Boy And Girl Bands: Podemos and friends

The brotherhood, sisterhood and infanthood descended on Palma en masse during the week. There they all were, Podemos, Més and friends, as though they were about to engage in a benefit gig for the regional electoral amalgamation of You-Nits-Podemés. It was the head mikes that did it of course, making the collective appear as though it were a boy/girl band about to break out with a chorus of Take That's "Everything Changes". In truth, only the Infant Errejón (who was replete with cool, One-D-style, Harry Styles shades but no ponytail) can pass as a member of a boy band. Some, such as Here Come Da Judge, most definitely cannot. As has been remarked previously, Da Judge bears more than a passing resemblance to Jim Bowen in his "Bullseye" heyday, and Jim was certainly not one for indulging in frivolities like being a member of a boy band: "Super, smashing, great."

They all appeared before a banner declaring "The Smile of the Mediterranean". Perhaps they were in fact a Beach Boys trib. What would they sing from the "Smile" album? "Heroes And Villains"? And who would be the villains? Were you watching, Mariano? Alas no. Instead we got, and inter alia, Pablo Iglesias (the sort of Brian Wilson of the band) informing the citizens that "democracy is incompatible with hotel lobbyists who determine political power, some of them having accounts in Panama". Who on Earth could he have possibly been referring to?

The Infant called for there to be an "intergenerational pact", which wasn't quite as alarming as it sounded; it was a pact of votes from different generations, and if anyone was capable of referring to intergenerations, then it was the Infant.

Throughout all of this, there was no mention by Pablo of PSOE. Not that they would have been on the stage anyway, given that You-Nits-Podemés are going to relegate them to the bronze medal on 26 June. And it was well that they weren't. Imagine if Palma's Smiler had been there: mayor Hila who can smile from parts believed unimaginable by mere mortals.

This all took place on Thursday, three days after the Great Debate on Spanish telly. This was notable for the fact that each of the four prime ministerial (presidential) candidates wore a white shirt, the key differences having been that Pablo sported neither tie nor jacket, while Al Rivera of the C's had the whistle on but no Peckham (as in Peckham Rye - tie, if it needs explaining).

The absence of Al's neckwear was presumably designed as a further means of distinguishing him from his double-act partner, Pedro Sánchez of PSOE. True to form, this Ant and Dec duo were arranged with Ant to the left, so that the audience could figure out which one was which.

Amidst all the grimacing and stony looks of the Great Debate - accusations of corruption, all the normal carry-on - there was a spot of smiling too. Mariano doesn't really do smiling. Or not convincingly. His smiling on this occasion was the befuddled grin of a dad back from the pub who comes in to find junior (which one would that be?) entertaining his two chums with the latest Metallica album. When Mazza wasn't trying his hardest to smile, he was letting it be known, among other things, that Ant (Pedro) would be a "dreadful president (prime minister)". Not, it is becoming clearer, that Ant will ever be either.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 19 June 2016

Morning high (6.47am): 16.4C
Forecast high: 25C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 20 June - Sun, cloud, 24C; 21 June - Sun, cloud, 23C; 22 June - Sun, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 2 to 3.

Fresh and bright morning. Rain from yesterday not about to return. All set fair it seems for the week ahead.

Evening update (19.45): Very nice. High of 26.2C.

When The Greatest Came To Mallorca

Mallorca cannot count on having a long roll call of famous boxers. There was, though, Young Martí, born Gregori Vidal Vidal in Palma in 1908. By the age of 18 he was fighting in London, and three years later fought for the world bantamweight crown in New York, unluckily losing because he was impeded by an injury to his nose that he had suffered in his previous fight. In 1932 he became Spanish bantamweight champion by beating Carlos Flix in what was a fierce fight.

He took his name from one José Martí, who had a boxing gym in Marseille, and it was there that Young Martí was to learn all about boxing. So, there hadn't really been a boxing tradition on the island at that time. It wasn't to truly emerge until the second half of the century, and a principal reason for a rise in its popularity was the opening of the Gimnasio Baleares by a businessman, Jaume Planas Ferrer, in 1945.

This gym was to produce amateur champions at national level, some of whom were to turn professional. Some key names included Martin Antich and Jim Oliver. Despite his name, the latter of these was Mallorcan (his name was in fact Jaume). He fought at the 1948 Olympics but had no success as a professional and so turned instead to wrestling, becoming a Spanish champion in 1951.

Regular Tuesday evening boxing events were staged at the Teatro Balear, while a German promoter, Hans Hesse, put on boxing contests at the Fronton Balear, once upon a time considered to have been one of the finest of sporting venues (it had been opened in 1935). It was to be the venue for the Spanish amateur championships in 1968.

Boxing, by the seventies therefore, was pretty popular in Mallorca, but it was to be a boxer who came to only fight an exhibition who was to provide what were arguably the greatest moments in Mallorca's boxing history. Who else could it have been than The Greatest himself: Muhammad Ali.

It was 12 June, 1979 when Ali arrived at Palma's Son Sant Joan airport. He stayed at the Hotel Valparaíso, then and now one of Palma's finest establishments. It was the year after he had regained the WBA title from Leon Spinks and the year before Larry Holmes defeated him in his penultimate professional fight. It was also a time when Ali had his share of financial problems. One solution to these was to take part in promotional tours.

And so a group of Mallorcan businessmen hit on the idea of Ali being among the attractions (being the main attraction) for the opening of the Casino Sporting Club (the Casino as was in Sol de Mallorca). Its restaurant - the Gala Mallorca - was to be the venue for a spectacular dinner and show on behalf of the Spanish Association for the Fight Against Cancer. Ali topped a bill which otherwise contained names that were not greatly known: Freddy's Angels Ballet, for example. They were appearing in what brought the night to a close, a performance of the musical "Over The Rainbow". Among celebrities that night was the former Wimbledon champion, Manuel Santana.

The promotion for this event was intriguing to say the least. One advert said that you could be witness to the final combat in the history of Muhammad Ali: there was a boxing exhibition of five two-minute rounds against Jimmy Ellis, who was a couple of years older than Ali, had retired in 1975 and wore a headguard for their bout. The first three rounds were, journalists reported, something of a parody, though Ali was to show greater aggression in the final two.

The visit to Mallorca was notable for what was to be the advance announcement of his retirement. At the press conference in the Valparaíso, in addition to playing the drums and the piano, he announced that it was "goodbye to the world". He said that old age and death come to all men and that for an athlete of 37 years of age, there is a time to realise that things are not like they once were. That announcement was to be made official two weeks later in Los Angeles. Fifteen months later, he was back in the ring against Larry Holmes.

For his appearance, it was said that Ali was paid four and a half million pesetas (something over 27,000 euros).

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 18 June 2016

Morning high (6.56am): 16.8C
Forecast high: 23C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 19 June - Sun, cloud, 25C; 20 June - Sun, cloud, 23C; 21 June - Sun, cloud, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 3 veering North during the morning. Rain and storm possible.

All fine first thing, but there are now alerts (yellow) for rain and storms later on. Tomorrow is much better, and the general outlook is good for the week.

Evening update (20.30): Forecast was accurate enough. Storm around and rain. Possibly heavy somewhere, but mild otherwise. Picked up later, bit cool, getting better tomorrow; just one of those days. High of 25.4C.

Guess Who'll Be Marketing Holiday Rentals

If Biel Barceló and the Balearic government think that holiday rentals' legislation is already complicated, then they can now add a further ingredient to the mix. Aware that the legislation will have to take account of the growth of "sharing" accommodation websites such as Airbnb, along is coming a company which is a grand advocate of free markets and competition. It is? Ryanair.

The new theme for the Irish airline is that it plans on becoming the "Amazon" of travel in Europe. Michael O'Leary has said so, and he has been echoed in this by Kenny Jacobs, the head of marketing. On 1 October, the airline is to launch Ryanair Rooms, a service by which its travellers can book all manner of accommodation, including tourist apartments.

This "Amazon" approach, which already includes Ryanair Car Hire, is the latest service to come out of the Ryanair Labs (with its motto "always improving"). The plans for Ryanair Rooms are such, or so it would seem, that the company wants to challenge even Airbnb. And who is to say that it won't?

Until now, Ryanair has had an agreement with Booking.com. That will cease when Ryanair Rooms comes on-stream. Jacobs says that Ryanair's low fares revolutionised air travel and Ryanair Rooms will "transform" the booking of accommodation.

The intention of Ryanair to enter this market is just another move that is indeed transforming the booking of accommodation. TUI has already started to include private accommodation in the sale of packages, there is a growing number of travel agencies doing this, while Be Mate, which was launched back in 2014, was a statement of intent by the founder of Room Mate, Kike Sarasola, that he wished to create his own Airbnb-style model.

Be Mate in fact announced a few days ago that it had entered into an agreement with the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV) for the marketing of tourist apartments. That led the former president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, Aurelio Vázquez, who is also the Iberostar CEO for Spain, the Middle East and Africa, to say that Be Mate is doing "more damage" than Airbnb. Sarasola responded by stating that the prohibition of something only awakens desire. Be Mate is going to be at the head of the market not in the rear. "We strive for excellence in our treatment of customers, which is why an organisation such as CEAV is good for us. We share the same philosophy." 

At the same time as Be Mate was making its tie-up with the travel agencies known, Aurelio Vázquez was attending a forum on hotel investment. One of the themes that came up was holiday rentals, and there was a specific aspect to the rentals' market that hasn't necessarily been well discussed. It was one of safety and security and in particular the ease with which potential terrorists can book into accommodation via a site such as Airbnb. The former president of the hoteliers in Madrid, Antonio Gil, observed that hotels are required by the police to record data related to every guest. This is not the case with rentals' websites.

Well, maybe terrorism is something else that the Balearic government will need to factor in. With all the activity going on and with such big hitters in or entering the market, it becomes increasingly difficult for governments, such as the Balearic government, not to adopt legislation which reflects what is a massive and unstoppable trend. The previous government under the Partido Popular preferred to bury its head in the sand (assisted by the hoteliers) and so only contributed to making legislation more complex and more urgent.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 17 June 2016

Morning high (7.00am): 17.3C
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 18 June - Storm, sun, 24C; 19 June - Cloud, sun, 23C; 20 June - Sun, cloud, 24C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3.

A fine morning and staying fine. Tomorrow is due to be stormy, but there isn't as yet an alert in place for heavy rain.

Evening update (20.15): Pretty good day. High of 30.3C.

Followers Of Resort Fashion

Meliá Hotels International has seven hotels in Torremolinos. They are all more or less dotted along the resort's fairly lengthy front line. The number isn't, therefore, so different to those in Magalluf. The mayor of the Costa del Sol resort has been in Magalluf. He has met with Calvia's mayor, Alfonso Rodríguez, and with the CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer.

Torremolinos is undergoing a process of renovation and repositioning. Sounds familiar, doesn't it. A closing-off of traffic, pedestrianisation of its old part are designed to make it a space for the citizens. Goodness, how familiar it does all sound.

One hesitates to call it a transformation (a word seemingly reserved for Magalluf, aka Calvia Beach, aka Meliá New Town), but the resort's improvement, says the mayor, has brought about a 30% increase in the number of licences for new business openings this year: even McDonald's has returned to a resort that had fallen into decline.

Torremolinos and Magalluf are like resort blood brothers. Go back in time and they were icons of touristic naffness: Torremolinos more so than Magalluf. It was Torremolinos that Monty Python chose when sending up the package holiday of the early 1970s rather than Magalluf. It seems wholly appropriate that its mayor should now have come and seen for himself what transformation entails.

It is not, one imagines, that Melía is about to embark upon something as grand as Calvia Beach. It is, however, upgrading its hotels. There is a Sol House (the Aloha, Costa del Sol) just as there is in Magalluf, though it appears not, as yet, to be "mixed" by Ibiza Rocks. Oh well.

Calvia Beach has been and is something of an experiment. It is not experimental, as that would imply that the results had not been carefully thought out: they obviously have been. No, it is an experiment in the creation of a different type of resort. It is a model that Meliá has itself suggested others may wish to follow. But that begs a question. Who are these others?

Even were Meliá of a mind to get heavily involved in a Torremolinos makeover, there wouldn't be the same inherent advantages as existed in Magalluf. The number of hotels was one of these. Their comparative proximity was another. An integrated transformation, one involving the town hall-owned immediate environment was facilitated as much as anything by this proximity. Torremolinos is different in this regard.

It has been an experiment in another way: to determine the degree to which one hotel chain can effect change and fairly fundamental change at that. Sure, there have been others - BH, Fergus - but they are followers, catching the wave (or is it Wave House) and in the slipstream of a hotel chain that has engineered the remodelling of a resort.

For Torremolinos, Calvia Beach will certainly offer an intriguing example to try and imitate, though how all-embracing this might be would be debatable. The Magalluf experiment, if nothing else, suggests that resort transformations require a sugar daddy hotel chain, one certainly with vision but one also with strong investment backing and that inherent real-estate advantage of hotel locations.

And for Torremolinos, read also other Mallorcan resorts. The point has been made previously. If Calvia Beach is a model to be taken up by others, then who is it that would drive this? Meliás don't grow on resort trees. The model would need its own remodelling. It would demand a consortium approach and shedloads of investment.

But would everywhere want to be like Calvia Beach? Meliá has spoken of how the traditional resort bar is being supplanted by the beach club (clearly not completely, it has to be said). This is all part of the complementary offer upgrading itself in line with a resort branding determined by the sophistication and aspirations inherent to the Millennial Generation (the young market which doesn't get totally blotto or down its pants on Punta Ballena). It's all in the marketing, of course it is.

Magalluf's family tourism market would seem to also demand beach clubs. Or is it that they are to be weaned off alternatives and made to want them? This is nothing against beach clubs, rather a fear that resorts, looking at the Calvia Beach experiment, will somehow contrive to lay their hands on investment and copy it. One would end up, therefore, with a sort of standardised resort model.

And in marketing terms, that would make little sense. Rather than standardisation, the marketing mantra has to be differentiation. But in order for that to apply, someone has to have the vision as to what a resort should be. Meliá has done this. It has re-thought the vision. But for Magalluf and only Magalluf. It doesn't mean, it shouldn't mean that others slavishly follow. Torremolinos should look, see what might make sense for it, and go its own way.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 June 2016

Morning high (6.55am): 20.3C
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 17 June - Sun, cloud, 26C; 18 June - Sun, storm, 22C; 19 June - Cloud, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 4 to 5 backing Southwest by the late afternoon.

Quite breezy first up. The risk of a shower today seems to have diminished, so should be mainly bright and sunny. Still looking at something of a threat of a storm on Saturday.

Evening update (20.30): It wasn't mainly bright and sunny; it was mainly a bit cloudy, clear sky only really emerging late on. High of 26.1C.

Is It Time To Restrict Foreign Property Purchasing?

The Bow Group, while associated with the Conservative Party, is an independent organisation. Its views and its members are, nevertheless, recognisable as being to the right of political thought. It has over the period of its existence since 1951 shifted in terms of dominant philosophy. In 1973, for example, Peter Lilley produced the so-called alternative manifesto which marked a move away from Keynesian economics: the ground was being prepared for what was to become Thatcherism.

As such, therefore, it would be presumed that the Bow Group would be wholly market liberal. That presumption would normally be accurate, but in November last year the Bow Group came up with a proposal which might sound staggering, given its usual philosophies. It was addressing Britain's housing crisis, and its solution, rather than the building of thousands more new homes, was the cutting of demand. Specifically, the author of its report, Daniel Valentine, argued that Britain should follow the lead of countries such as Denmark and Switzerland and make it tougher for foreigners to buy properties.

In Switzerland there is an annual quota for how many homes can be sold to foreign non-residents. This applies countrywide, though the individual cantons can and do apply additional restrictions. Denmark doesn't allow non-EU nationals to buy homes unless they have lived in the country for five years. The EU allows Denmark to restrict second-home purchases by EU citizens. Those citizens who do purchase need to provide confirmation that the property will be lived in all year round.

Away from Europe, the Singapore government restricts purchases to condos or apartments without the need for first obtaining permission to buy. In Australia, non-resident foreign purchasers can generally only acquire new builds. The Bow Group has suggested just this, with penalties applied if the property is sold within five years.

At the heart of what the Bow Group has said and also at the heart of what certain countries have introduced by way of restrictions is a recognition that a free-for-all, liberalised market doesn't work. Or rather, it works well enough for some but most definitely not for others.

Last week, and despite a report of 29% growth in home sales with the Balearics to the forefront, it was said that a new housing bubble was not about to emerge. Perhaps it won't, though there are some who say that it will. Consider, if you will, a further recent report which identified the fact that there are some 600 owners of 32,000 properties in the Balearics. Why do they need so many? The basis of a bubble is speculation. How many of these 600 plus might be foreign owners? The information would be possible to extract. Perhaps it should be.

There has been a great deal of discussion of what is an increasing housing crisis in Mallorca. The factors that have contributed to it are well-enough known, one being purchases for rental - holiday rental - purposes. A further factor is the cost of land, of which there is in any event a shortage for development. The cost in Mallorca didn't decline during the years of crisis to the extent that it did in many parts of Spain. With crisis mostly a thing of the past, land is at a premium and at a premium price, especially in the more desired parts of Mallorca, with the coastal resorts, the source of much employment, at the top of the list.

In the first quarter of the year, there were, according to figures from the national ministry for development, 3,122 homes sold in the Balearics (988 of them in Palma and 307 in Calvia). More than a third of these were purchased by foreign buyers. The average spend on property by foreigners in the Balearics was almost double the national average. The average price of any purchase exceeded by some 37,000 euros the price in the second most expensive region - the community of Madrid.

In some respects, this is of course good news, but in others it is far less so. While it might be said that there is a particular distortion in the market in the most in-demand parts of the island, such as Palma, the Bow Group in its report argued that purchases by top-end buyers in specific areas pushes prices up in the whole market. In Mallorca, small that it is, this is occurring. Prices in the interior are up both for purchases and for rental.

An argument is and will be that wealth is generated generally by a highly active property market. While true, it depends on where and how that wealth is distributed. The middle class in Mallorca, hammered by crisis, shows little sign of recuperating its one-time purchasing power; as yet anyway. The consequence is the total distortion and imbalance that now exists. When the Balearic government introduces its housing bill, will foreign purchasers be a target?

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 June 2016

Morning high (6.53am): 19.9C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 16 June - Sun, shower, 27C; 17 June - Sun, cloud, 23C; 18 June - Storm, rain, 24C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 3 to 4.

Feeling a bit fresher this morning. Should be mostly sunny all day and quite hot. The risk of a shower tomorrow and looking to the weekend, Saturday appears to be rather ominous.

Evening update (20.00): Very good. Hot as well - high of 33.1C.

The Tramuntana And Institutional Failure

Theodore Pratt, the American journalist (long passed away), is one of my favourite Mallorcan anti-heroes. Little of or about Mallorca was spared from the vitriol he unleashed in what became an infamous article which appeared in "The American Mercury" in 1933. By contrast with what he had to say of other subjects, the Tramuntana mountains emerged relatively unscathed. Well, he did say that they were dramatic, even if he then went on to describe them as bare, grey and mostly inaccessible. They were evidence, according to Ted, of Mallorca's physical characteristics: not exceptional in his opinion.

Pratt was, it should be said, pretty even-handed. His jaundiced view of Mallorca was reserved for more or less everything. He couldn't have been accused of being biased in favour of certain aspects at the expense of others. He was, though, not unique in offering criticism of what was otherwise acquiring the title of the paradise island and which had, by the time he wrote, been dubbed the island of calm for some twenty years: and that description was from the painter Rusiñol, who was to capture what he perceived as a very different Tramuntana.

George Sand, almost one hundred years before Pratt, had launched insults directed at the locals (and some other subjects) which were at a comparative level of abuse. Unlike Pratt, she wasn't run off the island; she and Chopin left of their own accord. But also unlike Ted, she didn't engage in criticisms of the mountains; she was rather taken by the landscape.

One mentions these differing perspectives of the mountains - each of them by foreigners (Rusiñol was from Catalonia) - as they can seem to sum up what might be considered to be a certain ambivalence towards the Tramuntana by the residents of Mallorca: an ambivalence which appears to be reflected at institutional levels on the island.

This ambivalence might equally be defined as indifference or, in the estimation of historian Angel Morillas, as "low self-esteem" held by the people of Mallorca when it comes to the Tramuntana. Morillas is Unesco's representative in Spain. He is also a member of Unesco's council of monuments and sites, the one which awarded the Tramuntana World Heritage Site status five years ago. He had been closely associated with the award in the advance of its being granted. In September 2008, for example, he had attended a conference in Pollensa which addressed the processing of the award nomination. At that conference were representatives of various schools from Pollensa, Alcudia and elsewhere.

The presence of those people from Mallorca's education sector now appears pertinent, with a question - just as pertinent - being how much the island's schools do to inform and educate the young generation about the mountains and the very patrimony - that of dry stone formations - which was to prove to be key to the awarding of World Heritage status.

Morillas attended another conference at the weekend. It was in Selva and was organised as a way of celebrating the fifth anniversary. During his presentation he referred to the lack of self-esteem, a rather curious way of putting it, one thinks: it might be better explained as the mountains not being held in high esteem by the islanders. Morillas argued that there was a lack of knowledge of the "gem" that is the Tramuntana range. He called, therefore, for greater input by schools and levelled criticism at the University of the Balearic Islands. What does the university do for the mountains? Not very much was his answer to his own question.

As curious as styling the attitude as one of lack of self-esteem is the fact that Morillas should feel it necessary to highlight it. One would have the impression, given the amount that was written and said about the mountains at the time of the heritage award and has been since, that there is an island-wide attitude of high regard. Clearly not. Morillas will know better than I, and I am not about to disagree with him.

It is an unfortunate fact that in the years since the award was granted, there seems to have been an incoherent approach to promotion of the mountains as well as maintenance of their prized assets - the dry stone paths, walls, terraces and other structures. The fault lies at an institutional level, and not only with, if Morillas is right (and who's to argue with him?), the university.

There are of course any number of people and sources who inform and who heap praise on the mountains. Many of them are foreigners who write, paint and provide blogs and websites. The Pratt view of the mountains is certainly not the prevailing one. But then it often does seem to fall to others, and not the island's institutions, to act as promoters of Mallorca - mountains, beaches, villages and the rest. The institutional failure to promote is not discriminatory.

Photo: the templete at Son Marroig (Deia), one of the Tramuntana's iconic spots.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 14 June 2016

Morning high (6.55am): 21C
Forecast high: 26C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 15 June - Sun, cloud, 306C; 16 June - Sun, shower, 24C; 17 June - Sun, cloud, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 to 4.

Similar to yesterday first thing with cloud forecast to remain for much of the morning rather than disappearing as it did yesterday; we'll see. Not expected to be as hot as yesterday.

Evening update (19.30): Well, the cloud took rather long in disappearing. A few spots of rain as well. Sun was out by mid-afternoon. High of 26.9C.

The Route Of All Corruption

Maria Dolores Cospedal is the national general secretary of the Partido Popular. Last week she took a pop at tourism policies and attitudes of the Balearic government, in which there is no Partido Popular participation. It, she said, had declared tourism public enemy number one. Tourism minister Barceló responded angrily. Irresponsible. Outrage. He insisted that she retract her statement. She didn't.

Cospedal, though even-handed in levelling her accusation at both governing parties (PSOE and Barceló's Més) as well as its parliamentary supporter, Podemos, would probably have had Més and Podemos more in mind than PSOE. These two parties, now united with the United Left in having formed an electoral pact for the 26 June election, are perhaps perceived as being somewhat less than wholeheartedly supportive of tourism. The perception, however, is more applicable to Podemos than Més. Barceló and his party may want change that brings about greater distribution of the wealth that tourism generates, but they are not agitators in the way that Podemos is in respect of, for instance, the hoteliers.

Anyway, this is something of the context for what might appear to fly in the face of what Cospedal had to say. Més, Podemos and their United Left allies were the other day promoting a tourism "route", one in Palma and one also that probably wouldn't have curried favour with Ms. Cospedal.

They like a route in Mallorca. There are routes for walking, for wine, for tapas. You name it, there is a route for it, and it is one designed with tourists in mind, though in the case of the particular route that was being promoted one would doubt if it has attracted too many of the new supply of high purchasing-power northern Europeans currently boosting Palma's boutique hotels to record levels of occupancy.

Since March there has been a route in Palma known as the "Via Corrupta". It was the idea of two journalists and an actor, and it has the backing of the Balearic journalists union. Each Saturday thirty people can embark upon this route. It starts at 10am by the former headquarters of the defunct (brought down by its corruption) Unió Mallorquina (UM) party and ends by the courts in Via Alemania. The route that was taken last Saturday attracted some notable politicians. Més, Podemos, the United Left as well as one PSOE representative and the Congress candidate for the Soberania per a les Illes (sovereignty for the islands) grouping all took part.

One trusts that each of these participants paid the twelve euros fee for the two-and-a-half-hour trek: there shouldn't be any suggestion of favouritism when it comes to a corruption route. They would have passed by, among other places, the headquarters of the PP and PSOE as well as the "palacete" of ex-president Jaume Matas. This is now his ex-palacete, it having been sold to a Frenchman for 2.5 million euros, 865,000 of which (corresponding to what Matas paid for it in 2004) have been deposited with the court as a means of getting Matas a reduction in the sentence that has been called for at the Nóos trial.

The politicians of the left taking part on Saturday clearly had an aim in mind: publicising corruption as a factor in the election. Though Podemos and its allies show no sign of losing support - polls for the Balearics and nationally suggest gains rather than losses - one wonders if corruption is as significant an issue with the electorate as it was. Voters may be more enticed with promises of better employment prospects and of a more equitable society, while in Mallorca there haven't been any major scandals for quite some time. The cases in the courts and under investigation relate to times past and to the days of Matas and of the UM. The recent focus on corruption has been more on the local police scandals, though these might yet find some PP figures being cited.

It doesn't harm, though, to keep corruption firmly on the boil as an election issue, which is therefore what happened on Saturday. The route, let's be blunt, isn't really about tourism, and even if it were, one would question if it would have much of an uptake. This said, there is a branch of tourism which falls under the general umbrella description of dark tourism, of which Civil War routes are an aspect (one wouldn't rule out there being one in Mallorca, given that the law on exhumations has been approved). Corruption might be said to fall within this category, but it is an abstract concept as opposed to a physical one. Hence, in order to give it tangibility, buildings become the attractions on Palma's corruption route. In tourism terms, it is more of a cultural route, and that is exactly what it is. Corruption as part of culture, now to be eradicated. Ms. Cospedal might take note.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 13 June 2016

Morning high (6.55am): 18.9C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 10
Three-day forecast: 14 June - Sun, cloud, 26C; 15 June - Sun, cloud, 26C; 16 June - Sun, shower, 24C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 2 to 3.

A clearer morning than yesterday. Some cloud around. See how much of that lingers through the day. Note that the UV rating hits 10 for the first time, meaning it's towards the upper end of the "very high" sunburn risk scale.

Evening update (20.30): The cloud didn't linger. Hot day - high of 31.7C.

Shop At The Podemos Ikea

If the upcoming Spanish general election were to be fought on electoral promotion efforts alone, then Podemos would win by such a distance that they could ease up in the final straight, blow kisses to the crowd, stop to tie their shoelaces, assemble an entire bedroom out of flat-packs and still have time to cross the line with the stragglers well behind.

Podemos in Swedish would be "vi kan". Unlike mostly everyone else who struggles to assemble an Ikea flat-pack, Podemos have mastered the art. So well have they managed this, that they are demonstrating their prowess by having nicked - clothes-hook, washing-line, kitchen sink and Allen key - the Ikea brochure. Here we find, among others, Pablo Iglesias, staring at a mobile, seated on a Ikea Vilmar chair (colour white), while the Infant, Iñigo Errejón, is studiously attending to his homework (thesis on the rights of Bolivian tin miners in the pre-Chaco War period of the twentieth century) at what may or may not be a Hemnes desk (brown laminate finish). Others in the Podemos Ikea brochure include the Balearics' own Dave Spart: here is Alberto Jarabo with an Ikea PS 2002 watering can (colour sort of reddish).

Alberto, depicted tending to his flowers on what appears to be a rather cramped balcony, is one of the few (only) Podemistas not to be shown enjoying an appreciable amount of spacious interior design (by Ikea). Indeed, they all look remarkably affluent. How can this be, having insisted on receiving public-service remuneration barely greater than a Mercadona check-out person? Or possibly an Ikea check-out person.

But then one realises that these aren't necessarily their habitats (or Habitats, as in a formerly Conran style). They are in fact suggesting that anyone who votes for Podemos will receive an entire Ikea kitchen, such as the one in which Here Come Da Judge, Juan Pedro Yllanes, the Balearic Podemos number one for Congress, is to be seen taking a fair-sized knife to his lunch preparation. It looks pretty good too. I'll have one. Or would do, if I could have a vote.

Alas, though, this is not a grand means of bribing the voter. There is no such thing as a free lunch prepared in a free kitchen. Next to Da Judge, we find text about policies to bring about stable agrarian work, which isn't the same thing at all as a free kitchen.

So, what do Ikea make of all this? They are stressing that they have nothing whatsoever to do with the campaign and haven't offered any assessment of it. It could, one supposes, be excellent promotion for Ikea, though that might rather depend on voter sympathy. But as a promotion, you have to hand it to Podemos. Superb.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 12 June 2016

Morning high (7.15am): 18.8C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 13 June - Sun, cloud, 30C; 14 June - Cloud, 25C; 15 June - Sun, cloud, 28C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3 veering East 2 to 4 around midday.

Cloudy sort of start. Expected to mainly clear, but given that yesterday was dominated by light cloud ... . The coming week suggesting that there is a chance of showers later in the week, though that could all change.

Evening update (19.00): Well, the sun didn't really come out until mid-afternoon. The cloud, never heavy, was nevertheless at times rather thicker than yesterday. A high of 28.2C.

Spain In Palma: The Pueblo Español

On 23 September, 1964 the first stone was laid for a project that wasn't to be officially opened until the late winter of 1967. The actual work didn't start for five months after that stone was laid. The developers were still waiting on a line of credit - 40 million pesetas worth of credit (some 240,000 euros). When it did open, there was a promotional film. Its style is reminiscent of the British Pathé News reports, though the music has a more militaristic, almost sinister quality to it. The narrator set the context: spring in Palma de Mallorca (yes, Palma de Mallorca), a time and place for the international tourist. It wasn't in fact spring, as the date was 10 March, 1967. It was also raining. Several umbrellas can be observed.

This was all the creation of one of Spain's most prestigious architects, Fernando Chueca Goitia. Its scale and scope was seemingly fantastic, its design was derivative, its conception rather grand. Here were re-creations of Cordoba's Cristo de los Faroles crucifix, Seville's Torre del Oro and Toledo's Puerta del Sol. There were elements of Extremadura, more elements of Andalusia, a Roman amphitheatre, a Palacio de Congresos convention hall. This was the Pueblo Español.

The architect said that it represented the magnificent "plurality" of Spain. With a nod in the direction of Catalonia, a troupe was on hand to provide some entertainment. Otherwise, this was a plurality of a rather specific type. Spanish. The developers, Conextur, explained that it was a project to attract and retain universal tourism for the benefit of Mallorca and Spain.

There were others who considered it to be a monstrosity. In political terms, one can understand why. This was a display of Spain's culture, one developed at a time when tourism was first booming and when the culture of Spain was what tourists were served. Visitors were able in those days to find some distinctly Mallorcan/Catalan culture, but it did rather take a back seat to that of Spain.

The emphasis on Andalusia was not surprising. The Franco regime saw great merit in that region's culture: it contained essences of Spanishness, such as the bullfight and flamenco. Tourists were sold both, they were defining images of the promotion of tourism whether to Mallorca or the Costa Brava, parts of the former crown that had been dismantled by the Spanish king in the early eighteenth century.

On the day of the inauguration, several thousand people are said to have turned up. Among the dignitaries was the minister of tourism, Manuel Fraga, to be seen in the film with a cigarette in his hand: those were the days. The Bishop of Mallorca, Rafael Álvarez Lara, gave the Pueblo Español his blessing. But did the blessing succeed?

It's questionable whether the Pueblo Español lived up to its billing. It was and still is a tourist attraction, though again one has to ask if it ever created the levels of tourist interest that might have been hoped for. One aspect of it, the Palacio de Congresos, was almost certainly under exploited. At the time, it could, along with the auditorium, have made Palma a major destination for conferences and exhibitions. Spain was not exactly well off for such centres in the 1960s. Indeed the only one of any consequence was in Barcelona: the Pueblo Español of Barcelona, a name given to it by the then dictator Primo de Rivera in 1929. Palma's Pueblo Español was considered to be the Nuevo Pueblo Español.

Rather than a monstrosity, a description which is hard not to believe reflects a political sentiment, it would be kinder to describe it as a weird set of follies, a museum collection of Spain in reproduction. Nowadays, it plays host to all sorts of events. The last time that the Association of British Travel Agents held its annual conference, it did so at the Pueblo Español. But conferences are certainly not the only events. There is one taking place today (it started on Friday) and it is the "Enruédate" festival, an event all to do with wheels, be there two or four of them.

It is a curious place, one for which the greatest interest lies perhaps in the philosophy of the time that it was created.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 June 2016

Morning high (7.05am): 20.6C
Forecast high: 25C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 12 June - Sun, cloud, 28C; 13 June - Sun, 24C; 14 June - Sun, cloud, 27C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southeast 3 to 4 backing Northeast 4.

Warm morning. The cloud cover that had been forecast for today seems less likely. Mostly sunny therefore.

Evening update (19.00): Hmm, well not for the first time the previous day's forecast proved to be rather more accurate than the updated one. Cloud, only light, for the much of the day. High of 26.8C.

Monsters Of The Seas

Harmony Of The Seas will bring more than 100,000 passengers to Palma over the course of the summer and into autumn. On Monday the world's largest cruise ship will arrive. Its maiden voyage from Barcelona has had among its passengers some 2,500 journalists, travel agents and others from the tourism industry. You could say that Royal Caribbean has pushed the boat out in terms of attracting publicity.

When the ship arrived in Barcelona prior to its voyage, there was a protest. It wasn't large, only some 150 people. It wasn't, said the organisers, against tourists but against the tourism industry. Nevertheless, coaches taking passengers to cruise ships in the port were jeered. The protest was motivated by what is now becoming a familiar theme - the mass tourism of these monsters of the seas is not sustainable for the destinations that are visited.

The Balearic tourism minister, Biel Barceló, wishes to set a limit on the number of ships on any given day. He accepts that the number of four is subjective. He might also accept that the citing of the eight ships on one day in early May did not involve 22,000 passengers traipsing through the streets of the city. Three of the ships were home base. People were getting on, people were getting off and being taken to the airport. As ever, you can use numbers to suit an argument.

And the argument is being had over and over. The mantra of this summer is overcrowding. Competitor destination instability, huge supply of accommodation, colossal cruise ships. This is mass on a scale that not even Mallorca has previously experienced.

How does the government deal with it? Barceló suggests that there will be regulation in order to limit the number of ships, the cruise operators having given the suggestion of a limit short shrift. Spreading the load across the course of a week rather than loading influx on to one or two days sounds like common sense. It is also in keeping with Barceló's wish to spread the total tourism load over more months than is the case. It's easier said than done though, and he knows it.

And members of the government doesn't necessarily agree. President Armengol has said this week that she is against limits being placed on the number of tourist arrivals. She wants to spread the tourism load not by smoothing out the number which currently comes but by adding to it in the lower months of the year, thereby assisting with creating greater employment. Barceló has flip-flopped on the question of a limit. He has said that it would be difficult but he also intimated that he would like there to be one.

Barceló is not wrong in believing it would be difficult. The cruise-shop story is something of a sideshow. It only affects Palma. The mass is shortlived, even if it can be repeated almost daily. By far the most important contributory factor to the Barceló overcrowding theme is holiday accommodation. As he struggles to find "consensus" for planned legislation, that has been made ever more difficult by Brussels and the Spanish Supreme Court.

The European Commission issued a report earlier this week in which it said that bans on the so-called collaborative (sharing) economy services such as Airbnb and also Uber (for quasi-taxi service) should only be the "last resort". The Commission wants common rules to apply and has distinguished between individuals who rent out their properties on an occasional basis and operators who rent out in a "professional capacity". For the latter, it is suggesting that there should be a "threshold" on the level of activity but it is certainly not proposing onerous restrictions: quite the opposite.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has this week ruled against the regional government in Madrid. It had decreed that a holiday rental via, for example, an Airbnb-promoted property must have a minimum stay of five days. The court has ruled that this is a restriction of competition. It might not appear to have too much relevance for Mallorca, given that tourists typically stay for longer than five days, but it does relevance insofar as the Supreme Court is laying down principles of competition, and they are not so far removed from those of the European Commission.

Against the background of all this has come a further report this week. It states that the availability of holiday rental in Spain as a whole now exceeds the supply of "regulated" accommodation (hotels, for instance) for the first time. It is said that there are 2.7 million holiday rental places as opposed to 2.4 million regulated places, and it is most unlikely that this trend will be reversed. In addition to Brussels and the Supreme Court, there is the National Competition Commission in Madrid: it is against bans on Airbnb and others.

There is a perfect storm that is creating overcrowding in Mallorca. The weather will be calm on Monday, but might a different storm brew? The protest in Barcelona will surely not have gone unnoticed.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 June 2016

Morning high (6.37am): 19C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 11 June - Cloud, sun, 25C; 12 June - Sun, 24C; 13 June - Sun, cloud, 25C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 2 to 4.

Due to be quite hot today with the morning being the hottest part of the day as it was yesterday in some areas, where peaks were at around 10am. Weekend looking ok. May be rather cloudy tomorrow afternoon.

Evening update (20.30): Hazy at times and hot - high of 33.8C.

Good Moaning: Accountability

There is a compilation of some of the best moments of Officer Crabtree on YouTube. "Allo Allo", it is fair to say, did have its detractors. Not me. Juvenile the show could be, and little was more juvenile than Officer Crabtree's attempts at speaking French (albeit in English). "Good moaning." Priceless.

Oddly enough, there is a line of etymological argument which suggests that "moaning minnie" is a reference to a one-time captain in the French army. A certain Claude Etienne Minié introduced a bullet which came to be known as the minnie ball. It almost certainly wasn't the origin, but the French connection seems in keeping with Officer Crabtree, as is what probably is the origin: to describe the sound of the German Nebelwerfer mortar of the Second World War.

As to when "moaning minnie" definitively slipped into general colloquial use is not really known, but its longevity is such that it proves that there was such a thing as moaning before they invented social media. That might seem hard to believe. However did people moan before Facebook came along and facilitated good moaning?

My own personal moaning on this global Moan-a-Gram system has, I like to believe, been moderate. I rarely use it anyway, but one moan I can recall had to do with being fined for parking on the pedestrian zone by Alcudia market. All of one minute. If that. Stopped to deliver to the tourist office (a town hall facility), to which I had been supplying (free) all sorts of things for several years. Along came plod (town hall employee) on a bike. Surely not? Surely yes. I never got round to sending an invoice to the town hall for all the unpaid translation work: I would have accepted the equivalent to the fine and even have been prepared to declare it for tax. They wouldn't have paid anyway. Bloody ingrates (if that doesn't sound like moaning).

I'm guessing that a key reason for not using Moanbook extensively has to do with my browser(s) no longer being supported. Oh, I've attempted to moan, but when it comes to hitting return, nothing happens. In fact, I can do virtually nothing on Moanbook any more, except to like people's moans. Should I moan that my now ancient Mac operating system is deprived of Firefox and Safari updates? Well I should, given how much the Mac cost in the first place, but I'm rather content with being unable to engage in some good moaning. And before you ask, I can't be bothered using my smartphone instead. (There's a moan I do need to get round to: why did I ever get one?)

Instead, I have to make do with everyone else's moaning, of which there is a seemingly unlimited supply. In the overall scheme of things, the fact that, inter alia, it has taken Pollensa town hall months to get its arse in gear and get some sun loungers out on the beach isn't life or death. Nor, now that the municipal posterior has been engaged and there are sun loungers for the resort's tourist class to place its collective buttocks on, is the fact that some people preferred the beach when it was lounger-less. No pleasing some folk. Moan, moan, moan.

But is this moaning such a bad thing? Good Heavens no. Moaning is good. Everyone repeat after Officer Crabtree: good moaning. And it is good for the simple reason that if it is justified, it might just have the desired effect. They take notice. Eventually.

Trivial though such issues as sun loungers can be (though God knows the principal environmental moaners in Mallorca, GOB, are elevating them to matters of state), there is a principle. Town halls are supposed to meet certain obligations. The commandment is written - thou shalt place sun loungers on thy beaches - unless thou is a municipality without beaches: life must be so much simpler for town halls like Ariany, unless the sheep are prone to moaning about the lack of pens.

The point is that there didn't used to be a culture of moaning, as in making town halls and other public administrations take note or, perish the thought, be accountable. Yes, the citizen was always prone (still is) to issuing the "denuncia" at the drop of a hat, if the hat in question offended the complainant for some obscure reason, but that was all rather personal: a bit of a hangover from the Inquisition, one's always felt. With public authorities on the other hand, all of them appointed by the state regime, you didn't moan or complain, unless you fancied a couple of years hard labour.

The culture has changed dramatically and very much for the better. Town halls seem to still struggle with accountability, but they are getting there. The more the moaning, the better. These are not the times of Officer Crabtree.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 June 2016

Morning high (6.25am): 19.5C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 10 June - Sun, cloud, 30C; 11 June - Sun, cloud, 22C; 12 June - Sun, cloud, 25C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 3 backing Northeast 2 to 4 around midday.

A bank of fluffy cloud first thing. Unlikely to be much by way of cloud later. A pretty warm day to come.

Evening update (20.00): High again of 30.7C (inland).

Pave Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot

When Joni Mitchell wrote "Big Yellow Taxi" the world had yet to acquire the environment. It was there right enough but it was regarded with less than due deference. Among the limited cadres of the environmentally aware, who were to form an expeditionary eco-warrior force that Friends of the Earth (founded 1969) and others were to convert into a full-scale army, were the acid heads of Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon.

Joni, one of those residents, penned "Big Yellow Taxi", she has explained, when she saw a vast parking lot edging its way towards green mountains in Hawaii. "It broke my heart, this blight on paradise." Though arguably not one of her finer compositions, the song, courtesy of commercial success and its undisguised sentiment, probably helped to tune environmental perception as well as anything else had up to the point that it was released in 1970.

The line about paving paradise and putting up a parking lot had an alliterative power that spoke of the absurdity of condemning the environment to the voracious appetite of not only the automobile industry. It seems like a world away now, a time when nary a second thought was given to concreting and tarmacking over Mother Nature in order to allow the consumer society to park its car. The line, though, still makes abundant sense. It has survived as a form of eco-slogan, one current in the present.

There is a great deal of talk about cars, their movement and their parking in Mallorca. Cars are the present-day manifestation of Balearisation, the uncontrolled development of the coasts that paved dunes and put up hotel blocks. While hotels continue to attract the ire of the contemporary eco-sound political class in Mallorca (such as Més, the eco-nationalists), cars have been manoeuvred onto the environmentalist front line. Barely a day passes without cars and their associated needs, notably parking, making the news.

Let's consider some cases in point from the paradise island. Cars are to be banned from Palma's old town (unless they belong to residents). Cars being brought to the island by tourists or car-hire firms may or may not be subject to a tax. Cars are to be found creating hazards because of their parking on roads leading to unspoiled beaches (so unspoiled that people go to them in their droves and so therefore in their cars). Cars, because of their pollutant effect, are the reason for considering a  special environmental tax on large retail outlets; the car parks are so massive that they form pollution blackspots (or maybe hotspots). Cars, on account of pedestrianisation schemes, are, ironically, being deterred from entering the front line, such as in Puerto Pollensa. Cars are not to be parked (Son Serra de Marina) because they block the view. Cars, back in Palma, are to be eased away from the Paseo Marítimo by removing some parking and some lanes. This is part of the calming of traffic in Palma. The paradise island, also dubbed the island of calm by the Catalonian artist Santiago Rusiñol many a long year ago, is to retrieve a little piece of calm.

The regional government is working on a grand scheme to promote alternatives to cars. Buses, in other words. You might have encountered some of those, the ones which appear to be on unfamiliar terms with the maintenance and service departments. But not all. Some of them are even brand spanking new. And the government would need there to be a great deal of brand spanking new ones if its grand plan is to make any sense: not, one suspects, that it will do.

There is no harm in attempting to alter travel habits, but is the government aware of just how great car ownership is in Mallorca? You would have to assume that it is. Even members of the government have cars and some of them will probably have families whose combined car ownership equates to a small fleet.

The implied demon in all this car talk isn't the local resident, despite his three or four vehicles, it is the visitor and the devil's work of car-hire companies not registered for tax on the island. But it isn't typically a bunch of tourists clogging up approach roads to unspoiled beaches. It's the ones who live here, who, even if there were such a thing as a bus service to unspoiled beaches, wouldn't use it anyway.

But buses need somewhere to park as well, just as they need roads, while the  public transport alternative can always fall foul of other eco-interests. Take the rail extension to Alcudia. They could never agree on it because of the competing environmental arguments regarding the proposed routes.

Pave paradise. Parking lots. They wouldn't have given it much thought back when Joni wrote the song. Mallorca hadn't really acquired wealth then. It soon did, and it needed somewhere to park it.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 June 2016

Morning high (6.30am): 18.7C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 9 June - Sun, cloud, 27C; 10 June - Sun, 27C; 11 June - Sun, cloud, 22C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 1 to 3.

More of the same - plenty of sun. Very light breezes anticipated today, so probably feeling hotter as a consequence.

Evening update (21.00): High of 30.7C.

From Pablo Iglesias To Pablo Iglesias

Two Pablo Iglesias, there are only two Pablo Iglesias. That's almost certainly not right. There must have been hundreds, thousands of Pablo Iglesias. Names come around quite often in Spain, especially from the old school of names that keeps firmly to a list of saints for christening purposes.

But there are two Pablo Iglesias. One was dead well before the other was born. The first had in fact been born in 1850. By one of those further twists of coincidence his native town was Ferrol in Galicia. Forty-two years later, a certain Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde was born in the same town. His brother, Ramón, came along four years afterwards, also in Ferrol. He, Ramón, crashed his hydroplane in Puerto Pollensa in 1938. He died. His brother didn't. Not until 1975 anyway. 

Pablo Iglesias the Elder, if one could call him that, would have known little or nothing about the Franco boys. He certainly wouldn't have fraternised with them, had he lived long enough, which he didn't. Pablo the Elder founded PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. Franco wasn't beyond having those with PSOE affiliation executed. It was as well that Pablo the Elder died when he did. In 1925 when the other dictator was at large, Primo de Rivera.

The other Pablo Iglesias, Pablo the Younger - you'll have heard of him, I think - also founded a political party or maybe movement. He would like to be president (prime minister) of Spain after 26 June. Altogether, We Can change the government of Spain. Podemos. Maybe there's some genealogical link between Elder and Younger, though I'm assuming not. Were there, one fancies Younger would have mentioned it by now. Two peas in a pod, Elder and Younger. The latter a chip off the old block.

There are similarities and dissimilarities between Elder and Younger. The first Pablo was born into poverty. His mother had to beg. He taught himself French and read about French socialism. He was no intellectual but he would have known of the works of Marx and Engels. PSOE, founded in 1879, was to indulge differing philosophies before it was proscribed in 1939, but one - often the dominant one - was to be sympathetic to the Soviet brand of socialism.

Pablo the Younger is from a middle-class Madrid family: mother a lawyer, father a teacher. He himself has been a university professor in political science. He studied, among other places, at Cambridge. The difference in background between Younger and Elder is stark. What links them, other than name, is their roles as founders and political philosophy. Possibly.

Pablo the Younger was expounding on Monday morning the nature of Marx and Engels. They were social democrats, he said, albeit he was laughing and suggesting that there are different ways of interpreting their works. That's The Younger all over. Disarmingly charming at times. The Elder, one fancies, rarely laughed. The Younger was right of course. There were and are alternative spins on the works of Marx and Engels. Lenin abused them is one argument.

He was prompted to make his remark because Podemos has hooked up with the United Left. Its leader, Alberto Garzón, is a communist. The Younger has never claimed to be. Even with the United Left, Podemos would be establishing a "new social democratic space". PSOE, the current-day distant cousins of Pablo the Elder, will be horrified to hear that.

But should they be? What vision of social democracy is this? The mere mention of Marx and Engels makes one wonder what "new" space is being considered. In the new political age, one of (maybe) post-capitalism or even post-politics, it can seem odd to drag the two of them into discussion. The Younger's sidekick, Iñigo Errejón, has said that communists and social democrats are species of the past. There's a new politics around, where Iñigo's concerned, even if its definition isn't always clear or even if it might just seem to have echoes of the nineteenth century, when Pablo the Elder would have found much to interest him.

"The Communist Manifesto", in which Marx and Engels set out the basics of Marxist theory, was published two years before Pablo the Elder was born. 1848. What possible relevance can it have now? Plenty, if one is inclined. After all, religions (and their interpretations) are predicated on very much older theories, and look where that got societies. Look where they still do get societies, for God's (sic) sake.

It would be nice - truly, it would be nice - to believe that Podemos have hit on a new politics, whatever it might be. But how do you make people believe it? Those disinclined to believe, of which there are many. Deep in the consciousness - the intellectual "space", be it social democratic or not - is the narrative of the class struggle and of the competing dictatorships of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 June 2016

Morning high (7.15am): 18.3C
Forecast high: 25C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 8 June - Sun, 28C; 9 June - Sun, 24C; 10 June - Sun, 27C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 2 to 3, locally 4 by the evening.

All very fine. May haze over a bit later on, as it did yesterday to a degree. Otherwise sunny.

Evening update (20.45): High of 30.3C (inland).

Is Tourist Saturation Such A Negative?

There are many ways of skinning the statistical cat. It depends on the point to be proved and the motives for doing so. The Balearic tourism minister, Biel Barceló, will doubtless approve of what was being proved. It came in a report at the weekend. Mallorca has by far the highest proportion of hotel places per one thousand inhabitants of anywhere in the known tourism world. So high is this proportion that it is almost three times greater than the Canaries, five times greater than the whole of Greece and heading for ten times greater than all of Spain put together. And the point is?

That should be fairly obvious. Mallorca is saturated with tourism in a way that nowhere else is. It has slightly under 233,000 hotel places (which have increased by some 60,000 over the past two decades), representing 306 for every one thousand of those resident on the island. Add on all the various other types of accommodation (estimates/statistics vary) and the total offer is more in the region of 400,000.

Ah yes, you might say, but the Canaries are several islands. Greece has islands and a mainland. How can these be comparable? Well, they're not in direct terms, but if one takes specific islands, then what are the comparisons?

Tenerife attracts more tourism than the other Canary Islands. Its resident population is almost identical to Mallorca's (hovering around the 900,000 mark). It is far more densely populated as it is approximately 55% the size of Mallorca. But its hotel and other official accommodation places are far fewer. This number is around 160,000. Throw in some illegal stuff, and it's roughly a half.

Crete is more than twice the size of Mallorca. Its population is smaller (around 630,000). It has some 87,000 places. A guess might be, therefore, that it has about 100,000 places in all: a quarter of the upper estimate for Mallorca.

So Mallorca is, by comparison, saturated. However, that depends on the definition of saturation. As I have asked previously, what actually might constitute a maximum number of places and so therefore tourists? Or what might be an optimal limit to maintain and grow the island's economy? Does anyone know?

Though intuitively one can accept that there is overcrowding especially in high summer, intuition gets one only so far. The reverse argument, where the likes of Crete or Tenerife are concerned, is that they both have scope for greater development.

But taking whole islands as points of reference doesn't offer an accurate picture. In Mallorca, of the 233,000 places, around 80% of them are concentrated into four zones - Calvia, Playa de Palma and the bays of Alcudia and Cala Millor. A further point I've made before is that there is a strong case for such concentration. It is more efficient environmentally and in terms of resourcing and has been shown to be so in Benidorm. That resort's more or less 73,000 places are almost identical to the regular population and they are in a land area approximately a quarter of the size of Calvia, which has more hotel places than anywhere else in Mallorca (some 60,000). While Calvia's population is smaller (just over 50,000), Benidorm's tourism density in land terms is far higher.

While it is said that it has been the availability of private accommodation that has been contributing to Mallorca's saturation, it is undeniably the case that - for the island as a whole - the base of hotel accommodation greatly exceeds that of other destinations. This is the legacy effect. Resort and hotel development of the early boom years paved the way for ever more development, with most of it confined to the four specific zones.

Is this such a negative, though? From the point of view of efficiency through concentration of hotel places, then not necessarily. But where there is huge inefficiency stems from the fact that all these hotel places (and other accommodation) have been and are used for a limited season. The saturation effect is the consequence of massive development to satisfy a tourism economy which is so clearly imbalanced, which isn't the case in Tenerife and to a lesser extent in Benidorm.

But without this development, where would Mallorca be? The economy is rooted in one product and so therefore dependent on what is, for months of the year, unproductive real estate. Unproductive or not, saturation or not, concentration in specific zones or not, this tourism does have a general benefit that contrasts, for instance, with Tenerife. That island has all-year tourism, but the underlying level of year-round unemployment for a population of much the same size has traditionally been and remains much higher than Mallorca's.

Might it therefore be that this massive supply of accommodation, inefficient though it is, is an asset because of indirect employment? Saturation maybe, but what else is there?

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 June 2016

Morning high (7.15am): 17.3C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 7 June - Sun, 25C; 8 June - Sun, 24C; 9 June - Sun, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3, locally East-Southeast 4 in the afternoon.

Another splendid morning and splendid day to come. Summer's definitely here, if not officially.

Evening update (20.15): High of 29.7C.

The (Spanish) Governmental Ménage à Trois

So, as the big day looms ever closer and the fateful votes will be cast - and I'm talking not of 23-J but of 26-J - the bookies (were there such a thing) are reporting good money going on a threesome forming the next government. Yes, after one failed election and an even greater failure by Pedro Sánchez to oust Super Mariano, 26-J looks destined to unite Pedro and Mazza. Possibly.

Pedro and Albert, Ant and Dec of PSOE and the C's, are still determined to continue their unconvincing double act and make it even less convincing by inviting Mazza into the political celebrity jungle. Or maybe it's the other way round. Or maybe Super Mariano won't be there at all. That's something else the bookies are laying odds on. Which is hardly surprising. Through all the faffing around after last December's election, it was clear to everyone, except Mariano, that if only he had stepped aside, the grand coalition could have been formed.

As we know, however, Mariano doesn't believe that he has a natural successor. Super Mariano would rule forever if he had his way. But the time is now coming when he will have to give way to an unnatural successor. Who might it be? The bookies are reckoning on the Dancing Queen, María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón Etc.

None of this will of course go down well with the advocates of governments of change and progressive politics. How would either Ant or Dec be able to spin a cosying up to the PP as representing change or progression? Only if Mariano goes, but even then they would be barely credible. For Ant, meantime, the possibility exists that if PSOE gets a further stuffing, he might no longer be around in any event. I'm a failed politician, get me out of here.

The likelihood of this coalition ménage à trois stems not from any genuine belief among the three parties that it is what any of them wants but from Pedro's fear (or the fear of any successor to him) that he could well find himself forced into being a number two behind Pablo. Podemos have been talking up Iglesias as being the next president, and it most certainly would be president. None of this Anglicised prime minister lark. Pablo, a prime minister serving a Bourbon king? You have to be joking. President it would be.

There is a further reason to believe that there will be this three-in-a-bed liaison. The citizens. They won't accept any more arsing around. They won't want a December election to sort out the mess of 26-J. Something will have to give. And Super Mariano is what will have to give. He can't be like Arsène Wenger, arsing around forever and ever ... .

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 June 2016

Morning high (7.08am): 17.7C
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 6 June - Sun, 28C; 7 June - Sun, 22C; 8 June - Sun, 24C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East-Northeast 2 to 3.

Fab morning and a fab day to come. Fab outlook for the week.

Evening update (20.15): High of 26.6C.

The Lost Beach Of The Small Huts

Have you ever heard the story about the town which used to have a beach but no longer does? There is one such town and it lost its beach 62 years ago. This wasn't through some freakish intervention of nature. It had to do with what is nowadays the National Geographic Institute but which in 1954 was referred to as the Geographic and Cadastral Institute. That name gives a clue as to what happened in 1954. Cadastral, when used for public administration purposes, determines boundaries, ownership and tax raising. A county, for instance, is a cadastral division. In the case of Mallorca and Spain it also had to do with defining municipalities.

Curiously enough, there wasn't a complete and detailed national topographic map, i.e. one which showed precisely what constituted different places, e.g. municipalities. Under orders from the Geographic and Cadastral Institute, three municipalities had to sit down and figure out exactly where their boundaries were and who owned what. These municipalities were Alcudia, Muro and Sa Pobla. It was the latter of these which lost its beach.

Anyone familiar with the current-day geography of Mallorca will know that Sa Pobla is firmly a municipality in Mallorca's interior. So how did it ever come to have a beach? Well, it all had to do with Albufera. A great part of this wetland used to be within Sa Pobla. Nowadays only a relatively small part, well back from the sea, is in the municipality. And as a consequence of this one-time municipal "ownership", Sa Pobla in essence reached as far as the bay of Alcudia.

What happened in 1954 is hard to accurately pin down, but it has been said that Sa Pobla did not negotiate well and also failed to have any vision of the future. Beach tourism had yet to come to the bay of Alcudia (except for the original Club Med tents in 1950), so the town hall could possibly have been excused its lack of foresight. There was horse-trading mainly between Sa Pobla and Muro, and Sa Pobla believed it had got a good deal by grabbing interior land that had been Muro's. But by way of compensation, it lost what was effectively its beach.

The arrangement that now exists on the bay of Alcudia is that the boundary limit of Muro (and so Playa de Muro) is at the Camí Can Blau. This is a road that cuts inland from the main beach road. From this boundary line going eastwards is the first "sector" of Playa de Muro. This sector ends where the grand canal of Albufera enters the sea. This sector is what used to be Sa Pobla's beach.

The agreement of 1954 did in fact bring to an end a squabble that had existed between Alcudia, Sa Pobla and Muro for at least three centuries. Muro had always been the one to lose out when it came to its ownership of Albufera. The irony will now not be lost on the people of Sa Pobla: that Muro has become wealthy because of what is generally a high quality beach tourism. While Sa Pobla has had to rely on its traditional agriculture, Muro was able to diversify economically, thanks to the decision of 1954 which gave it a couple of kilometres of beach that it wouldn't have otherwise had.

One can find evidence of nostalgia for that old beach. The writer Miquel López Crespí, born in Sa Pobla in 1946, recalls the summer of 1954. The agreement had been signed in May of that year but had yet to take effect. It was the last summer that the people of Sa Pobla would go to their beach and put up what were makeshift small huts for the summer. They called it "Ses Casetes". This was unlike the Ses Casetes further along the bay where Playa de Muro meets Can Picafort, which is still very much there and consists of (mostly) one-time church-owned cottages.

The Sa Pobla Ses Casetes was like a shanty town, but it had its own bar, Figuera. Some fifty families used to go and take over the beach each summer. After 1954 they could of course still go to the beach but they couldn't install their temporary huts.

Miquel López Crespí, reflecting on the loss of the beach and then of the great changes that occurred because of tourism, has written: "Nothing now remains of that full moon in August at Bar Figuera when the owner, Jaume, would sing some of the old songs, accompanying himself with his peasant ximbomba."

* Photo of the canal where it enters the sea in Playa de Muro. To the left, from the Esperanza, is what was once the Sa Pobla beach.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 June 2016

Morning high (7.20am): 15.7C
Forecast high: 25C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 5 June - Sun, cloud, 24C; 6 June - Sun, cloud, 24C; 7 June - Sun, cloud, 22C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South 2 to 4 backing East around midday.

Sunny morning with bits of fluffy cloud around. Sunny day to come; fluffy cloud probably.

Evening update (20.15): High of 29.1C.

All Quiet On The Tourist Tax Front

Something rather curious has happened. It's gone quiet on a tourism front. Can it be that the island is serenely basking in the glow of an apparently record season? (I use the word apparently for those who would take issue with the "record".) Or might it be the calm before the storm?

If it is possible to gauge holidaymaker opinion - British holidaymaker opinion - in as wide a way as possible, there are few more likely options for doing so than Trip Advisor. But what does one find? Over the past fortnight or so, there has been barely any mention of the tourist tax on its Mallorca forum. How much will it cost for such and such a hotel? That's about the size of it.

When the news about the tax broke - just before Easter, though it took a bit of time to really filter through - there was a fair outburst of indignation. The legality was questioned. Tour operators were being held responsible (when they were not). People weren't going to pay.

Now, however, there is very little being said. It's not as if the tax is as much of an unknown as it was. Tour operators have been advising clients. It has had a good airing in the British media. There will, one would have to assume, still be holidaymakers arriving on 1 July who will be blissfully ignorant until being given the bill. But is it the case that the news has mostly sunk in and people are accepting the situation?

Your guess on that will be as good as mine. It could yet be that all hell is let loose on 1 July, but if one refers again to Trip Advisor, what commenting there has been more recently is not as negative as it was. The greater concern seems to be with the overall cost of holidays to Mallorca. The tax will add to this, but holidaymakers aren't stupid. In fact they are amongst the canniest of consumers, and they know their prices, all of which can be checked very rapidly for various destinations. And it is perhaps interesting to note that it isn't always the obvious competitor destinations which are considered - Greece, Costa del Sol, Benidorm, Croatia, for example. The Caribbean and Mexico come under the spotlight as well.

What they know is that prices of holidays have been going up, given a boost by all the demand for Mallorca and the Balearics, the reasons for which we are very familiar with. The tax may just prove to be the moderately thin end of an increasingly large wedge - the money paid out for the holiday in the first place. Wherever the tax will be placed in the holidaymaker's price calculations and budgeting, the potentially bigger issue is ever-increasing pressure on that budgeting from the initial cost.

It has often been argued that holidays are an example of price inelasticity, i.e. changing the price (upwards) has comparatively little or no impact. Perhaps so, but if the cost were to consistently rise well above inflation, cost-of-living rates and salary percentage increases, the inelastic theory may well be open to question.

The 2016 season we know is secure, but what about 2017, 2018 ... ? A clue, however, lies with investment. This isn't undertaken with a one or two-year horizon in mind; not when it stretches into the millions. And the investment coming into Mallorca for hotels only shows signs of abating if politicians get in the way. Otherwise, the likes of Starwood are lining up their own vast wedges for investment, and what is interesting with this is that it isn't for the top end of the market.

Of the few to have been having a say about the tourist tax in recent days, one has been Gabriel Barceló. Not to be confused with the tourism minister, Biel Barceló, he is the co-founder of the Barceló hotel group. In a television interview the other day he said that tourism, the driver of the economy in the Balearics, was being "abused" and that the tax was "unjust" in being directed against the tourism sector.

He also had a pop at the regional government and the town hall for Palma for attitudes towards tourism: wanting to control numbers and so on. He could not understand why they would do this when "100% of the Balearic population benefits from the tourism sector".

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 June 2016

Morning high (6.50am): 15.7C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 4 June - Sun, cloud, 25C; 5 June - Sun, cloud, 21C; 6 June - Sun, cloud, 23C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): East 3 to 4 veering South by the evening.

A pretty warm day awaits, and the cloudy conditions that had been forecast for today seem less likely. Weekend outlook - fine and sunny.

Evening update (20.30): Very fine. High of 30.6C.

Reclaiming The Past: Mallorca's War Graves

The reclamation of the disappeared during the Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship on the islands. It's something of a mouthful for the name of a law, but the mouthful is worth it. I'm not convinced that I have the translation absolutely right, as I struggle with the Spanish "recuperación" which is the original word (or rather "recuperació" to be linguistically correct in a Catalan style). Recuperation - restore to health - that doesn't seem right. Recovery? Possibly so in as much as what will be recovered. But reclamation seems to possess greater strength and moral correctness: a reclaiming of what was lost. Lives in this instance.

This is what had been proposed as the war graves (my words) act, though even this was stripped back to the titular barest bones (and I really don't mean a pun) of just "pits". The change to the title reflects a rare occurrence. Often cited, too often cited to be genuinely credible, consensus has nonetheless prevailed. And for once it is genuine enough. So it should be. Genuine, that is. One is talking about people who were murdered. That shouldn't be forgotten.

It had been the Partido Popular (and Ciudadanos) who had proposed the changed title. By doing so the law would appear less one solely driven by Republican sentiment. There would be a recognition that there were two sides and that two sides were capable of atrocity. Inclusion of "the Civil War" permits a nuance of the bipartisan: the two parties to the dreadful events of the second half of the 1930s. The insertion of "the Francoist dictatorship" enables the political right to observe its own revulsion. There may still exist - not may, do - Francoists on the political right, but the contemporary right has for the most part come to terms with the need to distance itself. And generally, it does so with sincerity.

The Balearic political parties stated their views. With consensus sought, found and delivered, there was a lack of stridency. The views were conciliatory. Margalida Capellà, the Més parliamentary deputy who was the chief sponsor of the bill, spoke of issues on which you cannot win, only convince. It was a day of celebration but also the saddest day in the parliament's history. Miquel Jerez for the PP said that the law will serve to "reclaim" the forgotten victims, to remind us of humanity and of memory that is life.

It was Maria Antònia Oliver of the association Memòria de Mallorca, which has been pressing the case for the exhumation of mass graves, who expressed things the best. "The approval of the law through the consent of all parties is a sign of democratic normalisation. This is not a political issue but one of humanity." Amen.

Someone of course did have to go and spoil it. Baltasar Picornell of Podemos displayed a Republican flag. Why? Why do that? The Republican sentiment is and was lost on no one. Why resort to symbolism at a moment of reconciliation?

But is this what it is? Reconciliation? Not as such. There has never been such a thing. It's partly why the Civil War still hangs over Mallorca and Spain: a cloud on the past which officialdom attempted to erase through, for example, the amnesty (aka amnesia). No, this was and is a belated recognition. It will be styled as one by the right, but the law's title facilitates a recognition by the left as well. Consensus as opposed to reconciliation. As it is with the insertion into the text of the adjective "possible". Possible crimes against humanity. This replaced the definitive. There had been no possibility, only certainty. One can never, at the distance of some eighty years, always be certain.

We are of course only weeks away from the eightieth anniversary of the start of the Civil War. A law to permit the exhumation of graves, to provide closure for the families of the disappeared, to raise the "possibility" of pursuing crimes against humanity is as close as there will be to any form of celebration. Just as apposite, if not more, is the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Amnesty Law. The UN has been pressing for Spain to meet obligations on crimes against humanity. The Balearics have now done so. There is no statute of limitations under international law.

Yet while the Balearic parliament, with mostly commendable dignity, has been enacting legislation, in Palma we have had the ongoing controversy of the Feixina monument. A dignified solution for this had been made six years ago: a monument to all victims. Now, the stridency of the left (and the right) is in contrast to the considered reflections of parliament.

Symbols like the monument cannot be ignored. It is perhaps too easy to overlook how deep the feelings remain among some: the genuine ones as opposed to the outraged expressions of politicians. It is for this reason that the monument should be debated with greater dignity. The war graves act offers consensus and a form of reconciliation that have come about through empathetic discussion. Baltasar Picornell says that it is a "big step to closing wounds". Quite so. The monument, on the other hand, is re-opening them.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 2 June 2016

Morning high (7.09am): 14.7C
Forecast high: 24C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 3 June - Cloud, sun, 27C; 4 June - Sun, cloud, 24C; 5 June - Sun, cloud, 21C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 2 to 3, locally Northeast 4 in the afternoon.

Sunny, fresh morning. And sun all the way, we are led to believe. Tomorrow may be rather cloudy, though there seems to be no risk of a shower.

Evening update (21.00): High of 27C. A good day.

Exasperation: Too Many Authorities

Toni Mir is the mayor of Alcudia. In my dealings with him, he has always come across as being very straightforward: straight to the point, no nonsense. It may be because of this that he can get slightly exasperated. When things get in the way that deviate from the point, it can be understandable.

It was a meeting on Tuesday to consider a new bridge that has been built. Businesses are up in arms because they say it will take trade from them; they being located on the Bellevue half of the Avenida Pedro Mas y Reus, more popularly known as The Mile (other names can also apply). 

The source of the exasperation was an agency which, despite it having a Balearic delegation, is a long way distant: the Costas Authority. The very mention of the Costas has at times been something to send even the most mild-mannered into a fit of rage. Or to make the strongest tremble.

It is a curious fact that in Alcudia the powers of the Costas stretch inland. Because the City of Lakes (and Albufera) are linked by canals to the sea, there is land influenced by the sea: the Costas' domain. These powers have been such, however, that the authority has done little or nothing for the City of Lakes down the now getting on for fifty years of its existence. When it was finally shaken out of its torpor a couple of years ago, it decided to install some new bridges: they were long overdue.

It could all be of course that because Madrid is a long way away there was going to be some issue with these bridges. And there is: one bridge in particular. The Costas, benevolent with its one million plus investment, came up with the plan and went ahead without consultation. You've been hounding us for investment for years, so don't complain now that the investment has been forthcoming. That might seem like the attitude. For Toni Mir it's a case of a division of government taking too little account of local needs. Exasperation.

It's a story though that is commonplace. For Alcudia it just so happens that the town hall is affected by the Costas more than in other coastal resorts. They all are in one way or another, as they are affected by other divisions of government. Alcudia has to concern itself with the Balearic Ports Authority: the port is a state-run port. Other ports come under a different ports authority. There is talk of making the two work together in the future. And surely not before time.

Town halls can generally be thought to know what's best for their resorts, for their beaches and facilities. Decentralised government is such that the town halls do have a good deal of responsibility but they are also bound by the regulations of others. There do of course need to be these regulations, but it is the multiplicity of regulation in the hands of different parts of government, the at-times contradictory nature of this regulation and the sheer difficulty of knowing where the buck actually stops (if at all) that can and does generate exasperation.

Here's perhaps the craziest one of all. In Manacor. The problem of overcrowding on the unspoiled beach of Cala Varques is nothing new: it has existed for years. The town hall decided to take the matter into its own hands last summer and seek to prevent cars being parked on the approach road to the cove. All this achieved was to create a new problem, one of parking on the main road: Tráfico had a field day with parking tickets.

This year, the town hall (a different administration to the one in power last summer, as it was thrown out after a vote of no confidence) has set about trying to establish some lines of responsibility for Cala Varques. Lines of responsibility? How many can there possibly be? And that is precisely the issue. The town hall has had to engage an external company to fathom them all out and to arrive at a definitive "plan of uses" for the beach, the roads, parking and what have you. This company has had to consider: the town hall and so therefore also the local police; the National Police, which is centred in Manacor; the Guardia Civil with its traffic function; the Council of Mallorca; the regional government; and, yes, the Costas Authority. It's no wonder that there can be exasperation when taking all this lot into account. The town hall can be grateful that there isn't a port at Cala Varques; it's had enough of an issue in this regard with Porto Cristo.

It's a story repeated to varying degrees around the coast of Mallorca. So many authorities, so many regulations, too little action. And when action is taken, it causes its own exasperation. There's a bridge in Alcudia doing just that.

MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 1 June 2016

Morning high (7.00am): 15.6C
Forecast high: 25C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 2 June - Sun, 25C; 3 June - Sun, cloud, 23C; 4 June - Sun, cloud, 25C.

Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 3 to 4 veering North during the morning.

Fine morning and should remain decent all day and so no sound of a thunder like yesterday.

Evening update (20.30): Good day. High of 25.8C.

Out Of Whack: Mallorcan society

These have been a depressing few days. The church's charity, Caritas, spoke of the chronic poverty that afflicts part of Mallorcan society. The town hall in Palma has increased the amount it spends on economic aid to people of the city. Average income levels in the Balearics as a whole are well below what they were some eight years ago.

The latter, it needs pointing out, were 2014 figures, but whether there would be much difference some eighteen months on might be questionable. The experience in Palma would suggest not, albeit there is a caveat in that the town hall has expanded the scope for the aid it hands out.

What is particularly depressing is the fact that there is meant to be an economic recovery. To counter the poverty and incomes' reports have been those which point to what is pretty much a boom time on the high streets (if there were such things). Retail has not known any better times for the past fourteen years. Astonishing. Meanwhile, the price of property goes up, and Ibiza Town can claim to be the most expensive place in Spain. Incredible.

Ignore the depressing reports, adopt an I'm All Right Jack approach and things are astonishing and incredible. But those reports shouldn't be ignored. Things aren't right. They are far from being right. The unions are referring to a structural crisis. The economic one may have passed (for many) but it has left behind a widening imbalance, a major disequilibrium. Maybe it can be possible to begin to appreciate why the Partido Popular, having presided over austerity-turning-riches, is unpopular enough for the electorate to give the likes of Podemos houseroom, even if some of this electorate has previously voted PP. It isn't just corruption. It's the pocket. And the pocket has been picked.

But not for everyone of course. Want to know something else astonishing and incredible? There are 636 owners of more than 32,000 properties in the Balearics: that's fifty each. These aren't banks, these are real people (or real people's companies). In the past ten years the single ownership of multiple properties - from six to ten, from eleven to twenty-five, from twenty-six to fifty - has gone up by roughly 60%.

This, in no small part, has come about because the property market bubble burst so dramatically (albeit not at the top end). Lower-priced property, and lots of it, was available. But it still required someone with a good deal of spare cash to go on a property-buying spree. The time to cash in may have arrived.

The property market, you have the impression (and there seems to be evidence every day to support this), is totally out of whack. (Or rather it's very much in whack if you happen to be among the acquisitive class.) You can never accuse Balearic teachers of missing a good opportunity to indulge in a spot of propaganda, but the image of tented accommodation for one of its membership in Ibiza might be more than just agitation. The problems with rented accommodation on that island appear to be worse than in Mallorca, and they're bad enough as it is here.

The regional government is alarmed at the growing disparity, at the problems with housing and at the level of incomes. But it cannot force onto the market what the market won't accept. It can try, as with its idea of linking hotel star ratings to the "quality" of employment, but this stems at least in part from a political agenda that enjoys casting the hotels in the role of the baddie. Yes, they may only offer contracts for a set number of months, but check out some of the earnings: they aren't as bad as they are made out to be. Not when compared, for example, with the similarly low-paid retail sector.

But to come back to retailing and the current boom in sales. How does this square with incomes in general being so modest and having failed to recover to pre-crisis levels? Does one trust the figure for average income, one of just under eleven grand a year? Who is it that is making all the purchases of household goods that weren't being made even a year ago? The owners of those multiple properties? Foreign owners? Those who are kitting out properties with IKEA stuff and posting them onto Airbnb?

Whatever the answers to these, there is unease - fuelled to a degree by politicians on a mission - caused by the seemingly widening gap in society. Recessions, a sort of maxim goes, are economic occasions when advantages can be sought and gained. Property appears to be one of them. Allied to this is the fall in incomes and the unions' structural crisis afflicting the middle as well as working class. And then there's the chronic poverty.

Thankfully, the sun shines. But it hides the clouds.