Morning high (8.15am): 13.5C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 13 January - Sun, cloud, 16C; 14 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 15 January - Rain, 12C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Northwest 4 to 6.
Breezes are up again. Pleasant enough otherwise. The forecast for later in the week now appears a bit iffier, with rain on the cards for Friday and temperatures well down and the snow line creeping lower.
Evening update (23.15): Sunny spells, high of 17.1C.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Son Rossinyol Nights Out: The trial
The entrance to the Son Rossinyol industrial estate is just off the Soller road, heading out of Palma. It is a development of a type that only Mallorca could somehow dream up. Amidst its light industry, services of various kinds, retail outlets, showrooms and offices, there is an old rural finca. The first building on this land was in the seventeenth century, and the finca is now classified as being part of the Balearics' historical heritage. Its name is Sa Possessió. It was converted into a cultural centre and is perhaps best known for the club that operates there. This Friday will be a night of black music.
Close to Sa Possessió is the School for Balearic Public Administration. Some of those who will be inside this building this week might like to relax on Friday at Sa Possessió. If they do, they will be members of the media, those from afar and nearer. Others at the building will be nowhere near Sa Possessió. They'll be keeping as far out of sight as possible.
This isn't the first time that this school has housed a trial. The "caso Kabul" was a major drugs trial involving one of Palma's principal clans. It started almost three years to the day, its cast having comprised 55 accused, the star of which (if star is the correct word) was Francisca Cortés Picazo, commonly known as "La Paca", the matriarch of the clan based in Son Banya, notorious for being at the centre of the capital's drugs trade. Other family members were similarly well known by their nicknames: "El Ico", "La Guapi", "El Moreno".
"Caso Kabul" was a major media event but it is not in the same league as "caso Nóos". There is no matriarch. Instead there is a princess. Nicknames do not abound. Only the names of insults directed at certain accused. There is no clan. But there is a dynasty: the Bourbon.
To find the origins of the Nóos trial, you have to go back to an investigation that was opened by Judge José Castro in July 2010 into agreements from four and five years previously between two bodies within the Balearic tourism ministry - the sports foundation (Fundación Illesport) and the one-time tourism promotion agency (Ibatur) - and the Nóos Institute, a partner in which had been the Duke of Palma, Iñaki Urdangarin, the husband of Princess Cristina. These agreements were to later be exposed in the media. Reproduced invoices showed the amounts that had been claimed for work which, the investigation was to find, appeared not to have been undertaken. Or for which, at the very least, payment had been greatly in excess of what it had merited. One particularly revealing aspect of these invoices was one for 450,000 euros that was raised a month before the 2007 election. This was an election that the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, lost. He is also on trial.
The fact was, however, that there were earlier origins to the case, and they stemmed from the investigations into Matas, in particular those to do with Palma Arena. There had been a domino effect that had started with the arrest of the mayor of Andratx in 2006. The dominoes were knocked over and they revealed Matas and eventually Nóos.
The amounts involved in Nóos are comparatively small beer when set against those related to Palma Arena and to the contract for Son Espases Hospital (about which we have certainly not heard the last). But 6.2 million euros, the amount of public funds alleged to have been embezzled, are still 6.2 million euros. The amount is immaterial of course. It's the principle that matters.
Though the trial is set to last until the end of June, it opened with a certain sense of finality. One of those accused, the former director of Balearic sport and one-time Olympic rower, José Luis Ballester, has already expressed his repentance. Even Matas appears to accept his fate, one that he is wishing to partially avoid by using his "palacete" in Palma as recompense for what he has described as the damage that was done. The irony of this is not lost on many. It was a raid on this "palacete" that marked the point when the dominoes had fallen and revealed him. And my, how the media revelled in its descriptions of the luxury inside and of his wife's wardrobe.
Diego Torres, the one-time business partner of Iñaki Urdangarin, has not thrown in the towel. For months, he has been doing his best to implicate the Royal Household and its intimate knowledge of the affairs of Nóos. If he's going down, he's taking others with him. In an extraordinary prelude to the trial, he was interviewed on national television last week, detailing his charges of Royal Household involvement.
And then there is Princess Cristina. The trial is far more than just about her. Indeed it might yet be that she doesn't stand trial, if the defence of the Botin doctrine is accepted. As she faces a private and not public prosecution, everything hinges on the interpretation of this defence. For the media who have come from afar, they will be probably hoping that the defence fails. If it succeeds, there will be no nights at Sa Possessió. The big trial will suddenly seem smaller.
Close to Sa Possessió is the School for Balearic Public Administration. Some of those who will be inside this building this week might like to relax on Friday at Sa Possessió. If they do, they will be members of the media, those from afar and nearer. Others at the building will be nowhere near Sa Possessió. They'll be keeping as far out of sight as possible.
This isn't the first time that this school has housed a trial. The "caso Kabul" was a major drugs trial involving one of Palma's principal clans. It started almost three years to the day, its cast having comprised 55 accused, the star of which (if star is the correct word) was Francisca Cortés Picazo, commonly known as "La Paca", the matriarch of the clan based in Son Banya, notorious for being at the centre of the capital's drugs trade. Other family members were similarly well known by their nicknames: "El Ico", "La Guapi", "El Moreno".
"Caso Kabul" was a major media event but it is not in the same league as "caso Nóos". There is no matriarch. Instead there is a princess. Nicknames do not abound. Only the names of insults directed at certain accused. There is no clan. But there is a dynasty: the Bourbon.
To find the origins of the Nóos trial, you have to go back to an investigation that was opened by Judge José Castro in July 2010 into agreements from four and five years previously between two bodies within the Balearic tourism ministry - the sports foundation (Fundación Illesport) and the one-time tourism promotion agency (Ibatur) - and the Nóos Institute, a partner in which had been the Duke of Palma, Iñaki Urdangarin, the husband of Princess Cristina. These agreements were to later be exposed in the media. Reproduced invoices showed the amounts that had been claimed for work which, the investigation was to find, appeared not to have been undertaken. Or for which, at the very least, payment had been greatly in excess of what it had merited. One particularly revealing aspect of these invoices was one for 450,000 euros that was raised a month before the 2007 election. This was an election that the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, lost. He is also on trial.
The fact was, however, that there were earlier origins to the case, and they stemmed from the investigations into Matas, in particular those to do with Palma Arena. There had been a domino effect that had started with the arrest of the mayor of Andratx in 2006. The dominoes were knocked over and they revealed Matas and eventually Nóos.
The amounts involved in Nóos are comparatively small beer when set against those related to Palma Arena and to the contract for Son Espases Hospital (about which we have certainly not heard the last). But 6.2 million euros, the amount of public funds alleged to have been embezzled, are still 6.2 million euros. The amount is immaterial of course. It's the principle that matters.
Though the trial is set to last until the end of June, it opened with a certain sense of finality. One of those accused, the former director of Balearic sport and one-time Olympic rower, José Luis Ballester, has already expressed his repentance. Even Matas appears to accept his fate, one that he is wishing to partially avoid by using his "palacete" in Palma as recompense for what he has described as the damage that was done. The irony of this is not lost on many. It was a raid on this "palacete" that marked the point when the dominoes had fallen and revealed him. And my, how the media revelled in its descriptions of the luxury inside and of his wife's wardrobe.
Diego Torres, the one-time business partner of Iñaki Urdangarin, has not thrown in the towel. For months, he has been doing his best to implicate the Royal Household and its intimate knowledge of the affairs of Nóos. If he's going down, he's taking others with him. In an extraordinary prelude to the trial, he was interviewed on national television last week, detailing his charges of Royal Household involvement.
And then there is Princess Cristina. The trial is far more than just about her. Indeed it might yet be that she doesn't stand trial, if the defence of the Botin doctrine is accepted. As she faces a private and not public prosecution, everything hinges on the interpretation of this defence. For the media who have come from afar, they will be probably hoping that the defence fails. If it succeeds, there will be no nights at Sa Possessió. The big trial will suddenly seem smaller.
Monday, January 11, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 January 2016
Morning high (7.00am): 19.1C
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 12 January - Sun, 16C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 14C; 14 January - Sun, cloud, 16C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 5 to 6, occasional 7 with waves to three metres, easing 4 by the evening.
Wind blowing through the night and will continue to. Not surprisingly there is a yellow alert for high winds. Otherwise mild with sun expected today.
Evening update (20.00): High of 21.6C. Wind has now dropped.
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 12 January - Sun, 16C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 14C; 14 January - Sun, cloud, 16C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 5 to 6, occasional 7 with waves to three metres, easing 4 by the evening.
Wind blowing through the night and will continue to. Not surprisingly there is a yellow alert for high winds. Otherwise mild with sun expected today.
Evening update (20.00): High of 21.6C. Wind has now dropped.
The Great Unknown: Llorenç Moya
Freddie Frinton, some of you may be aware, is big news in Germany on New Year's Eve. The 1963 recording of "Dinner For One" in which he plays the manservant James to May Warden's Miss Sophie is broadcast every New Year's Eve and has not missed a year since 1972. It spawned a catchphrase that is familiar to most Germans: "The same procedure as every year."
In Mallorca, there is something not totally dissimilar. The procedure is not entirely the same every year, the performance is not a television theatrical production and it it is staged on 6 January rather than New Year's Eve, but it has nonetheless acquired the status of an annual tradition every bit as strong as "Dinner For One". It is called "L'Adoració dels Tres Reis d'Orient" (the adoration of the Three Kings) and it has now been presented since 1985.
The author of this was the Binissalem-born writer, Llorenç Moya. This year is to be his year. He was born one hundred years ago. His name, for those of you who are regular readers of this column, may be familiar, but probably for a reason other than his literary achievements. Moya was crucial to the founding of what became the late September Vermar grape harvest wine fair and fiesta in his home town. Above all, though, he was one of the towering names of Mallorca's literature of the twentieth century.
The performance on 6 January takes place in the open air in Ses Voltes park in Palma, its first ever performance having been in the town hall square thirty-one years ago. The theatre company which stages it is called Taula Rodona, but its actors are certainly not just professionals. This year's interpretation, in which the Three Kings were in fact queens, featured the president of the Balearic parliament, Xelo Huertas, as Balthazar. (Her portrayal was panned by the critics.)
Essentially, Moya's work is a farce that combines satire and is thus littered with current-day references to political matters: the recent national election offered fertile sources for the satire. But it isn't the only annual production for which he was originally responsible. The same Taula Rodona has been following much the same procedure as every year on Good Friday, also since 1985. Moya's "Via Crucis" is an altogether more serious performance that depicts the crucifixion and resurrection and does so on the steps of the Cathedral. Emotional and somewhat surreal, it is something which, like the 6 January production, is known about but which attracts, or seems to, comparatively little promotional attention.
Yet, here are two tributes that are played out each year to this great of the island's literary traditions, one who, it's probably fair to say, will be unknown to the vast majority of Mallorca's visitors and to a sizable number of the island's residents as well.
Miquel Àngel Vidal is a writer who, in 2012, presented a doctoral thesis directed by a professor at the University of the Balearic Islands into the life and works of Moya. It is vast, over one thousand pages of description, analysis, reproductions of his texts and of original manuscripts plus a set of photos that detailed Moya's life. If for these photos alone, where a non-academic or non-Catalan speaker is concerned, it is an utterly extraordinary document, as they show Moya and his family from the time soon after his birth through to his later life, often shown with other leading figures from Mallorca's literary past, such as Llorenç Villalonga and Llorenç Riber. They also show of course the passing of time, via the Franco years and to just before he died in 1981.
As such of course, hardly anyone will see it. Which is a great shame. It can't be expected for those who don't speak Catalan or even some who do to get overly interested in his works, but there is much to be said for revealing to a wider audience the life and times and so the changes in Mallorca and its society through what he had to say and also the photographic evidence. But Moya, as with other Mallorcan writers, is a mystery because there is no attempt to make him less so. In his case, though, he was more of a mystery even to the aficionado, and one of these was Miquel Àngel Vidal. When Moya died, he was nineteen, but the writer was a "great unknown". It seems that he was a humble man who didn't indulge in self-promotion. It was said that he had no literary rivals, although Riber was said to have despised him. Why? Well, it may have been due to his physical being: short, unattractive. It was also rumoured that he was gay.
However much he might have been a great unknown, he no longer is. Two of his works are subject to the same or similar procedure every year. And this year is his year.
In Mallorca, there is something not totally dissimilar. The procedure is not entirely the same every year, the performance is not a television theatrical production and it it is staged on 6 January rather than New Year's Eve, but it has nonetheless acquired the status of an annual tradition every bit as strong as "Dinner For One". It is called "L'Adoració dels Tres Reis d'Orient" (the adoration of the Three Kings) and it has now been presented since 1985.
The author of this was the Binissalem-born writer, Llorenç Moya. This year is to be his year. He was born one hundred years ago. His name, for those of you who are regular readers of this column, may be familiar, but probably for a reason other than his literary achievements. Moya was crucial to the founding of what became the late September Vermar grape harvest wine fair and fiesta in his home town. Above all, though, he was one of the towering names of Mallorca's literature of the twentieth century.
The performance on 6 January takes place in the open air in Ses Voltes park in Palma, its first ever performance having been in the town hall square thirty-one years ago. The theatre company which stages it is called Taula Rodona, but its actors are certainly not just professionals. This year's interpretation, in which the Three Kings were in fact queens, featured the president of the Balearic parliament, Xelo Huertas, as Balthazar. (Her portrayal was panned by the critics.)
Essentially, Moya's work is a farce that combines satire and is thus littered with current-day references to political matters: the recent national election offered fertile sources for the satire. But it isn't the only annual production for which he was originally responsible. The same Taula Rodona has been following much the same procedure as every year on Good Friday, also since 1985. Moya's "Via Crucis" is an altogether more serious performance that depicts the crucifixion and resurrection and does so on the steps of the Cathedral. Emotional and somewhat surreal, it is something which, like the 6 January production, is known about but which attracts, or seems to, comparatively little promotional attention.
Yet, here are two tributes that are played out each year to this great of the island's literary traditions, one who, it's probably fair to say, will be unknown to the vast majority of Mallorca's visitors and to a sizable number of the island's residents as well.
Miquel Àngel Vidal is a writer who, in 2012, presented a doctoral thesis directed by a professor at the University of the Balearic Islands into the life and works of Moya. It is vast, over one thousand pages of description, analysis, reproductions of his texts and of original manuscripts plus a set of photos that detailed Moya's life. If for these photos alone, where a non-academic or non-Catalan speaker is concerned, it is an utterly extraordinary document, as they show Moya and his family from the time soon after his birth through to his later life, often shown with other leading figures from Mallorca's literary past, such as Llorenç Villalonga and Llorenç Riber. They also show of course the passing of time, via the Franco years and to just before he died in 1981.
As such of course, hardly anyone will see it. Which is a great shame. It can't be expected for those who don't speak Catalan or even some who do to get overly interested in his works, but there is much to be said for revealing to a wider audience the life and times and so the changes in Mallorca and its society through what he had to say and also the photographic evidence. But Moya, as with other Mallorcan writers, is a mystery because there is no attempt to make him less so. In his case, though, he was more of a mystery even to the aficionado, and one of these was Miquel Àngel Vidal. When Moya died, he was nineteen, but the writer was a "great unknown". It seems that he was a humble man who didn't indulge in self-promotion. It was said that he had no literary rivals, although Riber was said to have despised him. Why? Well, it may have been due to his physical being: short, unattractive. It was also rumoured that he was gay.
However much he might have been a great unknown, he no longer is. Two of his works are subject to the same or similar procedure every year. And this year is his year.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 January 2016
Morning high (8.30am): 15.7C
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 11 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 14C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 14C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 6, possible 7, with waves of three metres.
Blowy morning, partially cloudy. Probably staying like this all day. The week ahead: Due to get a bit cold but mainly fine, though the forecast heading to the weekend is a touch iffy, though this can easily change.
Evening update (20.45): High of 22.4C. Pretty windy all day but pleasantly warm and sunny at times.
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 11 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 14C; 13 January - Sun, cloud, 14C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 6, possible 7, with waves of three metres.
Blowy morning, partially cloudy. Probably staying like this all day. The week ahead: Due to get a bit cold but mainly fine, though the forecast heading to the weekend is a touch iffy, though this can easily change.
Evening update (20.45): High of 22.4C. Pretty windy all day but pleasantly warm and sunny at times.
Kings, Queens And Gifts From Arizona
We saw three kings come sailing in on Epiphany Eve in the evening, having previously seen - were we in Palma - six royal pages come driving in on vintage American automobiles around midday. Such absence of strict tradition stretched to there being a royal pagess. How can there be a female page, some enquired. Ah, replied the sage ones, these are the days of diversity and equality, matched only by consensus and dialogue. There should have been six pagesses, therefore, plus three queens.
Or was there a queen? Hidden behind the beards, could we be sure that the kings weren't a front or a metaphor for one of the threesomes abroad in the land? Francina, Biel and Alberto, the one queen and two kings of the PM(P) Balearic government.
But if not a diverse and equal opportunities regal triad, then maybe they had been Pedro, Mariano and Albert, the ménage à trois that dares to make its tryst in Madrid, leaving Pablo the jilted lover weeping inconsolably. Alas no, because it turned out that the kings were Utz, Robert and Maheta, of whom the hirsute former might well make a passable Melchior. Possibly he might like to apply for the job next year, leading one to wonder. How do you actually become a king? Is it put out to public tender? Or is there an association of kings with an affiliate organisation for pages? There is for everything else in Mallorca, so it would come as no surprise if there were. Anyway, if anyone knows or has known a king, perhaps you can let me know how you get the gig. Not, I stress, that I'm looking to be one. Certainly not if it entails coming into port when the waves are up to three metres. It wouldn't be just showers of sweets raining down on the kiddies' heads, trust me.
Bearing a gift of some twenty-one million euros worth of frankincense, Caspar (Robert) put further joy on small faces by announcing that an NBA model will be winging its way across from Phoenix. And what does this mean? Will Real Mallorca be playing basketball instead? It would certainly be different but might not escape the attention of referees, poised ready to brandish yellow cards for deliberate hand ball. Otherwise, one assumes that Real Mallorca will, in following such a model, now pick players from a draft system and insist upon a salary cap and no promotion and relegation in Spanish soccer. Or perhaps not.
Or was there a queen? Hidden behind the beards, could we be sure that the kings weren't a front or a metaphor for one of the threesomes abroad in the land? Francina, Biel and Alberto, the one queen and two kings of the PM(P) Balearic government.
But if not a diverse and equal opportunities regal triad, then maybe they had been Pedro, Mariano and Albert, the ménage à trois that dares to make its tryst in Madrid, leaving Pablo the jilted lover weeping inconsolably. Alas no, because it turned out that the kings were Utz, Robert and Maheta, of whom the hirsute former might well make a passable Melchior. Possibly he might like to apply for the job next year, leading one to wonder. How do you actually become a king? Is it put out to public tender? Or is there an association of kings with an affiliate organisation for pages? There is for everything else in Mallorca, so it would come as no surprise if there were. Anyway, if anyone knows or has known a king, perhaps you can let me know how you get the gig. Not, I stress, that I'm looking to be one. Certainly not if it entails coming into port when the waves are up to three metres. It wouldn't be just showers of sweets raining down on the kiddies' heads, trust me.
Bearing a gift of some twenty-one million euros worth of frankincense, Caspar (Robert) put further joy on small faces by announcing that an NBA model will be winging its way across from Phoenix. And what does this mean? Will Real Mallorca be playing basketball instead? It would certainly be different but might not escape the attention of referees, poised ready to brandish yellow cards for deliberate hand ball. Otherwise, one assumes that Real Mallorca will, in following such a model, now pick players from a draft system and insist upon a salary cap and no promotion and relegation in Spanish soccer. Or perhaps not.
Saturday, January 09, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 January 2016
Morning high (8.00am): 14.5C
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 10 January - Sun, 20C; 11 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 14C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 to 5.
Not as warm as yesterday morning. Some cloud around. Should be warm enough during the day. General outlook is staying steady but still windy.
Evening update (20.45): Cloudy much of the day. Quite warm - high of 21.4C.
Forecast high: 21C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 10 January - Sun, 20C; 11 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 12 January - Sun, cloud, 14C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 to 5.
Not as warm as yesterday morning. Some cloud around. Should be warm enough during the day. General outlook is staying steady but still windy.
Evening update (20.45): Cloudy much of the day. Quite warm - high of 21.4C.
Spinning The Tourist Tax
The Balearic government wishes to promote family tourism and long-stay tourism. We know this because it has just informed us. With the former, it does not wish to jeopardise the vastly increased numbers that have been coming to the Balearics on account of the misfortunes of others. Which sounds sensible enough, until you appreciate the context.
The draft for the sustainable tourism tax will now pass to its parliamentary stage prior to full approval. The government hopes that this process, which it admits can be complicated, will be short enough to enable the tax to come in on 1 June. Tourism minister Biel Barceló seems confident that the bill will be passed by the end of the month. If it is to come into law, then the earlier it does, the better. At least everyone will truly know where they stand and well in time for the season.
But the announcement of amendments that have been made to the initial draft shows how appalling the government's PR for this tax is. Does it not occur to Barceló and others that by providing some spin regarding promoting family and long-stay tourism as justification for certain amendments, it sounds as if these hadn't previously been promoted? Or has the government only just discovered families and longer-stay tourists? Little should surprise us. If the tax is bad, then the PR and spin are even worse. They give the impression, yet again, of a government that is improvising, that has never truly thought through the implications of the tax, that has been driven towards its introduction by issues unrelated to the very subject it is intended to address.
Let's look at some more of this spin. Because family and longer-stay tourism are so important, there is to be a 50% reduction in the tax after ten days. These tourists will doubtless now be thanking the government for its generosity in cutting a tax they weren't previously paying at all. And why ten days? Well, because this is the usually accepted average length of stay, that's why.
At least the government has actually seen some sense in this respect, but while it hints that this reduction is a means of not making the tax too onerous, it cannot be explicit. If it were, and by this logic, there wouldn't be a tax. Likewise, it doesn't wish to unnecessarily penalise those who stay for much longer than the average ten days: a month, for example. Its banal use of examples to make the tax sound all the better rejoices in the fact that a tourist in three-star accommodation on a month's holiday would have paid 45 euros. He or she will instead pay 30 euros. Doesn't sound a lot? Maybe so, but if there are four of you it does. And what, by the way, happened to three-star accommodation having a lower rate? It is now the same as four-star: 1.50 euros per day.
There is even more generosity for the families. The age of exemption has been raised from 14 to 16. Never mind the 17 and 18-year-olds who might still be at school and come on family holidays. But there again, does the government actually know how many 15 and 16-year-olds there are and so how many families might now expect to benefit?
With both these amendments, one can draw comparisons with Catalonia. The initial draft with an exemption for under-14s only had seemed harsh, given that under-16s go free on the Costa Brava. As for the reduction after ten days, there is no charge after seven days in Catalonia. The Balearic government can spin this for all it's worth, but if the comparison is made with its neighbour across the sea, then it looks greedy.
There is some suggestion that these have been amendments that are a sop to the hoteliers. As they could not force any about-turn in thinking on the tax, they had to look to some ways of softening the impact. However, the hoteliers, via the president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, Inma de Benito, are saying that their suggestions on the tax law draft were ignored.
Another change has to do with one of the purposes for the tax. Late in the day during the period for suggestions came one from the agriculture industry. And what do you know? It's been accepted. This will mean some of the revenue goes on the modernisation (whatever this means) of agroforestry. The argument is that the majority (a large majority) of land is for agriculture and forestry and that its upkeep is necessary for the tourist industry as a whole (from an image point of view, for instance), while farming provides much of the raw material for tourist consumption.
The argument may have some merit, but it should not be overlooked that the agriculture (and environment ministry) is run by the same party - Més - as the tourism ministry. This amendment in favour of agriculture and so something that is not directly to do with tourism only helps fuel other arguments that the tax is being implemented for general purposes.
The draft for the sustainable tourism tax will now pass to its parliamentary stage prior to full approval. The government hopes that this process, which it admits can be complicated, will be short enough to enable the tax to come in on 1 June. Tourism minister Biel Barceló seems confident that the bill will be passed by the end of the month. If it is to come into law, then the earlier it does, the better. At least everyone will truly know where they stand and well in time for the season.
But the announcement of amendments that have been made to the initial draft shows how appalling the government's PR for this tax is. Does it not occur to Barceló and others that by providing some spin regarding promoting family and long-stay tourism as justification for certain amendments, it sounds as if these hadn't previously been promoted? Or has the government only just discovered families and longer-stay tourists? Little should surprise us. If the tax is bad, then the PR and spin are even worse. They give the impression, yet again, of a government that is improvising, that has never truly thought through the implications of the tax, that has been driven towards its introduction by issues unrelated to the very subject it is intended to address.
Let's look at some more of this spin. Because family and longer-stay tourism are so important, there is to be a 50% reduction in the tax after ten days. These tourists will doubtless now be thanking the government for its generosity in cutting a tax they weren't previously paying at all. And why ten days? Well, because this is the usually accepted average length of stay, that's why.
At least the government has actually seen some sense in this respect, but while it hints that this reduction is a means of not making the tax too onerous, it cannot be explicit. If it were, and by this logic, there wouldn't be a tax. Likewise, it doesn't wish to unnecessarily penalise those who stay for much longer than the average ten days: a month, for example. Its banal use of examples to make the tax sound all the better rejoices in the fact that a tourist in three-star accommodation on a month's holiday would have paid 45 euros. He or she will instead pay 30 euros. Doesn't sound a lot? Maybe so, but if there are four of you it does. And what, by the way, happened to three-star accommodation having a lower rate? It is now the same as four-star: 1.50 euros per day.
There is even more generosity for the families. The age of exemption has been raised from 14 to 16. Never mind the 17 and 18-year-olds who might still be at school and come on family holidays. But there again, does the government actually know how many 15 and 16-year-olds there are and so how many families might now expect to benefit?
With both these amendments, one can draw comparisons with Catalonia. The initial draft with an exemption for under-14s only had seemed harsh, given that under-16s go free on the Costa Brava. As for the reduction after ten days, there is no charge after seven days in Catalonia. The Balearic government can spin this for all it's worth, but if the comparison is made with its neighbour across the sea, then it looks greedy.
There is some suggestion that these have been amendments that are a sop to the hoteliers. As they could not force any about-turn in thinking on the tax, they had to look to some ways of softening the impact. However, the hoteliers, via the president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, Inma de Benito, are saying that their suggestions on the tax law draft were ignored.
Another change has to do with one of the purposes for the tax. Late in the day during the period for suggestions came one from the agriculture industry. And what do you know? It's been accepted. This will mean some of the revenue goes on the modernisation (whatever this means) of agroforestry. The argument is that the majority (a large majority) of land is for agriculture and forestry and that its upkeep is necessary for the tourist industry as a whole (from an image point of view, for instance), while farming provides much of the raw material for tourist consumption.
The argument may have some merit, but it should not be overlooked that the agriculture (and environment ministry) is run by the same party - Més - as the tourism ministry. This amendment in favour of agriculture and so something that is not directly to do with tourism only helps fuel other arguments that the tax is being implemented for general purposes.
Friday, January 08, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 January 2016
Morning high (7.45am): 17.3C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 9 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 10 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 11 January - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 to 5.
The wind has dropped, the sky is clear and despite the clear sky it is a mild morning. Sun predicted for today and quite warm. Weekend weather remaining much the same.
Evening update (22.30): It was windy but remarkably warm: a high of 24.5C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 9 January - Sun, cloud, 21C; 10 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 11 January - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Southwest 4 to 5.
The wind has dropped, the sky is clear and despite the clear sky it is a mild morning. Sun predicted for today and quite warm. Weekend weather remaining much the same.
Evening update (22.30): It was windy but remarkably warm: a high of 24.5C.
Brand Mallorca: Now it's football
Time was when football meant going to a decrepit stadium, being crushed on terraces, devouring a hamburger with onions that lacked anything approaching ham or burger but did have a considerable amount of watery onion, and being on the receiving end of violent tendencies that would result in the urgent need for dental treatment.
With the possible and unlucky exception of the latter, none of this now applies. Be you fan, supporter or however you choose to perceive yourself, football has long since acquired a degree of sophistication and luxury that occupies a very different universe to the past.
Contemporary or of the past, there is one thing that draws these eras together: the very notion of being a fan and of fan loyalty. All manner of privations were once tolerated in displaying and stating this loyalty. They have largely disappeared, but the notion of fandom has remained constant. Its ferocity may be less that of physical violence, but in the style of a meek and mild footballer who turns into a raging bull when he crosses the white line, so passing through the turnstiles converts meek and mild members of the public into beasts of torment, as also does Robbie Savage on 606 when he dares to suggest your club will get relegated. Passion, irrationality, love and hate: it's still all there, just that it's now shouted by a stockbroker called Justin with a posh voice.
Which is probably how many football clubs would like it to be on account of Justin having sufficient left over from the monthly finance repayment on the Porsche to be able to afford to actually go to a match. Moreover, Justin would have just the right profile for the market segmentation efforts of the club's commercial department, and he would share this, save for nationality, with his counterparts in China, the USA or pretty much any other part of the globe.
There is, however, some familiarity with how things once were, and it is to be found in lower divisions of leagues across Europe. The top clubs in the top divisions are primarily those who have acquired the Justins and the global images. For the vast majority of clubs, the notion of the brand is as distant today as it was in the good old days before the Justins and when a brand was something they put on a horse in Westerns.
Ah yes, brand. There I was, only a few days ago, considering branding and its meaning in a Mallorcan context. There is now a further and somewhat unexpected reason to consider it. Real Mallorca is to be made into a brand. A worldwide brand.
Without wishing to rain on anyone's parade and also wishing every success for an endeavour that might bring great joy to Mallorca as a whole and not just for the football club, please excuse me if I am somewhat sceptical.
A football club's fans are loyal. It is this loyalty which forms the foundations of any club. To some extent, though, this loyalty - for the highly business-oriented clubs - has been eroded in the pursuit of a different type of loyalty. It is to the brand and is the product of successful marketing, allied to television sales, and it is very often in foreign lands, where there is not the same connection that exists in a home community or home country: not the same passionate instincts that have led and still lead fans to be not always totally rational and so utterly devoted.
There is a superficiality to branding. It was one I referred to it in that previous article. It is the marketing experience, the merchandising and so on. But behind truly successful brands there is a great deal more. In the case of a football club, it is, or should be, what it represents, what its values are and what it means to people.
The most successful football brand, as revealed by the Brand Finance Football report of 2014, is not Real Madrid or Manchester United, it is Bayern Munich. And the reasons why are not just because the team is successful. It has a tradition, one connected to Bavaria, and it embraces this, down to the occasional donning of Lederhosen and going to the beer festival. It has made a virtue of being different in various ways. It is also close to its loyal fans in treating them well through, for instance, low ticket prices. It is a club which stands for things. It has attributes which transcend mere success in competitions.
Fundamentally, only genuine success can make a global football brand, but the roots of this are much closer to home. For ambitions for Real Mallorca, the questions have to be asked. What does the club represent? What does it mean? I wonder if anyone other than a Mallorcan can provide such answers.
With the possible and unlucky exception of the latter, none of this now applies. Be you fan, supporter or however you choose to perceive yourself, football has long since acquired a degree of sophistication and luxury that occupies a very different universe to the past.
Contemporary or of the past, there is one thing that draws these eras together: the very notion of being a fan and of fan loyalty. All manner of privations were once tolerated in displaying and stating this loyalty. They have largely disappeared, but the notion of fandom has remained constant. Its ferocity may be less that of physical violence, but in the style of a meek and mild footballer who turns into a raging bull when he crosses the white line, so passing through the turnstiles converts meek and mild members of the public into beasts of torment, as also does Robbie Savage on 606 when he dares to suggest your club will get relegated. Passion, irrationality, love and hate: it's still all there, just that it's now shouted by a stockbroker called Justin with a posh voice.
Which is probably how many football clubs would like it to be on account of Justin having sufficient left over from the monthly finance repayment on the Porsche to be able to afford to actually go to a match. Moreover, Justin would have just the right profile for the market segmentation efforts of the club's commercial department, and he would share this, save for nationality, with his counterparts in China, the USA or pretty much any other part of the globe.
There is, however, some familiarity with how things once were, and it is to be found in lower divisions of leagues across Europe. The top clubs in the top divisions are primarily those who have acquired the Justins and the global images. For the vast majority of clubs, the notion of the brand is as distant today as it was in the good old days before the Justins and when a brand was something they put on a horse in Westerns.
Ah yes, brand. There I was, only a few days ago, considering branding and its meaning in a Mallorcan context. There is now a further and somewhat unexpected reason to consider it. Real Mallorca is to be made into a brand. A worldwide brand.
Without wishing to rain on anyone's parade and also wishing every success for an endeavour that might bring great joy to Mallorca as a whole and not just for the football club, please excuse me if I am somewhat sceptical.
A football club's fans are loyal. It is this loyalty which forms the foundations of any club. To some extent, though, this loyalty - for the highly business-oriented clubs - has been eroded in the pursuit of a different type of loyalty. It is to the brand and is the product of successful marketing, allied to television sales, and it is very often in foreign lands, where there is not the same connection that exists in a home community or home country: not the same passionate instincts that have led and still lead fans to be not always totally rational and so utterly devoted.
There is a superficiality to branding. It was one I referred to it in that previous article. It is the marketing experience, the merchandising and so on. But behind truly successful brands there is a great deal more. In the case of a football club, it is, or should be, what it represents, what its values are and what it means to people.
The most successful football brand, as revealed by the Brand Finance Football report of 2014, is not Real Madrid or Manchester United, it is Bayern Munich. And the reasons why are not just because the team is successful. It has a tradition, one connected to Bavaria, and it embraces this, down to the occasional donning of Lederhosen and going to the beer festival. It has made a virtue of being different in various ways. It is also close to its loyal fans in treating them well through, for instance, low ticket prices. It is a club which stands for things. It has attributes which transcend mere success in competitions.
Fundamentally, only genuine success can make a global football brand, but the roots of this are much closer to home. For ambitions for Real Mallorca, the questions have to be asked. What does the club represent? What does it mean? I wonder if anyone other than a Mallorcan can provide such answers.
Thursday, January 07, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 January 2016
Morning high (8.00am): 16.3C
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 8 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 9 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 10 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 5 to 6, occasionally 7.
Windy through the night and more wind can be expected today. Very mild first thing and quite warm later on.
Evening update (20.15): High of 20.7C, so it was fairly warm but more cloudy than had been forecast. Also very windy.
Forecast high: 19C; UV: 2
Three-day forecast: 8 January - Sun, cloud, 20C; 9 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 10 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 5 to 6, occasionally 7.
Windy through the night and more wind can be expected today. Very mild first thing and quite warm later on.
Evening update (20.15): High of 20.7C, so it was fairly warm but more cloudy than had been forecast. Also very windy.
Blasphemy That Dares Speak Its Name
In November 1976, her crusading zeal and indignation never greater, Mary Whitehouse announced her intention to bring a private prosecution because of a poem that had been published five months earlier. It was to become one of Britain's cause célèbre moral trials, of which those for D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "Schoolkids Oz" had been earlier ones. But what distinguished this particular trial from others were the theme of homosexuality and the blurring of blasphemy and obscenity.
James Kirkup's "The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name" alluded to having sex with Jesus. It appeared in "Gay News" in June 1976. Five months later, having been shown the poem, Mary Whitehouse was on the case and on a trail that led to the trial at which the publishers were found guilty of blasphemous libel. A suspended sentence given to Denis Lemon was subsequently quashed, but it would be 31 years before blasphemous libel was struck from the list of common law offences.
Come forward almost 40 years since that trial and to a different place - Mallorca - there is great indignation at something which, in a multimedia incarnation of contemporary times, bears similarities with Whitehouse v. Gay News Ltd, with a touch of "Schoolkids Oz" thrown into the mix.
A 17-year-old male pupil at the Josep Maria Llompart school in Palma produced a video as part of his Baccalaureate art studies. He was awarded an "outstanding" mark of nine out of ten, which might have been the end of the matter, had the boy not posted it to his Twitter account, with the video on YouTube. Even in restricted viewing mode, it didn't prevent (one assumes) viewing by those with a Whitehousian flair for rooting out all things un-Christian and/or obscene.
Without going into detail, the video starts with taking a call from God and continues with a mixture of queerdom, swear words and references to sexual acts involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Perhaps only in this latter regard might it be said to fundamentally differ to the infamous poem from 1976.
To the fore in the outrage this has caused have been the moral custodians of the Balearic Institute of Family Policy and HazteOir, both of whom might have been expected to have made their objections clear, the latter having started a petition for which some 18,000 signatures have thus far been received. The aim of the petition is to call on the education ministry to act against religious hatred. The Association of Christian Lawyers is also up in arms, preparing a case against the teacher for offences against religious freedoms under Article 525 of the Penal Code and further offences of the corruption of minors and pornography. Its president says that the boy who made the video is a victim.
To their number have been added the voices of the Partido Popular's parliamentary spokesperson, Marga Prohens, and the Ciudadanos parliamentary deputy, Olga Ballester. They have both made similar observations regarding lack of respect of religious believers and for the gay community (there is an interpretation that the video satirises gay stereotypes).
As of the time of writing, the education ministry has had nothing to say on the matter, but it presumably will have to make some statement and not have to wait until parliament sits and questions are demanded of the minister, Martí March. Meantime, the dogs of the media have got the story firmly by the throat and are savaging it for all their worth, making it perhaps ever more imperative that the ministry steps in and at least offers its views.
I make no particular judgement on the affair, not least because it might end up in court, but it does perhaps offer an insight into tensions for a society that has increasingly been losing its religion in a manner not dissimilar to the way in which 1970s Britain had and is thus presented with a case that bears uncanny similarities to a combination of two celebrated trials - Oz and Gay News - which encapsulated much of what Mary Whitehouse deemed the devil of the permissive society.
Is this, therefore, an example of Mallorca playing catch-up? It's stretching things to draw such a conclusion, but what one also has is the tension that religious affairs cause at a political level. Administrations, many of them, might currently be characterised as being anti-religious, or at least indifferent. It's a very different example, but Palma's decision to exclude the mass from its Sant Sebastià fiestas programme can strike one as more than just the assertion of the fiestas being a "lay" occasion. Any response from the ministry, therefore, might be seen within this current context of dominant political ideology.
Meanwhile, there is probably a lesson. If you're going to get top marks for a video with arguably blasphemous content, don't put it up on Twitter. It doesn't take five months now.
James Kirkup's "The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name" alluded to having sex with Jesus. It appeared in "Gay News" in June 1976. Five months later, having been shown the poem, Mary Whitehouse was on the case and on a trail that led to the trial at which the publishers were found guilty of blasphemous libel. A suspended sentence given to Denis Lemon was subsequently quashed, but it would be 31 years before blasphemous libel was struck from the list of common law offences.
Come forward almost 40 years since that trial and to a different place - Mallorca - there is great indignation at something which, in a multimedia incarnation of contemporary times, bears similarities with Whitehouse v. Gay News Ltd, with a touch of "Schoolkids Oz" thrown into the mix.
A 17-year-old male pupil at the Josep Maria Llompart school in Palma produced a video as part of his Baccalaureate art studies. He was awarded an "outstanding" mark of nine out of ten, which might have been the end of the matter, had the boy not posted it to his Twitter account, with the video on YouTube. Even in restricted viewing mode, it didn't prevent (one assumes) viewing by those with a Whitehousian flair for rooting out all things un-Christian and/or obscene.
Without going into detail, the video starts with taking a call from God and continues with a mixture of queerdom, swear words and references to sexual acts involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Perhaps only in this latter regard might it be said to fundamentally differ to the infamous poem from 1976.
To the fore in the outrage this has caused have been the moral custodians of the Balearic Institute of Family Policy and HazteOir, both of whom might have been expected to have made their objections clear, the latter having started a petition for which some 18,000 signatures have thus far been received. The aim of the petition is to call on the education ministry to act against religious hatred. The Association of Christian Lawyers is also up in arms, preparing a case against the teacher for offences against religious freedoms under Article 525 of the Penal Code and further offences of the corruption of minors and pornography. Its president says that the boy who made the video is a victim.
To their number have been added the voices of the Partido Popular's parliamentary spokesperson, Marga Prohens, and the Ciudadanos parliamentary deputy, Olga Ballester. They have both made similar observations regarding lack of respect of religious believers and for the gay community (there is an interpretation that the video satirises gay stereotypes).
As of the time of writing, the education ministry has had nothing to say on the matter, but it presumably will have to make some statement and not have to wait until parliament sits and questions are demanded of the minister, Martí March. Meantime, the dogs of the media have got the story firmly by the throat and are savaging it for all their worth, making it perhaps ever more imperative that the ministry steps in and at least offers its views.
I make no particular judgement on the affair, not least because it might end up in court, but it does perhaps offer an insight into tensions for a society that has increasingly been losing its religion in a manner not dissimilar to the way in which 1970s Britain had and is thus presented with a case that bears uncanny similarities to a combination of two celebrated trials - Oz and Gay News - which encapsulated much of what Mary Whitehouse deemed the devil of the permissive society.
Is this, therefore, an example of Mallorca playing catch-up? It's stretching things to draw such a conclusion, but what one also has is the tension that religious affairs cause at a political level. Administrations, many of them, might currently be characterised as being anti-religious, or at least indifferent. It's a very different example, but Palma's decision to exclude the mass from its Sant Sebastià fiestas programme can strike one as more than just the assertion of the fiestas being a "lay" occasion. Any response from the ministry, therefore, might be seen within this current context of dominant political ideology.
Meanwhile, there is probably a lesson. If you're going to get top marks for a video with arguably blasphemous content, don't put it up on Twitter. It doesn't take five months now.
Wednesday, January 06, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 January 2016
Morning high (7.30am): 12C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 7 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 8 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 9 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 5 to 6, locally 7 from midday.
A warning in place for coastal conditions today and wind is due to be strong at times. Sunny, though, and mild and still no real sign of any significant change to the dry conditions despite the spots of rain yesterday.
Evening update (20.30): Nice enough day, blowy at times, high of 16.4C.
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 7 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 8 January - Sun, cloud, 19C; 9 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 5 to 6, locally 7 from midday.
A warning in place for coastal conditions today and wind is due to be strong at times. Sunny, though, and mild and still no real sign of any significant change to the dry conditions despite the spots of rain yesterday.
Evening update (20.30): Nice enough day, blowy at times, high of 16.4C.
Talk Of Consensus Is Cheap
Konrad Adenauer, the father of post-Nazi democracy in Germany and one of the creators of that country's system of consensus politics, stood for re-election as Chancellor for his conservative Christian Democratic Union in 1957 under the slogan "no experiments". Any experiment that the (West) German people might have contemplated would have been to return the only other party of any note - the socialist Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Comparing democratic Germany with democratic Spain is to compare chalk and cheese. The former, once it had emerged from the privations of the post-war period, established enduring economic and social success that was based on a generally well-ordered and well-cared-for society, industrial power, its social market economy and moderate, two-party politics, the latter of which was to prove to be the bedrock for the consensus that remains to this day. Spain, post-Franco, has enjoyed little of the same, and economic crisis brought home the fallibility of a nation without such attributes and inspired the political crisis of disruption to two-party politics that was produced by December's general election.
Mariano Rajoy, Spain's conservative equivalent of Adenauer's current-day heiress, Angela Merkel, warned against experiments before the election. He didn't have PSOE and its moderate socialism in mind. He was talking about Podemos. The experiment may yet not be realised in that Podemos might fail in its objectives to be at the government table, but one experiment that has been realised has been the shattering of two-party politics.
This altered state has been styled as a breakdown in some long-established pattern. It does of course depend on how one defines a "long time", but Spain's two-party system is only some 25 years old: as old, that is, as the Partido Popular, which was founded in 1989 out of the wreckage of the Alianza Popular and its associations with Francoism. Germany's two-party system is much older, as also is Britain's and that of the USA.
Far from being an engrained, seemingly immutable state of two-party affairs, it could just as well be argued that the past 25 years have represented the type of experiment that Rajoy, for one, would be incapable of conceding. Spain has given the norm of others a go and questioned its appropriateness for a country for which instability had long been the norm. The election represents, therefore, a return to the state's state of flux, appended to which is the flux of the wannabe state of Catalonia, the great question Spain has singularly failed to reconcile for three hundred years.
The great irony, however, is that into this latest outbreak of chaos steps the political newspeak that chants consensus from every available soapbox or press release. Driven by reconstructed scholars of the works of, among others, Karl Marx, consensus is now to be the state to which the powers of the state - political parties both old (or oldish in the case of the PP) and new - are supposed to aspire. But let's ask questions. Do we suppose that, had there not been the necessity, Francina Armengol and PSOE would have gone anywhere near a pact with Podemos? It's safe to say that we can suppose that they wouldn't have. She, Armengol, can spout consensus for all she's worth, but it is being foisted upon her. It is a consensus of colliding forces and, as such, is not achievable. Only the rhetoric can claim its existence, the practice proving that it is a delusion to believe it does actually exist or indeed can exist.
And like Armengol, will PSOE's Pedro Sánchez, assuming he can survive a leadership contest, seriously wish to have Podemos as bed mates? He too can talk of consensus, but more likely would be the convenience of the three-way alliance with the PP and Ciudadanos (C's), something that would not be consensus but a means of making damn sure Podemos doesn't get anywhere near government. Advised to form an alliance of the left by Armengol - and she would hardly say anything else for fear of upsetting her government partners - he has nonetheless been handed slack by the very same Francina in his negotiations. He also has a Podemos get-out-of-jail card, i.e. Catalonia and the referendum, something on which there is at least consensus with Rajoy and the C's Albert Rivera.
In Germany, consensus became the political leitmotif for a country saddled with guilt and with a corresponding determination to not forget past evils and so forge a system that could avoid conflict. In Spain, there was no such catharsis. It has required King Felipe to remind politicians of the past but it has also taken the shock of crisis to bring a halt to the satisfactions enjoyed for much of the two-party generation. As those unravelled, so did the bipartite experiment. Talk of consensus replacing it is cheap.
Comparing democratic Germany with democratic Spain is to compare chalk and cheese. The former, once it had emerged from the privations of the post-war period, established enduring economic and social success that was based on a generally well-ordered and well-cared-for society, industrial power, its social market economy and moderate, two-party politics, the latter of which was to prove to be the bedrock for the consensus that remains to this day. Spain, post-Franco, has enjoyed little of the same, and economic crisis brought home the fallibility of a nation without such attributes and inspired the political crisis of disruption to two-party politics that was produced by December's general election.
Mariano Rajoy, Spain's conservative equivalent of Adenauer's current-day heiress, Angela Merkel, warned against experiments before the election. He didn't have PSOE and its moderate socialism in mind. He was talking about Podemos. The experiment may yet not be realised in that Podemos might fail in its objectives to be at the government table, but one experiment that has been realised has been the shattering of two-party politics.
This altered state has been styled as a breakdown in some long-established pattern. It does of course depend on how one defines a "long time", but Spain's two-party system is only some 25 years old: as old, that is, as the Partido Popular, which was founded in 1989 out of the wreckage of the Alianza Popular and its associations with Francoism. Germany's two-party system is much older, as also is Britain's and that of the USA.
Far from being an engrained, seemingly immutable state of two-party affairs, it could just as well be argued that the past 25 years have represented the type of experiment that Rajoy, for one, would be incapable of conceding. Spain has given the norm of others a go and questioned its appropriateness for a country for which instability had long been the norm. The election represents, therefore, a return to the state's state of flux, appended to which is the flux of the wannabe state of Catalonia, the great question Spain has singularly failed to reconcile for three hundred years.
The great irony, however, is that into this latest outbreak of chaos steps the political newspeak that chants consensus from every available soapbox or press release. Driven by reconstructed scholars of the works of, among others, Karl Marx, consensus is now to be the state to which the powers of the state - political parties both old (or oldish in the case of the PP) and new - are supposed to aspire. But let's ask questions. Do we suppose that, had there not been the necessity, Francina Armengol and PSOE would have gone anywhere near a pact with Podemos? It's safe to say that we can suppose that they wouldn't have. She, Armengol, can spout consensus for all she's worth, but it is being foisted upon her. It is a consensus of colliding forces and, as such, is not achievable. Only the rhetoric can claim its existence, the practice proving that it is a delusion to believe it does actually exist or indeed can exist.
And like Armengol, will PSOE's Pedro Sánchez, assuming he can survive a leadership contest, seriously wish to have Podemos as bed mates? He too can talk of consensus, but more likely would be the convenience of the three-way alliance with the PP and Ciudadanos (C's), something that would not be consensus but a means of making damn sure Podemos doesn't get anywhere near government. Advised to form an alliance of the left by Armengol - and she would hardly say anything else for fear of upsetting her government partners - he has nonetheless been handed slack by the very same Francina in his negotiations. He also has a Podemos get-out-of-jail card, i.e. Catalonia and the referendum, something on which there is at least consensus with Rajoy and the C's Albert Rivera.
In Germany, consensus became the political leitmotif for a country saddled with guilt and with a corresponding determination to not forget past evils and so forge a system that could avoid conflict. In Spain, there was no such catharsis. It has required King Felipe to remind politicians of the past but it has also taken the shock of crisis to bring a halt to the satisfactions enjoyed for much of the two-party generation. As those unravelled, so did the bipartite experiment. Talk of consensus replacing it is cheap.
Tuesday, January 05, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 January 2016
Morning high (6.30am): 13.7C
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 6 January - Sun, cloud, 16C; 7 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 8 January - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 3 to 5.
The wind became fierce at times later on yesterday evening, but for now things are calm. The chance of some rain today, but conditions for the Kings' parades should be reasonable if cold. There is an alert for coastal conditions, though this seems more applicable to tomorrow, so Kings coming by sea might find the water a bit choppy this evening.
Evening update (22.30): Some light rain in parts during the day. Only occasional sun. Chilly for the Kings this evening. High of 16.9C.
Forecast high: 16C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 6 January - Sun, cloud, 16C; 7 January - Sun, cloud, 17C; 8 January - Sun, cloud, 18C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest 3 to 5.
The wind became fierce at times later on yesterday evening, but for now things are calm. The chance of some rain today, but conditions for the Kings' parades should be reasonable if cold. There is an alert for coastal conditions, though this seems more applicable to tomorrow, so Kings coming by sea might find the water a bit choppy this evening.
Evening update (22.30): Some light rain in parts during the day. Only occasional sun. Chilly for the Kings this evening. High of 16.9C.
The Muddled Ideology Of Holiday Rentals
Catalonia has a system whereby apartments for holiday rental can be openly marketed. It is a system that operates reasonably well, with accommodation subject to classification according to its standard (which has to meet set levels) and which is also transparent in terms of tax liabilities - revenue on the property, IVA (VAT) and tourist tax.
Despite this system, Catalonia still has a problem with accommodation that has not been registered and is therefore marketed illegally. One of the main means for this marketing is a P2P website, and two such websites - Airbnb and HomeAway - have been hit with fines totalling 120,000 euros by the Barcelona city administration because of what it calls the illegal advertising of tourist apartments.
For Airbnb, this is not the first time that it has fallen foul of a Catalonian administration: the government previously fined it 30,000 euros. But the Barcelona sanction is tougher as it also includes a sort of naming and shaming without actually naming. Plaques denoting legal accommodation have been appearing. If there is a property without one that is being rented out to tourists, then neighbours can readily identify it.
HomeAway, for its part, has said that it will take legal action, insisting that the city administration's attitude is contrary to principles of free competition and also criticising the public announcement of sanctions without having been formally notified of them. Airbnb, in total disagreement with the fine, has attacked Barcelona for not supporting private individuals who wish, in the language of the P2P phenomenon, "to share" their homes, and adding that it should follow the example of European capitals and regulate in order that private individuals can share.
What Airbnb is getting at here is that the system should be like it now is in London, where new legislation, effective from May last year, allows anyone to rent out on a short-term basis. The previous restriction under the 1973 Greater London Council Act was considered "outdated" as well as a "bureaucratic headache".
Airbnb, by referring to support for private individuals, is also making a thinly veiled comment on the political ideology at Barcelona council. Ada Colau, who became mayor following the municipal election last spring, was a founder of Guanyem, a political party/movement not dissimilar to Podemos and one, therefore, with much the same advocacy of the rights of the citizens.
Barcelona, and especially its La Barceloneta area, has witnessed a massive increase in the availability of private apartments, and in the case of La Barceloneta, these have attracted a youth tourism of a (now former, perhaps) Magalluf style. It was an issue that demanded attention, but in going after Airbnb and HomeAway, while at the same also having an agenda that is not supportive of hotelier interests, Colau's administration appears to be behaving in a manner that is contrary to the rights of the citizens: a muddled ideology, therefore.
In Mallorca, these rights were once expressed by the former mayor of Santa Margalida, Toni Reus, who is from the Mallorcan socialist wing of Més, just as tourism minister Barceló is. Reus said that it was a human right for anyone to rent out property for whatever reason, and he was thinking of the town's resort, Can Picafort.
But while Barceló seems likely to introduce a more permissive system of regulation, he is also concerned about the sheer numbers of tourists coming into the islands in the summer and who are the result of the massive availability of private accommodation, much of it not registered. Airbnb has over 300 rentals in Mallorca (many of them without photos to avoid detection), but it is only one sharing website: there are many others, in addition to websites which are blatantly offering illegal holiday rentals.
One understands that the Balearic government isn't particularly interested in pursuing owners with single properties, but it is interested in the large-scale operators. In the case of Airbnb and others, it is hard to know which type of owner may be advertising and wishing to share.
The sanctions to be imposed in Barcelona, where there are also major concerns with overcrowding, could well cross the sea to Mallorca if administrations here were minded to adopt that city's example, but the same ideological muddle would follow in their wake. Podemos might be in less of a muddle if it follows the attitude of its counterparts in the Canaries who are opposed to anything that prevents tourist rental when it represents an important source of family income.
Ideologically, there shouldn't be restrictions (with the caveat of earnings being declared), but Barceló also has an eco-agenda to pursue as well as the proposal for rentals to be permitted only in certain parts of resorts or Palma. His new legislation is complicated enough, but it has been made more so because of the sharing economy and the rights of the citizen. Deny such sharing, and a basic right is denied.
Despite this system, Catalonia still has a problem with accommodation that has not been registered and is therefore marketed illegally. One of the main means for this marketing is a P2P website, and two such websites - Airbnb and HomeAway - have been hit with fines totalling 120,000 euros by the Barcelona city administration because of what it calls the illegal advertising of tourist apartments.
For Airbnb, this is not the first time that it has fallen foul of a Catalonian administration: the government previously fined it 30,000 euros. But the Barcelona sanction is tougher as it also includes a sort of naming and shaming without actually naming. Plaques denoting legal accommodation have been appearing. If there is a property without one that is being rented out to tourists, then neighbours can readily identify it.
HomeAway, for its part, has said that it will take legal action, insisting that the city administration's attitude is contrary to principles of free competition and also criticising the public announcement of sanctions without having been formally notified of them. Airbnb, in total disagreement with the fine, has attacked Barcelona for not supporting private individuals who wish, in the language of the P2P phenomenon, "to share" their homes, and adding that it should follow the example of European capitals and regulate in order that private individuals can share.
What Airbnb is getting at here is that the system should be like it now is in London, where new legislation, effective from May last year, allows anyone to rent out on a short-term basis. The previous restriction under the 1973 Greater London Council Act was considered "outdated" as well as a "bureaucratic headache".
Airbnb, by referring to support for private individuals, is also making a thinly veiled comment on the political ideology at Barcelona council. Ada Colau, who became mayor following the municipal election last spring, was a founder of Guanyem, a political party/movement not dissimilar to Podemos and one, therefore, with much the same advocacy of the rights of the citizens.
Barcelona, and especially its La Barceloneta area, has witnessed a massive increase in the availability of private apartments, and in the case of La Barceloneta, these have attracted a youth tourism of a (now former, perhaps) Magalluf style. It was an issue that demanded attention, but in going after Airbnb and HomeAway, while at the same also having an agenda that is not supportive of hotelier interests, Colau's administration appears to be behaving in a manner that is contrary to the rights of the citizens: a muddled ideology, therefore.
In Mallorca, these rights were once expressed by the former mayor of Santa Margalida, Toni Reus, who is from the Mallorcan socialist wing of Més, just as tourism minister Barceló is. Reus said that it was a human right for anyone to rent out property for whatever reason, and he was thinking of the town's resort, Can Picafort.
But while Barceló seems likely to introduce a more permissive system of regulation, he is also concerned about the sheer numbers of tourists coming into the islands in the summer and who are the result of the massive availability of private accommodation, much of it not registered. Airbnb has over 300 rentals in Mallorca (many of them without photos to avoid detection), but it is only one sharing website: there are many others, in addition to websites which are blatantly offering illegal holiday rentals.
One understands that the Balearic government isn't particularly interested in pursuing owners with single properties, but it is interested in the large-scale operators. In the case of Airbnb and others, it is hard to know which type of owner may be advertising and wishing to share.
The sanctions to be imposed in Barcelona, where there are also major concerns with overcrowding, could well cross the sea to Mallorca if administrations here were minded to adopt that city's example, but the same ideological muddle would follow in their wake. Podemos might be in less of a muddle if it follows the attitude of its counterparts in the Canaries who are opposed to anything that prevents tourist rental when it represents an important source of family income.
Ideologically, there shouldn't be restrictions (with the caveat of earnings being declared), but Barceló also has an eco-agenda to pursue as well as the proposal for rentals to be permitted only in certain parts of resorts or Palma. His new legislation is complicated enough, but it has been made more so because of the sharing economy and the rights of the citizen. Deny such sharing, and a basic right is denied.
Monday, January 04, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 January 2016
Morning high (7.45am): 19.4C
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 5 January - Cloud, sun, 16C; 6 January - Sun, cloud, 13C; 7 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 4 to 5.
A bit blowy and due to be more blowy later and over the next couple of days. Extremely mild first thing, the rain risk for today seems to have lifted.
Evening update (20.30): Some spots of rain in parts, a bit heavier elsewhere but not much. Occasional sun, temperatures dropped in the afternoon. High of 19.8C.
Forecast high: 20C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 5 January - Cloud, sun, 16C; 6 January - Sun, cloud, 13C; 7 January - Sun, cloud, 17C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West-Southwest 4 to 5.
A bit blowy and due to be more blowy later and over the next couple of days. Extremely mild first thing, the rain risk for today seems to have lifted.
Evening update (20.30): Some spots of rain in parts, a bit heavier elsewhere but not much. Occasional sun, temperatures dropped in the afternoon. High of 19.8C.
The Oldest Nativity Scene In Spain?
In the small town of Maria de la Salut, there is someone whose Christian name is Christmas who is responsible for giant nativity scenes. Nadal Ferriol makes a habit of this. He created a huge nativity last year and he has gone one step, or several steps further this year. Nadal's "belén" for the Nadal festivities is something of a re-creation of the small town that is replete with traditional figures and manger. He certainly isn't the only one to engage in this model-making. The making of nativities has become one of high art and of competition as to who can make the most monumental of monumental nativities: El Corte Inglés typically seeks to scoop the annual accolade.
Such is the local attention to nativity detail that it has now found prominence in municipal publicity for the festive scene. Hence, for instance, Bunyola features the image of a village nativity participant: a farming type chap with a bundle of straw attached to his back who appears to be being sniffed by a sheep (or possibly a lamb).
The nativities have thus become like model villages, and their making is most definitely not confined to public displays. So popular is the household nativity model-making that entire sections of festive markets - as in Palma, for instance - are devoted to the sale of nativity figures.
Rather than slowing down, despite Christmas having been and gone, nativity-scene fever is now at fever pitch, the consequence of the traditional nativities featuring their main protagonists, other than the family members of course. The Three Kings of the Orient have followed yonder star and they are now about to assume centre-stage, both in nativities and in parades.
Such activity has origins that date back many a long century, with the depiction of the manger or crib and its associated livestock and what have you following a ritual according to the festive schedule. Hence, the Three Kings didn't actually appear - or shouldn't have - until it was their day. Well, obviously they wouldn't have, or the whole Three Kings concept wouldn't have had quite the same meaning as it did and of course still does have. So while the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, swaddling clothes and other accessories were permissible from Christmas Eve, the Kings had to be kept well out of sight until Twelfth Night.
These origins were not of the model variety. Rather, they were real people and the whole nativity tradition is said to have started in Italy in the early thirteenth century. Given the success of this live performance, the church assumed responsibility for providing handmade nativity-scene specifications, whether for the local church and public places or for the home. Which brings us, naturally enough, to what is understood to be the first nativity scene, crib, manger, call it what you will, in Mallorca and which may also be the oldest in Spain.
It is in the chapel in the Iglesia de la Anunciación in Palma, but how did it come to be there? It is believed to be the work of carvers by the name of Alamanno from Naples and was crafted some time between 1460 and 1480. However, and despite the Alamanno family having apparently been fairly well-known for this type of artisan work, this is too simple an explanation when there is a good legend to compete with it. And this is that the various pieces revealing the secrets of the Mother of God were on a ship that was on its way from Italy in 1536 and encountered a fierce storm. As luck would have it, the ship was close to Palma, and monks from the convent of Our Lady of the Angels came to the aid of the ship's captain, one Domingo Gangonne, who offered to give them one of the secrets if they could help rescue the stricken vessel. When the captain refused to hand over the monks' preferred secret, i.e. the nativity scene, he discovered that the rescued ship wouldn't budge. Taking this as a sign from God, he willingly handed over the nativity and off he went.
So there you have the real story (probably) and the legend of how the first nativity scene came to be in Mallorca. I understand the scene from the chapel is not on show at present because it is being restored, but the process of restoration may - so it is hoped - be able to establish for certain who was responsible for it and how it indeed came to be there. Meantime, there are plenty of other nativity scenes to admire, but none with the quite same secret of the secrets of the Mother of God.
Such is the local attention to nativity detail that it has now found prominence in municipal publicity for the festive scene. Hence, for instance, Bunyola features the image of a village nativity participant: a farming type chap with a bundle of straw attached to his back who appears to be being sniffed by a sheep (or possibly a lamb).
The nativities have thus become like model villages, and their making is most definitely not confined to public displays. So popular is the household nativity model-making that entire sections of festive markets - as in Palma, for instance - are devoted to the sale of nativity figures.
Rather than slowing down, despite Christmas having been and gone, nativity-scene fever is now at fever pitch, the consequence of the traditional nativities featuring their main protagonists, other than the family members of course. The Three Kings of the Orient have followed yonder star and they are now about to assume centre-stage, both in nativities and in parades.
Such activity has origins that date back many a long century, with the depiction of the manger or crib and its associated livestock and what have you following a ritual according to the festive schedule. Hence, the Three Kings didn't actually appear - or shouldn't have - until it was their day. Well, obviously they wouldn't have, or the whole Three Kings concept wouldn't have had quite the same meaning as it did and of course still does have. So while the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, swaddling clothes and other accessories were permissible from Christmas Eve, the Kings had to be kept well out of sight until Twelfth Night.
These origins were not of the model variety. Rather, they were real people and the whole nativity tradition is said to have started in Italy in the early thirteenth century. Given the success of this live performance, the church assumed responsibility for providing handmade nativity-scene specifications, whether for the local church and public places or for the home. Which brings us, naturally enough, to what is understood to be the first nativity scene, crib, manger, call it what you will, in Mallorca and which may also be the oldest in Spain.
It is in the chapel in the Iglesia de la Anunciación in Palma, but how did it come to be there? It is believed to be the work of carvers by the name of Alamanno from Naples and was crafted some time between 1460 and 1480. However, and despite the Alamanno family having apparently been fairly well-known for this type of artisan work, this is too simple an explanation when there is a good legend to compete with it. And this is that the various pieces revealing the secrets of the Mother of God were on a ship that was on its way from Italy in 1536 and encountered a fierce storm. As luck would have it, the ship was close to Palma, and monks from the convent of Our Lady of the Angels came to the aid of the ship's captain, one Domingo Gangonne, who offered to give them one of the secrets if they could help rescue the stricken vessel. When the captain refused to hand over the monks' preferred secret, i.e. the nativity scene, he discovered that the rescued ship wouldn't budge. Taking this as a sign from God, he willingly handed over the nativity and off he went.
So there you have the real story (probably) and the legend of how the first nativity scene came to be in Mallorca. I understand the scene from the chapel is not on show at present because it is being restored, but the process of restoration may - so it is hoped - be able to establish for certain who was responsible for it and how it indeed came to be there. Meantime, there are plenty of other nativity scenes to admire, but none with the quite same secret of the secrets of the Mother of God.
Sunday, January 03, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 January 2016
Morning high (7.00am): 10.5C
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 4 January - Cloud, 20C; 5 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 6 January - Sun, cloud, 13C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 to 4 increasing 4 to 5 during the afternoon.
Reasonable day anticipated, but tomorrow and into Tuesday there may be some badly needed rain, though this should clear up for the Kings' parades on Tuesday evening.
Evening update (19.00): Chilly wind now. High of 16.6C and not a great deal of sun during the day.
Forecast high: 18C; UV: 1
Three-day forecast: 4 January - Cloud, 20C; 5 January - Cloud, sun, 18C; 6 January - Sun, cloud, 13C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): West 2 to 4 increasing 4 to 5 during the afternoon.
Reasonable day anticipated, but tomorrow and into Tuesday there may be some badly needed rain, though this should clear up for the Kings' parades on Tuesday evening.
Evening update (19.00): Chilly wind now. High of 16.6C and not a great deal of sun during the day.
The Normality Of A City's Name
Is the administration in Palma totally bats? Collectively, they have been intimating that they are, as with the ludicrous terraces' referendum, so when they come along with something sensible and worthy, i.e. the greening of parts of the city, they immediately undo this by dragging up the city's name thing once more.
For those of you with reasonable memories, you will recall that we went through all this palaver with Matty Isern's mob. It decided to officially make the capital Palma de Mallorca, a reason for this being that it helps to distinguish the name from other places that can be easily confused with it: La Palma, Las Palmas, Parma. The adding of "de Mallorca" may not have done the trick with Google and other search engines, but the thinking was perfectly reasonable. Moreover, Palma de Mallorca is used by airlines and others in order to make the distinction.
The problem is, however, not a practical one: that would be far too simple. Palma, minus "de Mallorca", will see a reversion to name-place normality. Or so says the councillor for ecology, agriculture and animal welfare, who appears to be the one behind this reclaiming of normality. What, pray, does it have to do with her anyway? There's nothing about toponymy among her various responsibilities.
The normality, such as it is possible for this to exist in Palma political land, lies with the arguments of the "no to the de Mallorca" camp last time round. Adding "de Mallorca" was too foreign. Yes, seriously, this was an argument. Palma de Mallorca is how Palma is known abroad, it was said. Personally, I have never heard a foreigner ever refer to anything other than just Palma.
There was also the fact that Isern's lot had objected to the previous government of the left shortening the name without, apparently, having gone through the correct procedures - whatever they are. So, the city's name is firmly an issue of left and right. For the left, there is no "de Mallorca". For the right, there is. So there you have it. Normality.
Whether with or without its "of Mallorca" suffix, the city has an image problem. There we were, thinking that Palma (de Mallorca) is in fashion, and Duran Duran, the PP spokesperson at the town hall, goes and insists that it is not fashionable for the streets of the city to be piled high with discarded washing-machines and dirty old mattresses. For the president of the services agency, the very same councillor for ecology, etc., such a state of affairs is doubtless one of normality.
For those of you with reasonable memories, you will recall that we went through all this palaver with Matty Isern's mob. It decided to officially make the capital Palma de Mallorca, a reason for this being that it helps to distinguish the name from other places that can be easily confused with it: La Palma, Las Palmas, Parma. The adding of "de Mallorca" may not have done the trick with Google and other search engines, but the thinking was perfectly reasonable. Moreover, Palma de Mallorca is used by airlines and others in order to make the distinction.
The problem is, however, not a practical one: that would be far too simple. Palma, minus "de Mallorca", will see a reversion to name-place normality. Or so says the councillor for ecology, agriculture and animal welfare, who appears to be the one behind this reclaiming of normality. What, pray, does it have to do with her anyway? There's nothing about toponymy among her various responsibilities.
The normality, such as it is possible for this to exist in Palma political land, lies with the arguments of the "no to the de Mallorca" camp last time round. Adding "de Mallorca" was too foreign. Yes, seriously, this was an argument. Palma de Mallorca is how Palma is known abroad, it was said. Personally, I have never heard a foreigner ever refer to anything other than just Palma.
There was also the fact that Isern's lot had objected to the previous government of the left shortening the name without, apparently, having gone through the correct procedures - whatever they are. So, the city's name is firmly an issue of left and right. For the left, there is no "de Mallorca". For the right, there is. So there you have it. Normality.
Whether with or without its "of Mallorca" suffix, the city has an image problem. There we were, thinking that Palma (de Mallorca) is in fashion, and Duran Duran, the PP spokesperson at the town hall, goes and insists that it is not fashionable for the streets of the city to be piled high with discarded washing-machines and dirty old mattresses. For the president of the services agency, the very same councillor for ecology, etc., such a state of affairs is doubtless one of normality.
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