Discussions about time in Mallorca might strike you as slightly odd. The relationship with time is, after all, somewhat distant. Times can be whatever a Mallorcan (or Spaniard) want them to be, and preferably they involve the next day or the day after that.
While there are those for whom timekeeping is an alien concept, I'm far from convinced by the general stereotyping: once upon a time (sic) maybe, but very much less so now. This is, after all, a modern society (oh yes it is, before you start pooh-poohing the suggestion). Time is vastly more precious than it used to be. If it weren't, then why are there all those drivers hurtling around with apparent disregard for anyone else, desperate to get to wherever they're going? (Sorry, another example of stereotyping, as let's not forget those who have dawdling in a car down to a fine art: those for whom cars can appear to be in permanent reverse, along with time itself.)
Periodically, these time discussions crop up, and they are often determined by time: clocks going back or forward. We are on the cusp of hour reversal, and right on time comes the regular discussion, only this time there is more to the time conversation. There is a petition on Change.org to not change the time in the Balearics this weekend.
Its organiser believes that hours of daylight in the Balearics should be adapted to the daily lives of the islands' people. Thus, the sun, and one more hour of it, is a resource from which benefits can be derived. And apart from any economic benefits, he suggests, there are the simple natural ones and so not the "political" nature of Balearic time.
Ah yes, the politics of time. The story of how the Balearics and Spain, except for the Canaries, arrived at the current system of time is well known: all to do with Franco thinking it was a good idea to match Hitler time. Despite the fact that almost all of Spain lies to the west of the Greenwich Meridian, Central European Time has remained in place all these years. The Portuguese, though, have remained firmly wedded to GMT (or BST or whatever it is nowadays): good, loyal allies that they have been for centuries.
Although the the Change.org thing's organiser refers to "political" time, his not wanting the clocks to go back an hour has a more common-sense aspect. If the clocks were to stay as they are in the early hours of Sunday morning, the afternoons would not be shortened. The extra hour of sun in the afternoon could just make a difference: a tourism difference. Mallorca suffers by comparison with the more southerly Costa del Sol and especially the Canaries in winter, so why not adopt a measure that might be advantageous?
Were there to be no backward movement of the clocks, the Balearics would be on British time, something which the national government has in any event been considering for the whole of Spain and so not just the Canaries. The chances of the government ever getting round to taking such a decision are probably slim, even if the national commission that spends its time looking into time, working hours and what have you has recommended that there should be a change. Sensible though it might be, it would play havoc with electronic control devices: the consequences might actually be disastrous. So I'm not sure if the Change.org chap has thought that part of the time equation through.
While the possibility of a move to British time remains, there are those who are lobbying to ensure that parts of Spain opt out. A couple of years ago, when the time discussion cropped up when the clocks went back, a group of "experts" advising companies about working hours and workers' social hours (assuming they have any), were sticking up for the Balearics and Catalonia to not be included. Was this another manifestation of Catalonian independence and the spread of the Catalan Lands notion to the Balearics? Well no, not really: Catalonia is, by and large, to the east of the Meridian, as of course are the Balearics. More importantly, though, the experts were saying that Catalonian (Balearic) resistance should be for reasons of greater productivity and the reconciliation of work and family life.
But then, the chap behind the Change.org petition seems to want the clocks not to go back for much the same reason. He would like there to be an hour's more sun in the winter afternoons, while the experts want things to stay as they are. Who's right? Both or neither probably. Whenever there is a time discussion, plenty of time is made for debate, with neither side having a compelling argument, albeit that the one about tourism might just be a strong case.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 19 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 18.8C
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 20 October - Rain, sun, 21C; 21 October - Cloud, sun, 17C; 22 October - Cloud, sun, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 backing Northeast 3 to 4.
Noticeably warmer first thing, with the humidity level high. Cloud and rain with a possible storm expected for today, with rain maybe persisting into tomorrow. Getting windier as the day progresses, an alert out for Wednesday for coastal conditions as northerlies come whipping in.
Evening update (20.30): Grey mostly all day. Heavy showers in parts. Highs of 23.6C inland and 23C coastal.
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 20 October - Rain, sun, 21C; 21 October - Cloud, sun, 17C; 22 October - Cloud, sun, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 backing Northeast 3 to 4.
Noticeably warmer first thing, with the humidity level high. Cloud and rain with a possible storm expected for today, with rain maybe persisting into tomorrow. Getting windier as the day progresses, an alert out for Wednesday for coastal conditions as northerlies come whipping in.
Evening update (20.30): Grey mostly all day. Heavy showers in parts. Highs of 23.6C inland and 23C coastal.
The Touristic Nuclear Option
So, they're really going to do it. The PM(P) has taken the nuclear option. The M People - BB Barceló with Més - have pressed the button; the P part (PSOE) is wishing it had chosen to get into bed with the Partido Popular; the (P) element, i.e. Podemos, is consulting its support base via Twitter and/or demanding that the tourist tax returns Mallorca to a virgin state circa 1915. But, while the sun still shines, Mallorca will not be plunged into nuclear winter. Or not until that volcano in Iceland goes off ten times larger than it did last time.
The Tax should from now on only ever be written with the upper-case to denote the reverence in which it should be held, a reverence and pomposity revealed at its legalistic unveiling: the Law on the Sustainable Tourism Tax. Here is a maybe-maybe not government, the PM(P), flailing around in desperately attempting to convince everyone that it is pursuing its objectives with consensus and dialogue (when really they're at each other's throats), grabbing "sustainable" from the politico-touristic thesaurus and thus allowing The Tax to mean whatever it wants it to mean. Which is of course the case.
Principally, however, The Tax is, as we all know, required to balance the books. CC, Catalina Cladera (finance), will doubtless have informed BB that he needs to get his skates on if she is not to be made to look a CC - complete chump - having included 50 million in next year's budget only to discover that The Tax will not come into effect until all touristic life has decamped to the Canaries for the winter, where it will not pay a tax. It'll be from the first of May, Biel, or else ...
BB has the onerous task of not just extracting consensus from sources where consensus will not exist - the hoteliers and pretty much the entire Balearic business conglomerate - but also from the providers of the booty, the 13.5 million tourists of whom Francina is convinced that they are so in love with the Balearics that they will hand over The Tax with an ecstatic look of euphoria. "Praise the Lord Biel for saving our paradise."
So difficult is BB's task that he is, one understands, to take the unusual step of writing an open letter to the British touristic collective that will be nailed to the heads of everyone attending London's World Travel Market. The mind boggles. The very fact that he needs (someone else needs, who one trusts is familiar with the English language) to compile such propaganda should tell him something. What are we letting ourselves in for? Faced with a hostile press, ABTA, array of tour operators and Joe Soap tourist, BB's time in London will be one spent with a hard hat or buried in a bunker to avoid having to answer questions. He should give serious consideration to co-opting his predecessor, Jaime "Eddie Large" Martínez, and taking him along as bodyguard. No one messes with Eddie. Not, that is, unless they want to be eaten by him.
And what might this letter say? We already have an inkling, as BB has been using the P-word in the context of justifying The Tax. "Dear lovely, lovely tourist, we know you will want to preserve your island Paradise, its velvety white sands and its forested Alpine mountains with their works of civilisations over the centuries. We want to build consensus and dialogue with you, as you are our friends, joining us in a consensual mission of sustainability. Love you loads, Biel."
Far better, surely, would be a video, BB staring misty-eyed towards the seas off the Tramuntana to a musical accompaniment of Maria del Mar Bonet wailing Costa i Llobera's "El Pi de Formentor" in the background. Bygone imagery would certainly be what Dave Spart and The Boot Girl from Podemos would be hankering after, with all signs of the hotel industry airbrushed from the landscapes. Ideally, there would be no sign of any tourists either. Bloody tourists, coming over here, clogging up our beaches. Marga Prohens may have had a point with the nuisance jibe.
The Tax should from now on only ever be written with the upper-case to denote the reverence in which it should be held, a reverence and pomposity revealed at its legalistic unveiling: the Law on the Sustainable Tourism Tax. Here is a maybe-maybe not government, the PM(P), flailing around in desperately attempting to convince everyone that it is pursuing its objectives with consensus and dialogue (when really they're at each other's throats), grabbing "sustainable" from the politico-touristic thesaurus and thus allowing The Tax to mean whatever it wants it to mean. Which is of course the case.
Principally, however, The Tax is, as we all know, required to balance the books. CC, Catalina Cladera (finance), will doubtless have informed BB that he needs to get his skates on if she is not to be made to look a CC - complete chump - having included 50 million in next year's budget only to discover that The Tax will not come into effect until all touristic life has decamped to the Canaries for the winter, where it will not pay a tax. It'll be from the first of May, Biel, or else ...
BB has the onerous task of not just extracting consensus from sources where consensus will not exist - the hoteliers and pretty much the entire Balearic business conglomerate - but also from the providers of the booty, the 13.5 million tourists of whom Francina is convinced that they are so in love with the Balearics that they will hand over The Tax with an ecstatic look of euphoria. "Praise the Lord Biel for saving our paradise."
So difficult is BB's task that he is, one understands, to take the unusual step of writing an open letter to the British touristic collective that will be nailed to the heads of everyone attending London's World Travel Market. The mind boggles. The very fact that he needs (someone else needs, who one trusts is familiar with the English language) to compile such propaganda should tell him something. What are we letting ourselves in for? Faced with a hostile press, ABTA, array of tour operators and Joe Soap tourist, BB's time in London will be one spent with a hard hat or buried in a bunker to avoid having to answer questions. He should give serious consideration to co-opting his predecessor, Jaime "Eddie Large" Martínez, and taking him along as bodyguard. No one messes with Eddie. Not, that is, unless they want to be eaten by him.
And what might this letter say? We already have an inkling, as BB has been using the P-word in the context of justifying The Tax. "Dear lovely, lovely tourist, we know you will want to preserve your island Paradise, its velvety white sands and its forested Alpine mountains with their works of civilisations over the centuries. We want to build consensus and dialogue with you, as you are our friends, joining us in a consensual mission of sustainability. Love you loads, Biel."
Far better, surely, would be a video, BB staring misty-eyed towards the seas off the Tramuntana to a musical accompaniment of Maria del Mar Bonet wailing Costa i Llobera's "El Pi de Formentor" in the background. Bygone imagery would certainly be what Dave Spart and The Boot Girl from Podemos would be hankering after, with all signs of the hotel industry airbrushed from the landscapes. Ideally, there would be no sign of any tourists either. Bloody tourists, coming over here, clogging up our beaches. Marga Prohens may have had a point with the nuisance jibe.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 18 October 2015
Morning high (8.15am): 16.1C
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 19 October - Rain, 23C; 20 October - Cloud, sun, 19C; 21 October - Cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 to 4.
Pleasant morning, but likely to cloud over later, with a storm possible overnight and a wet day tomorrow. General outlook - mixed.
Evening update (21.30): Decent. Highs inland and coastal of 25.4C.
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 19 October - Rain, 23C; 20 October - Cloud, sun, 19C; 21 October - Cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 to 4.
Pleasant morning, but likely to cloud over later, with a storm possible overnight and a wet day tomorrow. General outlook - mixed.
Evening update (21.30): Decent. Highs inland and coastal of 25.4C.
The Rival Fairs Of Autumn: Llucmajor
The legend of the Black Madonna at Lluc monastery involves the shepherd boy Lluc (aka Luke). It's a legend and story well enough known that a conclusion - a wrong one - might be drawn. Lluc, as in the place, has nothing to do with the name of the shepherd boy. "Lluc" is derived from the Latin "lucu" to mean sacred forest. The name Lluc (or Luke) supposedly comes from the Latin name Lucas or the Greek Loukas to mean a man from the area of Lucania, with an alternative explanation being that it was from the Greek for giving light.
As with Lluc, the place, so also with Llucmajor, the difference being the "major" part. It means the largest sacred forest or simply the largest forest. As with many place names, there are all sorts of competing explanations, one other being that it comes from the Arabic for "over or near a place of refuge": in Catalan "lloc" means place and is the translation of the Arabic "ludjdj" (and no, I don't know how you pronounce this either).
Suffice to say, though, that in naming terms and so as with Lluc, Llucmajor has nothing to do with Luke. But just as Lluc has its legend of the shepherd boy, so Llucmajor has a person dear to its cultural and traditional heart: in this instance, Saint Luke. In case one needed any more confusion regarding place names, however, it might be noted that the legends of various Black Madonnas, of which the one at Lluc monastery is an example, have it that they were carved by Saint Luke: this is certainly the case with the Black Virgin of Montserrat.
Anyway, that's probably enough for origins of names. Today is the feast day of Sant Lluc, or Saint Luke if you prefer. One of the four Evangelists along with Matthew, Mark and John, Luke plays a vital role in Llucmajor's history as it was his feast day that came to determine when the town's fairs would be held. The first was to be on the day of Sant Miquel and the final one on the day of Sant Lluc, an arrangement which, much to the disgust of fifteenth-century fair organisers in Inca, meant that that town's autumn fairs had to be moved.
They make a great deal in Llucmajor about the longevity, the history and so the tradition of its fairs. Today brings to a close its 469th edition of the twenty-one days of fairs from Miquel to Lluc plus tomorrow's "Firó". There's a story that once upon a time they extended these by a further day and had a "Refiró" though this might just be a tall tale and a reflection of the fact that the fairs went on so long, they didn't actually know when to draw them to a close.
It is fair (sic) to say that in Llucmajor tradition, they have always spoken of fairs in the plural. There has not been "the fair" but there have been "the fairs", which is the case also in Inca. The rivalry between the two towns, dating back to the 1540s, is such that the Llucmajor versions are spoken of in the same breath as Inca's (if only by people from Llucmajor). Together they were the grandest and the largest of Mallorca's fairs, though it is reasonable (as a neutral) to suggest that Inca has now assumed number one spot in this regard.
But the final Llucmajor fair, falling as it does while summer still lingers, has a feeling of summer that the final Inca fair - Dijous Bo - does not. Hence, as it has been written of the fairs, "we leave the freshness of Arenal and return to the town to have almonds and carobs". And to also dress up. There is a whole story to be told of the association between a town's tailoring trade and its fiestas or fairs and of how the key events of the year would require a new suit, a new outfit, a new dress. It is a tradition that is long out of fashion, so to speak, but the final fair, the Saint Luke fair, was the day when the new clothes would be shown off and paraded next to the animal pens.
In Llucmajor its final fair keeps with tradition. It's not a themed fair but one very much of rural life. Along with the farm animals, there are also donkeys and the Mallorcan bulldog - the "ca de bou". And for its celebration, you have to thank old Saint Luke and the compromise reached with Inca all those years ago.
Next Sunday, never forgetting the fact that its fairs were shunted, Inca will go bigger than ever with its first fair. And, just to make a point, Inca has more than 21 days of fairs.
As with Lluc, the place, so also with Llucmajor, the difference being the "major" part. It means the largest sacred forest or simply the largest forest. As with many place names, there are all sorts of competing explanations, one other being that it comes from the Arabic for "over or near a place of refuge": in Catalan "lloc" means place and is the translation of the Arabic "ludjdj" (and no, I don't know how you pronounce this either).
Suffice to say, though, that in naming terms and so as with Lluc, Llucmajor has nothing to do with Luke. But just as Lluc has its legend of the shepherd boy, so Llucmajor has a person dear to its cultural and traditional heart: in this instance, Saint Luke. In case one needed any more confusion regarding place names, however, it might be noted that the legends of various Black Madonnas, of which the one at Lluc monastery is an example, have it that they were carved by Saint Luke: this is certainly the case with the Black Virgin of Montserrat.
Anyway, that's probably enough for origins of names. Today is the feast day of Sant Lluc, or Saint Luke if you prefer. One of the four Evangelists along with Matthew, Mark and John, Luke plays a vital role in Llucmajor's history as it was his feast day that came to determine when the town's fairs would be held. The first was to be on the day of Sant Miquel and the final one on the day of Sant Lluc, an arrangement which, much to the disgust of fifteenth-century fair organisers in Inca, meant that that town's autumn fairs had to be moved.
They make a great deal in Llucmajor about the longevity, the history and so the tradition of its fairs. Today brings to a close its 469th edition of the twenty-one days of fairs from Miquel to Lluc plus tomorrow's "Firó". There's a story that once upon a time they extended these by a further day and had a "Refiró" though this might just be a tall tale and a reflection of the fact that the fairs went on so long, they didn't actually know when to draw them to a close.
It is fair (sic) to say that in Llucmajor tradition, they have always spoken of fairs in the plural. There has not been "the fair" but there have been "the fairs", which is the case also in Inca. The rivalry between the two towns, dating back to the 1540s, is such that the Llucmajor versions are spoken of in the same breath as Inca's (if only by people from Llucmajor). Together they were the grandest and the largest of Mallorca's fairs, though it is reasonable (as a neutral) to suggest that Inca has now assumed number one spot in this regard.
But the final Llucmajor fair, falling as it does while summer still lingers, has a feeling of summer that the final Inca fair - Dijous Bo - does not. Hence, as it has been written of the fairs, "we leave the freshness of Arenal and return to the town to have almonds and carobs". And to also dress up. There is a whole story to be told of the association between a town's tailoring trade and its fiestas or fairs and of how the key events of the year would require a new suit, a new outfit, a new dress. It is a tradition that is long out of fashion, so to speak, but the final fair, the Saint Luke fair, was the day when the new clothes would be shown off and paraded next to the animal pens.
In Llucmajor its final fair keeps with tradition. It's not a themed fair but one very much of rural life. Along with the farm animals, there are also donkeys and the Mallorcan bulldog - the "ca de bou". And for its celebration, you have to thank old Saint Luke and the compromise reached with Inca all those years ago.
Next Sunday, never forgetting the fact that its fairs were shunted, Inca will go bigger than ever with its first fair. And, just to make a point, Inca has more than 21 days of fairs.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 17 October 2015
Morning high (7.00am): 13.9C
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 18 October - Sun, cloud, 24C; 19 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 20 October - Cloud, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southeast 2 to 3 increasing 3 to 4 by the afternoon.
A mainly bright day to come with a possible period of unsettled weather from tomorrow up to midweek with temperatures down and a chance of showers.
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 18 October - Sun, cloud, 24C; 19 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 20 October - Cloud, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southeast 2 to 3 increasing 3 to 4 by the afternoon.
A mainly bright day to come with a possible period of unsettled weather from tomorrow up to midweek with temperatures down and a chance of showers.
Making Things Up On The Hoof: Tourist tax
And so, the moment when the tourist tax becomes a reality draws closer. They made it all that much more official by having a press conference at presidential HQ. The president, the tourism minister, the finance minister. It was just like old times when Antich, Alomar and Mesquida announced the eco-tax. One can almost look back on that with some fondness; at least they knew what they intended spending the money on, even if it wasn't all wisely spent and a great deal of it was never actually collected.
I admit to not being totally opposed to the tax, the justification being that I believe there are moral grounds for a tax to contribute to resources and services, just like the resident population. But even this justification is lessened by, for example, the fact of the tax on petrol that supposedly goes to the health service. Not all tourists pay this of course, but a good number do, and one wonders where mention of it is in the government's budget for 2016. Conveniently filed somewhere under "other" or "special" taxes.
Though not totally opposed, I found myself increasingly angered by the announcement and the explanations, in particular the contradictory statements. Armengol mentioned the use of the tax for tourism promotion, then Barceló said that it would primarily be for environmental conservation and heritage preservation before unveiling a wish list of other applications. Tourism infrastructure, products for tackling seasonality, technological innovation for economic diversification and for tourism, improving training. As I've noted before, if they must have a tax, then don't go spreading it so thin that it ends up being of little benefit.
The overriding impression, though, is of a government that doesn't know what it's doing, making things up on the hoof, bowing to requests from whomever it last spoke to. And it is all couched in the incessant drivel about dialogue and consensus. How can there be when so many are opposed, including the "citizens" who must now pay up to two euros a night if they fancy a weekend break?
Because they don't know - definitively - how it will be spent, there is to be a joint commission, and this will doubtless strive for dialogue and consensus. Until it and members of the government can give the final version, we will be fed the sort of nonsense and spin that we are at present.
Barceló has revised downwards his percentage cost of the tax: there's an upper limit of 1.4% now and not the 1.7% there had been. The spin as to the cost doesn't, it has to be said, make the tax sound so bad. Nine days in a four-star for a family of four in summer will cost 25 euros, says Barceló. One presumes, therefore, that the daily rate for a four-star per adult will be 1.38 recurring euros, which would be an odd amount. Or perhaps by nine days, he means eight nights, in which case the rate would be 1.5625 euros, assuming the family of four comprises two adults and two kids under the age of 14.
It might not prove to be that onerous, though nothing is being said as yet about the maximum number of nights for which it will be charged. This is just one of the uncertainties to add to those of what it will actually be used for, how exactly it will be collected, how the government might propose getting those in "unregulated" accommodation to pay. Then there are others. What about foreign property owners who are non-residents? Ones who come for, say, three months. There will presumably be a limit for them, won't there be? In fact, why should they pay at all, as they already do in different ways? Any charge would be mightily unjust, though how it might be collected, assuming the government cannot do so at the airport, would probably exclude this group of "tourists".
But have the government even considered them? Just as, have they considered yachts that come and moor for a "stay" in the same way (in fact longer) than cruise ships, for which a charge based on a minimum six hours in port (which seems likely) seems dubiously justifiable.
Then hat about villas? Will they all attract the two-euro rate? Or will there be a differentiation? And if so based on what criteria? Here is a further example of the government flailing around and making announcements that are anything but complete, thus giving rise to speculation and potential loss of tourist business.
Reaction from various business sectors is differing. Though the hoteliers are hostile and are saying that it is a "bad measure at a good time economically", they want to be involved in the dialogue and the consensus. Business comments cannot be too strident or they might find they are not listened to when it comes to seeking this consensus. It is noticeable, though, that those associations which are more positive than others seem wedded to the idea that the tax should be directed towards the environment, and ultimately, one feels, this is where the battle will be fought. The war, in a sense, is lost in that the government is determined to go ahead with the tax, but the battle as to it use most certainly isn't over, and lurking in the background is an element that may make this battle intense. The most strident talk politically, apart from the opposition of the Partido Popular, is that of Podemos.
Its leader, Alberto Jarabo, has described the hoteliers as the "ventriloquists in the shadows", the ones who were commanding tourism policy of the PP. Of the tax he has said that Podemos will not accept a tax that might benefit the hotel sector. He wants all the revenue to go to the environment and to reducing the tax burden of "the citizens". Barceló, caught between every conceivable stool, says that the tax will go primarily on environmental and heritage projects, while at the same time saying it will go elsewhere. He is acutely aware of the eco-element within his own party, the pressures from GOB, the environmentalists, and from Podemos. But when push comes to shove, if Podemos don't gain "consensus" as to how the tax will be spent, might they vote, as they already have on the senior appointments affair, against the government, thus potentially rendering the tax politically untenable?
I admit to not being totally opposed to the tax, the justification being that I believe there are moral grounds for a tax to contribute to resources and services, just like the resident population. But even this justification is lessened by, for example, the fact of the tax on petrol that supposedly goes to the health service. Not all tourists pay this of course, but a good number do, and one wonders where mention of it is in the government's budget for 2016. Conveniently filed somewhere under "other" or "special" taxes.
Though not totally opposed, I found myself increasingly angered by the announcement and the explanations, in particular the contradictory statements. Armengol mentioned the use of the tax for tourism promotion, then Barceló said that it would primarily be for environmental conservation and heritage preservation before unveiling a wish list of other applications. Tourism infrastructure, products for tackling seasonality, technological innovation for economic diversification and for tourism, improving training. As I've noted before, if they must have a tax, then don't go spreading it so thin that it ends up being of little benefit.
The overriding impression, though, is of a government that doesn't know what it's doing, making things up on the hoof, bowing to requests from whomever it last spoke to. And it is all couched in the incessant drivel about dialogue and consensus. How can there be when so many are opposed, including the "citizens" who must now pay up to two euros a night if they fancy a weekend break?
Because they don't know - definitively - how it will be spent, there is to be a joint commission, and this will doubtless strive for dialogue and consensus. Until it and members of the government can give the final version, we will be fed the sort of nonsense and spin that we are at present.
Barceló has revised downwards his percentage cost of the tax: there's an upper limit of 1.4% now and not the 1.7% there had been. The spin as to the cost doesn't, it has to be said, make the tax sound so bad. Nine days in a four-star for a family of four in summer will cost 25 euros, says Barceló. One presumes, therefore, that the daily rate for a four-star per adult will be 1.38 recurring euros, which would be an odd amount. Or perhaps by nine days, he means eight nights, in which case the rate would be 1.5625 euros, assuming the family of four comprises two adults and two kids under the age of 14.
It might not prove to be that onerous, though nothing is being said as yet about the maximum number of nights for which it will be charged. This is just one of the uncertainties to add to those of what it will actually be used for, how exactly it will be collected, how the government might propose getting those in "unregulated" accommodation to pay. Then there are others. What about foreign property owners who are non-residents? Ones who come for, say, three months. There will presumably be a limit for them, won't there be? In fact, why should they pay at all, as they already do in different ways? Any charge would be mightily unjust, though how it might be collected, assuming the government cannot do so at the airport, would probably exclude this group of "tourists".
But have the government even considered them? Just as, have they considered yachts that come and moor for a "stay" in the same way (in fact longer) than cruise ships, for which a charge based on a minimum six hours in port (which seems likely) seems dubiously justifiable.
Then hat about villas? Will they all attract the two-euro rate? Or will there be a differentiation? And if so based on what criteria? Here is a further example of the government flailing around and making announcements that are anything but complete, thus giving rise to speculation and potential loss of tourist business.
Reaction from various business sectors is differing. Though the hoteliers are hostile and are saying that it is a "bad measure at a good time economically", they want to be involved in the dialogue and the consensus. Business comments cannot be too strident or they might find they are not listened to when it comes to seeking this consensus. It is noticeable, though, that those associations which are more positive than others seem wedded to the idea that the tax should be directed towards the environment, and ultimately, one feels, this is where the battle will be fought. The war, in a sense, is lost in that the government is determined to go ahead with the tax, but the battle as to it use most certainly isn't over, and lurking in the background is an element that may make this battle intense. The most strident talk politically, apart from the opposition of the Partido Popular, is that of Podemos.
Its leader, Alberto Jarabo, has described the hoteliers as the "ventriloquists in the shadows", the ones who were commanding tourism policy of the PP. Of the tax he has said that Podemos will not accept a tax that might benefit the hotel sector. He wants all the revenue to go to the environment and to reducing the tax burden of "the citizens". Barceló, caught between every conceivable stool, says that the tax will go primarily on environmental and heritage projects, while at the same time saying it will go elsewhere. He is acutely aware of the eco-element within his own party, the pressures from GOB, the environmentalists, and from Podemos. But when push comes to shove, if Podemos don't gain "consensus" as to how the tax will be spent, might they vote, as they already have on the senior appointments affair, against the government, thus potentially rendering the tax politically untenable?
Friday, October 16, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 October 2015
Morning high (6.30am): 14.1C
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 17 October - Sun, cloud, 24C; 18 October - Cloud, sun, 23C; 19 October - Cloud, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3.
A reasonable day ahead, fairly warm with minimal breezes. Tomorrow due to be a bit warmer, but Sunday mostly cloudy.
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 17 October - Sun, cloud, 24C; 18 October - Cloud, sun, 23C; 19 October - Cloud, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3.
A reasonable day ahead, fairly warm with minimal breezes. Tomorrow due to be a bit warmer, but Sunday mostly cloudy.
What's On?: Who knows?
Among other things, the day job (mine) currently involves being keeper of the Bulletin's What's On. Pretty simple job, you might think. Up to a point it is, but there is a great deal that makes it anything but simple.
I wouldn't claim that this coverage is comprehensive. Selectivity is applied. For example, does anyone want or need to know that the local indie band is playing at a bar no one's ever heard of in Ariany or Lloret de Vistalegre? Perhaps they do. In which case, do let me know. On balance, however, listing every gig, dance night or whatever may not be called for. So, comprehensive it is not, but it is reasonable to say that the coverage is far more complete and coherent than other sources, and that's because gathering all this stuff isn't straightforward and requires a fair amount of digging in order to find it in the first place and then to confirm exactly what it is and when it is taking place.
Much of what happens on the island can be placed in a calendar because it is always the same. This applies to fiestas or fairs. However, the dates aren't always the same. It is necessary to know that, for instance, the La Beata processions in Santa Margalida and Palma are, respectively, held on the first Sunday of September and the third Saturday of October. So long as you know this, then things are simple enough, except of course when they suddenly go and completely change the date. Local elections are one reason why this can happen, and a fiesta/fair that is normally pencilled in for around 20 May ends up taking place some time in June.
Inconvenient though this is, one is at least aware of the fair/fiesta looming on the what's on calendar, and so off one trots - not physically but via the internet - to whatever source for further information seems most appropriate, and more often than not, this will be the town hall.
There are, it must be said, certain town halls which are rubbish when it comes to imparting information about their events. Eventually you might find it, buried within all the town hall website junk about recycling, tax payments and courses for teaching Catalan. Others are much better and no more so than the ones which, on going to their websites, have a pop-up announcing the fiesta/fair/whatever it is. Here is where life should be very simple, Generally it is, but not always.
As an example, Campos has its sobrassada thing going on next week. The town hall has produced a nice-looking PDF with all the information you might want except for the fact that it tells you about restaurants participating in its gastronomy do without actually saying when this is. Attempting to put two and two together, off one goes to Mr. Google for some assistance, and you seemingly find it, only to discover that you are looking at something from 2012.
Not giving precise times and dates is just one trial that one has to endure. A further one is that what might look to be a fairly accurate source of information turns out not to be. The regional government, for example, has a calendar of what it calls fairs and markets. This, by the way, isn't produced by the tourism ministry but by the ministry of employment, commerce and industry. Issued each year, it has a couple of iterations before being declared "definitive", which it might be if it didn't miss out ones or say that some are "sense determinar" (undetermined), as in when they take place.
Then you might come across an event which gives barely any information. No location, or no time, or no price (if there is one). Or there can be conflicting information as to all these. It's at this point that one begins to lose the will to live. Why should it be so difficult to include something as basic as a venue or a time? But, ever diligent, one investigates further. Facebook might help, and it often does. If a particular artist/performer/band has a date to play somewhere, they generally speaking know, and know rather better than the originator of the incomplete information.
These are just some indications as to why putting what's on information together isn't always a straightforward task and why one has the feeling at times that, despite all the talk about cultural promotion and what have you, there are too many town halls, regional bodies and others who are failing in a mission to inform. Do they really want people to know? You do sometimes wonder.
Amidst this incoherence, there are mercifully some shining beacons of informativeness. Hats off, therefore, to the likes of Valldemossa and Felanitx town halls and their comprehensiveness in issuing summer information. If only they were all like them.
I wouldn't claim that this coverage is comprehensive. Selectivity is applied. For example, does anyone want or need to know that the local indie band is playing at a bar no one's ever heard of in Ariany or Lloret de Vistalegre? Perhaps they do. In which case, do let me know. On balance, however, listing every gig, dance night or whatever may not be called for. So, comprehensive it is not, but it is reasonable to say that the coverage is far more complete and coherent than other sources, and that's because gathering all this stuff isn't straightforward and requires a fair amount of digging in order to find it in the first place and then to confirm exactly what it is and when it is taking place.
Much of what happens on the island can be placed in a calendar because it is always the same. This applies to fiestas or fairs. However, the dates aren't always the same. It is necessary to know that, for instance, the La Beata processions in Santa Margalida and Palma are, respectively, held on the first Sunday of September and the third Saturday of October. So long as you know this, then things are simple enough, except of course when they suddenly go and completely change the date. Local elections are one reason why this can happen, and a fiesta/fair that is normally pencilled in for around 20 May ends up taking place some time in June.
Inconvenient though this is, one is at least aware of the fair/fiesta looming on the what's on calendar, and so off one trots - not physically but via the internet - to whatever source for further information seems most appropriate, and more often than not, this will be the town hall.
There are, it must be said, certain town halls which are rubbish when it comes to imparting information about their events. Eventually you might find it, buried within all the town hall website junk about recycling, tax payments and courses for teaching Catalan. Others are much better and no more so than the ones which, on going to their websites, have a pop-up announcing the fiesta/fair/whatever it is. Here is where life should be very simple, Generally it is, but not always.
As an example, Campos has its sobrassada thing going on next week. The town hall has produced a nice-looking PDF with all the information you might want except for the fact that it tells you about restaurants participating in its gastronomy do without actually saying when this is. Attempting to put two and two together, off one goes to Mr. Google for some assistance, and you seemingly find it, only to discover that you are looking at something from 2012.
Not giving precise times and dates is just one trial that one has to endure. A further one is that what might look to be a fairly accurate source of information turns out not to be. The regional government, for example, has a calendar of what it calls fairs and markets. This, by the way, isn't produced by the tourism ministry but by the ministry of employment, commerce and industry. Issued each year, it has a couple of iterations before being declared "definitive", which it might be if it didn't miss out ones or say that some are "sense determinar" (undetermined), as in when they take place.
Then you might come across an event which gives barely any information. No location, or no time, or no price (if there is one). Or there can be conflicting information as to all these. It's at this point that one begins to lose the will to live. Why should it be so difficult to include something as basic as a venue or a time? But, ever diligent, one investigates further. Facebook might help, and it often does. If a particular artist/performer/band has a date to play somewhere, they generally speaking know, and know rather better than the originator of the incomplete information.
These are just some indications as to why putting what's on information together isn't always a straightforward task and why one has the feeling at times that, despite all the talk about cultural promotion and what have you, there are too many town halls, regional bodies and others who are failing in a mission to inform. Do they really want people to know? You do sometimes wonder.
Amidst this incoherence, there are mercifully some shining beacons of informativeness. Hats off, therefore, to the likes of Valldemossa and Felanitx town halls and their comprehensiveness in issuing summer information. If only they were all like them.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 October 2015
Morning high (7.00am): 14.3C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 16 October - Sun, cloud, 22C; 17 October - Sun, cloud, 21C; 18 October - Cloud, 22C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3 veering Southeast during the morning.
There may be the odd shower today but otherwise a mix of cloud and sun, which is a similar story heading into the weekend. Temperatures unspectacular.
Evening update (20.00): Sunny for quite a bit of the day. Clouded over later. A spot rain in parts. Coastal high, 19.4C; Inland high, 20.8C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 16 October - Sun, cloud, 22C; 17 October - Sun, cloud, 21C; 18 October - Cloud, 22C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3 veering Southeast during the morning.
There may be the odd shower today but otherwise a mix of cloud and sun, which is a similar story heading into the weekend. Temperatures unspectacular.
Evening update (20.00): Sunny for quite a bit of the day. Clouded over later. A spot rain in parts. Coastal high, 19.4C; Inland high, 20.8C.
Just Another Tax?: Balearic finances
The government has released its projections for revenue generation in 2016. And by revenue generation one means tax. Buried among the various contributions is what is referred to as "other taxes". This shows a 50 million euro increase over 2015. It is the provision, so it is believed, for the tourist tax, a rather more modest number than the 100 million or more that has been spoken of but which would be attainable only with what would prove to be an onerous levy.
It's difficult to judge how accurate the provision is without knowing what exemptions there might be (children) or what the cap will be on the number of overnight stays (of which it has been suggested they may be only five). It's also difficult because of the number of visitors who won't pay it because there will be no mechanism to do so through accommodation. This is why the government is so keen to have collection at ports and airports, a scheme which, however, could prove as unworkable as it would be damaging (even more damaging) in PR terms. That Madrid appears disinclined to meet the regional transport minister to discuss the subject is to Madrid's credit.
The inclusion of the provision for the tourist tax in the revenue forecast is fair enough, but the very fact of its inclusion lends weight to the argument that the tax will merely be a further means of boosting general revenues, i.e. it will be treated as a general tax. As the government continues to faff around and change its mind on an almost daily basis as to what its purpose is, this impression strengthens. But above all, there is the whole question of government finance. It bangs on constantly about the 0.3% deficit ceiling for 2016, one on which Madrid will not budge, making it ever clearer that the tourist tax is a device for addressing spending capacity that will be denied to the government because of the ceiling.
The government does, though, have to consider its spending as a consequence of its own specific tax-raising. The greater its capacity, the more Madrid might be inclined to penalise the government when it comes to the funding allocation derived from the system that the government considers so unfair: the redistribution of tax revenues to richer and poorer regions of Spain. It is an unfair system in that the Balearics have constantly been left well short because of the high levels of income tax and IVA (VAT) returns compared with other regions. But the more revenue that the government derives from its own specific regional taxes, the more the liquidity funds and what have you that Madrid controls will be biased towards the farmers of Extremadura. It is a bit of a Catch 22 in this regard, but that is how the system, flawed as it is, works.
The expectation is that this will all change if the national government changes and PSOE's Pedro Sánchez becomes prime minister. It may well change, but change is already afoot, the Rajoy administration having conceded that the financing system needs to be amended and to be made more favourable to the Balearics. For all that Rajoy has applied austerity, the point needs to be made that Madrid has brought about some discipline with regions' finances, though even it has been unable to effect major improvements to debt levels: the regional government, left a legacy of enormous debt by the Bauzá regime, wants to negotiate with the banks.
Even once the government does finally define the tourist tax - the amount, the length of stay, the exemptions, the means of collection, the use (or uses) - the arguments will continue, and the Balearic tax will attach far greater controversy than similar taxes elsewhere, some of which are little known about. A correspondent of mine mentioned a conversation he had with a tourist who has come to Mallorca twice this year rather than dividing his two annual holidays between Mallorca and Tunisia (for obvious reasons). This tourist says that he won't be returning to Mallorca if there is a tax, but then Tunisia has one of its own - a departure tax.
The point is, though, that regardless of taxes in what are direct competitor destinations - Morocco, Tunisia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Catalonia, parts of France and even perhaps Dubai - the Mallorcan visitor appears unmoved by the argument and the comparison.
The same tourist of my correspondent's acquaintance says why don't they just hide the tax and apply it some other way and not make an issue of it. Possibly they could, but I've other suggestions. Why not make it a tourist lottery? Or make it voluntary? As President Armengol believes that tourists are willing to be so generous with the tax, who knows, the government might rake in even more from a massive Balearic tipping scheme. Couldn't be done though, as the tax budget wouldn't allow it.
It's difficult to judge how accurate the provision is without knowing what exemptions there might be (children) or what the cap will be on the number of overnight stays (of which it has been suggested they may be only five). It's also difficult because of the number of visitors who won't pay it because there will be no mechanism to do so through accommodation. This is why the government is so keen to have collection at ports and airports, a scheme which, however, could prove as unworkable as it would be damaging (even more damaging) in PR terms. That Madrid appears disinclined to meet the regional transport minister to discuss the subject is to Madrid's credit.
The inclusion of the provision for the tourist tax in the revenue forecast is fair enough, but the very fact of its inclusion lends weight to the argument that the tax will merely be a further means of boosting general revenues, i.e. it will be treated as a general tax. As the government continues to faff around and change its mind on an almost daily basis as to what its purpose is, this impression strengthens. But above all, there is the whole question of government finance. It bangs on constantly about the 0.3% deficit ceiling for 2016, one on which Madrid will not budge, making it ever clearer that the tourist tax is a device for addressing spending capacity that will be denied to the government because of the ceiling.
The government does, though, have to consider its spending as a consequence of its own specific tax-raising. The greater its capacity, the more Madrid might be inclined to penalise the government when it comes to the funding allocation derived from the system that the government considers so unfair: the redistribution of tax revenues to richer and poorer regions of Spain. It is an unfair system in that the Balearics have constantly been left well short because of the high levels of income tax and IVA (VAT) returns compared with other regions. But the more revenue that the government derives from its own specific regional taxes, the more the liquidity funds and what have you that Madrid controls will be biased towards the farmers of Extremadura. It is a bit of a Catch 22 in this regard, but that is how the system, flawed as it is, works.
The expectation is that this will all change if the national government changes and PSOE's Pedro Sánchez becomes prime minister. It may well change, but change is already afoot, the Rajoy administration having conceded that the financing system needs to be amended and to be made more favourable to the Balearics. For all that Rajoy has applied austerity, the point needs to be made that Madrid has brought about some discipline with regions' finances, though even it has been unable to effect major improvements to debt levels: the regional government, left a legacy of enormous debt by the Bauzá regime, wants to negotiate with the banks.
Even once the government does finally define the tourist tax - the amount, the length of stay, the exemptions, the means of collection, the use (or uses) - the arguments will continue, and the Balearic tax will attach far greater controversy than similar taxes elsewhere, some of which are little known about. A correspondent of mine mentioned a conversation he had with a tourist who has come to Mallorca twice this year rather than dividing his two annual holidays between Mallorca and Tunisia (for obvious reasons). This tourist says that he won't be returning to Mallorca if there is a tax, but then Tunisia has one of its own - a departure tax.
The point is, though, that regardless of taxes in what are direct competitor destinations - Morocco, Tunisia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Catalonia, parts of France and even perhaps Dubai - the Mallorcan visitor appears unmoved by the argument and the comparison.
The same tourist of my correspondent's acquaintance says why don't they just hide the tax and apply it some other way and not make an issue of it. Possibly they could, but I've other suggestions. Why not make it a tourist lottery? Or make it voluntary? As President Armengol believes that tourists are willing to be so generous with the tax, who knows, the government might rake in even more from a massive Balearic tipping scheme. Couldn't be done though, as the tax budget wouldn't allow it.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 14 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 16.7C
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 15 October - Rain, sun, 20C; 16 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 17 October - Cloud, sun, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 6 locally 7, easing North 3 to 5 by the evening. Waves to three metres at times.
A storm around first thing, and it is raining. Alerts for rain and coastal conditions, though things should improve by the afternoon. Rain still a possibility tomorrow.
Evening update (21.30): It got better later on after a good deal of rain early on. Highs inland and coastal around the forecasted 19C.
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 15 October - Rain, sun, 20C; 16 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 17 October - Cloud, sun, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 6 locally 7, easing North 3 to 5 by the evening. Waves to three metres at times.
A storm around first thing, and it is raining. Alerts for rain and coastal conditions, though things should improve by the afternoon. Rain still a possibility tomorrow.
Evening update (21.30): It got better later on after a good deal of rain early on. Highs inland and coastal around the forecasted 19C.
The Curiosity Of Hispanicity
Spain's National Day is a curious affair. Away from Madrid, it isn't a big deal. In Mallorca the Virgen del Pilar fiesta of the same date carries more weight, albeit that this is not as it was. 12 October has become a public holiday, a ritual one largely confined to rituals of military parading in Madrid, to some religious ritual and to a further one honouring the Guardia Civil, whose patron is Pilar, the saint on a pillar in Zaragoza and the image of the Virgin Mary. Otherwise, the ritual is like other public holidays: a day off and, if you're lucky with the weather, a day on the beach.
It is curious in another respect in that the adoption of 12 October first really came about in 1913 as a fiesta for celebrating common bonds of the Spanish people and the Spanish lands of South America. There had, by then, been commemorations of Columbus's discovery for some twenty years or so in Buenos Aires, and in 1913 a name was given to this day, the Fiesta de al Raza - the festival of the race, the Spanish race.
This was to morph into the Día de la Hispanidad, the day of Hispanicity, and the change was largely driven from Argentina. Among others, a one-time Spanish ambassador to Argentina, Ramiro de Maeztu, had proposed the adoption of this name in 1931. Three years later, the Archbishop of Toledo picked up on Maeztu's proposal and presented the discourse "Apologia de la Hispanidad" - the defence of the Hispanic peoples and heritage. A year later, in 1935 and in the time of the Second Republic, the first Día de la Hispanidad was celebrated. Maeztu spoke and referred to the whole of Spain and of Spain in the Americas being a part of it. One further year on, with Spain at war, he was executed by the Republicans.
In 1939, the Civil War over, the official celebration took place in Zaragoza. For the Nationalists and for Franco, it was a day that brought together all that it held dear and all that it wished to correct. Spain and Hispanicity had themselves been through the wars for decades. For example, there had been humiliation with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The upheavals that had endured for so long were to be replaced by a reassertion of Spain the nation and Spain in the wider world. Allied to this was the fundamentalism of the Catholic conservatism that the regime espoused. The Virgen del Pilar was, therefore, definitively and symbolically linked to this day of nationalism - the mother of the Hispanic peoples.
It wasn't until 1958 that the day was officially declared as a public holiday and as the "fiesta nacional". Following the death of Franco and the establishment of democracy, there were to be two decrees. One of 1981 maintained the title Día de la Hispanidad; a second, in 1987, didn't. Though it was never formally abandoned - and it is still used - there appeared to be an attempt at creating a distance with the concept of Hispanicity.
Nowadays, it is a day that is rejected in certain quarters. The presidents of Catalonia and the Basque Country did not attend the Madrid military parade, and they never have. In Mallorca, there were protests of the what's-there-to-celebrate variety. The mayor and other councillors from Més and the Republican Left were among those who didn't have a day off. They worked instead. The day of Hispanicity, the national fiesta, the Guardia Civil celebration: none of these would close the town hall for the day, observed mayor Miquel Oliver.
There is something else that is curious about this day. National days are not uncommon. The French have one, Bastille Day. The Italians celebrate the post-Second World War referendum which definitively established the republic. The Dutch have King's Day. Germany has one of sorts - to mark reunification. The British don't have one. But Spain's day stands out for the fact that its roots lie with the notion of Hispanicity, of the Spanish peoples. The French don't promote global Frenchness as such. Neither the Italians nor the Dutch indulge in celebrating the reach of their nations to any extent.
Of one-time imperial powers, it is only the Spanish who, even if it is officially no longer recognised, have this universality. In certain respects, it is understandable. There are an awful lot of Hispanic people across the globe, while the impetus behind the day was as much one from a part of former empire as it was a domestic creation. But perhaps it is a reflection of a psyche, of the loss of the discovery by Columbus and of the creation of empire and of a people that was to disintegrate and unravel. And right now, the assertions of National Day are against the background of another possible unravelling - the nation itself.
It is curious in another respect in that the adoption of 12 October first really came about in 1913 as a fiesta for celebrating common bonds of the Spanish people and the Spanish lands of South America. There had, by then, been commemorations of Columbus's discovery for some twenty years or so in Buenos Aires, and in 1913 a name was given to this day, the Fiesta de al Raza - the festival of the race, the Spanish race.
This was to morph into the Día de la Hispanidad, the day of Hispanicity, and the change was largely driven from Argentina. Among others, a one-time Spanish ambassador to Argentina, Ramiro de Maeztu, had proposed the adoption of this name in 1931. Three years later, the Archbishop of Toledo picked up on Maeztu's proposal and presented the discourse "Apologia de la Hispanidad" - the defence of the Hispanic peoples and heritage. A year later, in 1935 and in the time of the Second Republic, the first Día de la Hispanidad was celebrated. Maeztu spoke and referred to the whole of Spain and of Spain in the Americas being a part of it. One further year on, with Spain at war, he was executed by the Republicans.
In 1939, the Civil War over, the official celebration took place in Zaragoza. For the Nationalists and for Franco, it was a day that brought together all that it held dear and all that it wished to correct. Spain and Hispanicity had themselves been through the wars for decades. For example, there had been humiliation with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The upheavals that had endured for so long were to be replaced by a reassertion of Spain the nation and Spain in the wider world. Allied to this was the fundamentalism of the Catholic conservatism that the regime espoused. The Virgen del Pilar was, therefore, definitively and symbolically linked to this day of nationalism - the mother of the Hispanic peoples.
It wasn't until 1958 that the day was officially declared as a public holiday and as the "fiesta nacional". Following the death of Franco and the establishment of democracy, there were to be two decrees. One of 1981 maintained the title Día de la Hispanidad; a second, in 1987, didn't. Though it was never formally abandoned - and it is still used - there appeared to be an attempt at creating a distance with the concept of Hispanicity.
Nowadays, it is a day that is rejected in certain quarters. The presidents of Catalonia and the Basque Country did not attend the Madrid military parade, and they never have. In Mallorca, there were protests of the what's-there-to-celebrate variety. The mayor and other councillors from Més and the Republican Left were among those who didn't have a day off. They worked instead. The day of Hispanicity, the national fiesta, the Guardia Civil celebration: none of these would close the town hall for the day, observed mayor Miquel Oliver.
There is something else that is curious about this day. National days are not uncommon. The French have one, Bastille Day. The Italians celebrate the post-Second World War referendum which definitively established the republic. The Dutch have King's Day. Germany has one of sorts - to mark reunification. The British don't have one. But Spain's day stands out for the fact that its roots lie with the notion of Hispanicity, of the Spanish peoples. The French don't promote global Frenchness as such. Neither the Italians nor the Dutch indulge in celebrating the reach of their nations to any extent.
Of one-time imperial powers, it is only the Spanish who, even if it is officially no longer recognised, have this universality. In certain respects, it is understandable. There are an awful lot of Hispanic people across the globe, while the impetus behind the day was as much one from a part of former empire as it was a domestic creation. But perhaps it is a reflection of a psyche, of the loss of the discovery by Columbus and of the creation of empire and of a people that was to disintegrate and unravel. And right now, the assertions of National Day are against the background of another possible unravelling - the nation itself.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 October 2015
Morning high (7.30am): 18.4C
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 14 October - Rain, sun, 20C; 15 October - Sun, rain, 18C; 16 October - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3, locally 4 at times.
An alert out for rain today and tomorrow. Cloudy start, though no rain. Getting cooler over the next few days but then forecast to warm up again by Sunday.
Evening update (19.30): Quite grey for much of the day, some sun but mostly cloudy and humid. The rain is now with us and is heavy in places. Highs - Inland, 23.6C; Coastal, 22.9C.
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 14 October - Rain, sun, 20C; 15 October - Sun, rain, 18C; 16 October - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3, locally 4 at times.
An alert out for rain today and tomorrow. Cloudy start, though no rain. Getting cooler over the next few days but then forecast to warm up again by Sunday.
Evening update (19.30): Quite grey for much of the day, some sun but mostly cloudy and humid. The rain is now with us and is heavy in places. Highs - Inland, 23.6C; Coastal, 22.9C.
Island Hopping: Joana Camps
We would have had every good reason to have believed that we would have never heard of her again. Former minister, Joana Maria Camps, the second of the three in charge of education under José Ramón Bauzá, was relieved of her duties in September 2014. She had been minister for some eighteen months, during which time the islands' education system went from bad to worse and occasionally descended into farce, with Joana sometimes the cause.
During the time that she was minister, some started to note that she was heading off to Menorca - her home island - not infrequently. Among those doing the noting was the Assemblea de Docents, the teachers' assembly, for whom Joana was public enemy number two after Bauzá.
The Joana affair has, on two occasions, been considered by a court. On both occasions the matter was "archived", which typically means that no more is ever heard of it. However, the court in Palma has re-opened the case, and next month Joana will be obliged to explain herself. The Assemblea is pointing to the fact that Joana went to Menorca 32 times between May and December 2013 and that her stays often coincided with a weekend and lasted for more than a day. A contrast is being made with two visits that were made to Ibiza with travel there and back on the same day and one to Brussels that also involved same-day travel. In addition, there is the fact that Joana received 22,000 euros per annum compensation for needing to base herself in Mallorca.
The court has taken note of four specific trips that were apparently made: three days for a meeting with the mayor of Sant Lluís; six days for trophy-giving for the Almirante Ferragut regatta; five days for the Rocío pilgrimage; five days for the presentation of a magazine for the Sant Joan fiestas in Ciutadella. It should be noted that, in addition to having been education minister, she did also have responsibility for culture, but while this dual portfolio may offer some justification, the court would appear to believe that there is something a tad fishy which is worthy of further examination.
Joana has come out fighting, saying that she has nothing to hide and that there was no misuse of public funds. She is also drawing a comparison with a minister in the Antich government, Joana Barceló, who is also from Menorca and who was in charge of employment before adding the tourism brief in early 2010. Joana says that the other Joana made 46 trips to Menorca - 38 of them at weekends - between February and December 2010 and a further 28 in the five months of 2011 prior to the regional election.
Whether two wrongs - if it is deemed wrongs have been committed - make a right isn't really the issue. But it might be said that there is an issue regarding appointments of ministers (or indeed others) from those in the other islands. While it is only just that these are shared around, it is important that they are made for the right reasons and go to the right people. Joana, as was regularly pointed out, had no specific background that qualified her to be education minister. For an austerity-minded government, was an annual compensation for being based in Mallorca justified, when there were surely others who might have been better qualified for the post? Hers was an appointment to guarantee a following of the party (Bauzá) line on trilingual teaching, the previous and far better qualified incumbent, Rafael Bosch, having been less minded to give the policy his wholehearted support.
The handing-out of appointments does have an element of a quota system to it in order that the other islands are represented in government. Hence, the current cabinet has Marc Pons and Esperança Camps (no relation) from Menorca and Joan Boned from Ibiza. As Boned is transport minister, it might be said that his wish for a 30 euro flat-rate inter-island flight tariff makes sense as it will save on the cost of any travel he has to make with his home island.
It is right that there is all-island representation (though Formentera tends not to get a look in), but then it is also right that travel does not give rise to certain suspicions. With Joana, it is possible that these would not have arisen or not gone as far as the courts, were it not for the Assemblea having it in for her. Is there vindictiveness? Possibly there is. But there again, it isn't altogether surprising that those suspicions were aroused, given the number of trips.
Ministers getting around the other islands should (and does) form part of what they do. A problem for Joana perhaps is less the trips she made to Menorca but the ones she didn't make to Ibiza.
During the time that she was minister, some started to note that she was heading off to Menorca - her home island - not infrequently. Among those doing the noting was the Assemblea de Docents, the teachers' assembly, for whom Joana was public enemy number two after Bauzá.
The Joana affair has, on two occasions, been considered by a court. On both occasions the matter was "archived", which typically means that no more is ever heard of it. However, the court in Palma has re-opened the case, and next month Joana will be obliged to explain herself. The Assemblea is pointing to the fact that Joana went to Menorca 32 times between May and December 2013 and that her stays often coincided with a weekend and lasted for more than a day. A contrast is being made with two visits that were made to Ibiza with travel there and back on the same day and one to Brussels that also involved same-day travel. In addition, there is the fact that Joana received 22,000 euros per annum compensation for needing to base herself in Mallorca.
The court has taken note of four specific trips that were apparently made: three days for a meeting with the mayor of Sant Lluís; six days for trophy-giving for the Almirante Ferragut regatta; five days for the Rocío pilgrimage; five days for the presentation of a magazine for the Sant Joan fiestas in Ciutadella. It should be noted that, in addition to having been education minister, she did also have responsibility for culture, but while this dual portfolio may offer some justification, the court would appear to believe that there is something a tad fishy which is worthy of further examination.
Joana has come out fighting, saying that she has nothing to hide and that there was no misuse of public funds. She is also drawing a comparison with a minister in the Antich government, Joana Barceló, who is also from Menorca and who was in charge of employment before adding the tourism brief in early 2010. Joana says that the other Joana made 46 trips to Menorca - 38 of them at weekends - between February and December 2010 and a further 28 in the five months of 2011 prior to the regional election.
Whether two wrongs - if it is deemed wrongs have been committed - make a right isn't really the issue. But it might be said that there is an issue regarding appointments of ministers (or indeed others) from those in the other islands. While it is only just that these are shared around, it is important that they are made for the right reasons and go to the right people. Joana, as was regularly pointed out, had no specific background that qualified her to be education minister. For an austerity-minded government, was an annual compensation for being based in Mallorca justified, when there were surely others who might have been better qualified for the post? Hers was an appointment to guarantee a following of the party (Bauzá) line on trilingual teaching, the previous and far better qualified incumbent, Rafael Bosch, having been less minded to give the policy his wholehearted support.
The handing-out of appointments does have an element of a quota system to it in order that the other islands are represented in government. Hence, the current cabinet has Marc Pons and Esperança Camps (no relation) from Menorca and Joan Boned from Ibiza. As Boned is transport minister, it might be said that his wish for a 30 euro flat-rate inter-island flight tariff makes sense as it will save on the cost of any travel he has to make with his home island.
It is right that there is all-island representation (though Formentera tends not to get a look in), but then it is also right that travel does not give rise to certain suspicions. With Joana, it is possible that these would not have arisen or not gone as far as the courts, were it not for the Assemblea having it in for her. Is there vindictiveness? Possibly there is. But there again, it isn't altogether surprising that those suspicions were aroused, given the number of trips.
Ministers getting around the other islands should (and does) form part of what they do. A problem for Joana perhaps is less the trips she made to Menorca but the ones she didn't make to Ibiza.
Monday, October 12, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 October 2015
Morning high (6.15am): 18C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 13 October - Rain, 23C; 14 October - Rain, 19C; 15 October - Cloud, sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
Better overall forecast for today in that the showers that had been hinted at for later in the day seem less likely, but neither tomorrow nor Wednesday is looking good, with rain and storms on the cards.
Evening update (20.15): Very decent for 12 October - Inland high, 29.6C; Coastal high, 28.3C. Not so decent tomorrow.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 13 October - Rain, 23C; 14 October - Rain, 19C; 15 October - Cloud, sun, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
Better overall forecast for today in that the showers that had been hinted at for later in the day seem less likely, but neither tomorrow nor Wednesday is looking good, with rain and storms on the cards.
Evening update (20.15): Very decent for 12 October - Inland high, 29.6C; Coastal high, 28.3C. Not so decent tomorrow.
The Politics Of Dancing
"Right leg in, right leg out, right leg in, shake it all about." No, hang on, there's something wrong here. Let me see. Ah yes. "Left leg in, left leg out, left leg in, shake it all about." That's much better. Not that it was really what you would call the hokey cokey. It was more a vain - very vain - attempt at reviving the Tiller Girls, which required some doing on behalf of the likes of environment, agriculture and fisheries minister, Vicenç Vidal. Heavyweight Vince was all for giving it a go, and he certainly entered into the spirit, a leg (a left one) raised barely to the horizontal, clad in the political pantaloons de mode of the present day: ill-fitting jeans.
Of particular surprise was that they all appeared to have agreed on what dance it was they were attempting (the conga, allegedly). Under normal procedures of agreements for change, a commission would be called and dialogue undertaken in order to arrive at consensus. But no, for once they just got on with it. They being what I shall now refer to as the PM(P) - PSOE, Més, (Podemos), the brackets indicating that We Can aren't sure whether they're in or out (leg or otherwise).
The Tiller Girls routine was all the more surprising given the presence of contrarians of the Laura Camargo ilk, the Podemos boot girl who you would think would have opted for some punkish pogoing, replete with the odd head butt and a right hook. This dancing in the street, dancing to a brand new beat certainly didn't entail any Jaggeresque moving like Jagger. Quite what its movement was, was difficult to ascertain, but as it was a dance (sic) of victory and celebration, surely the choice was wrong. The glorious victory was the entirely expected repeal of the reviled Law of Symbols. Catalan flags can now hang proudly over the doors to every infant school in the Balearics. But didn't this triumph against symbols demand something more symbolic in a dance style? Why weren't they doing a jota or some such traditional folk dance? It's not as if Francina's not up for a spot of folkloric prancing, muscling in on cossier performances and what have you.
But no. It was the Tiller Girls. Or the hokey cokey. Or the conga. Or whatever it was meant to be. Something of a metaphor for the government therefore.
Those of you of a certain vintage may recall the hit (the only one) by the group Re-Flex. "The politics of dancing," the lyric went, "the politics of ooo feeling good". Suddenly, and most disturbingly, politicians are discovering dance. It wasn't only the PM(P). María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón, all of whom constitute the iron lady deputy premier (otherwise and more accurately known as the vice-president) of Spain, was ooo feeling good when she took to the dance floor of national television. And a right little mover she was too, gyrating in the company of six hulks (actually not-so hulks) along to Mark Ronson. "Uptown funk you up." Yes, that was funk you up, and she ended by kissing the head of a baldy bloke. One trusts that she doesn't do this with Rajoy. The head-kissing that is, and indeed the dancing, though she was to reveal that Mariano is a "bailongo". A bi what? It is a dance aficionado, one for example down the local disco.
So maybe we can expect Mariano to join Soraya. Together they'll be ooo feeling good, demonstrating that they are just normal human beings after all, dancing their way to electoral victory. Or possibly committing political murder on the dance floor: their own.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 October 2015
Morning high (7.45am): 12.9C
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 12 October - Sun, cloud, 27C; 13 October - Rain, 22C; 14 October - Rain, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
A much cooler morning. Clear skies should persist and give a fine, sunny day, but change coming tomorrow, with the possibility of showers and then rainy conditions from Tuesday.
Evening update (20.15): Breezy, but a fine day. Highs of 26.6C coastal and 27.2C inland.
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 12 October - Sun, cloud, 27C; 13 October - Rain, 22C; 14 October - Rain, 19C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
A much cooler morning. Clear skies should persist and give a fine, sunny day, but change coming tomorrow, with the possibility of showers and then rainy conditions from Tuesday.
Evening update (20.15): Breezy, but a fine day. Highs of 26.6C coastal and 27.2C inland.
They've Mapped The Imagination
A few years ago I wrote an article about maps, Mallorca's maps. It was about a function of maps that went beyond the obvious. It said: "Maps should map the imagination. A map of Mallorca should be a map of Mallorca's imagination". It was an article that visited a theme I have touched on periodically: the power of stories, those that have been written and spoken and those which are untold.
Behind the facts of Mallorca's history - the battles, the feuds, the buildings, the plagues - there are the stories. It is these which give history greater meaning. They are variously social commentary and observation or fantasy, but even the fantasy is rooted in certain realities, those of oral tradition, the passing of the fantastic tale from generation to generation, itself a product of myth, superstition, the land or sea.
Mapping imagination is all this. Stories told and stories untold. The fantastic or the factual, and those which combine both. And within Mallorca there is a denseness of stories, the consequence of its smallness, of its remoteness and insularity, of its fears and anxieties and of its essential folkloric tradition - when you are cut off and separated as Mallorca was, the stories acquire a uniqueness and difference.
The literary and story-telling tradition is centuries old. Its first true manifestation dates from the later thirteenth century. Ramon Llull's "Blanquerna" was a semi-autobiograhical novel of fact and fiction, the hero - Blanquerna - leaving the family home to devote himself to God, to aspire to become pope, to become a hermit in order to dedicate himself completely to God.
Llull was one of those who was name-checked at the launch of Walking on Words last weekend. This initiative combines walking routes (which might equally be cycling or driving routes) with the literary heritage of Mallorca in its different guises - the observational documentary, the novel, the poetic, the folkloric and the fantasy. Across the island there are main centres: Ca N'Alluny, Robert Graves' house in Deya; Casa Llorenç Villalonga in Binissalem; Can Llobera in Pollensa; the Institució Alcover in Manacor, among others.
Between them, these four centres capture these different elements of the island's literary tradition. Graves, the poet, the novelist, weaving an alien's perspective into a Mallorcan framework; Villalonga, the author of the modern tradition with his at times scathing insights into the presence of the early tourists (well before the boom); Miquel Costa i Llobera, fundamental to the new school of Mallorcan poetry and literature; Antoni Maria Alcover, the keeper of the oral tradition, the promoter of the fantastic and the folkloric - Mallorca's "rondalles", the island's fairy and other folk tales.
But of these, there is an intermingling of elements. Costa i Llobera's "El Pi de Formentor", perhaps the best known of all Mallorca's poems, was one of the purest expressions of the Mallorcan imagination, borrowing from a folk tradition inspired by the landscape. Graves drew on this landscape, one that had enchanted and captivated him. For Villalonga, there was the shifting nature of society and how it determined the landscape, and he was one who was as willing to highlight local pretensions - those of Mallorca's nobility - as he was those of the incomers.
These are, though, but a select few of the writers that the walks embrace. There are all the others, the familiar and less familiar: the Archduke Louis Salvador, Agatha Christie, Jorge Luis Borges, Joan Alcover, Rafel Ginard. And there is also Jules Verne, whose place in Mallorca's literary and touristic past is often overlooked. When a nascent tourism industry was founded in the early twentieth century, it was to France that Mallorca looked as much as it ever did to Britain. This was to be tourism akin to the French Riviera, a winter tourism of mild weather before the Americans, French and Germans invented the suntan and so the whole notion of the summer vacation. And with winter in mind, there is also George Sand and her variously complimentary and condemnatory observations of Valldemossa and Mallorca.
I am intrigued by Walking on Words. Intrigued but also pleased. At the launch presentation, they handed out a map. A map of Mallorca with the routes and the authors. A map of Mallorca's imagination. I salute them.
For more information, go to the website: www.walkingonwords.com.
Behind the facts of Mallorca's history - the battles, the feuds, the buildings, the plagues - there are the stories. It is these which give history greater meaning. They are variously social commentary and observation or fantasy, but even the fantasy is rooted in certain realities, those of oral tradition, the passing of the fantastic tale from generation to generation, itself a product of myth, superstition, the land or sea.
Mapping imagination is all this. Stories told and stories untold. The fantastic or the factual, and those which combine both. And within Mallorca there is a denseness of stories, the consequence of its smallness, of its remoteness and insularity, of its fears and anxieties and of its essential folkloric tradition - when you are cut off and separated as Mallorca was, the stories acquire a uniqueness and difference.
The literary and story-telling tradition is centuries old. Its first true manifestation dates from the later thirteenth century. Ramon Llull's "Blanquerna" was a semi-autobiograhical novel of fact and fiction, the hero - Blanquerna - leaving the family home to devote himself to God, to aspire to become pope, to become a hermit in order to dedicate himself completely to God.
Llull was one of those who was name-checked at the launch of Walking on Words last weekend. This initiative combines walking routes (which might equally be cycling or driving routes) with the literary heritage of Mallorca in its different guises - the observational documentary, the novel, the poetic, the folkloric and the fantasy. Across the island there are main centres: Ca N'Alluny, Robert Graves' house in Deya; Casa Llorenç Villalonga in Binissalem; Can Llobera in Pollensa; the Institució Alcover in Manacor, among others.
Between them, these four centres capture these different elements of the island's literary tradition. Graves, the poet, the novelist, weaving an alien's perspective into a Mallorcan framework; Villalonga, the author of the modern tradition with his at times scathing insights into the presence of the early tourists (well before the boom); Miquel Costa i Llobera, fundamental to the new school of Mallorcan poetry and literature; Antoni Maria Alcover, the keeper of the oral tradition, the promoter of the fantastic and the folkloric - Mallorca's "rondalles", the island's fairy and other folk tales.
But of these, there is an intermingling of elements. Costa i Llobera's "El Pi de Formentor", perhaps the best known of all Mallorca's poems, was one of the purest expressions of the Mallorcan imagination, borrowing from a folk tradition inspired by the landscape. Graves drew on this landscape, one that had enchanted and captivated him. For Villalonga, there was the shifting nature of society and how it determined the landscape, and he was one who was as willing to highlight local pretensions - those of Mallorca's nobility - as he was those of the incomers.
These are, though, but a select few of the writers that the walks embrace. There are all the others, the familiar and less familiar: the Archduke Louis Salvador, Agatha Christie, Jorge Luis Borges, Joan Alcover, Rafel Ginard. And there is also Jules Verne, whose place in Mallorca's literary and touristic past is often overlooked. When a nascent tourism industry was founded in the early twentieth century, it was to France that Mallorca looked as much as it ever did to Britain. This was to be tourism akin to the French Riviera, a winter tourism of mild weather before the Americans, French and Germans invented the suntan and so the whole notion of the summer vacation. And with winter in mind, there is also George Sand and her variously complimentary and condemnatory observations of Valldemossa and Mallorca.
I am intrigued by Walking on Words. Intrigued but also pleased. At the launch presentation, they handed out a map. A map of Mallorca with the routes and the authors. A map of Mallorca's imagination. I salute them.
For more information, go to the website: www.walkingonwords.com.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 October 2015
Morning high (6.30am): 19.2C
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 11 October - Sun, 26C; 12 October - Cloud, sun, 24C; 13 October - Rain, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 to 5 easing 3 to 4 during the morning and backing Northwest 2 to 3 during the afternoon.
No evidence of the possible storm overnight. Still the chance of some rain though, but otherwise sunny, and tomorrow is looking good and warmer. Holding mostly fair into Monday, which is a public holiday for Spain's National Day. Thereafter it looks a bit grim.
Evening update (20.15): Not bad. Highs of 24.5C coastal and 24.1C inland.
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 11 October - Sun, 26C; 12 October - Cloud, sun, 24C; 13 October - Rain, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 to 5 easing 3 to 4 during the morning and backing Northwest 2 to 3 during the afternoon.
No evidence of the possible storm overnight. Still the chance of some rain though, but otherwise sunny, and tomorrow is looking good and warmer. Holding mostly fair into Monday, which is a public holiday for Spain's National Day. Thereafter it looks a bit grim.
Evening update (20.15): Not bad. Highs of 24.5C coastal and 24.1C inland.
Self-Service Alcohol: A red herring
So, President Armengol is saying that the government is considering the banning of self-service alcohol in all-inclusives. Here is an issue that was first highlighted by the Calvia councillor who shares the same name as the mayor. He is the Alfonso Rodríguez from the Esquerra Oberta open left grouping, the one who is also the president of the Facua consumers' association in the Balearics.
When this issue first arose a couple of months ago, the reaction to it - in general political terms - was muted. The problem was noted, but it was an issue said to be confined to a few hotels in one resort - Magalluf. As such, any talk of banning or regulating was premature and/or unnecessary. Now, it is said, the practice has spread, and so other resorts are implicated: in Playa de Palma, most notably. Waking up to this more widespread self-service activity, the government is hoping to have a ban in place by next summer.
Am I alone in believing that this is a colossal red herring? The means of making alcohol available is merely an extension of what has existed for years. Be it self-service or via a solitary waiter at the end of a long queue, the consequence is much the same. If holidaymakers want to get drunk on cheap local spirits and beer, then they will.
The greater ease of access to the booze, though, is said to have led to fewer holidaymakers taking to the beach in Magalluf. And the point of this is what exactly? All-inclusive guests going to the beach doesn't mean that they are necessarily spending any money. They are just going to the beach.
There have been some strange observations that have resulted from the self-service affair. We have had the tourism minister saying that there had been attempts to curb the use of plastic glasses in all-inclusives because they give the impression of low-quality tourism. Far better to have proper glasses, but these are dangerous around or in a pool. So plastic glasses have been retained, but, and Barceló said this, it was "surprising" that guests would use these plastic glasses, fill them with alcohol and turn pools into scenes of real drunkenness. Surprising?
The point with self-service is that one of the biggest complaints guests have with all-inclusives at the low end of the offer is the queuing for service. Hotels typically allocate minimum staff numbers to bars, a reason being that they employ the minimum number possible because all-inclusive isn't terribly profitable for them. One would guess they've made cost-benefit analyses and concluded that it is cheaper for guests to fill their boots with all the alcohol they can consume than it is to employ a meagre number of bar staff.
Behind all this sudden concern regarding guest alcoholism and bingeing is, as I've noted before, just as much if not more concern for jobs. Which is fair enough, but the attention now being paid to self-service alcohol makes me suspect that the government will single this out and champion it as the government regulating all-inclusives, while ignoring any other regulation. It is, in a sense, easier to target specific consequences of all-inclusive than it is to get to grips with all-inclusive per se. Hence, it is a red herring, but a convenient one for the government.
Armengol went on to say that a ban on self-service would come from analysing regulatory gaps that apply to all-inclusives. And these are? How can there be gaps when there isn't regulation. Tourism legislation barely mentions all-inclusives and it certainly doesn't have any specific regulation. She's talking nonsense. At least Jaume Font of El Pi appears to have more of an appreciation of the issue in calling for wider regulation in time for next year.
Again this is fair enough or would be if it weren't for the fact that holidays are being booked on the basis of what is currently the situation, not on what it might or will be in a few months time. It is the same with the tourist tax and does, therefore, give rise to the potential for misrepresentation. Tour operators will be livid. Introducing regulation has to have a longer timeframe. 2017 not 2016.
But we still come back to what regulation for all-inclusive there might be. No one knows. Just as no one truly knows the extent of all-inclusive or its type. Font has called for there to be a register of hotels which offer all-inclusive, which begs two questions. One is why there hasn't long been one, and the second has to do with the fact that this was supposed to have been undertaken. Early this year Jaime Martínez, the former tourism minister, said that it would be. Were there to be a register though, what would then be done with the information?
When this issue first arose a couple of months ago, the reaction to it - in general political terms - was muted. The problem was noted, but it was an issue said to be confined to a few hotels in one resort - Magalluf. As such, any talk of banning or regulating was premature and/or unnecessary. Now, it is said, the practice has spread, and so other resorts are implicated: in Playa de Palma, most notably. Waking up to this more widespread self-service activity, the government is hoping to have a ban in place by next summer.
Am I alone in believing that this is a colossal red herring? The means of making alcohol available is merely an extension of what has existed for years. Be it self-service or via a solitary waiter at the end of a long queue, the consequence is much the same. If holidaymakers want to get drunk on cheap local spirits and beer, then they will.
The greater ease of access to the booze, though, is said to have led to fewer holidaymakers taking to the beach in Magalluf. And the point of this is what exactly? All-inclusive guests going to the beach doesn't mean that they are necessarily spending any money. They are just going to the beach.
There have been some strange observations that have resulted from the self-service affair. We have had the tourism minister saying that there had been attempts to curb the use of plastic glasses in all-inclusives because they give the impression of low-quality tourism. Far better to have proper glasses, but these are dangerous around or in a pool. So plastic glasses have been retained, but, and Barceló said this, it was "surprising" that guests would use these plastic glasses, fill them with alcohol and turn pools into scenes of real drunkenness. Surprising?
The point with self-service is that one of the biggest complaints guests have with all-inclusives at the low end of the offer is the queuing for service. Hotels typically allocate minimum staff numbers to bars, a reason being that they employ the minimum number possible because all-inclusive isn't terribly profitable for them. One would guess they've made cost-benefit analyses and concluded that it is cheaper for guests to fill their boots with all the alcohol they can consume than it is to employ a meagre number of bar staff.
Behind all this sudden concern regarding guest alcoholism and bingeing is, as I've noted before, just as much if not more concern for jobs. Which is fair enough, but the attention now being paid to self-service alcohol makes me suspect that the government will single this out and champion it as the government regulating all-inclusives, while ignoring any other regulation. It is, in a sense, easier to target specific consequences of all-inclusive than it is to get to grips with all-inclusive per se. Hence, it is a red herring, but a convenient one for the government.
Armengol went on to say that a ban on self-service would come from analysing regulatory gaps that apply to all-inclusives. And these are? How can there be gaps when there isn't regulation. Tourism legislation barely mentions all-inclusives and it certainly doesn't have any specific regulation. She's talking nonsense. At least Jaume Font of El Pi appears to have more of an appreciation of the issue in calling for wider regulation in time for next year.
Again this is fair enough or would be if it weren't for the fact that holidays are being booked on the basis of what is currently the situation, not on what it might or will be in a few months time. It is the same with the tourist tax and does, therefore, give rise to the potential for misrepresentation. Tour operators will be livid. Introducing regulation has to have a longer timeframe. 2017 not 2016.
But we still come back to what regulation for all-inclusive there might be. No one knows. Just as no one truly knows the extent of all-inclusive or its type. Font has called for there to be a register of hotels which offer all-inclusive, which begs two questions. One is why there hasn't long been one, and the second has to do with the fact that this was supposed to have been undertaken. Early this year Jaime Martínez, the former tourism minister, said that it would be. Were there to be a register though, what would then be done with the information?
Friday, October 09, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 18.7C
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 10 October - Cloud, sun, 22C; 11 October - Cloud, sun, 23C; 12 October - Cloud, sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 occasionally 5.
Quite breezy and staying so during the day. Reasonably sunny but rain may well come in later on, with the risk of a storm overnight. Expected to be mostly sunny for the weekend though.
Evening update (20.45): Less sun than had been on the cards, but when it arrived, it led to highs inland of 22.5C and coastal 23.1C.
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 10 October - Cloud, sun, 22C; 11 October - Cloud, sun, 23C; 12 October - Cloud, sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 occasionally 5.
Quite breezy and staying so during the day. Reasonably sunny but rain may well come in later on, with the risk of a storm overnight. Expected to be mostly sunny for the weekend though.
Evening update (20.45): Less sun than had been on the cards, but when it arrived, it led to highs inland of 22.5C and coastal 23.1C.
Things That Make You Go Aaargh! Skype
It's a piece of socio-cultural trivia that occasionally I am reminded of. Southern Europeans, supposedly, have less appreciation of personal space than their northern European counterparts. I don't recall the origin of this insight into behaviour, but it has stuck with me nonetheless.
A place where personal space is most obviously an issue is the beach. By some peculiar rule of attraction, it is possible to be on a largely empty beach and for someone to arrive and place him or herself within body odour proximity to you. Why this magnetism? Heaven only knows. But on the south v. north principle, the assumption would be that the one invading your personal space is Spanish. Or Italian. Or some other southern European sort. Were it someone from Sweden, the positioning would be as far away as possible.
Personally, I am unconvinced by this theory. It seems applicable or unapplicable to anyone, from whichever country. Much would depend on the individual's sense of territory, and as such this is the common to everyone, regardless of nationality.
The beach, being a public space, has no legislation for the maximum number of people who should be on it at any given time or for minimum space requirements. There are rules, such as no playing football, no taking a boat out in non-nautical sport areas, no dogs, no taking a leak (you and the dog), but the beach isn't private accommodation with mandated regulation as to living space, except, in a sense, with the positioning of sunbeds, the number of which can invade space to such a degree that non-sunbed users complain about the "privatising" of areas that are, by law, in the public domain.
In addition to this physical territorialism, for which there can be no practically applied rule, there is what one might call the invasion of mental space. Close proximity of others is one thing, what they do is another. No sooner have they arrived on the beach and they, for example, unpack the paddle tennis rackets and knock-knock their way into your mental space, into your hearing.
Ultimately, the only solution to this invasion of mental space is to simply not bother going to the beach. The alternative, if you are a holidaymaker that is, is the hotel, the poolside, the grounds. The sardining of humanity into some hotel areas beggars all belief of personal space principles. Tourism massification, be it on a beach or by a hotel pool, is such that you wonder why anyone would choose to spend good money on being subjected to this constant proximity and constant noise. It goes against all unwritten rules of personal territory.
But tourism has its own peculiarities that stem from a temporary suspension of normal behaviours. The herding instinct is, if you think about, unfathomable. Why would you put yourself through it in the pursuit of a suntan to show off to the neighbours when you get back?
There is now far greater incursion into mental space than previously. It comes thanks to technology. Any study of tourist demand that is conducted will reveal that high on the list of requirements is wifi. It is no longer an option, it is a necessity. Society is linked by the smartphone or tablet, and within the range of uses on which the holidaymaker places particular priority is the ability to communicate. This means Skype.
Some hotels have wifi zones. Enter them, and they are like any other social space. Considerable chatter. But they are different in that half of this chatter is of a rasping, tinny character. It is the cacophony of digital voice communication. Confined to an area, it is a communal experience, but it is a further example of the illogic of massification. Why do you want to listen to others' conversations? You can't avoid them, as both parties are typically conducting their conservations at high volume.
At least no one can object to the noise if they are all part of it, corralled into the wifi zone. But then there is the universally available wifi, and so the conversations conducted on balconies, by pools. My guess is that many who do so and inflict their communications on others would be the same who would object to someone shouting down a mobile (without a Skype response) or to the music coming from earphones in a train carriage.
The point is that a balcony, be it hotel or residence, is private space and not public, and so therefore one's neighbours have their private space. There is a vast difference between face-to-face conservations and those conducted digitally. The latter has an irritation factor that the former does not. It is also often more intimate in content than other conversations are, which might, when they dwell on the intimate, go to a whisper. It is an invasion of mental space brought about through an absence of consideration, through the neglect of the Spanish legal concept of "convivencia". Skype by all means, but not in earshot.
A place where personal space is most obviously an issue is the beach. By some peculiar rule of attraction, it is possible to be on a largely empty beach and for someone to arrive and place him or herself within body odour proximity to you. Why this magnetism? Heaven only knows. But on the south v. north principle, the assumption would be that the one invading your personal space is Spanish. Or Italian. Or some other southern European sort. Were it someone from Sweden, the positioning would be as far away as possible.
Personally, I am unconvinced by this theory. It seems applicable or unapplicable to anyone, from whichever country. Much would depend on the individual's sense of territory, and as such this is the common to everyone, regardless of nationality.
The beach, being a public space, has no legislation for the maximum number of people who should be on it at any given time or for minimum space requirements. There are rules, such as no playing football, no taking a boat out in non-nautical sport areas, no dogs, no taking a leak (you and the dog), but the beach isn't private accommodation with mandated regulation as to living space, except, in a sense, with the positioning of sunbeds, the number of which can invade space to such a degree that non-sunbed users complain about the "privatising" of areas that are, by law, in the public domain.
In addition to this physical territorialism, for which there can be no practically applied rule, there is what one might call the invasion of mental space. Close proximity of others is one thing, what they do is another. No sooner have they arrived on the beach and they, for example, unpack the paddle tennis rackets and knock-knock their way into your mental space, into your hearing.
Ultimately, the only solution to this invasion of mental space is to simply not bother going to the beach. The alternative, if you are a holidaymaker that is, is the hotel, the poolside, the grounds. The sardining of humanity into some hotel areas beggars all belief of personal space principles. Tourism massification, be it on a beach or by a hotel pool, is such that you wonder why anyone would choose to spend good money on being subjected to this constant proximity and constant noise. It goes against all unwritten rules of personal territory.
But tourism has its own peculiarities that stem from a temporary suspension of normal behaviours. The herding instinct is, if you think about, unfathomable. Why would you put yourself through it in the pursuit of a suntan to show off to the neighbours when you get back?
There is now far greater incursion into mental space than previously. It comes thanks to technology. Any study of tourist demand that is conducted will reveal that high on the list of requirements is wifi. It is no longer an option, it is a necessity. Society is linked by the smartphone or tablet, and within the range of uses on which the holidaymaker places particular priority is the ability to communicate. This means Skype.
Some hotels have wifi zones. Enter them, and they are like any other social space. Considerable chatter. But they are different in that half of this chatter is of a rasping, tinny character. It is the cacophony of digital voice communication. Confined to an area, it is a communal experience, but it is a further example of the illogic of massification. Why do you want to listen to others' conversations? You can't avoid them, as both parties are typically conducting their conservations at high volume.
At least no one can object to the noise if they are all part of it, corralled into the wifi zone. But then there is the universally available wifi, and so the conversations conducted on balconies, by pools. My guess is that many who do so and inflict their communications on others would be the same who would object to someone shouting down a mobile (without a Skype response) or to the music coming from earphones in a train carriage.
The point is that a balcony, be it hotel or residence, is private space and not public, and so therefore one's neighbours have their private space. There is a vast difference between face-to-face conservations and those conducted digitally. The latter has an irritation factor that the former does not. It is also often more intimate in content than other conversations are, which might, when they dwell on the intimate, go to a whisper. It is an invasion of mental space brought about through an absence of consideration, through the neglect of the Spanish legal concept of "convivencia". Skype by all means, but not in earshot.
Thursday, October 08, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 17.7C
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 9 October - Cloud, sun, 22C; 10 October - Cloud, sun, 21C; 11 October - Cloud, sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
A mix of cloud and sun for today, with the risks of showers for tomorrow and Saturday.
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 9 October - Cloud, sun, 22C; 10 October - Cloud, sun, 21C; 11 October - Cloud, sun, 24C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
A mix of cloud and sun for today, with the risks of showers for tomorrow and Saturday.
The Biggest Prize Of All: IB3
Ten years ago, in September 2005, IB3 began regular broadcasts in the Balearics. It had first gone on air as a television channel on 1 March of that year as a trial - the day chosen having been Balearics Day. The radio station was fully operational from that day.
To say that IB3 has enjoyed a smooth history since its launch would be wrong. Things have been anything but smooth. But in order to assess IB3's contribution, one has to divorce the politics from the actual broadcasting. The two do most definitely collide, but the impression is of a broadcaster that has achieved modest success despite the politics.
Since its inception in 2005, IB3 has had seven director-generals. They include the former vice-president of the Balearics, Antoni Gómez, who was an interim appointment in 2011, and José Manuel Ruiz, who failed in his attempt to succeed Manu Onieva as mayor of Calvia for the Partido Popular in May this year. Of the seven, five have been from the PP, including the current one, Josep Codony.
He was recently hauled up in front of parliament, ostensibly to answer questions regarding the appointment of director of television he had made without consulting the politicians: it was swiftly withdrawn. It was evident that he went to this appearance prepared to have a scrap. He would have known what was coming and it did. Alberto Jarabo (Podemos): "IB3 has been violated and perverted". David Abril (Més): "Why have you not resigned?". Silvia Cano (PSOE): "You hired a straw man ... and have caused sectarianism at IB3".
Codony hasn't resigned because, as he points out, the government hasn't come up with anyone to succeed him and also because, if he were to resign, this would create great problems for the simple fact that the government cannot come to agreement regarding his successor. He's a dead man walking, but for now he remains. In the normal (sic) course of events, he would probably have already been replaced. Change of government means changes among the ranks of senior appointments for positions at the head of government-dependent organisations, of which IB3 is one.
Making these appointments has become a poisoned chalice, with Podemos to the fore in challenging them, as is the case with Juli Fuster at the health service. IB3, though, is arguably the greatest prize when it comes to what is a political appointment. A public broadcaster, it is the very public face of government, which brings the implication of political interference.
With five of the seven director-generals having been from the PP, who created IB3 under the second Matas administration, the parties of the left now sense their chance to definitively stamp their mark on the broadcaster. Of the two other director-generals, one was from the old Unió Mallorquina, while the other, Pedro Terrassa, was from PSOE. For a period of some twelve months, there was a director-general from a left-leaning party. The left now want to redress this imbalance.
Codony has denied that there was interference from the PP while it was still in government. He contrasts this with how things now are. The political involvement extends, he says, to the choice of films that IB3 has to show. The commandment for this has come from Esperança Camps, the Més minister for transparency, participation and culture. Hers was an unusual ministerial appointment in that she had no direct political background, other than political views. Rather than a politician per se, she was and is an author and a television journalist. The suspicion, one that Codony has expressed, is that Camps could be his successor.
Though Codony says otherwise, there was interference from the PP, and it manifested itself in different ways. Groups like the environmentalists GOB were given reduced exposure, while there was the instruction to use the Mallorquín "the" instead of the Catalan "the" in news reports (something that has now been reversed). This interference is continuing, and Codony, who the left would be keen to see gone before the general election and all the reporting that this will entail, will have been the latest in the line of discontinuity at the head of IB3.
The broadcaster has had enormous amounts of money lavished on it, and it has been said to be the second most expensive regional public broadcaster in Spain. Given the expenditure, it should be performing well. A typical audience share of six to seven per cent is what it attains. At least its finances are now in better shape, Codony saying that it has been operating without a deficit for three years.
Despite the politics, it is not doing badly, but might it do better were it not constantly subject to interference? It is an important service, but the politicians are failing it and so failing also the public. The interference won't end though. It's too much of a prize.
To say that IB3 has enjoyed a smooth history since its launch would be wrong. Things have been anything but smooth. But in order to assess IB3's contribution, one has to divorce the politics from the actual broadcasting. The two do most definitely collide, but the impression is of a broadcaster that has achieved modest success despite the politics.
Since its inception in 2005, IB3 has had seven director-generals. They include the former vice-president of the Balearics, Antoni Gómez, who was an interim appointment in 2011, and José Manuel Ruiz, who failed in his attempt to succeed Manu Onieva as mayor of Calvia for the Partido Popular in May this year. Of the seven, five have been from the PP, including the current one, Josep Codony.
He was recently hauled up in front of parliament, ostensibly to answer questions regarding the appointment of director of television he had made without consulting the politicians: it was swiftly withdrawn. It was evident that he went to this appearance prepared to have a scrap. He would have known what was coming and it did. Alberto Jarabo (Podemos): "IB3 has been violated and perverted". David Abril (Més): "Why have you not resigned?". Silvia Cano (PSOE): "You hired a straw man ... and have caused sectarianism at IB3".
Codony hasn't resigned because, as he points out, the government hasn't come up with anyone to succeed him and also because, if he were to resign, this would create great problems for the simple fact that the government cannot come to agreement regarding his successor. He's a dead man walking, but for now he remains. In the normal (sic) course of events, he would probably have already been replaced. Change of government means changes among the ranks of senior appointments for positions at the head of government-dependent organisations, of which IB3 is one.
Making these appointments has become a poisoned chalice, with Podemos to the fore in challenging them, as is the case with Juli Fuster at the health service. IB3, though, is arguably the greatest prize when it comes to what is a political appointment. A public broadcaster, it is the very public face of government, which brings the implication of political interference.
With five of the seven director-generals having been from the PP, who created IB3 under the second Matas administration, the parties of the left now sense their chance to definitively stamp their mark on the broadcaster. Of the two other director-generals, one was from the old Unió Mallorquina, while the other, Pedro Terrassa, was from PSOE. For a period of some twelve months, there was a director-general from a left-leaning party. The left now want to redress this imbalance.
Codony has denied that there was interference from the PP while it was still in government. He contrasts this with how things now are. The political involvement extends, he says, to the choice of films that IB3 has to show. The commandment for this has come from Esperança Camps, the Més minister for transparency, participation and culture. Hers was an unusual ministerial appointment in that she had no direct political background, other than political views. Rather than a politician per se, she was and is an author and a television journalist. The suspicion, one that Codony has expressed, is that Camps could be his successor.
Though Codony says otherwise, there was interference from the PP, and it manifested itself in different ways. Groups like the environmentalists GOB were given reduced exposure, while there was the instruction to use the Mallorquín "the" instead of the Catalan "the" in news reports (something that has now been reversed). This interference is continuing, and Codony, who the left would be keen to see gone before the general election and all the reporting that this will entail, will have been the latest in the line of discontinuity at the head of IB3.
The broadcaster has had enormous amounts of money lavished on it, and it has been said to be the second most expensive regional public broadcaster in Spain. Given the expenditure, it should be performing well. A typical audience share of six to seven per cent is what it attains. At least its finances are now in better shape, Codony saying that it has been operating without a deficit for three years.
Despite the politics, it is not doing badly, but might it do better were it not constantly subject to interference? It is an important service, but the politicians are failing it and so failing also the public. The interference won't end though. It's too much of a prize.
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 19.4C
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 8 October - Cloud, 23C; 9 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 10 October - Cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
A sunny day in prospect but not hot like yesterday. A spell of cloudy and possibly showery weather forecast into the weekend.
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 4
Three-day forecast: 8 October - Cloud, 23C; 9 October - Cloud, sun, 20C; 10 October - Cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 4 to 5.
A sunny day in prospect but not hot like yesterday. A spell of cloudy and possibly showery weather forecast into the weekend.
The Nation As Victim
Next Monday is Spain's National Day. It is a day that will be celebrated with some joy by travel agents and hoteliers. The Monday is pleasantly convenient for the sale of the "puente" weekend breaks, and in Mallorca there is no tourist tax to worry about. Yet.
It will be a day when there will be powerful affirmations of the Spanish nation: all of Spain, Catalonia included. One nation. But while the oratory will be fine and while it will plead for unity, where, amidst all this rhetoric, will be the sentiments of Spanish people? Pride in the nation quite possibly or even probably, but what sort of nation?
The Catalonia question and the ancillary local one of Mallorca's varying shades of regionalism and nationalism are but two examples of a nation not entirely whole. There are further ones, the Basque Country most obviously, and lesser notions of self-determination in, for instance, Galicia or the Canaries. What these all have in common is history, with the histories of Catalonia and Mallorca inextricably linked in ways that others are not. History, the past are invoked. But to what degree is history claimed by Spaniards, those of the nation for whom demands for secession by parts of the nation appear baffling?
We all of us carry our history with us. I am variously English or British. But in neither guise, despite all the history, do I pay attention to it. I don't think about being English or British, I just am. William the Conqueror, Wars of the Roses, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Cromwell, Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Churchill, the world wars. They all feature but I spend no time in considering any of this in contemplating Englishness or Britishness. And nor, I suspect, do most English people. Scots, Welsh, Irish, I concede, will be different.
Spain's National Day celebrates the moment when land was first discovered in the Americas. In one way it is odd, as the discoverer wasn't Spanish, albeit there are those who would argue that Columbus was - Gabriel Verd, for instance, who is convinced that Columbus came from Porto Colom. Regardless of where he was from, the discovery was what put Spain on the map. Literally. Spanishness invaded the Americas, its central and southerly parts. 1492 was a momentous year. The New World was found and the final Muslim enclave in Granada fell. It ushered in the rivers of gold and the period of imperial and national power that wasn't to endure.
Despite the obvious significance of 1492, for Spaniards, if they consider themselves in historical terms at all, the dates are much more contemporary. 1936 and 1975 define Spain more than do 1492 or 1715. For the Catalonians and for Mallorcans, however, this latter date is defining.
Catalonia's National Day is quite different in its commemoration to that of Spain. It remembers defeat - in September 1714 - at the hands of Castile and the Bourbons. The consequences of this defeat - the removal of powers, the Nueva Planta decrees, the ending of the wider crown of Aragon, the repression of Catalan - go to the heart of independence. Money also plays a vital role as well, but in terms of sentiment, the events of three hundred years ago influence the secessionist narrative. Just as they also play a part in the sentiments of those in Mallorca who feel a common bond with Catalonia and so also the notion of a nationalism within a grouping of the Catalan Lands.
A prime advocate of this bond is Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca. He has been accused, however, of playing the victim card, of styling Mallorca in terms of the persecutory nature of the Nueva Planta. It is this, the notion of the victim, which explains much when it comes to how individuals define themselves. The English were never victims. The Spanish were victims up to a point, but for almost all the period after the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century until Franco sought to put an end to it, Spain was a nation at war with itself and so brought about its own downfall from power.
Though not all Mallorcans will define themselves in the way that Ensenyat does and though likewise not all Catalonians will dwell on matters three hundred years ago, those events do go a long way to explaining how things now are and, as importantly, to explaining how collective mindsets differ. Catalonia is the nation as victim. By extension, so is Mallorca. For the English (British) and the Spanish, there isn't the same collective impulse. Indeed, it is the reverse, because of their times of domination.
It may seem baffling that, in a contemporary society, there is a drive to independence or to expressions of greater nationalism, but if the collective psyche is not one of the victim, then it will be baffling, as there is not the same baggage of the past.
It will be a day when there will be powerful affirmations of the Spanish nation: all of Spain, Catalonia included. One nation. But while the oratory will be fine and while it will plead for unity, where, amidst all this rhetoric, will be the sentiments of Spanish people? Pride in the nation quite possibly or even probably, but what sort of nation?
The Catalonia question and the ancillary local one of Mallorca's varying shades of regionalism and nationalism are but two examples of a nation not entirely whole. There are further ones, the Basque Country most obviously, and lesser notions of self-determination in, for instance, Galicia or the Canaries. What these all have in common is history, with the histories of Catalonia and Mallorca inextricably linked in ways that others are not. History, the past are invoked. But to what degree is history claimed by Spaniards, those of the nation for whom demands for secession by parts of the nation appear baffling?
We all of us carry our history with us. I am variously English or British. But in neither guise, despite all the history, do I pay attention to it. I don't think about being English or British, I just am. William the Conqueror, Wars of the Roses, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Cromwell, Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Churchill, the world wars. They all feature but I spend no time in considering any of this in contemplating Englishness or Britishness. And nor, I suspect, do most English people. Scots, Welsh, Irish, I concede, will be different.
Spain's National Day celebrates the moment when land was first discovered in the Americas. In one way it is odd, as the discoverer wasn't Spanish, albeit there are those who would argue that Columbus was - Gabriel Verd, for instance, who is convinced that Columbus came from Porto Colom. Regardless of where he was from, the discovery was what put Spain on the map. Literally. Spanishness invaded the Americas, its central and southerly parts. 1492 was a momentous year. The New World was found and the final Muslim enclave in Granada fell. It ushered in the rivers of gold and the period of imperial and national power that wasn't to endure.
Despite the obvious significance of 1492, for Spaniards, if they consider themselves in historical terms at all, the dates are much more contemporary. 1936 and 1975 define Spain more than do 1492 or 1715. For the Catalonians and for Mallorcans, however, this latter date is defining.
Catalonia's National Day is quite different in its commemoration to that of Spain. It remembers defeat - in September 1714 - at the hands of Castile and the Bourbons. The consequences of this defeat - the removal of powers, the Nueva Planta decrees, the ending of the wider crown of Aragon, the repression of Catalan - go to the heart of independence. Money also plays a vital role as well, but in terms of sentiment, the events of three hundred years ago influence the secessionist narrative. Just as they also play a part in the sentiments of those in Mallorca who feel a common bond with Catalonia and so also the notion of a nationalism within a grouping of the Catalan Lands.
A prime advocate of this bond is Miquel Ensenyat, the president of the Council of Mallorca. He has been accused, however, of playing the victim card, of styling Mallorca in terms of the persecutory nature of the Nueva Planta. It is this, the notion of the victim, which explains much when it comes to how individuals define themselves. The English were never victims. The Spanish were victims up to a point, but for almost all the period after the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century until Franco sought to put an end to it, Spain was a nation at war with itself and so brought about its own downfall from power.
Though not all Mallorcans will define themselves in the way that Ensenyat does and though likewise not all Catalonians will dwell on matters three hundred years ago, those events do go a long way to explaining how things now are and, as importantly, to explaining how collective mindsets differ. Catalonia is the nation as victim. By extension, so is Mallorca. For the English (British) and the Spanish, there isn't the same collective impulse. Indeed, it is the reverse, because of their times of domination.
It may seem baffling that, in a contemporary society, there is a drive to independence or to expressions of greater nationalism, but if the collective psyche is not one of the victim, then it will be baffling, as there is not the same baggage of the past.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 October 2015
Morning high (9.00am): 26C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 7 October - Cloud, 23C; 8 October - Sun, cloud, 20C; 9 October - Cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 veering West occasionally 5 or 6.
Sunny morning and should be a sunny day and quite warm too. Changes tomorrow with temperatures down and cloudy conditions.
Evening update (19.45): Warm day it was. Highs - 29.9C on the coast and 30.4C inland.
Late posting of this morning's weather on account of what Telefonica told me - at around 7am - was a "massive" collapse of the system.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 7 October - Cloud, 23C; 8 October - Sun, cloud, 20C; 9 October - Cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 veering West occasionally 5 or 6.
Sunny morning and should be a sunny day and quite warm too. Changes tomorrow with temperatures down and cloudy conditions.
Evening update (19.45): Warm day it was. Highs - 29.9C on the coast and 30.4C inland.
Late posting of this morning's weather on account of what Telefonica told me - at around 7am - was a "massive" collapse of the system.
The Two Per Cent Government
I was right. Not that being right was difficult. What are one hundred days for, if not to make an assessment of how they have gone? If you are a government, that is. Back in July I said that the Spanish Sunday newspapers would be rating the one hundred days come October. What I got wrong was the weekend. I'd calculated next Sunday. I was out by a week, but it was an easy mistake to have made. When actually did the government become the government? The question is pertinent. No one was entirely sure, and that was because no one was entirely sure what the government was. When did it start? Who was it? Why was it? None of these questions have been adequately answered. One hundred days of uncertainty.
After a week of government - two weeks as it now turns out - I offered my analysis of the first one hundred days of the Armengol administration. There's nothing like getting your evaluation in early, and it was one with unclouded thoughts and so simple to formulate. Tourist tax. Ding! TIL. Ding! Law of symbols. Ding! Uncertainties caused by land policies. Ding! Chaos because of the three-headed monstrous nature of the government. Ding! Ding! Ding!
Not everything could have been predicted, such as policies turning over 60% of the health service workforce against the government. Not because of the brouhaha over the health minister's hubby but because of pay. New government, new government of the left, same as the old government of the right. Tight-fisted.
Ah, but the government isn't tight-fisted. Just that the fists and hands are tied. When all else fails, blame Madrid. And before anything had been started, from which failure could be plucked from the jaws of unlikely victory, Madrid was being fingered for all that was to follow and will continue on day 101, whenever that actually is.
The narrative began with the launch of the one hundred days. It was a story in two parts. One was that of a government destined to fail, or to at least be incapable of delivering all it is desiring until the white knight Pedro Sanchez of PSOE comes to its aid by putting Rajoy to the sword in December. The other was of a government destined to succeed because it was the crusader for new-age politics. Separate though these stories are, they are combined, and in the depths of the Consolat de Mar, there was someone working away feverishly in writing this joined-up narrative. Or one suspects so.
Marc Pons, the government spokesperson, communicator-in-chief, may be the one responsible. Is there a government WhatsApp group that is being reminded constantly of the commandments of the narrative? Madrid, deficit, state financing, the Bauzá debt legacy, consensus, dialogue. Whatever announcement a minister or government official makes, it has to include all these. Arrange them in the appropriate order, include the relevant reference, and off you go. The tourist tax, for example. All the consequence of Madrid, the deficit, the lack of financing, the need to pay off Bauzá's debt legacy, but one that will win out through consensus and dialogue with, among others, the hoteliers and even tourists. As if.
The one hundred days commenced with the government fully aware of its in-built failure mechanism, one designed to attempt to create a Balearic-wide siege mentality which is the result of victimisation by Madrid. The "citizens", another of the commandments, were being penalised, as they have been for so long. The government was standing up for their rights, knowing full well that Madrid was not for bending or that Madrid would yield a fraction as it, i.e. the Partido Popular, desperately attempted to appear to be more human ahead of the general election. But not on the deficit.
If there were to be a score nailed to the door of the Consolat de Mar, one to rate the government's one hundredth day, what would it be? Nought point three would be an appropriate one. President Armengol carries the 0.3% deficit ceiling for 2016 with her, poised at any moment to cite it. Everything comes down to 0.3.
But this is an unsatisfactory rating. We need a round number, and so, as convenience would have it, we can reach two. To the 0.3% deficit, we can add Biel Barceló's mysterious 1.7% of the cost of the tourist tax. Bingo! Two per cent. The two per cent government. Two but not three, because there is one missing.
Did PSOE and Més really know what they were letting themselves in for? They may have had little choice, but it is evident that they just don't get it with Podemos: a government partner that isn't in government. Three in the marriage, and one doesn't wish to consummate it.
The government's greatest achievement is that it has survived one hundred days.
After a week of government - two weeks as it now turns out - I offered my analysis of the first one hundred days of the Armengol administration. There's nothing like getting your evaluation in early, and it was one with unclouded thoughts and so simple to formulate. Tourist tax. Ding! TIL. Ding! Law of symbols. Ding! Uncertainties caused by land policies. Ding! Chaos because of the three-headed monstrous nature of the government. Ding! Ding! Ding!
Not everything could have been predicted, such as policies turning over 60% of the health service workforce against the government. Not because of the brouhaha over the health minister's hubby but because of pay. New government, new government of the left, same as the old government of the right. Tight-fisted.
Ah, but the government isn't tight-fisted. Just that the fists and hands are tied. When all else fails, blame Madrid. And before anything had been started, from which failure could be plucked from the jaws of unlikely victory, Madrid was being fingered for all that was to follow and will continue on day 101, whenever that actually is.
The narrative began with the launch of the one hundred days. It was a story in two parts. One was that of a government destined to fail, or to at least be incapable of delivering all it is desiring until the white knight Pedro Sanchez of PSOE comes to its aid by putting Rajoy to the sword in December. The other was of a government destined to succeed because it was the crusader for new-age politics. Separate though these stories are, they are combined, and in the depths of the Consolat de Mar, there was someone working away feverishly in writing this joined-up narrative. Or one suspects so.
Marc Pons, the government spokesperson, communicator-in-chief, may be the one responsible. Is there a government WhatsApp group that is being reminded constantly of the commandments of the narrative? Madrid, deficit, state financing, the Bauzá debt legacy, consensus, dialogue. Whatever announcement a minister or government official makes, it has to include all these. Arrange them in the appropriate order, include the relevant reference, and off you go. The tourist tax, for example. All the consequence of Madrid, the deficit, the lack of financing, the need to pay off Bauzá's debt legacy, but one that will win out through consensus and dialogue with, among others, the hoteliers and even tourists. As if.
The one hundred days commenced with the government fully aware of its in-built failure mechanism, one designed to attempt to create a Balearic-wide siege mentality which is the result of victimisation by Madrid. The "citizens", another of the commandments, were being penalised, as they have been for so long. The government was standing up for their rights, knowing full well that Madrid was not for bending or that Madrid would yield a fraction as it, i.e. the Partido Popular, desperately attempted to appear to be more human ahead of the general election. But not on the deficit.
If there were to be a score nailed to the door of the Consolat de Mar, one to rate the government's one hundredth day, what would it be? Nought point three would be an appropriate one. President Armengol carries the 0.3% deficit ceiling for 2016 with her, poised at any moment to cite it. Everything comes down to 0.3.
But this is an unsatisfactory rating. We need a round number, and so, as convenience would have it, we can reach two. To the 0.3% deficit, we can add Biel Barceló's mysterious 1.7% of the cost of the tourist tax. Bingo! Two per cent. The two per cent government. Two but not three, because there is one missing.
Did PSOE and Més really know what they were letting themselves in for? They may have had little choice, but it is evident that they just don't get it with Podemos: a government partner that isn't in government. Three in the marriage, and one doesn't wish to consummate it.
The government's greatest achievement is that it has survived one hundred days.
Monday, October 05, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 October 2015
Morning high (6.30am): 25.1C
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 6 October - Sun, 27C; 7 October - Sun, cloud, 21C; 8 October - Sun, cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
Warm overnight thanks to the southerly air. Quite hot today as well as sunny. A shift in the breezes is due to bring cooler temperatures from Wednesday.
Evening update (20.45): More cloudy than sunny. But hot. Highs: Coastal, 31.1C; Inland, 32.7C.
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 6 October - Sun, 27C; 7 October - Sun, cloud, 21C; 8 October - Sun, cloud, 20C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 3 to 4.
Warm overnight thanks to the southerly air. Quite hot today as well as sunny. A shift in the breezes is due to bring cooler temperatures from Wednesday.
Evening update (20.45): More cloudy than sunny. But hot. Highs: Coastal, 31.1C; Inland, 32.7C.
Eddie's Back
Don't say I didn't warn you, but I did. And now there's confirmation. Little and Large are on the comeback trail, Large if not Little, though the latter will doubtless be in the background, doing the manoeuvring, his hand firmly up, erm, Large's jacket.
We had all wondered, feared even, what had happened to the former tourism minister amidst the debacle of the Partido Popular's Maytime meltdown. What had become of Jaime Martínez and his larder? Was Jaime slowly withering away, adopting a belatedly austerity-sympathetic frame to match that of his successor, the ascetic Barceló on his diet of a weekly sopa mallorquín served from one of Xelo Huertas's soup kitchens by royal appointment? Not a bit of it. There he had been all this time, storing prime Mallorcan charcuterie to give him energy for the winter campaign to become PP leader.
The re-emergence of Eddie Large had been predicted, though not quite in this manner. No one had seriously considered him to be a contender, but in bruiser Brando style that is what he wants to be, ably assisted by Syd Little, the man who didn't win the leadership before, Carlos Delgado. Jaime's push for the leadership is that of Syd's in all but name. If he can't be leader himself, and the party made it perfectly clear in 2010 that it didn't want him and so landed itself with Bauzá instead, then get Eddie installed.
Jaime, though, just doesn't cut the dash. Throughout his tenure as Syd's successor at tourism, he would be seen, hovering in the background while Bauzá was taking centre-stage, like a bodyguard who had been plucked from the night-job as a Magalluf bouncer. However, as flag-bearer for the PP righter than centre-right (centre-right, we must of course say), Jaime's prepared to take to the hustings and to launch an assault on the party's regionalist tendency and one that would be amenable to the current government symbolically removing the Catalan flag from the yoke of prohibitive legislation, which it is due to do this coming week by repealing the Law of Symbols.
This regionalist tendency, expected to be led into leadership battle by ex-minister Biel Company, says that Eddie has not complied with party rules for putting himself forward, whatever these rules might be. Regardless of this, he is getting onboard the campaign HGV and heading to the regional congress to be held some time after Rajoy has lost the general election and at which he will probably suffer the same fate as Syd did in 2010: a sound stuffing. The regionalists voted for Bauzá because he wasn't Delgado. Or so they thought. They were wrong, but this time round they won't make the same mistake again and they'll make sure they get their man, and it won't be Jaime.
Someone who won't be putting himself forward for election is hero of the people, Judge Dredd. José Castro, scourge of Matas and Urdangarin, has politely declined an offer from Podemos to be on the list for the general election and so have the opportunity of becoming a member of Congress bearing the cross of the Church of Iglesias. Had Castro agreed - and one feels that the approach was a fanciful publicity stunt by the Spartists - he might have found himself lining up with candidates from Més. However, Biel and his chums have opted not to form an electoral pact with the Podemistas. And quite right, too. If the first one hundred days of government have taught Biel anything, it is that trying to deal with Podemos is as tangled and venomous as grappling with a pit of vipers. It's one thing putting up with this locally, quite another transporting the inherent conflicts to Madrid as well.
Meanwhile, Mariano has given the nation an early Christmas present, the opportunity to eject him from office five days before the festivities. Christmas will be coming a little earlier this year, though given its proximity and in order to guarantee more interest than might actually be the case, did Mariano not consider combining the election with the El Gordo lottery? Conceivably, he would stand greater chance of winning if he left the election to the random choice of numbered balls.
We had all wondered, feared even, what had happened to the former tourism minister amidst the debacle of the Partido Popular's Maytime meltdown. What had become of Jaime Martínez and his larder? Was Jaime slowly withering away, adopting a belatedly austerity-sympathetic frame to match that of his successor, the ascetic Barceló on his diet of a weekly sopa mallorquín served from one of Xelo Huertas's soup kitchens by royal appointment? Not a bit of it. There he had been all this time, storing prime Mallorcan charcuterie to give him energy for the winter campaign to become PP leader.
The re-emergence of Eddie Large had been predicted, though not quite in this manner. No one had seriously considered him to be a contender, but in bruiser Brando style that is what he wants to be, ably assisted by Syd Little, the man who didn't win the leadership before, Carlos Delgado. Jaime's push for the leadership is that of Syd's in all but name. If he can't be leader himself, and the party made it perfectly clear in 2010 that it didn't want him and so landed itself with Bauzá instead, then get Eddie installed.
Jaime, though, just doesn't cut the dash. Throughout his tenure as Syd's successor at tourism, he would be seen, hovering in the background while Bauzá was taking centre-stage, like a bodyguard who had been plucked from the night-job as a Magalluf bouncer. However, as flag-bearer for the PP righter than centre-right (centre-right, we must of course say), Jaime's prepared to take to the hustings and to launch an assault on the party's regionalist tendency and one that would be amenable to the current government symbolically removing the Catalan flag from the yoke of prohibitive legislation, which it is due to do this coming week by repealing the Law of Symbols.
This regionalist tendency, expected to be led into leadership battle by ex-minister Biel Company, says that Eddie has not complied with party rules for putting himself forward, whatever these rules might be. Regardless of this, he is getting onboard the campaign HGV and heading to the regional congress to be held some time after Rajoy has lost the general election and at which he will probably suffer the same fate as Syd did in 2010: a sound stuffing. The regionalists voted for Bauzá because he wasn't Delgado. Or so they thought. They were wrong, but this time round they won't make the same mistake again and they'll make sure they get their man, and it won't be Jaime.
Someone who won't be putting himself forward for election is hero of the people, Judge Dredd. José Castro, scourge of Matas and Urdangarin, has politely declined an offer from Podemos to be on the list for the general election and so have the opportunity of becoming a member of Congress bearing the cross of the Church of Iglesias. Had Castro agreed - and one feels that the approach was a fanciful publicity stunt by the Spartists - he might have found himself lining up with candidates from Més. However, Biel and his chums have opted not to form an electoral pact with the Podemistas. And quite right, too. If the first one hundred days of government have taught Biel anything, it is that trying to deal with Podemos is as tangled and venomous as grappling with a pit of vipers. It's one thing putting up with this locally, quite another transporting the inherent conflicts to Madrid as well.
Meanwhile, Mariano has given the nation an early Christmas present, the opportunity to eject him from office five days before the festivities. Christmas will be coming a little earlier this year, though given its proximity and in order to guarantee more interest than might actually be the case, did Mariano not consider combining the election with the El Gordo lottery? Conceivably, he would stand greater chance of winning if he left the election to the random choice of numbered balls.
Sunday, October 04, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 October 2015
Morning high (7.45am): 17.1C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 5 October - Sun, cloud, 30C; 6 October - Sun, 25C; 7 October - Sun, cloud, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3 veering Southwest 3 to 4 during the afternoon.
Good-looking morning, decent day ahead it can be hoped, with the sun that didn't really materialise yesterday. Week's forecast - a warm couple of days but from Wednesday temperatures down to around the 20 mark.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 5 October - Sun, cloud, 30C; 6 October - Sun, 25C; 7 October - Sun, cloud, 21C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3 veering Southwest 3 to 4 during the afternoon.
Good-looking morning, decent day ahead it can be hoped, with the sun that didn't really materialise yesterday. Week's forecast - a warm couple of days but from Wednesday temperatures down to around the 20 mark.
The Giant Sweet Shop Of The Tramuntana
There is, as far as I can make out, no particularly good reason why a village in the Tramuntana has insisted on turning itself into the centre of sheer unbridled confectionery fantasy. All they need are some toys as well, and this would be kiddie heaven. As it is, it gets close enough to the divine by converting itself on one day a year - today - into a giant sweet shop and a magician's bakery. Sugar, cream, chocolate, custards, this is a wonderland conjured up by some candy wizard. This is Esporles on the first Sunday in October: Mallorca's tribute to all our yesterdays of the pick 'n' mix and the corner shop with its penny-costing flying saucers and pink shrimps.
They've been holding the sweets fair since 2005. Maybe it was all the doing of he who is now president of the Council of Mallorca, Miquel Ensenyat. 2005 was when he became mayor. Invent a fair and make it one with a theme that nowhere else has. What could be simpler than sweets?
It has of course branched out since the early days. There is now all manner of gluttony to indulge in - savouries, sobrassada sausage, pa amb olis - on a day when elsewhere in Mallorca, Sant Joan, they're going mad over the butifarró (aka botifarron), the sort of black pudding except when it isn't black. At least in Sant Joan one can detect a history, that of the enthusiasts of the local motoring club who came up with the idea for a boti-barbecue in 1966. In Esporles, the reason for the sweet treats can probably be put down to no more than they could, and so have. Otherwise, it would be a fair similar to many others: Esporles is about farming and livestock, a textile industry that pretty much died out decades ago, La Granja and so some tourism of a heritage and ethnological nature.
The fair, despite having only been going since 2005, has of course acquired the adjective "traditional". In itself it isn't traditional, but much of what is on offer is, and last year they made a concerted effort to sell more sweets by putting on a special promotion for the rosaries of sweeties that are given out for All Saints (which is less than a month away). As this tradition has apparently been experiencing some decline, then what better than reminding grandparents, godparents and others of times past and of the need to buy some choccy rosaries in the present?
The prevailing smell of the day of sweets that hangs over Esporles is, though, that of the "bunyol", the doughnut (or fritter with a hole), being fried, and it comes very much into its own at Allhallowtide as well. It can also lay claim to being part of a long local tradition. But the sweet, or pastry, or cake that beats them all in the traditional stakes is our old friend the ensaimada, which will find pride of place next to the dolly mixtures and what have you.
The history of the ensaimada is shrouded in some mystery. Legend has it that its shape comes from an Arabic turban, and that it was the Muslim invaders of the early tenth century who were responsible for its introduction. The word itself does derive from the Arabic "saim", but as this means lard it is most unlikely - for religious dietary reasons - that the Muslims were making their pastry with it. The saim element was to come later but, so it is believed, grafted onto a different pastry, a snail-shaped thing called the bulema that the Arabs produced but which used butter from sheep's milk instead of lard. There is a further claim that, following the conquest, King Jaume I was presented with an ensaimada by a Jewish baker, but again this wouldn't have had lard. Quite when this was first used as an ingredient isn't known, but the bulema explanation - from both Arabic and Jewish cuisine of the times - would appear to hold the key to the later development using lard and so what is now one of Mallorca's most obvious symbols.
So the Esporles fair, only in its eleventh edition, may not have its own tradition, but it will be exhibiting it. The giant sweet shop will be open at ten o'clock, so plenty of time to chomp your way through all the goodies before getting over to Sant Joan and the one o'clock kick-off of the boti-barby. Whoever said Mediterranean diet?
They've been holding the sweets fair since 2005. Maybe it was all the doing of he who is now president of the Council of Mallorca, Miquel Ensenyat. 2005 was when he became mayor. Invent a fair and make it one with a theme that nowhere else has. What could be simpler than sweets?
It has of course branched out since the early days. There is now all manner of gluttony to indulge in - savouries, sobrassada sausage, pa amb olis - on a day when elsewhere in Mallorca, Sant Joan, they're going mad over the butifarró (aka botifarron), the sort of black pudding except when it isn't black. At least in Sant Joan one can detect a history, that of the enthusiasts of the local motoring club who came up with the idea for a boti-barbecue in 1966. In Esporles, the reason for the sweet treats can probably be put down to no more than they could, and so have. Otherwise, it would be a fair similar to many others: Esporles is about farming and livestock, a textile industry that pretty much died out decades ago, La Granja and so some tourism of a heritage and ethnological nature.
The fair, despite having only been going since 2005, has of course acquired the adjective "traditional". In itself it isn't traditional, but much of what is on offer is, and last year they made a concerted effort to sell more sweets by putting on a special promotion for the rosaries of sweeties that are given out for All Saints (which is less than a month away). As this tradition has apparently been experiencing some decline, then what better than reminding grandparents, godparents and others of times past and of the need to buy some choccy rosaries in the present?
The prevailing smell of the day of sweets that hangs over Esporles is, though, that of the "bunyol", the doughnut (or fritter with a hole), being fried, and it comes very much into its own at Allhallowtide as well. It can also lay claim to being part of a long local tradition. But the sweet, or pastry, or cake that beats them all in the traditional stakes is our old friend the ensaimada, which will find pride of place next to the dolly mixtures and what have you.
The history of the ensaimada is shrouded in some mystery. Legend has it that its shape comes from an Arabic turban, and that it was the Muslim invaders of the early tenth century who were responsible for its introduction. The word itself does derive from the Arabic "saim", but as this means lard it is most unlikely - for religious dietary reasons - that the Muslims were making their pastry with it. The saim element was to come later but, so it is believed, grafted onto a different pastry, a snail-shaped thing called the bulema that the Arabs produced but which used butter from sheep's milk instead of lard. There is a further claim that, following the conquest, King Jaume I was presented with an ensaimada by a Jewish baker, but again this wouldn't have had lard. Quite when this was first used as an ingredient isn't known, but the bulema explanation - from both Arabic and Jewish cuisine of the times - would appear to hold the key to the later development using lard and so what is now one of Mallorca's most obvious symbols.
So the Esporles fair, only in its eleventh edition, may not have its own tradition, but it will be exhibiting it. The giant sweet shop will be open at ten o'clock, so plenty of time to chomp your way through all the goodies before getting over to Sant Joan and the one o'clock kick-off of the boti-barby. Whoever said Mediterranean diet?
Saturday, October 03, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 October 2015
Morning high (7.00am): 19.1C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 4 October - Sun, 28C; 5 October - Sun, 28C; 6 October - Sun, cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southwest 3 to 5.
Quite clear, quite breezy first thing. More cloud than had been forecast may now be around today. Southerlies dominating which may be the reason for the elevated temperatures being forecast for the next couple of days.
Evening update (19.00): Dull for most of the day. Highs - Coastal, 26.9C; Inland, 28.2C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 4 October - Sun, 28C; 5 October - Sun, 28C; 6 October - Sun, cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southwest 3 to 5.
Quite clear, quite breezy first thing. More cloud than had been forecast may now be around today. Southerlies dominating which may be the reason for the elevated temperatures being forecast for the next couple of days.
Evening update (19.00): Dull for most of the day. Highs - Coastal, 26.9C; Inland, 28.2C.
The Complications Of Holiday Rental Regulation
A key issue that the tourism minister, Biel Barceló has only partially touched on recently is that of the regulation of holiday rentals. Barceló had said that new regulation to cover private apartments would be needed prior to the introduction of the tourist tax. The fact is, however, that whatever pitfalls the government might encounter with introducing the tax they are nowhere near as large as those requiring the coherent and watertight crossing of t's and dotting of i's that rental legislation will demand.
To recap, the reason for there being a need for prior legislation of holiday rentals is two-fold. One is to be able to have as many accommodation units as possible subject to the tax, and the second is to try and avoid the cries of foul that will come from the hoteliers sensing the same discrimination as they did with the poorly implemented eco-tax of yesteryear.
The legislation, however, is far from straightforward, and an additional complication concerns the powers for tourism that the Council of Mallorca (and the other island councils) are to assume under a transfer of responsibilities from the government. Barceló and the council's president, Miquel Ensenyat, have met in order to map out how this transfer is to be made and what it will entail, and one aspect of it will be for holiday rentals.
Barceló has made clear his intention to reform the tourist law and to permit the commercialised rental of holiday apartments, something that is currently outlawed. The legal reform will presumably, however, have to establish the mechanism for decisions as to how this liberalisation will apply, and this is where the council (and ultimately also the town halls) is going to play a key role. The reform, or so it would seem, will not be universal. It will apply to tourist areas that the council will determine.
The simple way of doing this would be to apply the law to those parts of Mallorca already classified as tourist areas. These are easy enough to identify without the aid of official classification systems. But will it be this simple?
There are tourist areas of Mallorca where the reform would be particularly beneficial and indeed where it is pretty much essential: those resorts which rely heavily on private accommodation because of a lack of hotel stock - Puerto Pollensa, Colonia Sant Jordi, for example. Then there are resorts where the reform might appear to be less essential: the ones with high density of hotels - Alcudia, Palmanova-Magalluf, Cala Millor, for instance. Yet all of these resorts have considerable stocks of private accommodation as well. It would be most unlikely that they would not be included, but there is, within the Barceló drive to legislate, a potential inconsistency on his behalf. He has spoken of his concern regarding "saturation" in high summer, and one key reason why there is this saturation is the availability of private accommodation and the sudden dramatic increase in its supply, facilitated in no small part by internet rental websites.
Why, though, should the reform only apply to designated tourist areas? Perhaps this will not be the way the council goes, and there are good reasons why it shouldn't. Non-tourist areas are mainly those of the interior, but why exclude these?
Whichever way this reform goes, it may well be that it takes much of the current legislature (up to May 2019) to get it sorted out. Before it can genuinely be considered, the transfer of powers has to be nailed down and fully approved, and this is also not as simple as it seems. The previous government sought to do this but ran up against the issue of financing this transfer of responsibilities. The current government will not be as parsimonious, but Menorca and Formentera in particular will be agitating for vastly increased budgets to those proposed by the PP.
To recap, the reason for there being a need for prior legislation of holiday rentals is two-fold. One is to be able to have as many accommodation units as possible subject to the tax, and the second is to try and avoid the cries of foul that will come from the hoteliers sensing the same discrimination as they did with the poorly implemented eco-tax of yesteryear.
The legislation, however, is far from straightforward, and an additional complication concerns the powers for tourism that the Council of Mallorca (and the other island councils) are to assume under a transfer of responsibilities from the government. Barceló and the council's president, Miquel Ensenyat, have met in order to map out how this transfer is to be made and what it will entail, and one aspect of it will be for holiday rentals.
Barceló has made clear his intention to reform the tourist law and to permit the commercialised rental of holiday apartments, something that is currently outlawed. The legal reform will presumably, however, have to establish the mechanism for decisions as to how this liberalisation will apply, and this is where the council (and ultimately also the town halls) is going to play a key role. The reform, or so it would seem, will not be universal. It will apply to tourist areas that the council will determine.
The simple way of doing this would be to apply the law to those parts of Mallorca already classified as tourist areas. These are easy enough to identify without the aid of official classification systems. But will it be this simple?
There are tourist areas of Mallorca where the reform would be particularly beneficial and indeed where it is pretty much essential: those resorts which rely heavily on private accommodation because of a lack of hotel stock - Puerto Pollensa, Colonia Sant Jordi, for example. Then there are resorts where the reform might appear to be less essential: the ones with high density of hotels - Alcudia, Palmanova-Magalluf, Cala Millor, for instance. Yet all of these resorts have considerable stocks of private accommodation as well. It would be most unlikely that they would not be included, but there is, within the Barceló drive to legislate, a potential inconsistency on his behalf. He has spoken of his concern regarding "saturation" in high summer, and one key reason why there is this saturation is the availability of private accommodation and the sudden dramatic increase in its supply, facilitated in no small part by internet rental websites.
Why, though, should the reform only apply to designated tourist areas? Perhaps this will not be the way the council goes, and there are good reasons why it shouldn't. Non-tourist areas are mainly those of the interior, but why exclude these?
Whichever way this reform goes, it may well be that it takes much of the current legislature (up to May 2019) to get it sorted out. Before it can genuinely be considered, the transfer of powers has to be nailed down and fully approved, and this is also not as simple as it seems. The previous government sought to do this but ran up against the issue of financing this transfer of responsibilities. The current government will not be as parsimonious, but Menorca and Formentera in particular will be agitating for vastly increased budgets to those proposed by the PP.
Friday, October 02, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 October 2015
Morning high (6.30am): 15.7C
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 3 October - Sun, 27C; 4 October - Sun, cloud, 26C; 5 October - Sun, cloud, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 veering South 4 during the morning.
Some risk of a shower this morning, but brightening up and should also be warmer. The weekend looking to be pretty decent with temperatures moving again towards the upper twenties.
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 3 October - Sun, 27C; 4 October - Sun, cloud, 26C; 5 October - Sun, cloud, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 veering South 4 during the morning.
Some risk of a shower this morning, but brightening up and should also be warmer. The weekend looking to be pretty decent with temperatures moving again towards the upper twenties.
The Balearics Under Zombie Attack
I've no wish to alarm you unduly, but that bloke sitting next to you in the bar, can you be absolutely sure he isn't a zombie? There are zombie attacks every ten minutes, you know. Yes really.
Certain inhabitants of bars might give the impression of having gone into a zombie state, but the alarm being spread as regards zombies in our midst is probably exaggerated. I mean, someone who's taken onboard several gallons too many may have adopted the appearance of the undead, but generally speaking he won't have joined the ranks. On balance, it would be more likely that he was actually dead rather than in death no-man's land.
The every-ten-minutes-there's-a-zombie-attack alarm is of course all a publicity ruse. Partly, it is because of "The Walking Dead", but it is also because in Mallorca and the Balearics, normally sensible people are playing at being zombies. This is, I'm sorry to have to say, not a phenomenon confined to those who don't know better, i.e. children, but is in fact the pastime of grown-ups who really should do.
It is all a bit frightening, not that the zombies are frightening as such, but rather like there are those limping around labouring, in "me 'earty" fashion, under the misapprehension that they are Johnny Depp and so therefore pirates, there are also members of the adult class who seem to think they are zombies. The only upside of this, as far as I can see, is that piratical hegemony that has ruled for so long might be challenged. It's not much of a benefit, agreed, but one does have to try and look on the bright side and for some good out of all this zombie carrying-on.
When, do you suppose, will they open a zombie-themed hotel? Yes, I know, I know, but before you start saying low end of the all-inclusive market, the clientele in these cannot, in all truth, claim any zombie status. The thing with zombies, those who wish to carry the game to its logical conclusion that is, is that they can't drink alcohol. Or eat pizza. So I'm sorry, let's have no all-inclusive jibes, albeit I fancy that if and when they open the zombie-themed hotel, it would have to be all-inclusive. Let's face it, no self-respecting hotel, if this is the correct term, would wish a zombie clientele to be walking the streets of the resorts at any time of day or night: normally night, I fancy.
Now, you might think that they'd never do something as daft as have a zombie-themed hotel. Well I'm sorry, but they might well do. If they can have a zombie cruise ship, then they can certainly have a hotel as well. A zombie ship? Oh yes, indeed. It moored up in Ibiza just a short time ago. Not only that, the zombies took to the streets of San Antonio one dark morning before sun-up and were joined, with a payment of 29 euros per not-undead local, by indigenous Ibizan zombies. The town hall and the local police had gone along with the whole thing, and even informed the residents that they shouldn't be concerned by this zombie invasion.
It was all the idea of zombie enthusiasts who set up a WhatsApp group and who, at just short of 300 euros a pop, were able to catch the zombie ship from Valencia. And what an experience it was, especially for those who weren't zombies. Being confined to a ship on the open seas, there's no escape, and so they were never sure when a zombie might attack.
There are, it has to be said, cruises and then there are cruises. In the scheme of things a zombie cruise would not be the cruise of choice for the majority. Just as the Mein Schiff that has its heavy-metal clientele wouldn't be the preference of another majority. Eighteen-stone, tattoed Germans, head-banging and manically waving air guitars for twenty-four hours a day on a ship, sounds as close to hell as it can get, but not quite as hellish as zombies.
Or have I got this wrong? I think I may have. Why not zombies? Why not heavy-metal hairies with Megadeth t-shirts? It's all in the name of enjoyment after all, while Themes 'R' Us might be said to be the thematic slogan of contemporary tourism. And then, where zombies are concerned, Mallorca has some specific recent form in this regard. Films. In the summer the finishing touches to "Turbulencia zombi" by a Mallorcan director were made in the Palma area of Sant Jordi, and last September there were hordes of zombies being filmed at the likes of Cala Tuent for "Generation Z".
The zombies are here. So watch out. You never know when one might attack.
Certain inhabitants of bars might give the impression of having gone into a zombie state, but the alarm being spread as regards zombies in our midst is probably exaggerated. I mean, someone who's taken onboard several gallons too many may have adopted the appearance of the undead, but generally speaking he won't have joined the ranks. On balance, it would be more likely that he was actually dead rather than in death no-man's land.
The every-ten-minutes-there's-a-zombie-attack alarm is of course all a publicity ruse. Partly, it is because of "The Walking Dead", but it is also because in Mallorca and the Balearics, normally sensible people are playing at being zombies. This is, I'm sorry to have to say, not a phenomenon confined to those who don't know better, i.e. children, but is in fact the pastime of grown-ups who really should do.
It is all a bit frightening, not that the zombies are frightening as such, but rather like there are those limping around labouring, in "me 'earty" fashion, under the misapprehension that they are Johnny Depp and so therefore pirates, there are also members of the adult class who seem to think they are zombies. The only upside of this, as far as I can see, is that piratical hegemony that has ruled for so long might be challenged. It's not much of a benefit, agreed, but one does have to try and look on the bright side and for some good out of all this zombie carrying-on.
When, do you suppose, will they open a zombie-themed hotel? Yes, I know, I know, but before you start saying low end of the all-inclusive market, the clientele in these cannot, in all truth, claim any zombie status. The thing with zombies, those who wish to carry the game to its logical conclusion that is, is that they can't drink alcohol. Or eat pizza. So I'm sorry, let's have no all-inclusive jibes, albeit I fancy that if and when they open the zombie-themed hotel, it would have to be all-inclusive. Let's face it, no self-respecting hotel, if this is the correct term, would wish a zombie clientele to be walking the streets of the resorts at any time of day or night: normally night, I fancy.
Now, you might think that they'd never do something as daft as have a zombie-themed hotel. Well I'm sorry, but they might well do. If they can have a zombie cruise ship, then they can certainly have a hotel as well. A zombie ship? Oh yes, indeed. It moored up in Ibiza just a short time ago. Not only that, the zombies took to the streets of San Antonio one dark morning before sun-up and were joined, with a payment of 29 euros per not-undead local, by indigenous Ibizan zombies. The town hall and the local police had gone along with the whole thing, and even informed the residents that they shouldn't be concerned by this zombie invasion.
It was all the idea of zombie enthusiasts who set up a WhatsApp group and who, at just short of 300 euros a pop, were able to catch the zombie ship from Valencia. And what an experience it was, especially for those who weren't zombies. Being confined to a ship on the open seas, there's no escape, and so they were never sure when a zombie might attack.
There are, it has to be said, cruises and then there are cruises. In the scheme of things a zombie cruise would not be the cruise of choice for the majority. Just as the Mein Schiff that has its heavy-metal clientele wouldn't be the preference of another majority. Eighteen-stone, tattoed Germans, head-banging and manically waving air guitars for twenty-four hours a day on a ship, sounds as close to hell as it can get, but not quite as hellish as zombies.
Or have I got this wrong? I think I may have. Why not zombies? Why not heavy-metal hairies with Megadeth t-shirts? It's all in the name of enjoyment after all, while Themes 'R' Us might be said to be the thematic slogan of contemporary tourism. And then, where zombies are concerned, Mallorca has some specific recent form in this regard. Films. In the summer the finishing touches to "Turbulencia zombi" by a Mallorcan director were made in the Palma area of Sant Jordi, and last September there were hordes of zombies being filmed at the likes of Cala Tuent for "Generation Z".
The zombies are here. So watch out. You never know when one might attack.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 October 2015
Morning high (6.45am): 19.4C
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 2 October - Sun, rain, 24C; 3 October - Sun, cloud, 26C; 4 October - Cloud, sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 6 to 7 occasionally 8 easing 4 to 5. Waves to three metres.
Windy and somewhat cloudy first thing, the main alert in place is for the coasts on account of sea turbulence and big waves. Should be sunny later on. Tomorrow may see another storm, but otherwise the general outlook is better, with temperatures rising.
Evening update (20.00): Some areas took a bit of a battering from the high winds, but they abated and gave not a bad day. Highs - Coastal, 23.3C; Inland, 22.8C.
Forecast high: 22C; UV: 5
Three-day forecast: 2 October - Sun, rain, 24C; 3 October - Sun, cloud, 26C; 4 October - Cloud, sun, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 6 to 7 occasionally 8 easing 4 to 5. Waves to three metres.
Windy and somewhat cloudy first thing, the main alert in place is for the coasts on account of sea turbulence and big waves. Should be sunny later on. Tomorrow may see another storm, but otherwise the general outlook is better, with temperatures rising.
Evening update (20.00): Some areas took a bit of a battering from the high winds, but they abated and gave not a bad day. Highs - Coastal, 23.3C; Inland, 22.8C.
Feudalism: Alive and kicking in Mallorca
After King Jaume I and his not so merry men had finished slaughtering much of the population of Mallorca following the thirteenth-century conquest, they ran up against a slight problem. Land was all well and good, but less so if there wasn't anyone to work it. The scale of the slaughter suggests that half the population of the island - put at some 50,000 - was wiped out. Of those who survived, the majority were Muslim converts. Otherwise, there were still some Christians, descendants of the population at the time of the Muslim occupation three centuries before.
In terms of society, the story of the immediate aftermath of the conquest can be styled as a combination of slavery and feudalism. The slaves were the survivors of the conquest, whose numbers, limited as they were, needed to be added to by inward migration, principally from Catalonia, for which incentives of privileges were granted. Privileges or not, the new Mallorcan workforce was subject to the organisational system - Jaume's system of feudalism.
There wasn't one definitive system of feudalism in Europe, but the variants followed a basic principle usually attributed to French nobility, e.g. William the Conqueror. It was a system of privileges, at the heart of which were rights to land extended from above to those below - as in lord to vassal, for example - and which involved a form of mutual protection: the lord would protect his vassal, and the vassal would fight for the lord.
Feudalism is generally considered to be a system of mediaeval times, and indeed its practice in Europe had largely disappeared by the fifteenth century. In Spain, on the other hand - or more accurately in the lands of the Aragon crown - the system of feudal barony, a hangover from Jaume, wasn't to be ended until the early nineteenth century and even then, though legal rights were abolished, property rights weren't.
Earlier this year, the heirs of the Marquis de la Romana informed owners of 125 properties, such as those in Paguera for example, that the "alou" ("alodio" in Spanish) was still applicable. This is a charge payable on the transfer of ownership of a property, and this alou goes right back to the days of Jaume I: it is a mediaeval tax, founded on the principles of Jaume's feudal system.
Under a Balearic law of 2010 the alou was addressed, and ultimate landowners, almost invariably descendants in some form or another of those who engaged in the land grab and distribution that Jaume had facilitated in the thirteenth century, were given five years to renew the alou. Those who didn't wish to simply had to inform the Land Registry, and the tax - hugely anachronistic that it was - would no longer be applicable.
At the time this law was introduced, the president of the Balearic Academy of Jurisprudence explained that it had served a useful function - in the thirteenth century. It was a legal concept linked to the conquest but also to the need for repopulation. But it was, nevertheless, a legal concept that was almost 800 years old.
The law was expected to have seen the withdrawal of the alou in 2013, and there were owners who decided to scrap it. But not all. Later that year, a couple, Xus Sastre and his wife Beatrix, won a court battle after they had been pursued for the payment of 2% alou for the purchase of a house in Es Pil-lari in Palma. The demand, which amounted to 1,800 euros, came from the Marquise de Campo Franco. The couple argued that they had never heard of the tax, though when it came to formalising the purchase, a notary observed that there was a freehold but advised them that the alou would not be charged, as no one bothered demanding it.
The couple, though they won the court case, took the matter further. They raised a petition through Change.org for the eradication of this example of feudalism that had no place in a democracy. How could standards of the thirteenth century still be allowed to apply? The Romanas and the Campo Francos would doubtless argue that they could apply quite easily.
The Més party, though, asked the same question. At the end of 2013, the petition having raised 12,000 signatures, a Més parliamentary deputy said that his party would seek to have the alou abolished for good. It was a "feudal anachronism", and the 2010 law hadn't gone far enough. But if Més were to now introduce a law (and one would think that they and especially Podemos would do so), it would be too late for the airports authority Aena. A court has decided that it must pay an alou of 70,840 euros for having put to use land that was expropriated at Son Sant Joan airport in the 1960s.
Jaume I's legacy is great, and it lives on in some most peculiar ways.
In terms of society, the story of the immediate aftermath of the conquest can be styled as a combination of slavery and feudalism. The slaves were the survivors of the conquest, whose numbers, limited as they were, needed to be added to by inward migration, principally from Catalonia, for which incentives of privileges were granted. Privileges or not, the new Mallorcan workforce was subject to the organisational system - Jaume's system of feudalism.
There wasn't one definitive system of feudalism in Europe, but the variants followed a basic principle usually attributed to French nobility, e.g. William the Conqueror. It was a system of privileges, at the heart of which were rights to land extended from above to those below - as in lord to vassal, for example - and which involved a form of mutual protection: the lord would protect his vassal, and the vassal would fight for the lord.
Feudalism is generally considered to be a system of mediaeval times, and indeed its practice in Europe had largely disappeared by the fifteenth century. In Spain, on the other hand - or more accurately in the lands of the Aragon crown - the system of feudal barony, a hangover from Jaume, wasn't to be ended until the early nineteenth century and even then, though legal rights were abolished, property rights weren't.
Earlier this year, the heirs of the Marquis de la Romana informed owners of 125 properties, such as those in Paguera for example, that the "alou" ("alodio" in Spanish) was still applicable. This is a charge payable on the transfer of ownership of a property, and this alou goes right back to the days of Jaume I: it is a mediaeval tax, founded on the principles of Jaume's feudal system.
Under a Balearic law of 2010 the alou was addressed, and ultimate landowners, almost invariably descendants in some form or another of those who engaged in the land grab and distribution that Jaume had facilitated in the thirteenth century, were given five years to renew the alou. Those who didn't wish to simply had to inform the Land Registry, and the tax - hugely anachronistic that it was - would no longer be applicable.
At the time this law was introduced, the president of the Balearic Academy of Jurisprudence explained that it had served a useful function - in the thirteenth century. It was a legal concept linked to the conquest but also to the need for repopulation. But it was, nevertheless, a legal concept that was almost 800 years old.
The law was expected to have seen the withdrawal of the alou in 2013, and there were owners who decided to scrap it. But not all. Later that year, a couple, Xus Sastre and his wife Beatrix, won a court battle after they had been pursued for the payment of 2% alou for the purchase of a house in Es Pil-lari in Palma. The demand, which amounted to 1,800 euros, came from the Marquise de Campo Franco. The couple argued that they had never heard of the tax, though when it came to formalising the purchase, a notary observed that there was a freehold but advised them that the alou would not be charged, as no one bothered demanding it.
The couple, though they won the court case, took the matter further. They raised a petition through Change.org for the eradication of this example of feudalism that had no place in a democracy. How could standards of the thirteenth century still be allowed to apply? The Romanas and the Campo Francos would doubtless argue that they could apply quite easily.
The Més party, though, asked the same question. At the end of 2013, the petition having raised 12,000 signatures, a Més parliamentary deputy said that his party would seek to have the alou abolished for good. It was a "feudal anachronism", and the 2010 law hadn't gone far enough. But if Més were to now introduce a law (and one would think that they and especially Podemos would do so), it would be too late for the airports authority Aena. A court has decided that it must pay an alou of 70,840 euros for having put to use land that was expropriated at Son Sant Joan airport in the 1960s.
Jaume I's legacy is great, and it lives on in some most peculiar ways.
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