The Eden Hotels group, based in Playa de Muro, and with two hotels in Puerto Alcúdia and one in Playa de Muro, has applied for receivership on account of cash flow difficulties. The purpose is to try and reach agreement with creditors and the measure is intended to be only temporary as part of a process to rectify the group's financial position. Jobs are said to be unaffected and not threatened, while the hotels also continue to operate.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Friday, April 20, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 20 April 2012
Sunny morning, 15.1 C the top at 09:00, the breeze is down for now. Though there will be cloud about, it looks fine and quite warm today, and the outlook is the same for the following several days, temperatures to 20 or a touch above.
Afternoon update: Breezes getting up at times to 45kph, but sunny with a high of 21.5 C.
Afternoon update: Breezes getting up at times to 45kph, but sunny with a high of 21.5 C.
Elephants Never Forget: Annus horribilis
The British royal family never actually apologised for its mishandling of events after Diana's death, but it was shamed into displaying contrition, its misjudgment and its treatment of Blair's "people's princess" laid bare by the words of Diana's brother that cut like ice through the aisles of Westminster Abbey and by the applause which followed them.
1997, though it might well have been, was not The Queen's annus horribilis. This had occurred five years earlier. But 1997 caused the royal family's popularity to sink to its lowest point, all because of protocol and an inability to say sorry.
Royalty doesn't, as a rule, issue apologies. It's why Juan Carlos's apology, in the midst of what is turning out to be, like The Queen, a second annus horribilis in five years, is so unusual. Annus horribilis número uno was marked, among other things, by the separation of the Infanta Elena and the Duke of Lugo. The son of their union, Felipe, provides a link to annus horribilis número dos (AH II); it was he who accidentally took a gun to his foot the other day.
Another embarrassment in 2007 was the publication of the now infamous cartoon in the magazine "El Jueves", which satirised the Crown-Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia. The "El Jueves" cartoon is significant in the context of AH II. It resulted in a trial and fines, the reason being that disrespect had been shown to members of the royal family. AH II is eclipsing AH I in that the gloves are gradually coming off; a press that has been largely cowed by the constraint that it, like "El Jueves", could be accused of disrespect is starting to assert itself. AH I was the year of the scurrilous subversive press; AH II is the year of the mainstream.
The main reason for the Spanish press becoming more assertive in matters of the royal family is Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and The King's son-in-law. It helps that he is a commoner, one supposes, but his affairs, his actions and his appearance in a Palma court have led the press to declare pretty much open season. And not just the press. The people have spoken as well, having chanted, during Republican celebrations last weekend, "Urdangarin, go and work in Burger King". (I'm not entirely sure why they chanted this, but be that as it may.)
The press will continue to stop short of all-out criticism. Perhaps we should be thankful for this. The total absence of respect shown to the British royal family borders at times on the cruel. Even if you are not a monarchist, and I can't say I am, there should be some decorum. Shouldn't there be?
Indeed, where Juan Carlos is concerned, you could describe me as a staunch supporter. In the past I have described him as "totemic". He is, or certainly has been, the means of binding the country together. 1981 and all that shouldn't be forgotten. But The King's strength is also his weakness. It is one most Spaniards would understand and accept. Without Juan Carlos, whither the monarchy? One could say the same about the British royal family and about The Queen, but a difference is that the British royal family has William. The House of Bourbon doesn't have a William, or a Guillermo as the Spanish press is minded to call him.
It is for the very reason that The King has been held in such high esteem that the hunting trip to Botswana has caused such uproar. The King who quelled the coup and became the people's king has let the people down, and he knows it, hence the apology. The sleepless nights he spoke of having because of mass youth unemployment are now being questioned, and the press has even resorted to non-verbal communications experts to assess the sincerity of the apology; it was sincere.
Of course, if it is indeed the case that The King was the guest of a Saudi businessman who is central to a consortium securing a Spanish contract worth almost seven billion euros to build a high-speed rail link, then one might argue what are a few elephants. This is not how it works, though. First Urdangarin, and now a trip to Botswana that would, in all likelihood, not have come to light had it not been for The King's accident. Together, they give power to the Republican argument, PSOE having weighed in and called for abdication.
The chances are the Botswana incident will blow over. But there is still Urdangarin. The press has its teeth into him and into what further may emerge. AH II could yet be even more horribilis.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
1997, though it might well have been, was not The Queen's annus horribilis. This had occurred five years earlier. But 1997 caused the royal family's popularity to sink to its lowest point, all because of protocol and an inability to say sorry.
Royalty doesn't, as a rule, issue apologies. It's why Juan Carlos's apology, in the midst of what is turning out to be, like The Queen, a second annus horribilis in five years, is so unusual. Annus horribilis número uno was marked, among other things, by the separation of the Infanta Elena and the Duke of Lugo. The son of their union, Felipe, provides a link to annus horribilis número dos (AH II); it was he who accidentally took a gun to his foot the other day.
Another embarrassment in 2007 was the publication of the now infamous cartoon in the magazine "El Jueves", which satirised the Crown-Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia. The "El Jueves" cartoon is significant in the context of AH II. It resulted in a trial and fines, the reason being that disrespect had been shown to members of the royal family. AH II is eclipsing AH I in that the gloves are gradually coming off; a press that has been largely cowed by the constraint that it, like "El Jueves", could be accused of disrespect is starting to assert itself. AH I was the year of the scurrilous subversive press; AH II is the year of the mainstream.
The main reason for the Spanish press becoming more assertive in matters of the royal family is Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and The King's son-in-law. It helps that he is a commoner, one supposes, but his affairs, his actions and his appearance in a Palma court have led the press to declare pretty much open season. And not just the press. The people have spoken as well, having chanted, during Republican celebrations last weekend, "Urdangarin, go and work in Burger King". (I'm not entirely sure why they chanted this, but be that as it may.)
The press will continue to stop short of all-out criticism. Perhaps we should be thankful for this. The total absence of respect shown to the British royal family borders at times on the cruel. Even if you are not a monarchist, and I can't say I am, there should be some decorum. Shouldn't there be?
Indeed, where Juan Carlos is concerned, you could describe me as a staunch supporter. In the past I have described him as "totemic". He is, or certainly has been, the means of binding the country together. 1981 and all that shouldn't be forgotten. But The King's strength is also his weakness. It is one most Spaniards would understand and accept. Without Juan Carlos, whither the monarchy? One could say the same about the British royal family and about The Queen, but a difference is that the British royal family has William. The House of Bourbon doesn't have a William, or a Guillermo as the Spanish press is minded to call him.
It is for the very reason that The King has been held in such high esteem that the hunting trip to Botswana has caused such uproar. The King who quelled the coup and became the people's king has let the people down, and he knows it, hence the apology. The sleepless nights he spoke of having because of mass youth unemployment are now being questioned, and the press has even resorted to non-verbal communications experts to assess the sincerity of the apology; it was sincere.
Of course, if it is indeed the case that The King was the guest of a Saudi businessman who is central to a consortium securing a Spanish contract worth almost seven billion euros to build a high-speed rail link, then one might argue what are a few elephants. This is not how it works, though. First Urdangarin, and now a trip to Botswana that would, in all likelihood, not have come to light had it not been for The King's accident. Together, they give power to the Republican argument, PSOE having weighed in and called for abdication.
The chances are the Botswana incident will blow over. But there is still Urdangarin. The press has its teeth into him and into what further may emerge. AH II could yet be even more horribilis.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 19 April 2012
A similar mix of cloud and blue sky this morning, warm at 15.4 C at 07:45. The chance of a spot of rain but this risk declining through the day. High teens later, and the outlook is good with the temperature climbing into the weekend.
Afternoon update: Warming up a touch today, a high of 20.1 C, but quite breezy as well.
Afternoon update: Warming up a touch today, a high of 20.1 C, but quite breezy as well.
Don't Fry For Me, Argentina
You wouldn't want to be an Argentinian at the moment, unless you were in Argentina. When I asked a good Argentinian, restaurant-owning friend of mine what he thought of the señora del hierro in Buenos Aires, his response was to the point - "puta". The hierro lady is a tramp. She's going to make life difficult for Argentinians in Mallorca and in Spain.
There is a not unnatural smugness among the Brits in indulging in a touch of schadenfreude. All those Mallorcans and Spaniards going around proclaiming the rights of the Malvinas and condemning the imperialism of a former iron lady now find, as an Argentinian boot is placed firmly up the jacksy of Spanish interests, that the British may have had a point.
But with any conflict, and even when there isn't a conflict, come the xenophobia and the irrational. During the Falklands crisis, I was in Amsterdam. There were demonstrations against the British. What had the Falklands to do with the normally sensible Dutch? Nothing, but irrationality can consume even the most level-headed of people. Britain, nasty imperial power; Argentina, poor underdog being doormatted under the weight of handbag tonnage. Or something like this.
So it is, or is likely to be, that the Mallorcan Argentinians, of whom there are many, will find themselves copping for some xenophobia over and above that which they normally cop. Mallorcans, Spaniards don't all much care for the Argentinians. Indeed, they don't much care for most South Americans; they're idle and loud. Pot, kettle, black.
President Fernández, President Kirchner (whichever you prefer) has of course learnt the lessons of history, and learnt them well from the iron handbagger. Bit of local, domestic difficulty - and she has it in the form of austerity, among other things - and some sabre-rattling can work wonders in the opinion polls. Some Falklandising has been followed up by the nationalisation of Repsol's stake in YPF.
Talk about kicking a country when it's down. Fernández de Kirchner would doubtless have been taking a keen interest in Spain's implosion. The time to strike was right. All publicity might be considered good publicity, but at present Spain is in desperate need of a Max Clifford of international relations. With quite staggeringly poor timing, the royals have become the elephant in the room where a hunt in Botswana was concerned (for which the King is now apologising) and literally have managed to shoot themselves in the foot, thanks to the boy Felipe and the gun he shouldn't have been handling.
Spain's foreign minister has taken a metaphorical leaf out of the royal literal book and suggested that it is in fact Argentina that has shot itself in the foot. All these feet being shot and no one's going to have a leg to stand on, which includes he who grows greyer by the day, Mr. Grey, Prime Minister Rajoy, who is actually proving to be as useless as it was suspected he would be (apart from all those in his party who hadn't purged him years ago). Faced with the YPF nationalisation, what will Rajoy do? Arrange for the armada to gather in Cadiz? If so, best he leaves it until after the 29th of April, the date on which Drake sank the armada in 1587. Given the way things are going, though, a Spanish fleet heading off across the Atlantic would probably manage to capsize off the Canaries.
Frantic efforts to bail out the naval rowing-boat are matched only by the frantic efforts to find a way of preventing a need for Europe to come with a large wedge of financial bail out. It's as well that Europe is around when you most need a friend. It's coming to Rajoy's aid and telling the Argentinian president to stop behaving like an Argentinian.
Still, with all Spanish pride sinking faster than its armada might, there is always football to keep the spirits up, though quite what Lionel Messi makes of his president, who knows. Presumably, he won't, on scoring a goal, be lifting his shirt to reveal a t-shirt with "Repsol out" scrawled on it. He probably thinks much the same as my restaurant-owning friend, if he thinks at all, that is.
And back at the local Argentinian restaurants, they'll be hurriedly pulling down the Argentinian grill signs and hastily erecting ones saying typical Mallorcan cuisine, while insisting that workers boycott the nearest Repsol petrol station. When the steak gets near the plancha, they'll be denying everything by singing "don't fry for me, Argentina". Do you suppose Madonna's being lined up to play Kirchner?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
There is a not unnatural smugness among the Brits in indulging in a touch of schadenfreude. All those Mallorcans and Spaniards going around proclaiming the rights of the Malvinas and condemning the imperialism of a former iron lady now find, as an Argentinian boot is placed firmly up the jacksy of Spanish interests, that the British may have had a point.
But with any conflict, and even when there isn't a conflict, come the xenophobia and the irrational. During the Falklands crisis, I was in Amsterdam. There were demonstrations against the British. What had the Falklands to do with the normally sensible Dutch? Nothing, but irrationality can consume even the most level-headed of people. Britain, nasty imperial power; Argentina, poor underdog being doormatted under the weight of handbag tonnage. Or something like this.
So it is, or is likely to be, that the Mallorcan Argentinians, of whom there are many, will find themselves copping for some xenophobia over and above that which they normally cop. Mallorcans, Spaniards don't all much care for the Argentinians. Indeed, they don't much care for most South Americans; they're idle and loud. Pot, kettle, black.
President Fernández, President Kirchner (whichever you prefer) has of course learnt the lessons of history, and learnt them well from the iron handbagger. Bit of local, domestic difficulty - and she has it in the form of austerity, among other things - and some sabre-rattling can work wonders in the opinion polls. Some Falklandising has been followed up by the nationalisation of Repsol's stake in YPF.
Talk about kicking a country when it's down. Fernández de Kirchner would doubtless have been taking a keen interest in Spain's implosion. The time to strike was right. All publicity might be considered good publicity, but at present Spain is in desperate need of a Max Clifford of international relations. With quite staggeringly poor timing, the royals have become the elephant in the room where a hunt in Botswana was concerned (for which the King is now apologising) and literally have managed to shoot themselves in the foot, thanks to the boy Felipe and the gun he shouldn't have been handling.
Spain's foreign minister has taken a metaphorical leaf out of the royal literal book and suggested that it is in fact Argentina that has shot itself in the foot. All these feet being shot and no one's going to have a leg to stand on, which includes he who grows greyer by the day, Mr. Grey, Prime Minister Rajoy, who is actually proving to be as useless as it was suspected he would be (apart from all those in his party who hadn't purged him years ago). Faced with the YPF nationalisation, what will Rajoy do? Arrange for the armada to gather in Cadiz? If so, best he leaves it until after the 29th of April, the date on which Drake sank the armada in 1587. Given the way things are going, though, a Spanish fleet heading off across the Atlantic would probably manage to capsize off the Canaries.
Frantic efforts to bail out the naval rowing-boat are matched only by the frantic efforts to find a way of preventing a need for Europe to come with a large wedge of financial bail out. It's as well that Europe is around when you most need a friend. It's coming to Rajoy's aid and telling the Argentinian president to stop behaving like an Argentinian.
Still, with all Spanish pride sinking faster than its armada might, there is always football to keep the spirits up, though quite what Lionel Messi makes of his president, who knows. Presumably, he won't, on scoring a goal, be lifting his shirt to reveal a t-shirt with "Repsol out" scrawled on it. He probably thinks much the same as my restaurant-owning friend, if he thinks at all, that is.
And back at the local Argentinian restaurants, they'll be hurriedly pulling down the Argentinian grill signs and hastily erecting ones saying typical Mallorcan cuisine, while insisting that workers boycott the nearest Repsol petrol station. When the steak gets near the plancha, they'll be denying everything by singing "don't fry for me, Argentina". Do you suppose Madonna's being lined up to play Kirchner?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 18 April 2012
Cloudyish morning with some patches of blue, warm at 16.2 C the high at 09:00. It is meant to stay fine and to get clearer. Tomorrow still looks as though it may offer the odd shower, but the outlook into the weekend is now better.
Afternoon update: The sun picked up eventually, but a high of only 17.5 C.
Afternoon update: The sun picked up eventually, but a high of only 17.5 C.
New York, London, Paris, Munich ... Palma?
It is reassuring to learn that not everyone gets sucked into the groupthink of believing something which, if it is said often enough, becomes the accepted truth. I'll believe it when I see it as well. Mr. Barkhuysen's letter to the "Bulletin" (17 April) finished with just this seeing-is-believing doubt, one regarding the impact of shopping on tourism. Will more Sunday opening in Palma result in "tourists flocking to Mallorca because shops open on a Sunday"? Mr. Barkhuysen thinks not, and I'm inclined to agree with him.
However, because it has been said often enough that the shops should be open and that this will result in increased tourism, it must of course be true.
There is just one problem with this truth. In fact, there are several. The first is, surprise, surprise, it's a Palma issue pure and simple. And Palma may in fact be the problem. Let's imagine for a moment that we, i.e. you, are in the UK and you think that you wouldn't mind engaging in some shopping tourism. Which cities spring to mind? New York, London, Paris, Munich, everyone's talking not about pop music but about the pap muzak in grand shopping emporia in the grand cities. And you can add others to this list - Dubai, for instance, or Barcelona, if you fancy some Spanish. Is everyone talking about Palma? Erm ...
Ah but, there is this huge demand for shopping that tumbles out of cruise ships. How do we know? Because it's said often enough, it must be true. Unfortunately, it isn't. Not if the vast majority of the passengers jump from ship to coach and head off to the Tramuntana, it isn't. And of those who don't, there is no longer the well-heeled, platinum-carded shop-till-they-drop crowd inhabiting the cruise cabins. Cruises have gone economy class, as have their passenger lists. One bright bit of news is that the well-heeled, platinum-carded crowd are availing themselves of cheap cruise deals, the consequence of unsold cabins ever since the Concordia went all Titanic.
The shops being open will be more about an impression rather than simple business. It is fair to say that a city that is closed down doesn't give off the best image. But having them open will make them museum pieces. They can be boasted about but, like museums, no one will bother with them overly unless it happens to be raining or is so stinking hot that some air-con relief is needed. Or at least they won't bother overly with the large stores, precisely the ones that can now open.
Research presented by the now sadly defunct Tourism Insights website made the point that shopping by tourists is a means to experience local culture and to purchase something of this local culture, such as items of craftwork. This makes eminent sense. Why, after all, if you are a tourist, would you go and buy a plasma TV from El Corte Ingles and haul it back to the cruise ship?
Sunday opening is not of course just about tourists. In his letter, Mr. Barkhuysen makes the not unreasonable point that this will not result in increased trade. It will be more a case of spreading more thinly the trade that already exists and of it costing more to operate. It could be that trade does increase, though. But here I am only guessing that a sort of Parkinson's Law obtains when trading hours are increased. Shopping expands to fill the available time. Whether shopping means spending more is a different matter. There is shopping with a purpose and shopping for no other reason than for something to look at; shopping for windows, in other words.
Longer opening hours and opening hours which haven't previously been opening hours are all about convenience for consumers. There is nothing at all wrong with this. Indeed, it is all but essential in a contemporary society. But convenience does not mean greater volumes of business, a point the consultants Deloittes have been making.
Regarding the extension of Sunday trading during the Olympic Games and the possibility that this will remain in force after the Olympics, Deloittes say, and I quote: "Such a move would allow retailers to offer their customers greater convenience, but it is also likely that it would increase costs as the period of time when consumers do their shopping would be stretched, rather than increase the spending pot itself".
This is the nub of the issue where the resident market is concerned. Add to this a questionable benefit from tourism, and seeing will indeed be believing. I hope that I and Mr. Barkhuysen are wrong.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
However, because it has been said often enough that the shops should be open and that this will result in increased tourism, it must of course be true.
There is just one problem with this truth. In fact, there are several. The first is, surprise, surprise, it's a Palma issue pure and simple. And Palma may in fact be the problem. Let's imagine for a moment that we, i.e. you, are in the UK and you think that you wouldn't mind engaging in some shopping tourism. Which cities spring to mind? New York, London, Paris, Munich, everyone's talking not about pop music but about the pap muzak in grand shopping emporia in the grand cities. And you can add others to this list - Dubai, for instance, or Barcelona, if you fancy some Spanish. Is everyone talking about Palma? Erm ...
Ah but, there is this huge demand for shopping that tumbles out of cruise ships. How do we know? Because it's said often enough, it must be true. Unfortunately, it isn't. Not if the vast majority of the passengers jump from ship to coach and head off to the Tramuntana, it isn't. And of those who don't, there is no longer the well-heeled, platinum-carded shop-till-they-drop crowd inhabiting the cruise cabins. Cruises have gone economy class, as have their passenger lists. One bright bit of news is that the well-heeled, platinum-carded crowd are availing themselves of cheap cruise deals, the consequence of unsold cabins ever since the Concordia went all Titanic.
The shops being open will be more about an impression rather than simple business. It is fair to say that a city that is closed down doesn't give off the best image. But having them open will make them museum pieces. They can be boasted about but, like museums, no one will bother with them overly unless it happens to be raining or is so stinking hot that some air-con relief is needed. Or at least they won't bother overly with the large stores, precisely the ones that can now open.
Research presented by the now sadly defunct Tourism Insights website made the point that shopping by tourists is a means to experience local culture and to purchase something of this local culture, such as items of craftwork. This makes eminent sense. Why, after all, if you are a tourist, would you go and buy a plasma TV from El Corte Ingles and haul it back to the cruise ship?
Sunday opening is not of course just about tourists. In his letter, Mr. Barkhuysen makes the not unreasonable point that this will not result in increased trade. It will be more a case of spreading more thinly the trade that already exists and of it costing more to operate. It could be that trade does increase, though. But here I am only guessing that a sort of Parkinson's Law obtains when trading hours are increased. Shopping expands to fill the available time. Whether shopping means spending more is a different matter. There is shopping with a purpose and shopping for no other reason than for something to look at; shopping for windows, in other words.
Longer opening hours and opening hours which haven't previously been opening hours are all about convenience for consumers. There is nothing at all wrong with this. Indeed, it is all but essential in a contemporary society. But convenience does not mean greater volumes of business, a point the consultants Deloittes have been making.
Regarding the extension of Sunday trading during the Olympic Games and the possibility that this will remain in force after the Olympics, Deloittes say, and I quote: "Such a move would allow retailers to offer their customers greater convenience, but it is also likely that it would increase costs as the period of time when consumers do their shopping would be stretched, rather than increase the spending pot itself".
This is the nub of the issue where the resident market is concerned. Add to this a questionable benefit from tourism, and seeing will indeed be believing. I hope that I and Mr. Barkhuysen are wrong.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Meliá unveil plans for Magalluf
Plans for the redevelopment of part of Magalluf by Meliá Hotels International were officially outlined yesterday by representatives of the hotel chain. Under the plans, two hotels will be converted into apartments, a pedestrianised boulevard will be created in helping to make the resort like Miami Beach, and the general level of tourism will be raised. The company rejected claims that the redevelopment will result in more all-inclusive.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Sóller train celebrates 100 years
The one-hundredth anniversary of the first journey of the Sóller train was celebrated yesterday in an event attended by leading politicians including President Bauzá.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 17 April 2012
A bright morning but also a breezy one following some overnight rain. A top of 12.4 C at 09:30. Not especially warm today, up to the mid-teens. The outlook is remaining unsettled but with more sun than not.
Afternoon update: A sunny enough day but with a chill breeze and a high of just over 17 degrees.
Afternoon update: A sunny enough day but with a chill breeze and a high of just over 17 degrees.
Jazz In The Blues: Sa Pobla's festival
No great surprise then. All that jazz in Sa Pobla since 1995 may be no more jazz. Sa Pobla has been the venue for John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Billy Cobham, Joe Lovano, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Garrett and many others. If you put them all on the one bill, then you would send jazz lovers into jazz-lover heaven.
These names may not mean anything to you, which is understandable. Jazz, like other genres, is its own world. Not everyone likes it, just as not everyone likes classical music, country music, rap or whatever. But jazz, in a Sa Pobla setting, has become a feature of Mallorca's summer circuit, a cultural oasis in a town that benefits only marginally from tourism, a means of generating interest and business and of bringing jazz, and not insubstantial names from the world of jazz, to an audience that would probably never be exposed to them.
This year's festival looks to be all but doomed. Funding from the regional government and from the Council of Mallorca has disappeared, as it has disappeared from other arts events. Sa Pobla town hall can't afford to pick up the tab, as it is bust, just like other town halls.
The town hall has had to introduce small charges for more traditional occasions that previously were free, such as for the post-Easter pilgrimage of the "poblers" to Crestatx. In January, the DJs and other music at the Sant Antoni celebrations, the grandest on the island, required financing from local businesses. The town hall knows that events like the jazz festival are beneficial, but even this knowledge does not allow it to stretch to the forty grand that it typically costs to stage the festival.
Forty grand, on the face of it, doesn't sound like a lot of money. But when, as a town hall, you are millions in the red, it is. Financing to rescue the jazz festival is going to have to come from the private sector, and the first port of private call is on those same local businesses - bars, restaurants, etc. - that came to the aid of the Sant Antoni party. Is it too much to ask these businesses to fund a second event? It may be.
The jazz festival has always been something of an oddity in that it has brought international names to a small town in northern Mallorca and not charged anyone for the privilege of watching them. An obvious solution, you would think, would be to charge. Obvious, but whether it would work is another matter. Were the public willing to pay, whether similar numbers of people who have typically packed themselves into Sa Pobla's Plaça Major would come would probably be doubtful. And it would also be doubtful if a suitable venue could be found; you couldn't charge for people to go into the Plaça Major.
The concerts having been free has always been with a view to create business, so maybe the local restaurants should dip into their pockets. As ever, it would be interesting to know just how beneficial the benefits have amounted to in the past. Would they justify a demand being made on local businesses to foot the bill?
If the festival fails to go ahead, it would be another nail in the coffin for Mallorca's general cultural scene. Putting a value on this culture is difficult, as the "good thing" of culture shouldn't require a price tag. Unfortunately, however, culture can only be provided, or seems to only be capable of being provided, when there is plenty of money knocking around. There has, therefore, to be a price tag, one that has been absent for years in Mallorca.
As with other aspects of the island's arts culture, such as the orchestra or the Pollensa Music Festival, claims of direct benefits in terms of tourism are virtually impossible to identify. The jazz festival has typically occurred over a three to four-week period with one concert per week. People don't come for the festival, or if they do, their numbers must surely be very small. It's the same with the orchestra and the Pollensa festival; they are added attractions rather than being central to tourism.
Nevertheless, it is the critical mass that in combination they represent that is important. It is important in presenting a civility and a diversity. None of these cultural manifestations are truly representative of an alternative to sun-and-beach tourism, but it is irrelevant whether they are or not. Culture is an intangible of societal well-being. You don't want to lose it, but once you do lose it, it's hard to get it back, especially if governments question its economic benefits.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
These names may not mean anything to you, which is understandable. Jazz, like other genres, is its own world. Not everyone likes it, just as not everyone likes classical music, country music, rap or whatever. But jazz, in a Sa Pobla setting, has become a feature of Mallorca's summer circuit, a cultural oasis in a town that benefits only marginally from tourism, a means of generating interest and business and of bringing jazz, and not insubstantial names from the world of jazz, to an audience that would probably never be exposed to them.
This year's festival looks to be all but doomed. Funding from the regional government and from the Council of Mallorca has disappeared, as it has disappeared from other arts events. Sa Pobla town hall can't afford to pick up the tab, as it is bust, just like other town halls.
The town hall has had to introduce small charges for more traditional occasions that previously were free, such as for the post-Easter pilgrimage of the "poblers" to Crestatx. In January, the DJs and other music at the Sant Antoni celebrations, the grandest on the island, required financing from local businesses. The town hall knows that events like the jazz festival are beneficial, but even this knowledge does not allow it to stretch to the forty grand that it typically costs to stage the festival.
Forty grand, on the face of it, doesn't sound like a lot of money. But when, as a town hall, you are millions in the red, it is. Financing to rescue the jazz festival is going to have to come from the private sector, and the first port of private call is on those same local businesses - bars, restaurants, etc. - that came to the aid of the Sant Antoni party. Is it too much to ask these businesses to fund a second event? It may be.
The jazz festival has always been something of an oddity in that it has brought international names to a small town in northern Mallorca and not charged anyone for the privilege of watching them. An obvious solution, you would think, would be to charge. Obvious, but whether it would work is another matter. Were the public willing to pay, whether similar numbers of people who have typically packed themselves into Sa Pobla's Plaça Major would come would probably be doubtful. And it would also be doubtful if a suitable venue could be found; you couldn't charge for people to go into the Plaça Major.
The concerts having been free has always been with a view to create business, so maybe the local restaurants should dip into their pockets. As ever, it would be interesting to know just how beneficial the benefits have amounted to in the past. Would they justify a demand being made on local businesses to foot the bill?
If the festival fails to go ahead, it would be another nail in the coffin for Mallorca's general cultural scene. Putting a value on this culture is difficult, as the "good thing" of culture shouldn't require a price tag. Unfortunately, however, culture can only be provided, or seems to only be capable of being provided, when there is plenty of money knocking around. There has, therefore, to be a price tag, one that has been absent for years in Mallorca.
As with other aspects of the island's arts culture, such as the orchestra or the Pollensa Music Festival, claims of direct benefits in terms of tourism are virtually impossible to identify. The jazz festival has typically occurred over a three to four-week period with one concert per week. People don't come for the festival, or if they do, their numbers must surely be very small. It's the same with the orchestra and the Pollensa festival; they are added attractions rather than being central to tourism.
Nevertheless, it is the critical mass that in combination they represent that is important. It is important in presenting a civility and a diversity. None of these cultural manifestations are truly representative of an alternative to sun-and-beach tourism, but it is irrelevant whether they are or not. Culture is an intangible of societal well-being. You don't want to lose it, but once you do lose it, it's hard to get it back, especially if governments question its economic benefits.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, April 16, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Challenge to beach management contract award in Can Picafort
Two companies which lost out on the tender to provide services to beaches in Can Picafort this summer have challenged the award by Santa Margalida town hall on the grounds that the winning bid was submitted six or seven minutes after the time that it should have been.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 16 April 2012
Overnight rain and thunder, a grey morning with a best of 11.6 C at 08:30. The alerts are out for coastal conditions and wind. Remaining cloudy with showers. Improving tomorrow, but still the risk of a shower.
Afternoon update: It has been day more suited to February than April. Rain for some of it, a strong and chill wind at times, and a high of only 12.9 C. The alerts remain in place for tomorrow, though there should be a good deal of sun. The week is looking rather unpredictable.
Afternoon update: It has been day more suited to February than April. Rain for some of it, a strong and chill wind at times, and a high of only 12.9 C. The alerts remain in place for tomorrow, though there should be a good deal of sun. The week is looking rather unpredictable.
Republican Sympathies
On Saturday, commemorations were held that marked the 81st anniversary of the establishment of the Second Republic. Mallorca was not excluded from these celebrations. Porreres staged one of the best attended events. In Pollensa, as has become traditional on the anniversary of the birth of the Republic, the PSM (Mallorcan socialists) offered a floral tribute.
That it is the socialists who arrange the event says much about the political colour of the memories of the Republic and also about hopes of a revival of Republicanism. Like its Nationalist counterpoint, it has lurked in the undergrowth away from the main glare of monarchical democracy since 1975. Republicanism wasn't destroyed in 1939 at the end of the Civil War; it remained, in exile and latterly through the titles or sympathies of minority political parties.
The Second Republic ended in total disaster. Its liberalism was overtaken by violence and extremism. Against a background of depression, it couldn't combat unemployment. Economically and politically it was a failure, but Republicanism has remained an ideological force because of what happened after the Republic fell. It is the "good guy" of the Civil War, despite its own atrocities.
It has remained a force also because of what created the Second Republic. The government of the first dictator, Primo de Rivera, had become untenable as had the position of the Bourbon king, Alfonso XIII, who, on 14 April 1931, was forced into exile. Alfonso was considered a traitor as, in 1923, he had not blocked the coup which led to the establishment of the first dictatorship. An understanding of the Civil War and the Franco era is not complete without an appreciation of the monarch's support for Rivera. In 1923, the king assisted in breaking a system of monarchical democracy that was not to be restored for over 50 years.
Lessons of history and all that, but the past has a habit of turning itself into tradition. And with tradition comes a desire for re-enactment or an expectation that history will repeat itself or a perception that history is repeating itself. The tradition of the Civil War, despite the best attempts of many Spaniards to indulge in mass amnesia and the best attempts of the legal and political system to airbrush it out of existence, remains well rooted.
If not of course actual re-enactment, there is the narrative that nuances the current day in terms of this tradition. Republicanism 2012 in Mallorca, and elsewhere no doubt, rejects, as you would expect it to, the rights of another Bourbon king, Juan Carlos. Anti-monarchy sentiment is not unreasonable, but what is unreasonable is to somehow compare the current king with the treacherous Alfonso. It is not only unreasonable, it fails completely in recalling that it was the current king who turned his back on Francoism. For today's Republicans, however, a Bourbon monarch is a Bourbon monarch, regardless of very different circumstances.
Republicanism 2012 manages also to make some quite extraordinary allusions to Nationalism. The Partido Popular government in the Balearics, in agreeing to the development of a hotel near Es Trenc beach, is somehow engaged in Francoism. Well yes, there was destruction of the coastlines in the Franco era. No one would deny this, but it had nothing to do with Francoism or Nationalism; it had everything to do with turning the dross of a basket-case economy into something approximating gold.
The compulsion to style the current day with the narrative of the past extends to the lobbing of insults. When the head of the UGT union in the Balearics called President Bauzá a fascist, rather than requesting the attorney-general to start proceedings, Bauzá would have been far better off returning his own insult and moving on. Resorting to legal redress institutionalises the narrative and therefore the tradition, proving that Balearics politicians are as trapped in the past as are union leaders.
Right-wing governments both nationally and regionally that are pursuing policies of austerity do not, as is being implied by Republicanism 2012, amount to Nationalism. It is an absurdity to suggest that they do, especially as these policies are a furtherance of those initiated by socialist governments. But this is how the narrative insists that it should be.
In Porreres in 1938, a dreadful Nationalist atrocity was committed. The past should not be forgotten, and it is understandable that the town should be the location for a commemoration of Republicanism, but the narrative is of the past, of a time when, unlike today, the army were the ultimate enforcers and the monarchy the arbiters. The narrative is obsolete, a perverse romance of tradition. It is of the past, and that, God willing, is where it remains.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
That it is the socialists who arrange the event says much about the political colour of the memories of the Republic and also about hopes of a revival of Republicanism. Like its Nationalist counterpoint, it has lurked in the undergrowth away from the main glare of monarchical democracy since 1975. Republicanism wasn't destroyed in 1939 at the end of the Civil War; it remained, in exile and latterly through the titles or sympathies of minority political parties.
The Second Republic ended in total disaster. Its liberalism was overtaken by violence and extremism. Against a background of depression, it couldn't combat unemployment. Economically and politically it was a failure, but Republicanism has remained an ideological force because of what happened after the Republic fell. It is the "good guy" of the Civil War, despite its own atrocities.
It has remained a force also because of what created the Second Republic. The government of the first dictator, Primo de Rivera, had become untenable as had the position of the Bourbon king, Alfonso XIII, who, on 14 April 1931, was forced into exile. Alfonso was considered a traitor as, in 1923, he had not blocked the coup which led to the establishment of the first dictatorship. An understanding of the Civil War and the Franco era is not complete without an appreciation of the monarch's support for Rivera. In 1923, the king assisted in breaking a system of monarchical democracy that was not to be restored for over 50 years.
Lessons of history and all that, but the past has a habit of turning itself into tradition. And with tradition comes a desire for re-enactment or an expectation that history will repeat itself or a perception that history is repeating itself. The tradition of the Civil War, despite the best attempts of many Spaniards to indulge in mass amnesia and the best attempts of the legal and political system to airbrush it out of existence, remains well rooted.
If not of course actual re-enactment, there is the narrative that nuances the current day in terms of this tradition. Republicanism 2012 in Mallorca, and elsewhere no doubt, rejects, as you would expect it to, the rights of another Bourbon king, Juan Carlos. Anti-monarchy sentiment is not unreasonable, but what is unreasonable is to somehow compare the current king with the treacherous Alfonso. It is not only unreasonable, it fails completely in recalling that it was the current king who turned his back on Francoism. For today's Republicans, however, a Bourbon monarch is a Bourbon monarch, regardless of very different circumstances.
Republicanism 2012 manages also to make some quite extraordinary allusions to Nationalism. The Partido Popular government in the Balearics, in agreeing to the development of a hotel near Es Trenc beach, is somehow engaged in Francoism. Well yes, there was destruction of the coastlines in the Franco era. No one would deny this, but it had nothing to do with Francoism or Nationalism; it had everything to do with turning the dross of a basket-case economy into something approximating gold.
The compulsion to style the current day with the narrative of the past extends to the lobbing of insults. When the head of the UGT union in the Balearics called President Bauzá a fascist, rather than requesting the attorney-general to start proceedings, Bauzá would have been far better off returning his own insult and moving on. Resorting to legal redress institutionalises the narrative and therefore the tradition, proving that Balearics politicians are as trapped in the past as are union leaders.
Right-wing governments both nationally and regionally that are pursuing policies of austerity do not, as is being implied by Republicanism 2012, amount to Nationalism. It is an absurdity to suggest that they do, especially as these policies are a furtherance of those initiated by socialist governments. But this is how the narrative insists that it should be.
In Porreres in 1938, a dreadful Nationalist atrocity was committed. The past should not be forgotten, and it is understandable that the town should be the location for a commemoration of Republicanism, but the narrative is of the past, of a time when, unlike today, the army were the ultimate enforcers and the monarchy the arbiters. The narrative is obsolete, a perverse romance of tradition. It is of the past, and that, God willing, is where it remains.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Athletic Bilbao 1 : 0 Real Mallorca
Mallorca, all but assured of staying in the top flight next season, at Bilbao, hunting for a top-six position. A curious set-up to Mallorca with defender Bigas in midfield, Athletic took most of the possession and posed most of the threat in the first half, Llorente heading them into the lead on 12 minutes. It was Bigas, though, who struck a post to come closest for Mallorca in what was otherwise a one-sided period. The introduction of Castro at half-time helped to enliven Mallorca into more goal-bound action, and Hemed's arrival with under ten minutes remaining indicated a willingness to look for an equaliser, but to no avail and Bilbao could have added a second, Toquero hitting the bar into added time.
Athletic:
Iraizoz; Iraola, Martínez, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe; Iturraspe, Ander (Ekiza 54); Susaeta, De Marcos, Gómez (Gabilondo 77); Llorente (Toquero 71)
Goal: Llorente (12)
Yellow: Ander (49)
Mallorca:
Aouate; Cendrós, Crespí, Ramis, Cáceres (Hemed 82); Pina, Bigas (Tejera 66); Pereira, Alfaro (Castro 45), Nsue; Victor
Yellows: Cáceres (52), Cendrós (76), Pereira (85), Tejera (87)
Athletic:
Iraizoz; Iraola, Martínez, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe; Iturraspe, Ander (Ekiza 54); Susaeta, De Marcos, Gómez (Gabilondo 77); Llorente (Toquero 71)
Goal: Llorente (12)
Yellow: Ander (49)
Mallorca:
Aouate; Cendrós, Crespí, Ramis, Cáceres (Hemed 82); Pina, Bigas (Tejera 66); Pereira, Alfaro (Castro 45), Nsue; Victor
Yellows: Cáceres (52), Cendrós (76), Pereira (85), Tejera (87)
MALLORCA TODAY - Sa Pobla jazz festival threatened
Grants from the regional government and the Council of Mallorca having been lost, Sa Pobla town hall is looking to private finance to help stage the jazz festival, which has been a feature of the summer in the town since 1995. If the finance cannot be found, the festival may well not take place.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Call for more fire tenders
Following a fire at a five-storey apartment block in Pollensa town's Cecilio Metelo street, the Esquerra Republicana party in Pollensa has called on the Council of Mallorca to go ahead with the purchase of nine fire tender vehicles that are currently in mothballs.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
MALLORCA TODAY - Mallorca's almond harvest better in 2012
Despite the February weather which affected almond trees, the harvest of the nut in Mallorca (the almond being one of Mallorca's most important crops) is set to realise up to 15% more produce than last year.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 15 April 2012
Some rain earlier, now cleared away and giving a sunny morning but with banks of cloud over the mountains. 14.1 C the local best at 09:00. Should be a reasonable day, though there is the chance of a further shower. Tomorrow is now appearing quite grim, an amber alert out for adverse coastal conditions and lower, yellow advice for wind, plus there will be rain. After tomorrow, things begin to look more stable.
Afternoon update: Well, so much for a reasonable day. By 10:00 serious dark clouds were about, as was thunder and, in some areas, hail. It got better but it was not a reasonable day and a high of only 14.7 C.
Afternoon update: Well, so much for a reasonable day. By 10:00 serious dark clouds were about, as was thunder and, in some areas, hail. It got better but it was not a reasonable day and a high of only 14.7 C.
All In The Name Of Charity
A bar owner, when once confronted by a smiling charity representative who had entered the bar with the blissfully naïve assumption that this bar owner would automatically accede to the request for a tin to be placed on the bar counter, told the representative to leave and take the tin with her. Put the tin on the bar counter and the small change that might otherwise drop into the tips pot would be diverted to whatever charity it was that happened to make its smiling entrance that particular day.
I, for one, applauded the bar owner's rejection. Charity representatives have an aura of the religious zealot, a grinningly fanatical demeanour, born out of a smugness of goodness and a suffocating righteousness that makes them believe that they have every right to simply demand support for the charity, because for someone to turn them down is a sure sign that this person is not on the path to righteousness. Rejection for the supercilious charity rep is the rejection by one who will have a distinctly unpleasant after-life. The rejector can rot in hell.
Charities come with their own in-built religiosity, whether they are anything to do with religion or not, and indeed most aren't. Their righteousness stems from the righteousness of an eschewal of greed and materialism, of an unstated advocacy of a socialist redistribution, of a sense of inner worth and of inner and quiet reflection from having engaged in goodliness. The path to righteousness for the charity, the charity representative and the charity donator should come from a simple and unspoken satisfaction. But more often than not, it doesn't. Charity is ego, charity is business, charity is social-climbing or social-having-reached-the-summit.
In Mallorca, there is both not enough charity and too much of it. Demands on charitable organisations such as the Cruz Roja and the church's Caritas have rocketed over the past few years. They can't really cope with the demands. Yet there is so much charity knocking around, you wonder why not. It's why a bar owner would, for example, tell a tin-carrier to sling her hook. Another reason is a not unfamiliar suspicion as to what actually happens to funds that are raised or to items that are donated.
There are the charities, but then there are the charity events. There are clearly some people in Mallorca, mainly expats one has the impression, who spend their entire lives either attending or organising a charity event. Some will do this because they happen to want to for no other reason than a pursuit of that quiet inner worth. Like those who devote their time and energies in simple labour, offered for free and willingly in a shop or in some other endeavour, these are the goodly who verge on the Godly. They are the unsung, those who do not sing about their contributions; the foot soldiers who can make soldiers' lives better as well as the lives of others and who want no more in return than a reward of satisfaction.
But I'm not about to suggest that everyone is similarly motivated. There is also the glitterati of the gala charity event, the self-promotional prominente, the business-advantage-seeking brigade and the downright egomaniacs whose weeks are not complete without a photo opportunity.
The suspicions aroused by the presence of the charity event social circle and by its motivations, together with the assumptive waving of the tin, both physically and metaphorically, have added to an undermining of charity, one made even less tenable by the sheer amount of charity and demands made. Which is not to say that any charitable initiative in Mallorca is unworthy; quite the contrary. Nevertheless, priorities within certain communities, such as the expat community, would benefit all, assuming these priorities were the right ones. Those which might be, and I can think of Age Concern as a good example, suffer, one suspects, either because they don't have the same cachet in a social-circle sense or because they lack an emotional appeal, or at least an emotional appeal that is made emotional in a deliberate and unashamed manner in order to shame the bar owner to actually put that tin on the counter.
There is just simply too much of it. And much of it has become a means to an end. It's figuring out what this end actually is, or suspecting that it might be something other than only in the name of charity.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
I, for one, applauded the bar owner's rejection. Charity representatives have an aura of the religious zealot, a grinningly fanatical demeanour, born out of a smugness of goodness and a suffocating righteousness that makes them believe that they have every right to simply demand support for the charity, because for someone to turn them down is a sure sign that this person is not on the path to righteousness. Rejection for the supercilious charity rep is the rejection by one who will have a distinctly unpleasant after-life. The rejector can rot in hell.
Charities come with their own in-built religiosity, whether they are anything to do with religion or not, and indeed most aren't. Their righteousness stems from the righteousness of an eschewal of greed and materialism, of an unstated advocacy of a socialist redistribution, of a sense of inner worth and of inner and quiet reflection from having engaged in goodliness. The path to righteousness for the charity, the charity representative and the charity donator should come from a simple and unspoken satisfaction. But more often than not, it doesn't. Charity is ego, charity is business, charity is social-climbing or social-having-reached-the-summit.
In Mallorca, there is both not enough charity and too much of it. Demands on charitable organisations such as the Cruz Roja and the church's Caritas have rocketed over the past few years. They can't really cope with the demands. Yet there is so much charity knocking around, you wonder why not. It's why a bar owner would, for example, tell a tin-carrier to sling her hook. Another reason is a not unfamiliar suspicion as to what actually happens to funds that are raised or to items that are donated.
There are the charities, but then there are the charity events. There are clearly some people in Mallorca, mainly expats one has the impression, who spend their entire lives either attending or organising a charity event. Some will do this because they happen to want to for no other reason than a pursuit of that quiet inner worth. Like those who devote their time and energies in simple labour, offered for free and willingly in a shop or in some other endeavour, these are the goodly who verge on the Godly. They are the unsung, those who do not sing about their contributions; the foot soldiers who can make soldiers' lives better as well as the lives of others and who want no more in return than a reward of satisfaction.
But I'm not about to suggest that everyone is similarly motivated. There is also the glitterati of the gala charity event, the self-promotional prominente, the business-advantage-seeking brigade and the downright egomaniacs whose weeks are not complete without a photo opportunity.
The suspicions aroused by the presence of the charity event social circle and by its motivations, together with the assumptive waving of the tin, both physically and metaphorically, have added to an undermining of charity, one made even less tenable by the sheer amount of charity and demands made. Which is not to say that any charitable initiative in Mallorca is unworthy; quite the contrary. Nevertheless, priorities within certain communities, such as the expat community, would benefit all, assuming these priorities were the right ones. Those which might be, and I can think of Age Concern as a good example, suffer, one suspects, either because they don't have the same cachet in a social-circle sense or because they lack an emotional appeal, or at least an emotional appeal that is made emotional in a deliberate and unashamed manner in order to shame the bar owner to actually put that tin on the counter.
There is just simply too much of it. And much of it has become a means to an end. It's figuring out what this end actually is, or suspecting that it might be something other than only in the name of charity.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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