seems to have grown. One suspects that it is partly because some visitors live in hope that the Power Rangers will return. Or perhaps it is because there are only rubber ducks (and a load of melons as well). The papal defenders of the real ducks are not the only ones whose opinions and preferences count. There are the defenders of the rubber duck as well, those who disagree with the use of live animals.
The animal-protection lobby has said that ducks would have felt stress and anxiety when they were being chased by the swimmers. They may well have done, but when one is talking animal protection and rights, the stress of the ducks is surely nothing compared to that which a bull suffers. But that's a different argument and a different tradition, one that is definitely more than one hundred years old. It is, nevertheless, one with a political overtone, the ruling Partido Popular being supportive of the bullfight. It had been hoped in Can Picafort that the party's lack of animal-rights correctness might have seen a change of heart where the ducks were concerned. Regional governments can amend the 100-year rule, if it so suits. The Balearic Government hasn't been tempted to. The ducks, the real ones, are safely swimming and quacking in Albufera and other ducky habitats in the local area. They are no longer taken on board small boats and released into the sea in front of the Mar y Paz hotel on 15 August. It is a day for rubber ducks only. But. What would happen if a duck were to inadvertently fly over Can Picafort and land in the sea at around 12 midday? Would the duck be charged with breaking the law?
Some time back in the 1930s, or so the story goes, underpaid local workers (of which there couldn't have been that many) were offered a little treat. A landowner made available a number of ducks, for the eating thereof. There was a catch. The workers would have to swim for their supper. The ducks were released in the sea, in dived the downtrodden peasantry and, amidst what was doubtless a great deal of quacking and general flapping around, the ducks were captured and were subsequently served up on a plate - à l'orange or sans orange. Such was the success of the watery duck chase that a tradition was born. Except of course, it wasn't. For the purposes of the law when it was drawn up, it was not more than one hundred years old. To borrow from Basil Fawlty, the law declared: "duck's off".
It was only relatively recently that the 100-year rule came into effect and put an end to the use of live ducks for the annual dive, swim and catch at the Can Picafort summer fiestas. Santa Margalida town hall was none too impressed with the law. Only when it was threatened with legal action did it reluctantly agree to substituting the real ducks with unreal ducks. The manufacturers of rubber and plastic ducks were in ducky heaven.
While the town hall bowed to the force of law, not every citizen of the town did likewise. Into Can Picafort folklore was etched the image of the Power Rangers' mask. Real ducks were released by miscreant traditionalists wearing non-traditional masks who thumbed their noses at the legality of the 100-year rule.
The masks were on show in 2007, the first year in which real ducks were banned. They were to be seen again, along with more ducks, over the next three years. The flouting of the law required the town hall, still reluctantly complying with it, to order the local police to stop the miscreants and the Guardia to send a submarine diving unit. No one was ever actually caught. In 2010, the defenders of the duck tradition released a video. It featured a "pope" and some ducks. The pope was shown beckoning the ducks towards him. It was to be the last year that a real duck put in an appearance at the 15 August event.
Despite some Can Picafort old-timers and some not so old-timers having said that the swim is not how it used to be and that they refuse to take part and go in pursuit of a rubber duck, the event's popularity seems to have grown. One suspects that it is partly because some visitors live in hope that the Power Rangers will return. Or perhaps it is because there are only rubber ducks (and a load of melons as well). The papal defenders of the real ducks are not the only ones whose opinions and preferences count. There are the defenders of the rubber duck as well, those who disagree with the use of live animals.
The animal-protection lobby has said that ducks would have felt stress and anxiety when they were being chased by the swimmers. They may well have done, but when one is talking animal protection and rights, the stress of the ducks is surely nothing compared to that which a bull suffers. But that's a different argument and a different tradition, one that is definitely more than one hundred years old. It is, nevertheless, one with a political overtone, the ruling Partido Popular being supportive of the bullfight. It had been hoped in Can Picafort that the party's lack of animal-rights correctness might have seen a change of heart where the ducks were concerned. Regional governments can amend the 100-year rule, if it so suits. The Balearic Government hasn't been tempted to. The ducks, the real ones, are safely swimming and quacking in Albufera and other ducky habitats in the local area. They are no longer taken on board small boats and released into the sea in front of the Mar y Paz hotel on 15 August. It is a day for rubber ducks only. But. What would happen if a duck were to inadvertently fly over Can Picafort and land in the sea at around 12 midday? Would the duck be charged with breaking the law?
Friday, August 08, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (6.45am): 21.5C
Forecast high: 33C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 9 August - Sun, 33C; 10 August - Sun, 31C; 11 August - Sun, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3 increasing Southeast 4 to 5 by the afternoon.
The good old south winds will be blowing today, so it's likely that things will feel particularly warm because of the African air. Another fine morning, the breeze for now quite pleasant. Weekend forecast - staying hot and sunny.
Evening update (19.15): A big high of 36.3C today. Alert now out for more very high temperatures over the weekend.
No Frills Excursions
Balearics Out Of Step On Holiday Lets
Something significant has happened in the Canary Islands. The regional government headed by Paulino Rivero has announced that it will regulate private holiday accommodation in the islands. The draft legislation will be ready before the end of the year, Rivero's government having given a commitment to this effect to the Canaries association of holiday rentals.
Rivero had signalled his willingness to consider such regulation some time ago. That his administration is now going to turn this willingness into firm legislation does mark a very significant moment for Canaries' tourism. Those islands have typically been as antagonistic towards the private accommodation sector as the Balearics. But even more significant is the fact that the Canaries will join Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia in either having a system of regulation or being on the point of introducing one. Of the five main sun-and-beach tourism regions of Spain, the Balearics will be the exception to the rule. Other regions of Spain, among them the less sun-and-beach-dependent Basque Country and the not sun-and-beach-dependent-at-all Madrid are also in the process of regulating.
As ever, it is important to point out what regulation means or might mean. It doesn't mean stamping out (this is a commonly made mistake by some commentators who confuse the term regulation with prohibition). It means putting in place specific rules governing the rental of private accommodation for holiday purposes, Catalonia's regulation being the model that other regions are inclined to follow.
With the Balearics out of step with other regions, might there be a change of heart here? Not while the current government is in power. But what might happen following the next regional elections? It's anyone guess at present to try and figure out what sort of hybrid shambles of an administration might emerge, assuming the PP doesn't win (and it looks unlikely that it will, or be in a position to carry on in coalition). But PSOE, at the heart of this probable unholy alliance of Podemos and the left collective of other parties, would be inclined to go down the regulation route. Put it this way, it voiced its support for a relaxation in rules when all the tenancy act furore arose last year.
It's some time off, but the holiday-lets issue could yet prove to be a major political matter come next spring. The hoteliers, for one, will be doing all they can to try and ensure the PP stay in power. But if doesn't, then there's going to be one hell of a fight between the hoteliers and a PSOE-led pact.
Rivero had signalled his willingness to consider such regulation some time ago. That his administration is now going to turn this willingness into firm legislation does mark a very significant moment for Canaries' tourism. Those islands have typically been as antagonistic towards the private accommodation sector as the Balearics. But even more significant is the fact that the Canaries will join Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia in either having a system of regulation or being on the point of introducing one. Of the five main sun-and-beach tourism regions of Spain, the Balearics will be the exception to the rule. Other regions of Spain, among them the less sun-and-beach-dependent Basque Country and the not sun-and-beach-dependent-at-all Madrid are also in the process of regulating.
As ever, it is important to point out what regulation means or might mean. It doesn't mean stamping out (this is a commonly made mistake by some commentators who confuse the term regulation with prohibition). It means putting in place specific rules governing the rental of private accommodation for holiday purposes, Catalonia's regulation being the model that other regions are inclined to follow.
With the Balearics out of step with other regions, might there be a change of heart here? Not while the current government is in power. But what might happen following the next regional elections? It's anyone guess at present to try and figure out what sort of hybrid shambles of an administration might emerge, assuming the PP doesn't win (and it looks unlikely that it will, or be in a position to carry on in coalition). But PSOE, at the heart of this probable unholy alliance of Podemos and the left collective of other parties, would be inclined to go down the regulation route. Put it this way, it voiced its support for a relaxation in rules when all the tenancy act furore arose last year.
It's some time off, but the holiday-lets issue could yet prove to be a major political matter come next spring. The hoteliers, for one, will be doing all they can to try and ensure the PP stay in power. But if doesn't, then there's going to be one hell of a fight between the hoteliers and a PSOE-led pact.
Thursday, August 07, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.15am): 22C
Forecast high: 32C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 8 August - Sun, 33C; 9 August - Sun, 32C; 10 August - Sun, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3 increasing East 3 to 4 by midday, veering Southeast and South later.
Clear morning skies. Might be some light cloud around during the day but otherwise sunny and hot. The weekend outlook - staying hot.
Evening update (19.15): A high of 31.9C. Partially cloudy at times but only partially.
No Frills Excursions
Mallorca And War: The Germans
In the article a couple of days ago about Gertrude Stein's time in Mallorca during the Great War, I mentioned the German ship the "Fangturm". Having been abandoned in Palma's port at the start of the war, work commenced on getting it shipshape when the Verdun battle began, only for the work to later cease. But whatever happened to the ship? After its half and incomplete paint job, it was allowed to rust away even more. In 1919, as part of reparations under the Treaty of Versailles, the Spanish navy seized the ship and handed it over to the care of the French consul. By then it was in such a poor state that it had to be towed to Marseille.
The ship was to be sold in 1921 to a Belgian company. It was renamed the "SS Antverpia" and eventually met its end when it was bombed by German aircraft in Boulogne harbour in 1940. Originally a German cargo ship, albeit one that was built by Swan Hunter, its fate was finally sealed by a German bomb.
The story of the "Fangturm" is one of only a few remnants of the wider story of Mallorca during World War One as told from the German side. Gertrude Stein's account of the ship left out plenty of detail. She implied that some of the crew had "gotten away" to Barcelona. In fact, it seems that they all got away, instructed to report for military service and ferried to Barcelona to start their journey to Germany. The German consul in Mallorca, Alfred Müller, issued an order: "Subjects of the German Reich, who are obliged to undertake military service, must present themselves without delay for this purpose to the Imperial German Consulate in Calle Concepción 82".
Stein had also understated the ship's function (or perhaps she had been sarcastic, and it is more than likely that she had been). Rather than selling pins and needles in the Mediterranean, the "Fangturm" was one of a fleet of large cargo carriers which bore similar names. It had been en route from New York to India when it headed to Palma to seek a safe haven just as war was breaking out. The crew had initially not known what to do. When they were ordered to report for military service, they did know, and so the ship was left behind.
Other Germans of military age were also obliged to leave and join up. The "Ultima Hora" newspaper referred to "our friend", a Herr Schmidt, a local silversmith, who had no choice but to report for service with an infantry battalion. The Germans who remained, those who were too old for service, must, one imagines, have been those who started painting the "Fangturm". It's hard to know who else would have done.
What seems clear is that there was no animosity to nationals on either side of the conflict. Indeed, there was obviously some affection: "our friend, Herr Schmidt". Sides were taken but only in arguments and debates in the cafés of Palma. Neutrality brought with it a ban on any public displays of sympathies for either side, so marches or demonstrations were out, but there was no ban on publications expressing their views or on individuals arguing their case. The two sides divided predominantly along class and occupation lines. Supporters of the Central Powers were the conservatives - the aristocrats, the church, the military and big business. The Allies' supporters were the educated middle class, the new bourgeoisie, teachers, unionists and workers.
Opinion in Mallorca reflected that across Spain. As I mentioned in a previous article, a reason why Spain remained neutral was because of its own internal tensions. It may even have been the main reason. Mallorca was relatively unaffected at that time, but mainland Spain wasn't. Had Spain gone to war, those tensions would have split the country apart, the aristocratic and Catholic conservatives against the liberals, the anarchists, the Republicans, the Catalans. Just as it was to be some years later.
Though Mallorca and Spain benefited from the war - ships were built in Mallorca and blankets, uniforms, boots, guns and food were exported - the ordinary worker reaped little of the benefit. The cost of living rose but wages didn't. There was also famine in Spain during the war. Politically, there was the rise of Maurism, the movement started by the son of Antoni Maura. Though Maura supported the Allies, he had drifted so far to the right that the movement which took his name can be seen as a precursor to the Falange.
And then, just before the end of the war, came a different threat. The first Mallorcan death as a result of the worldwide flu pandemic was in Sineu on 11 September, 1918. Mallorca and Spain staggered out of the war. Neutrality had bought the island and the country some time. The inevitable was merely delayed.
The ship was to be sold in 1921 to a Belgian company. It was renamed the "SS Antverpia" and eventually met its end when it was bombed by German aircraft in Boulogne harbour in 1940. Originally a German cargo ship, albeit one that was built by Swan Hunter, its fate was finally sealed by a German bomb.
The story of the "Fangturm" is one of only a few remnants of the wider story of Mallorca during World War One as told from the German side. Gertrude Stein's account of the ship left out plenty of detail. She implied that some of the crew had "gotten away" to Barcelona. In fact, it seems that they all got away, instructed to report for military service and ferried to Barcelona to start their journey to Germany. The German consul in Mallorca, Alfred Müller, issued an order: "Subjects of the German Reich, who are obliged to undertake military service, must present themselves without delay for this purpose to the Imperial German Consulate in Calle Concepción 82".
Stein had also understated the ship's function (or perhaps she had been sarcastic, and it is more than likely that she had been). Rather than selling pins and needles in the Mediterranean, the "Fangturm" was one of a fleet of large cargo carriers which bore similar names. It had been en route from New York to India when it headed to Palma to seek a safe haven just as war was breaking out. The crew had initially not known what to do. When they were ordered to report for military service, they did know, and so the ship was left behind.
Other Germans of military age were also obliged to leave and join up. The "Ultima Hora" newspaper referred to "our friend", a Herr Schmidt, a local silversmith, who had no choice but to report for service with an infantry battalion. The Germans who remained, those who were too old for service, must, one imagines, have been those who started painting the "Fangturm". It's hard to know who else would have done.
What seems clear is that there was no animosity to nationals on either side of the conflict. Indeed, there was obviously some affection: "our friend, Herr Schmidt". Sides were taken but only in arguments and debates in the cafés of Palma. Neutrality brought with it a ban on any public displays of sympathies for either side, so marches or demonstrations were out, but there was no ban on publications expressing their views or on individuals arguing their case. The two sides divided predominantly along class and occupation lines. Supporters of the Central Powers were the conservatives - the aristocrats, the church, the military and big business. The Allies' supporters were the educated middle class, the new bourgeoisie, teachers, unionists and workers.
Opinion in Mallorca reflected that across Spain. As I mentioned in a previous article, a reason why Spain remained neutral was because of its own internal tensions. It may even have been the main reason. Mallorca was relatively unaffected at that time, but mainland Spain wasn't. Had Spain gone to war, those tensions would have split the country apart, the aristocratic and Catholic conservatives against the liberals, the anarchists, the Republicans, the Catalans. Just as it was to be some years later.
Though Mallorca and Spain benefited from the war - ships were built in Mallorca and blankets, uniforms, boots, guns and food were exported - the ordinary worker reaped little of the benefit. The cost of living rose but wages didn't. There was also famine in Spain during the war. Politically, there was the rise of Maurism, the movement started by the son of Antoni Maura. Though Maura supported the Allies, he had drifted so far to the right that the movement which took his name can be seen as a precursor to the Falange.
And then, just before the end of the war, came a different threat. The first Mallorcan death as a result of the worldwide flu pandemic was in Sineu on 11 September, 1918. Mallorca and Spain staggered out of the war. Neutrality had bought the island and the country some time. The inevitable was merely delayed.
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (6.45am): 23C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 7 August - Sun, 32C; 8 August - Sun, 32C; 9 August - Sun, cloud, 33C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 increasing East and Northeast 3 by midday.
Little bit of cloud hovering out to sea, otherwise a clear morning and sun pretty much all the way today with the highs once more topping the 30 mark.
Evening update (21.30): High of 32.5C. Sunny most of the day. Nice.
No Frills Excursions
Mallorca And War: The collaborators
Collaboration in wartime comes about for different reasons. Coercion and threats, sympathies with a cause, expectation of personal gain. Collaboration by Mallorcans during the Great War was not the consequence of the first of these. There were sympathies on both sides, but such sympathies never really carried a great deal of weight. Spain was never likely to have been placed in a position where it needed to break its neutrality. But the country was placed in an awkward and potentially threatening situation because of one particular act of collaboration with the Central Powers.
The Mediterranean theatre during the war was well away from the Balearics, but by sheer fact of geography - being in the Mediterranean - Mallorca, despite neutrality, was dragged into the war. And the person who dragged the island in was Joan March. Though March was in effect an agent for the British secret services, he played both sides. It is generally believed that his personal sympathies were with the Allies, and he was, during World War Two, to express to Churchill his desire to assist against the Nazis and the Axis Powers. (Churchill, one understands, quite warmed to March. He knew full well that he was a rogue, but Churchill adopted a pragmatic attitude to such roguishness.)
But wherever his sympathies lay, March had greater motivations than ideology. Above all else, he was out to get what he could get, and it didn't really seem to bother him where he got this from. Though he was informing British intelligence about ship movements, he was also involved with supplying the other side and specifically U-boats belonging to the Austro-Hungarian fleet. In 1915, there was a major international incident when it was discovered that U-boats were sheltering off the island of Cabrera. Across the strait which separates the Cabrera archipelago from Mallorca was and is S'Avall, a finca by Colonia Sant Jordi. Its owner? Joan March.
There was a suspicion that the Spanish Government was complicit in this affair. It knew what March was doing and allowed him to do it. Or so it was believed, and indeed it is hard to believe that it was unaware of the U-boats. Churchill, then still First Lord of the Admiralty, insisted that the Spanish took some action. And it did. It expropriated the island of Cabrera from its owner Sebastian Feliu, citing reasons of national security. The island is to this day the government's property. The national security was such that a clear violation of neutrality might have posed a threat to Spain. It is highly doubtful that the British would have actually declared war on Spain, if only because the Italians were coming in on the Allies side at that time, and so it would have been counterproductive. Besides which, the swift action of the Spanish allayed fears that they were not acting in good faith when it came to being neutral. Nevertheless, it was the unscrupulous opportunist March who nearly messed things up.
But March wasn't the only one who threatened to compromise Spain and Mallorca's position by seeking some gain through collaboration with the Central Powers. The French had good reason to believe that there were a number of people from Sóller, a town with traditionally strong and friendly relations with France, who were engaged in supplying German U-boats off the coast of Mallorca. The newspaper, "Le Petit Marseillais", reported that early into the war there were those in Sóller who were making fuel and other supplies available to the Germans. The paper cited the testimony of a Mallorcan fisherman that several U-boats had been supplied on 20 September. Someone by the name of Vicens was named by the French as heading this conspiracy of collaboration. The French also accused the Maritima Sollerense shipping company of being engaged in the illegal supply of fuel to the Germans. The company protested its innocence, formally complaining to the French consulate in Palma and claiming that, despite neutrality, it and also the people of Sóller were firmly behind the Allies. (Collaboration could of course work in different ways.)
There was a different form of collaboration, one which was also centred on Sóller (and neighbouring Fornalutx). A fruit exporter by the name of Joan Mayol, originally from Fornalutx, had been exporting to Germany and Switzerland before the outbreak of war. He continued to export but only to Switzerland. However, these exports were then sold on to Germany at vast profit. Mayol was convicted under a law that had been drawn up in 1915, was sentenced to five years in prison but later acquitted following the intervention of Jeroni Estades - him again - in his capacity as a parliamentary deputy.
Perhaps there were other collaborators. If there were, it is doubtful that they had any other motive than personal gain. War or no war, Mallorca's entrepreneurs were determined to remain active.
The Mediterranean theatre during the war was well away from the Balearics, but by sheer fact of geography - being in the Mediterranean - Mallorca, despite neutrality, was dragged into the war. And the person who dragged the island in was Joan March. Though March was in effect an agent for the British secret services, he played both sides. It is generally believed that his personal sympathies were with the Allies, and he was, during World War Two, to express to Churchill his desire to assist against the Nazis and the Axis Powers. (Churchill, one understands, quite warmed to March. He knew full well that he was a rogue, but Churchill adopted a pragmatic attitude to such roguishness.)
But wherever his sympathies lay, March had greater motivations than ideology. Above all else, he was out to get what he could get, and it didn't really seem to bother him where he got this from. Though he was informing British intelligence about ship movements, he was also involved with supplying the other side and specifically U-boats belonging to the Austro-Hungarian fleet. In 1915, there was a major international incident when it was discovered that U-boats were sheltering off the island of Cabrera. Across the strait which separates the Cabrera archipelago from Mallorca was and is S'Avall, a finca by Colonia Sant Jordi. Its owner? Joan March.
There was a suspicion that the Spanish Government was complicit in this affair. It knew what March was doing and allowed him to do it. Or so it was believed, and indeed it is hard to believe that it was unaware of the U-boats. Churchill, then still First Lord of the Admiralty, insisted that the Spanish took some action. And it did. It expropriated the island of Cabrera from its owner Sebastian Feliu, citing reasons of national security. The island is to this day the government's property. The national security was such that a clear violation of neutrality might have posed a threat to Spain. It is highly doubtful that the British would have actually declared war on Spain, if only because the Italians were coming in on the Allies side at that time, and so it would have been counterproductive. Besides which, the swift action of the Spanish allayed fears that they were not acting in good faith when it came to being neutral. Nevertheless, it was the unscrupulous opportunist March who nearly messed things up.
But March wasn't the only one who threatened to compromise Spain and Mallorca's position by seeking some gain through collaboration with the Central Powers. The French had good reason to believe that there were a number of people from Sóller, a town with traditionally strong and friendly relations with France, who were engaged in supplying German U-boats off the coast of Mallorca. The newspaper, "Le Petit Marseillais", reported that early into the war there were those in Sóller who were making fuel and other supplies available to the Germans. The paper cited the testimony of a Mallorcan fisherman that several U-boats had been supplied on 20 September. Someone by the name of Vicens was named by the French as heading this conspiracy of collaboration. The French also accused the Maritima Sollerense shipping company of being engaged in the illegal supply of fuel to the Germans. The company protested its innocence, formally complaining to the French consulate in Palma and claiming that, despite neutrality, it and also the people of Sóller were firmly behind the Allies. (Collaboration could of course work in different ways.)
There was a different form of collaboration, one which was also centred on Sóller (and neighbouring Fornalutx). A fruit exporter by the name of Joan Mayol, originally from Fornalutx, had been exporting to Germany and Switzerland before the outbreak of war. He continued to export but only to Switzerland. However, these exports were then sold on to Germany at vast profit. Mayol was convicted under a law that had been drawn up in 1915, was sentenced to five years in prison but later acquitted following the intervention of Jeroni Estades - him again - in his capacity as a parliamentary deputy.
Perhaps there were other collaborators. If there were, it is doubtful that they had any other motive than personal gain. War or no war, Mallorca's entrepreneurs were determined to remain active.
Tuesday, August 05, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (8.00am): 24C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 6 August - Sun, some cloud, 31C; 7 August - Sun, cloud, 30C; 8 August - Sun, 32C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 3 to 4.
A hint of mist first thing and now cloud but sunny nonetheless. A good day in store anyway with highs once more in the low-30s.
Evening update (19.00): A high of 30.8C. Fair amount of cloud for a time this morning and now there is cloud again, but only light.
No Frills Excursions
Mallorca And The War: Gertrude Stein
Mallorca was, on the face of it, immune to great and terrible events elsewhere. Beneath the surface, despite the island's remoteness, it was not immune to the tensions that existed in Spain when the Great War broke out. Many have been the debates as to why Spain opted to be and remained neutral during World War I. Spain had little to gain (and much to lose) by entering the war on either side.
Heaven knows how the course of an in-any-event troubled Spanish history at the time would have been changed by war.
Mallorca's remoteness nevertheless offered a refuge from the troubles on the Spanish mainland. This, combined with its landscapes and climate and the promotional efforts of many artists, was what helped to attract foreigners seeking an escape from war. There were some foreign residents and visitors, who primarily lived and stayed in El Terreno in Palma at the start of the war, and there were others who had been to Mallorca previously and who chose to come back.
Gertrude Stein and her companion Alice B. Toklas were two such visitors. Stein had been in Mallorca before the war. She and Toklas were in England when war was declared. By October, strangely enough perhaps, they were preparing to return to their home in Paris. "It was not a very cheerful winter," Toklas didn't write. Stein wrote these words. "The Autobiography Of Alice B. Toklas", which was Stein's work, gives an account of their decision to go to Mallorca. "At last the spring came and we were ready to go away for a bit." "We decided we would go to Palma too and forget the war a little." The use of "too" was a reference to the fact that their friend, the American painter William Cook, had also decided to return to Mallorca.
The story of their stay in Palma isn't that long but it gives a flavour of how the war was perceived in Mallorca. But before they arrived in Palma, Stein and Toklas went to Barcelona. Stein makes a striking and poignant observation: "It was extraordinary to see so many men on the streets. I did not imagine there could be so many men left in the world".
Of the foreign residents at that time, Stein says that, in addition to several French families, "in those days Cook and ourselves were the only Americans to inhabit the island. There were a few English, about three families there". "Life in Palma was pleasant" and so they decided to spend the whole summer and to then extend their stay to the following spring. They had a house in Calle Dos de Mayo in El Terreno. As to Mallorcans' impressions of the war, feelings "were very mixed".
Stein gives an explanation of the locals' fascination with how much the war was going to cost. "They could discuss by the hour how much it cost a year, a month, a week, a day, an hour and even a minute." (A Mallorcan obsession with money and with what everything costs is not, one might suggest, anything new.) Stein observes that the subject of the cost was made even more fascinating by the fact that even men from the better middle classes "read, wrote and ciphered with difficulty", while the "women not at all". She tells of a German governess at a neighbour's house who would hang out a German flag when there was news of a German victory. She also reports that the "lower classes were strong for the Allies". A waiter looked forward to Spain entering the war on the Allies' side.
This pleasant life in Palma started to turn sour when the attack on Verdun began in February 1916. "We were all desperately unhappy." It is at this point in the story of their stay in Palma that events took an odd turn. Stein relates that there was a German ship called the Fangturm in the port. It had seemingly been a merchant ship as it sold pins and needles to Mediterranean ports. When war started, it had been unable to leave. It was rusting, but when the Verdun offensive started, "they began painting the Fangturm" (they, presumably, were German sailors who hadn't got away to Barcelona). One whole side of the ship was painted but then the painting stopped. Verdun, it seemed, was not going to be taken.
It's hard to know what Stein and others were worried about. It is also hard to understand why "when it was all over, none of us wanted to stay in Mallorca any longer". (Verdun was far from over.) Anyway, Stein and Toklas left some time in the spring of 1916 and went back to a Paris where "everybody was cheerful" and they joined the American Fund for the French Wounded. Back in Mallorca, they were still counting the cost of war, while there was a half-painted German ship in Palma's port.
Heaven knows how the course of an in-any-event troubled Spanish history at the time would have been changed by war.
Mallorca's remoteness nevertheless offered a refuge from the troubles on the Spanish mainland. This, combined with its landscapes and climate and the promotional efforts of many artists, was what helped to attract foreigners seeking an escape from war. There were some foreign residents and visitors, who primarily lived and stayed in El Terreno in Palma at the start of the war, and there were others who had been to Mallorca previously and who chose to come back.
Gertrude Stein and her companion Alice B. Toklas were two such visitors. Stein had been in Mallorca before the war. She and Toklas were in England when war was declared. By October, strangely enough perhaps, they were preparing to return to their home in Paris. "It was not a very cheerful winter," Toklas didn't write. Stein wrote these words. "The Autobiography Of Alice B. Toklas", which was Stein's work, gives an account of their decision to go to Mallorca. "At last the spring came and we were ready to go away for a bit." "We decided we would go to Palma too and forget the war a little." The use of "too" was a reference to the fact that their friend, the American painter William Cook, had also decided to return to Mallorca.
The story of their stay in Palma isn't that long but it gives a flavour of how the war was perceived in Mallorca. But before they arrived in Palma, Stein and Toklas went to Barcelona. Stein makes a striking and poignant observation: "It was extraordinary to see so many men on the streets. I did not imagine there could be so many men left in the world".
Of the foreign residents at that time, Stein says that, in addition to several French families, "in those days Cook and ourselves were the only Americans to inhabit the island. There were a few English, about three families there". "Life in Palma was pleasant" and so they decided to spend the whole summer and to then extend their stay to the following spring. They had a house in Calle Dos de Mayo in El Terreno. As to Mallorcans' impressions of the war, feelings "were very mixed".
Stein gives an explanation of the locals' fascination with how much the war was going to cost. "They could discuss by the hour how much it cost a year, a month, a week, a day, an hour and even a minute." (A Mallorcan obsession with money and with what everything costs is not, one might suggest, anything new.) Stein observes that the subject of the cost was made even more fascinating by the fact that even men from the better middle classes "read, wrote and ciphered with difficulty", while the "women not at all". She tells of a German governess at a neighbour's house who would hang out a German flag when there was news of a German victory. She also reports that the "lower classes were strong for the Allies". A waiter looked forward to Spain entering the war on the Allies' side.
This pleasant life in Palma started to turn sour when the attack on Verdun began in February 1916. "We were all desperately unhappy." It is at this point in the story of their stay in Palma that events took an odd turn. Stein relates that there was a German ship called the Fangturm in the port. It had seemingly been a merchant ship as it sold pins and needles to Mediterranean ports. When war started, it had been unable to leave. It was rusting, but when the Verdun offensive started, "they began painting the Fangturm" (they, presumably, were German sailors who hadn't got away to Barcelona). One whole side of the ship was painted but then the painting stopped. Verdun, it seemed, was not going to be taken.
It's hard to know what Stein and others were worried about. It is also hard to understand why "when it was all over, none of us wanted to stay in Mallorca any longer". (Verdun was far from over.) Anyway, Stein and Toklas left some time in the spring of 1916 and went back to a Paris where "everybody was cheerful" and they joined the American Fund for the French Wounded. Back in Mallorca, they were still counting the cost of war, while there was a half-painted German ship in Palma's port.
Monday, August 04, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.00am): 21C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 5 August - Sun, some cloud, 31C; 6 August - Sun, some cloud, 29C; 7 August - Sun, some cloud, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 increasing East 3 to 4 by midday.
A very fine day in prospect. Perfectly clear skies first thing and expected to remain clear. That dip in temperature which had been forecast seems to be less probable now. The outlook is pretty consistent - highs around the 30 mark.
Evening update (23.00): High of 32.7C. Warm.
No Frills Excursions
Declaration Of War And Mallorca
The night of 4 August, 1914 would doubtless have been like nights in early August in Mallorca have always been. It would have been sultry. The sounds would have been those of cicadas. Far away from Mallorca it was also a warm night. The windows of the Admiralty in London were thrown open. The sounds were of the singing of "God Save The King" and of the chimes of Big Ben. A telegram went out across the world. As Churchill concluded: "the deed was done".
On that sultry night in August, assuming they were aware of events in London, who among people in Mallorca would have been taking notice? Perhaps everyone. It was war, after all. But it was someone else's war, and confirmation of that came three days later. Spain was neutral. There would have been those who paid greater notice; foreign residents and visitors in El Terreno, for example, and also the Archduke Louis Salvador, perhaps even then preparing to leave. Summoned back to Austria-Hungary, his presence in neutral Mallorca, his love for Mallorca notwithstanding, would have been awkward had he stayed.
Someone else who would have been paying careful attention would have been Joan March, probably resident in his summer palace in Cala Ratjada. What can we imagine of that night of 4 August, 1914? Would there have been a small dinner party at the March palace? Lobster and wines, followed by the men taking themselves to a discrete terrace to discuss affairs of war while they smoked cigars and drank their brandy? Antoni Maura was a summer neighbour of March's in Cala Ratjada. He was not prime minister then, but he was eventually to advocate Spain's siding with the Allies. Perhaps, for the time being though, neutrality was best. There were riches to be made while the world went to war and Spain didn't.
While Maura was the politician, March was the businessman. What might he have been eyeing up? When might it have become opportune for him to be involved with the British secret service? March, as useful to Britain during the Great War as he was to be during the Second World War. Useful, even though British intelligence dubbed him a "scoundrel of the deepest dye". He maintained links with the Germans during the Great War and used those links to give British intelligence information as to German shipping movements. On the night of 4 August, March was probably contemplating having a good war, and he was right to have contemplated this. By 1915, the Italian Government was being informed as to the spy-network activities of Charles Thoroton. Based in Gibraltar, Thoroton's network extended across Spain and into Morocco. The Italian Consulate in Gibraltar reported that all the Spanish coasts were under the surveillance and control of Thoroton, "who is informed of all ship movements ... the English authority is in liaison with a Juan March, a contrabandist with control of over 240 motor ships and monoplanes ... this covers all ship movements from the Balearic Islands ... he gains a lot of money".
There would have been others who were taking special notice on the night of 4 August. They weren't foreigners and they weren't the powerful. They were ordinary Mallorcans who knew people abroad. On that night, would relatives and friends of Jaime and Antonio Oliver in Sóller, of Juan Mora Ferrer, also from Sóller, of Jaime Llabrés Bestard from Establiments and José Niell from Sineu have been concerned about German advances into Belgium? On 20 August, they were shot and killed at the shop in Liège that the Oliver brothers ran, having returned given that the Battle of Liège had finished.
The initial explanation for their deaths was that they had been caught up in an exchange of gunfire. Almost a month later, a businessman from Inca, Sebastian Simonet, had managed to get back to Mallorca. He told a very different story. It was reported in the Mallorcan newspaper "La Almudaina". He said that the Mallorcans had been arrested by drunk German soldiers, handcuffed, taken to grounds at the university and shot by firing squads.
There was outrage, and the outrage was all the greater because the Spanish Government appeared indifferent to what had happened. The matter was nonetheless raised in the Cortes, Jeroni Estades, he of the Sóller train and by then a parliamentary deputy, being one of those who demanded a stronger response. Eventually, the government, via the Spanish Embassy in Berlin, was able to extract compensation for the men's deaths.
But back to more pleasant matters. On the night of 4 August, the people of Binissalem would still have been celebrating events of two days before. On that day, the town's football club was officially founded and the first match played. A hundred years on, and the centenary has been duly honoured. Far away war was starting. In Mallorca they kicked footballs. In peace.
On that sultry night in August, assuming they were aware of events in London, who among people in Mallorca would have been taking notice? Perhaps everyone. It was war, after all. But it was someone else's war, and confirmation of that came three days later. Spain was neutral. There would have been those who paid greater notice; foreign residents and visitors in El Terreno, for example, and also the Archduke Louis Salvador, perhaps even then preparing to leave. Summoned back to Austria-Hungary, his presence in neutral Mallorca, his love for Mallorca notwithstanding, would have been awkward had he stayed.
Someone else who would have been paying careful attention would have been Joan March, probably resident in his summer palace in Cala Ratjada. What can we imagine of that night of 4 August, 1914? Would there have been a small dinner party at the March palace? Lobster and wines, followed by the men taking themselves to a discrete terrace to discuss affairs of war while they smoked cigars and drank their brandy? Antoni Maura was a summer neighbour of March's in Cala Ratjada. He was not prime minister then, but he was eventually to advocate Spain's siding with the Allies. Perhaps, for the time being though, neutrality was best. There were riches to be made while the world went to war and Spain didn't.
While Maura was the politician, March was the businessman. What might he have been eyeing up? When might it have become opportune for him to be involved with the British secret service? March, as useful to Britain during the Great War as he was to be during the Second World War. Useful, even though British intelligence dubbed him a "scoundrel of the deepest dye". He maintained links with the Germans during the Great War and used those links to give British intelligence information as to German shipping movements. On the night of 4 August, March was probably contemplating having a good war, and he was right to have contemplated this. By 1915, the Italian Government was being informed as to the spy-network activities of Charles Thoroton. Based in Gibraltar, Thoroton's network extended across Spain and into Morocco. The Italian Consulate in Gibraltar reported that all the Spanish coasts were under the surveillance and control of Thoroton, "who is informed of all ship movements ... the English authority is in liaison with a Juan March, a contrabandist with control of over 240 motor ships and monoplanes ... this covers all ship movements from the Balearic Islands ... he gains a lot of money".
There would have been others who were taking special notice on the night of 4 August. They weren't foreigners and they weren't the powerful. They were ordinary Mallorcans who knew people abroad. On that night, would relatives and friends of Jaime and Antonio Oliver in Sóller, of Juan Mora Ferrer, also from Sóller, of Jaime Llabrés Bestard from Establiments and José Niell from Sineu have been concerned about German advances into Belgium? On 20 August, they were shot and killed at the shop in Liège that the Oliver brothers ran, having returned given that the Battle of Liège had finished.
The initial explanation for their deaths was that they had been caught up in an exchange of gunfire. Almost a month later, a businessman from Inca, Sebastian Simonet, had managed to get back to Mallorca. He told a very different story. It was reported in the Mallorcan newspaper "La Almudaina". He said that the Mallorcans had been arrested by drunk German soldiers, handcuffed, taken to grounds at the university and shot by firing squads.
There was outrage, and the outrage was all the greater because the Spanish Government appeared indifferent to what had happened. The matter was nonetheless raised in the Cortes, Jeroni Estades, he of the Sóller train and by then a parliamentary deputy, being one of those who demanded a stronger response. Eventually, the government, via the Spanish Embassy in Berlin, was able to extract compensation for the men's deaths.
But back to more pleasant matters. On the night of 4 August, the people of Binissalem would still have been celebrating events of two days before. On that day, the town's football club was officially founded and the first match played. A hundred years on, and the centenary has been duly honoured. Far away war was starting. In Mallorca they kicked footballs. In peace.
Sunday, August 03, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (6.45am): 21.5C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 4 August - Sun, 31C; 5 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 6 August - Sun, cloud, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 to 3 becoming Variable during the morning, mainly West by the afternoon, increasing 3 to 4.
A fine morning with a bit of haze out to sea. Another very warm day beckons. The general outlook is good, highs down a touch during the week but then set to climb again.
Evening update (20.00): A high of 34C. Light cloud for some of the day, but also plenty of sun. And hot.
No Frills Excursions
Matas In Exile
Segovia is a city in Castile and Leon with a long and rich history. In 1474, as an example, Isabel the Catholic was proclaimed queen of Castile in the church of San Miguel, and the rest was thus history. She married Ferdinand, Spain was united, the Muslims were subjugated once and for all, Columbus invented America, Spain ruled the world and the world got a beer named after the church.
Into this cradle of Spanish empire last Monday strode a former president of the Balearics. Jaume Matas had an appointment with the keeper of the keys at Segovia's prison. He was welcomed in, the door was shut and the key was turned. Segovia's prison, unlike other buildings in the city, doesn't have a long and rich history. It is modern, it is under-occupied, it is low risk. Most of its occupants are classified as low risk. Matas will be classified thus. He may be reclassified within a short time as low-low risk, meaning he can go out during the day and only have to sleep at the prison.
His attempt to be pardoned having failed, Matas was, right up to the moment when he entered prison, seeking alternatives, such as community service - coming back to the island he stole from and cleaning the beaches (or something like that). Once these alternatives were exhausted, he opted - as is his right - for the cushiest prison gig going. And why not? He is, after all, head of the Balearic Government in exile. One day he will return and stride victoriously around the site of his greatest achievement and greatest loss of public money, the Palma Arena, arm in arm with Iñaki Urdangarin and be greeted by cheering and admiring citizens of Mallorca who understand how wronged he has been.
Well, he might think this, because Jaume still really doesn't seem to get it. What, after all, were 483,186 euros of public funds that were handed over to his tame propagandist, Antonio Alemany, so that the journo could write glowing accounts of his glorious reign? Why does he deserve to be banged up for such a trifling amount, having been pursued by a bunch of bloody ingrates in Mallorca who had forgotten just how much good he had done?
There are others who don't appear to get it, who believe that they, too, are entitled to special consideration. Maria Munar, struggling, so we are told, to adapt to life in prison, a year on from having started her sentence, is seeking third-grade classification, meaning she can have day release. Alemany, he also having had a request for a pardon turned down, has had the date of his entrance into prison put back until September, the same month that Carlos Fabra is due to start a four-year sentence for fraud in Castellon. Friends are gathering signatures to petition for a pardon for him.
You shouldn't of course only go on appearances, but if you do, then Fabra, the ex-president of Castellon, would have been played by Brando or De Niro. Those friends wanting to get him pardoned insist that he is "an honest person". Mariano Rajoy once described him as an "exemplary politician". Yes, but exemplary of what? There is a truly hideous sculpture at the white-elephant Castellon airport which features the face of Fabra. The honest truth is that, like Matas, Fabra succumbed to the vanity which power brings. And this vanity remains of such an order that it leads both of them to believe that they are above the law or that the law owes them a favour. The law does not, but there are plenty who would argue that it already has shown Matas a favour by reducing his six-year sentence to nine months and who fear that further favours might follow. Matas is facing several other charges. How many pardons can one man ask for?
Into this cradle of Spanish empire last Monday strode a former president of the Balearics. Jaume Matas had an appointment with the keeper of the keys at Segovia's prison. He was welcomed in, the door was shut and the key was turned. Segovia's prison, unlike other buildings in the city, doesn't have a long and rich history. It is modern, it is under-occupied, it is low risk. Most of its occupants are classified as low risk. Matas will be classified thus. He may be reclassified within a short time as low-low risk, meaning he can go out during the day and only have to sleep at the prison.
His attempt to be pardoned having failed, Matas was, right up to the moment when he entered prison, seeking alternatives, such as community service - coming back to the island he stole from and cleaning the beaches (or something like that). Once these alternatives were exhausted, he opted - as is his right - for the cushiest prison gig going. And why not? He is, after all, head of the Balearic Government in exile. One day he will return and stride victoriously around the site of his greatest achievement and greatest loss of public money, the Palma Arena, arm in arm with Iñaki Urdangarin and be greeted by cheering and admiring citizens of Mallorca who understand how wronged he has been.
Well, he might think this, because Jaume still really doesn't seem to get it. What, after all, were 483,186 euros of public funds that were handed over to his tame propagandist, Antonio Alemany, so that the journo could write glowing accounts of his glorious reign? Why does he deserve to be banged up for such a trifling amount, having been pursued by a bunch of bloody ingrates in Mallorca who had forgotten just how much good he had done?
There are others who don't appear to get it, who believe that they, too, are entitled to special consideration. Maria Munar, struggling, so we are told, to adapt to life in prison, a year on from having started her sentence, is seeking third-grade classification, meaning she can have day release. Alemany, he also having had a request for a pardon turned down, has had the date of his entrance into prison put back until September, the same month that Carlos Fabra is due to start a four-year sentence for fraud in Castellon. Friends are gathering signatures to petition for a pardon for him.
You shouldn't of course only go on appearances, but if you do, then Fabra, the ex-president of Castellon, would have been played by Brando or De Niro. Those friends wanting to get him pardoned insist that he is "an honest person". Mariano Rajoy once described him as an "exemplary politician". Yes, but exemplary of what? There is a truly hideous sculpture at the white-elephant Castellon airport which features the face of Fabra. The honest truth is that, like Matas, Fabra succumbed to the vanity which power brings. And this vanity remains of such an order that it leads both of them to believe that they are above the law or that the law owes them a favour. The law does not, but there are plenty who would argue that it already has shown Matas a favour by reducing his six-year sentence to nine months and who fear that further favours might follow. Matas is facing several other charges. How many pardons can one man ask for?
Saturday, August 02, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (7.15am): 21C
Forecast high: 32C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 3 August - Sun, some cloud, 31C; 4 August - Sun, 30C; 5 August - Sun, some cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 3 to 5 veering North 2 to 4 from midday.
Mostly clear skies though there may be more by way of cloud during the day. Another hot one, and the anticipated fall in temperature tomorrow doesn't look as if it is now going to happen.
Evening update (19.15): Not quite as much of a stinker today, a high of only 32.9C. Good deal of light cloud until around two in the afternoon.
No Frills Excursions
Beat Of The Drums: Batucadas
The island's fiestas are theatres of tradition but they are experimental theatres of innovation as well, their experiments attaching to the old the exuberance of the new. Yet, this new can itself be old, rooted in traditions far away in time and place which have morphed through their global movement and taken on a dynamic which, while it seems new, is nevertheless of a certain antiquity.
A musical tradition of the fiestas is the local band of drums and cornets. Most places have such bands in addition to the municipal band with its broader collection of horns and percussion. The drum, the rhythm is beaten wherever there is fiesta. It is drum of a military style. Correct, proper, never flash. It is the percussive heartbeat of fiesta music, but it is heartbeat which only ever used to keep steady time. It has now been made to race and to dance and to crash into the usually night air with an incessant rhythm that can be uplifting, soulful and mysterious. It is the batucada, a drumathon that is out of Africa, that has passed through a samba-ing in Brazil and is now a Mallorcan fiesta phenomenon. There are batucada bands galore. They are, more so than DJs with their decks and their Ibizan pretensions, the riot of music of the contemporary fiesta. Loud. Non-stop. The beat of fiestas.
Where did these batucadas come from? Well, that's easy to answer - Brazil in terms of musical inspiration - but it hasn't necessarily been the case that Brazilians have been the driving force. The batucada, for all that it is nowadays ubiquitous and de rigueur for the Mallorcan fiesta (and other occasions), doesn't have a long history on the island. At the turn of the century, it was all but unknown. One of the first batucada groups to emerge was Tambors per la Pau (drums for peace). Another, Pachamama Percussió, is about ten years old. The most likely explanation as to how the batucada caught on is probably the local celebration of Carnival, and as part of the mythology of Carnival there is "La Pachamama", said to be Mother Earth but rather more than this. A different meaning is the cosmos.
Whatever the background to the batucada in Mallorca, it has taken on a life of its own. Musically, new styles have been adopted. Pachamama Percussió combines all sorts of styles, though they are all Latin of one type or another. And while in the early years there were only a handful of batucada troupes, there are now numerous ones. Mostly every town can claim to have one. Or more than one. The growth has been such that the biggest group, Saravà, was the result of the merger of Bunyola's and Santa Maria del Cami's batucada groups. It has anything up to seventy people banging away.
Though they exist in most towns, the batucada groups' relationships with town halls have not always been that positive. Certain towns have embraced them, others have been less inclined to, the reason being a touch of musical snobbery. Is the playing of a whole load of drums music? This seems to be the look-down-the-nose attitude, one born out of the local pride in towns' music bands and music schools. This pride doesn't always extend to being open to alternative types of music, while with the batucada, though the groups do include professionals, there are also amateurs who have certainly not gone through anything like a musical schooling route. Not untypically perhaps, there has been some official resistance to participation of the more or less anyone-can-make-music variety.
This said, it is clear that many towns have no problem at all in accepting batucadas. Their presence is part of the official programme for fiestas and it is a presence that has been grafted on to existing traditions. Muro is a case in point with its Sant Antoni fiestas. The batucada adds powerfully to the overall spectacle, noise and terror of the demons, and indeed several demons gangs now have their own dedicated batucadas.
But then, there is the noise. Well yes, the batucadas are very noisy, but this is the point of them. You don't bang drums in order to be quiet. The noise may be a further reason why there has been some official indifference or unacceptance, but it is the case that the batucadas have gained popular acceptance. They make a heck of a racket, but it's a heck of a good racket and one that is amplified even more when there is a gathering of different batucada groups, as is the case at some fiestas. Maybe they should consider organising a mega-mega-batucada. Hundreds and hundreds of drums. There again, I suppose something like this has already been done. Remember the London Olympics opening ceremony?
A musical tradition of the fiestas is the local band of drums and cornets. Most places have such bands in addition to the municipal band with its broader collection of horns and percussion. The drum, the rhythm is beaten wherever there is fiesta. It is drum of a military style. Correct, proper, never flash. It is the percussive heartbeat of fiesta music, but it is heartbeat which only ever used to keep steady time. It has now been made to race and to dance and to crash into the usually night air with an incessant rhythm that can be uplifting, soulful and mysterious. It is the batucada, a drumathon that is out of Africa, that has passed through a samba-ing in Brazil and is now a Mallorcan fiesta phenomenon. There are batucada bands galore. They are, more so than DJs with their decks and their Ibizan pretensions, the riot of music of the contemporary fiesta. Loud. Non-stop. The beat of fiestas.
Where did these batucadas come from? Well, that's easy to answer - Brazil in terms of musical inspiration - but it hasn't necessarily been the case that Brazilians have been the driving force. The batucada, for all that it is nowadays ubiquitous and de rigueur for the Mallorcan fiesta (and other occasions), doesn't have a long history on the island. At the turn of the century, it was all but unknown. One of the first batucada groups to emerge was Tambors per la Pau (drums for peace). Another, Pachamama Percussió, is about ten years old. The most likely explanation as to how the batucada caught on is probably the local celebration of Carnival, and as part of the mythology of Carnival there is "La Pachamama", said to be Mother Earth but rather more than this. A different meaning is the cosmos.
Whatever the background to the batucada in Mallorca, it has taken on a life of its own. Musically, new styles have been adopted. Pachamama Percussió combines all sorts of styles, though they are all Latin of one type or another. And while in the early years there were only a handful of batucada troupes, there are now numerous ones. Mostly every town can claim to have one. Or more than one. The growth has been such that the biggest group, Saravà, was the result of the merger of Bunyola's and Santa Maria del Cami's batucada groups. It has anything up to seventy people banging away.
Though they exist in most towns, the batucada groups' relationships with town halls have not always been that positive. Certain towns have embraced them, others have been less inclined to, the reason being a touch of musical snobbery. Is the playing of a whole load of drums music? This seems to be the look-down-the-nose attitude, one born out of the local pride in towns' music bands and music schools. This pride doesn't always extend to being open to alternative types of music, while with the batucada, though the groups do include professionals, there are also amateurs who have certainly not gone through anything like a musical schooling route. Not untypically perhaps, there has been some official resistance to participation of the more or less anyone-can-make-music variety.
This said, it is clear that many towns have no problem at all in accepting batucadas. Their presence is part of the official programme for fiestas and it is a presence that has been grafted on to existing traditions. Muro is a case in point with its Sant Antoni fiestas. The batucada adds powerfully to the overall spectacle, noise and terror of the demons, and indeed several demons gangs now have their own dedicated batucadas.
But then, there is the noise. Well yes, the batucadas are very noisy, but this is the point of them. You don't bang drums in order to be quiet. The noise may be a further reason why there has been some official indifference or unacceptance, but it is the case that the batucadas have gained popular acceptance. They make a heck of a racket, but it's a heck of a good racket and one that is amplified even more when there is a gathering of different batucada groups, as is the case at some fiestas. Maybe they should consider organising a mega-mega-batucada. Hundreds and hundreds of drums. There again, I suppose something like this has already been done. Remember the London Olympics opening ceremony?
Friday, August 01, 2014
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 August 2014
Stefanos
Morning high (5.45am): 21C
Forecast high: 33C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 2 August - Sun, some cloud, 32C; 3 August - Sun, some cloud, 27C; 4 August - Sun, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3 increasing 3 to 5 and backing Southeast during the afternoon.
Some cloud and fresh breezes early on, but the breezes are likely to be less fresh during the day, coming from the south, so it will feel hotter. Weekend outlook is for a fall in highs on Sunday.
Evening update (19.15): A whopper today. A high of 35.1C.
No Frills Excursions
The Decline In Tourist Satisfaction
Tourism, it is an obvious thing to say, is nothing without tourists. Ah yes, tourists; all too often, it seems, the last people that certain elements of the tourism industry pay any attention to. Gadeso, the Mallorcan research organisation, has to be praised for being something of a rarity. It actually surveys tourists. Hears what tourists have to say. There should be very much more of this questioning and listening. Gadeso's is one survey. Its results can be disputed, but they are nonetheless worthy of attention. They don't make for very good reading.
The Gadeso survey of tourist satisfaction is limited, this much has to be said. The number interviewed is only 400, but the organisation is confident that the number is representative and that the margin of error from its results is no more and no less than 5%. The headlining part of the latest is that satisfaction continues its downward creep. Year after year, overall contentment with Mallorca slips. Not greatly by any means, but it slips all the same.
If you go through the survey, there are winners and losers as far as tourists are concerned. The biggest losers are the hotels and the complementary offer, i.e. the non-hotel sector. The biggest winners are agrotourism, rural hotels and residential private accommodation. The hoteliers will hate the fact that the latter of these has a higher satisfaction rating. They should also hate the fact that were it not for these three sectors of the industry, satisfaction with Mallorca would be very much lower. Agrotourism and rural hotels beat regular tourist hotels by almost two points out of ten.
The complementary offer, split into five components for the purpose of the survey, fares just as badly as the hotels. The greatest satisfaction is reserved for services on beaches and for recreational activities, though both of these show a downward trend. It is gastronomy, used here in a general way to refer to bars and restaurants, that shows one of the largest falls in satisfaction. Put alongside an overall rating of only three out of ten for the price-to-quality ratio for the complementary sector, you begin to get an appreciation of why satisfaction with bars and restaurants is in decline. It's all about price.
Indeed, it is price which is probably the most significant finding. The hotels, despite dissatisfaction in other ways, rate pretty well when it comes to the price-quality ratio, but Gadeso concludes that this is largely because of all-inclusive. Price is the prime motivation for coming to Mallorca. It rates almost 16 percentage points above sun and beach in second place. Yet, this seems curious when there appears to be dissatisfaction with prices in bars and restaurants. It isn't curious when you throw all-inclusives into the mix, and of those in the survey who had booked all-inclusive in Mallorca, almost 60% had done so for the first time this summer. Price, price, price.
This doesn't necessarily mean that these tourists will be returning. All-inclusive package holidaymakers say that it would depend both on the resort and the characteristics of the hotel, and what is meant by these characteristics is that some hotels simply don't seem to have made adequate preparation for offering all-inclusive. There is also the question as to where they are located. The intention among tourists to be repeat visitors to Mallorca has fallen by four percentage points over the past two years. The intention to be repeat visitors to the same tourism zone is as low as 16.4%. Why? The nature of many resorts, i.e. their maturity and/or obsolescence. It might seem perverse that all-inclusive holidaymakers should care that much about the state of the resorts, given the assumption that many don't go out of the hotel grounds, but they do.
There are other findings which should make the island's tourism industry take note. Levels of cleanliness are considered to be deficient. Levels of acoustic contamination - noise, in other words - are too great. And, cutting to the bone of the notion that Mallorca is a destination for cultural tourism, cultural facilities are found to also be deficient. As Gadeso says at the start of its report that there is "the necessity to improve our product". It's hard to argue with the statement.
The Gadeso survey of tourist satisfaction is limited, this much has to be said. The number interviewed is only 400, but the organisation is confident that the number is representative and that the margin of error from its results is no more and no less than 5%. The headlining part of the latest is that satisfaction continues its downward creep. Year after year, overall contentment with Mallorca slips. Not greatly by any means, but it slips all the same.
If you go through the survey, there are winners and losers as far as tourists are concerned. The biggest losers are the hotels and the complementary offer, i.e. the non-hotel sector. The biggest winners are agrotourism, rural hotels and residential private accommodation. The hoteliers will hate the fact that the latter of these has a higher satisfaction rating. They should also hate the fact that were it not for these three sectors of the industry, satisfaction with Mallorca would be very much lower. Agrotourism and rural hotels beat regular tourist hotels by almost two points out of ten.
The complementary offer, split into five components for the purpose of the survey, fares just as badly as the hotels. The greatest satisfaction is reserved for services on beaches and for recreational activities, though both of these show a downward trend. It is gastronomy, used here in a general way to refer to bars and restaurants, that shows one of the largest falls in satisfaction. Put alongside an overall rating of only three out of ten for the price-to-quality ratio for the complementary sector, you begin to get an appreciation of why satisfaction with bars and restaurants is in decline. It's all about price.
Indeed, it is price which is probably the most significant finding. The hotels, despite dissatisfaction in other ways, rate pretty well when it comes to the price-quality ratio, but Gadeso concludes that this is largely because of all-inclusive. Price is the prime motivation for coming to Mallorca. It rates almost 16 percentage points above sun and beach in second place. Yet, this seems curious when there appears to be dissatisfaction with prices in bars and restaurants. It isn't curious when you throw all-inclusives into the mix, and of those in the survey who had booked all-inclusive in Mallorca, almost 60% had done so for the first time this summer. Price, price, price.
This doesn't necessarily mean that these tourists will be returning. All-inclusive package holidaymakers say that it would depend both on the resort and the characteristics of the hotel, and what is meant by these characteristics is that some hotels simply don't seem to have made adequate preparation for offering all-inclusive. There is also the question as to where they are located. The intention among tourists to be repeat visitors to Mallorca has fallen by four percentage points over the past two years. The intention to be repeat visitors to the same tourism zone is as low as 16.4%. Why? The nature of many resorts, i.e. their maturity and/or obsolescence. It might seem perverse that all-inclusive holidaymakers should care that much about the state of the resorts, given the assumption that many don't go out of the hotel grounds, but they do.
There are other findings which should make the island's tourism industry take note. Levels of cleanliness are considered to be deficient. Levels of acoustic contamination - noise, in other words - are too great. And, cutting to the bone of the notion that Mallorca is a destination for cultural tourism, cultural facilities are found to also be deficient. As Gadeso says at the start of its report that there is "the necessity to improve our product". It's hard to argue with the statement.
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