Morning high (6.30am): 20.3C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 13 August - Sun, 29C; 14 August - Sun, 28C; 15 August - Sun, 30C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 to 5 easing 3 in the afternoon. Swells of two metres reducing to one.
Sun all the way we are promised across the weekend and for the national holiday (Assumption) on Monday. Certainly very clear as sun-up approaches.
Evening update (20.00): High of 29C. Some cloud that hadn't been forecast, but mainly sunny.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Low-Cost Pejorative Or Imperative?
A pejorative is a word or term that carries negative connotations and is used to criticise, belittle and express a low opinion of an individual or a group of people. it can therefore be deployed, and is, to convey a lack of respect or hostility towards social classes or specific groups which share common characteristics. Depending on how they are expressed and on the context, certain words can assume the status of a pejorative. Expats is a good example.
A further one that is highly germane to Mallorca's socioeconomic circumstances is "low cost". Normally used as an adjective, it has become a substantive in its own right. Low cost as a concept is ipso facto a "bad thing", as it assumes a negative consequence by the very fact that cost is low.
We currently have a great deal of low cost to contend with, all of it business-related and, by implication, also associated with social class. Low Cost Travel Group is an obvious case in point. The name itself, which would have been looked upon in a pejorative manner by many even prior to its collapse, always had an inherent marketing conflict. Attractive to some, it would not have been to others. Because of the collapse, the naysayers will now claim that they were right all along. The business model, regardless of cover from bondholders or not, was flawed on account of the low-cost philosophy.
This isn't and shouldn't be the only conclusion to be drawn. Low cost doesn't have to mean an in-built business weakness. Indeed, the online travel agency would have been inspired by the very success of companies which have made a virtue (and lots of money) out of being low cost. Ryanair is one such.
Airlines like Ryanair have of course been condemned for a variety of reasons: sharp practice, not being as low cost as they might appear and rotten service. But the low-cost model for airlines has become so pervasive that it has overtaken regular airlines in terms of passenger numbers coming in and out of Palma's Son Sant Joan. To the ranks of Ryanair, easyJet, Norwegian, Vueling and others are to be added Air Europa Express, a belated attempt by Globalia to enter the low-cost market, and one which was met with the threat of pilot strike action.
It is informative that statistics are regularly released which indicate the level of this low-cost travel. This is informative not just because of the factual data but also because there is a sense that the data are presented with a pejorative in mind. There is a great deal of resistance to "low cost" in Mallorca of whatever kind it might be. It is a "bad thing".
The assumption, a totally false one, is that if a service is marketed as low cost it will automatically attract a class of traveller castigated by the unthinking pejorative of "low quality". We all know that some travellers are far from well-off, but the folly of this assumption was no better exposed than when the former president of the Majorca Tourist Board expressed it. The response was one of outrage from those who are perfectly well-off, thank you, but who still use low-cost airlines.
The assumption has been shot to pieces even more by an understanding of markets which reveals that consumers - filthy rich, better-off or on their uppers - are now so savvy that they seek out deals. The internet and social media have made this ever easier. Consumers, regardless of circumstance, aren't stupid. If they can spend less, if convenience is satisfied, then they'll make decisions based on these factors. There are naturally those whose aspirations and self-esteem (as well as money) would mean never willingly opting for the pejorative of low cost, but even they might have to if competition has made low cost the main or only option.
It's this word - competition - which says a lot about the antagonism towards low cost in Mallorca. For a tourist destination built on cost that wasn't just cheap as chips but cheaper, it is now payback time, and this comes in the form - it is hoped - of elevated hotel prices with improved quality attracting a tourism class which is the antithesis of what gave the island its wealth in the first place.
But while hoteliers might attempt to sew things up to their RevPar and bottom-line advantage, there is a whole other economy where the competitive forces of low cost are having field days. Airlines are just one example. There are also coach transfer services, car-hire agencies, shops. The list can go on. Hairdressers are another.
Defending local business and economic interests is valid enough, but it is a defence too often predicated on a demonising of operations which have disrupted one-time uncompetitive markets. Low cost is no pejorative, it has become an imperative.
A further one that is highly germane to Mallorca's socioeconomic circumstances is "low cost". Normally used as an adjective, it has become a substantive in its own right. Low cost as a concept is ipso facto a "bad thing", as it assumes a negative consequence by the very fact that cost is low.
We currently have a great deal of low cost to contend with, all of it business-related and, by implication, also associated with social class. Low Cost Travel Group is an obvious case in point. The name itself, which would have been looked upon in a pejorative manner by many even prior to its collapse, always had an inherent marketing conflict. Attractive to some, it would not have been to others. Because of the collapse, the naysayers will now claim that they were right all along. The business model, regardless of cover from bondholders or not, was flawed on account of the low-cost philosophy.
This isn't and shouldn't be the only conclusion to be drawn. Low cost doesn't have to mean an in-built business weakness. Indeed, the online travel agency would have been inspired by the very success of companies which have made a virtue (and lots of money) out of being low cost. Ryanair is one such.
Airlines like Ryanair have of course been condemned for a variety of reasons: sharp practice, not being as low cost as they might appear and rotten service. But the low-cost model for airlines has become so pervasive that it has overtaken regular airlines in terms of passenger numbers coming in and out of Palma's Son Sant Joan. To the ranks of Ryanair, easyJet, Norwegian, Vueling and others are to be added Air Europa Express, a belated attempt by Globalia to enter the low-cost market, and one which was met with the threat of pilot strike action.
It is informative that statistics are regularly released which indicate the level of this low-cost travel. This is informative not just because of the factual data but also because there is a sense that the data are presented with a pejorative in mind. There is a great deal of resistance to "low cost" in Mallorca of whatever kind it might be. It is a "bad thing".
The assumption, a totally false one, is that if a service is marketed as low cost it will automatically attract a class of traveller castigated by the unthinking pejorative of "low quality". We all know that some travellers are far from well-off, but the folly of this assumption was no better exposed than when the former president of the Majorca Tourist Board expressed it. The response was one of outrage from those who are perfectly well-off, thank you, but who still use low-cost airlines.
The assumption has been shot to pieces even more by an understanding of markets which reveals that consumers - filthy rich, better-off or on their uppers - are now so savvy that they seek out deals. The internet and social media have made this ever easier. Consumers, regardless of circumstance, aren't stupid. If they can spend less, if convenience is satisfied, then they'll make decisions based on these factors. There are naturally those whose aspirations and self-esteem (as well as money) would mean never willingly opting for the pejorative of low cost, but even they might have to if competition has made low cost the main or only option.
It's this word - competition - which says a lot about the antagonism towards low cost in Mallorca. For a tourist destination built on cost that wasn't just cheap as chips but cheaper, it is now payback time, and this comes in the form - it is hoped - of elevated hotel prices with improved quality attracting a tourism class which is the antithesis of what gave the island its wealth in the first place.
But while hoteliers might attempt to sew things up to their RevPar and bottom-line advantage, there is a whole other economy where the competitive forces of low cost are having field days. Airlines are just one example. There are also coach transfer services, car-hire agencies, shops. The list can go on. Hairdressers are another.
Defending local business and economic interests is valid enough, but it is a defence too often predicated on a demonising of operations which have disrupted one-time uncompetitive markets. Low cost is no pejorative, it has become an imperative.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 11 August 2016
Morning high (6.35am): 19.5C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 7
Three-day forecast: 12 August - Sun, 28C; 13 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 14 August - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 increasing Northeast 5. Swells to two metres.
Some cloud expected again today. All fine tomorrow and into the weekend.
Evening update (21.15): Cloudy at times but mainly sunny. High of 29.5C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 7
Three-day forecast: 12 August - Sun, 28C; 13 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 14 August - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 3 increasing Northeast 5. Swells to two metres.
Some cloud expected again today. All fine tomorrow and into the weekend.
Evening update (21.15): Cloudy at times but mainly sunny. High of 29.5C.
Much Ado About Everything: Weird Fiestas
The word fiesta is said to have first entered English (American) usage in 1844, though an almost identical word - "feste" - cropped up in Middle English from around the second half of the twelfth century. Some two hundred years later, Geoffrey Chaucer used "feste" in the context of Troilus's love for Criseyde. A hundred or so years before Chaucer, the Italian Dante Alighieri had used "festa". Both had connotations of earthly joy and heavenly happiness and both, naturally enough, were rooted in Latin.
The word was thus common to various languages, but in English it took a specific route and was to become "feast", as in saints' feast days. Chaucer's notion endured but only up to a point. There was joy and happiness on account of the celebration of a saint but any raucous element of such celebration was to die out. In Spain and Spain's colonies, however, the linguistic modification of "fiesta" was to take Chaucer and Dante's usages to whole new levels: heavenly happiness for the saint but a hell of a lot more joy for those still on Earth.
While American English was apparently infiltrated by "fiesta" 172 years ago, it is probably fair to say that for most British English speakers it wasn't a word to gain a great deal of currency until the Ford Motor Company offered one and the British headed for sunny Spain. Now well embedded in British English, a translation, as in party, doesn't do "fiesta" justification. It has its specific connotations that transcend a mere party.
Just as culture can reinvent meanings for words or give them additional nuance, so the things the words refer to can undergo transformation. The fiesta is very much a case in point, and "much" is even more to the point.
Time was that fiesta traditions in Mallorca determined that these traditions should not be tampered with. Demons are a prime example. Long ago they were allowed out only once a year and only in one place - Sa Pobla for its January fiestas for Sant Antoni. Despite traditionalists frowning on the spread of demons, fearing the tradition would be diluted, they did of course spread. Much later, when demons in Catalonia started brandishing tridents that whirled, made a heck of a racket and spat copious amounts of fire, the Sa Pobla demons swiftly followed suit. As did numerous other demons' gangs. The current "correfoc", an invention of the late 1970s, was thus born. Everyone was very joyful that it was and remain very joyful.
Fiestas in Mallorca haven't stagnated. Their developments do owe something to tourism in that they were decades ago looked upon as a means of attracting ever more tourists, but that touristic aspect has been superseded by the recognition that, above all else, fiestas are for local communities and are expressions of these communities. In line with this, there has been a process of reinvigoration and further transformation that is something of a social phenomenon.
Behind this are the young of Mallorca. Tempting it might be to suggest that new "fiestas" within fiestas are designed principally as excuses for drinking, but such temptation does no justice to the reclaiming of fiestas and indeed to a contemporary adaptation of traditional ways and customs. Accordingly, you have, among others, the almond-shell altercation of Petra, the grape battle of Binissalem or the melon mess of Vilafranca. And then you also have Sineu's Much.
Linguistically it might be nice to think that they'd dropped the "o" from "mucho" and adopted the English "much". Nice this might be, but it would be completely wrong to think this. Much (or "Muc") is a reference to a mythical bull which appears in the Mallorcan folk tales which the Manacor-born folkloricist Antoni Maria Alcover collected and began publishing some 130 years ago.
The tale of the Muc is characteristic of stories of giants, treasure and odd beasties and characters that Alcover compiled. Its setting is the "Puig de Reig" between Sineu and Sant Joan. There is treasure, the sipping of olive oil that has to be kept in the mouth while walking round the hill three times and a bull with candles on its horns who will guide whoever manages not to swallow the oil to the treasure. That's it in its basic form. There's a great deal more.
The Muc/Much fiesta started in 2004. Since then, it has grafted on all manner of elements in acquiring the status as, to use local parlance, the most "friki" of all summer fiesta events. It starts at 10am and goes on all day (this Sunday), and it is legitimate to say that it is freaky or downright weird. It also attracts people in their thousands.
Fiestas take on new meanings but at the same time they can invoke the spirits of long ago and the superstitions and tales of folklore about which Chaucer knew a thing or two.
The word was thus common to various languages, but in English it took a specific route and was to become "feast", as in saints' feast days. Chaucer's notion endured but only up to a point. There was joy and happiness on account of the celebration of a saint but any raucous element of such celebration was to die out. In Spain and Spain's colonies, however, the linguistic modification of "fiesta" was to take Chaucer and Dante's usages to whole new levels: heavenly happiness for the saint but a hell of a lot more joy for those still on Earth.
While American English was apparently infiltrated by "fiesta" 172 years ago, it is probably fair to say that for most British English speakers it wasn't a word to gain a great deal of currency until the Ford Motor Company offered one and the British headed for sunny Spain. Now well embedded in British English, a translation, as in party, doesn't do "fiesta" justification. It has its specific connotations that transcend a mere party.
Just as culture can reinvent meanings for words or give them additional nuance, so the things the words refer to can undergo transformation. The fiesta is very much a case in point, and "much" is even more to the point.
Time was that fiesta traditions in Mallorca determined that these traditions should not be tampered with. Demons are a prime example. Long ago they were allowed out only once a year and only in one place - Sa Pobla for its January fiestas for Sant Antoni. Despite traditionalists frowning on the spread of demons, fearing the tradition would be diluted, they did of course spread. Much later, when demons in Catalonia started brandishing tridents that whirled, made a heck of a racket and spat copious amounts of fire, the Sa Pobla demons swiftly followed suit. As did numerous other demons' gangs. The current "correfoc", an invention of the late 1970s, was thus born. Everyone was very joyful that it was and remain very joyful.
Fiestas in Mallorca haven't stagnated. Their developments do owe something to tourism in that they were decades ago looked upon as a means of attracting ever more tourists, but that touristic aspect has been superseded by the recognition that, above all else, fiestas are for local communities and are expressions of these communities. In line with this, there has been a process of reinvigoration and further transformation that is something of a social phenomenon.
Behind this are the young of Mallorca. Tempting it might be to suggest that new "fiestas" within fiestas are designed principally as excuses for drinking, but such temptation does no justice to the reclaiming of fiestas and indeed to a contemporary adaptation of traditional ways and customs. Accordingly, you have, among others, the almond-shell altercation of Petra, the grape battle of Binissalem or the melon mess of Vilafranca. And then you also have Sineu's Much.
Linguistically it might be nice to think that they'd dropped the "o" from "mucho" and adopted the English "much". Nice this might be, but it would be completely wrong to think this. Much (or "Muc") is a reference to a mythical bull which appears in the Mallorcan folk tales which the Manacor-born folkloricist Antoni Maria Alcover collected and began publishing some 130 years ago.
The tale of the Muc is characteristic of stories of giants, treasure and odd beasties and characters that Alcover compiled. Its setting is the "Puig de Reig" between Sineu and Sant Joan. There is treasure, the sipping of olive oil that has to be kept in the mouth while walking round the hill three times and a bull with candles on its horns who will guide whoever manages not to swallow the oil to the treasure. That's it in its basic form. There's a great deal more.
The Muc/Much fiesta started in 2004. Since then, it has grafted on all manner of elements in acquiring the status as, to use local parlance, the most "friki" of all summer fiesta events. It starts at 10am and goes on all day (this Sunday), and it is legitimate to say that it is freaky or downright weird. It also attracts people in their thousands.
Fiestas take on new meanings but at the same time they can invoke the spirits of long ago and the superstitions and tales of folklore about which Chaucer knew a thing or two.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 10 August 2016
Morning high (6.03am): 22C
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 11 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 12 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 13 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6 easing 3 to 4 by the evening. Occasionally rough with a chance of rain.
Still expected to be cloudy today albeit the prediction has moderated somewhat: only an outside chance of any rain. Breezy at times and staying so for the next couple of days.
Evening update (19.00): Cloudy much of the day. Sunny spells and certainly sunnier later on. High of 28.6C.
Forecast high: 27C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 11 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 12 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 13 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6 easing 3 to 4 by the evening. Occasionally rough with a chance of rain.
Still expected to be cloudy today albeit the prediction has moderated somewhat: only an outside chance of any rain. Breezy at times and staying so for the next couple of days.
Evening update (19.00): Cloudy much of the day. Sunny spells and certainly sunnier later on. High of 28.6C.
Educating Mallorca: It's Not Just Language
The Balearic government is the first regional authority in Spain to lodge a challenge to the implementation of provisions under Madrid's law for the improvement of the quality of education (Lomce). Specifically for aspects as they apply at secondary and Baccalaureate levels, the regional education minister, Martí March, has described the curriculum as "highly elitist, segregating and taking us back to Franco's times".
One of the main objections that March has is to the introduction of external testing. While not opposed to tests as such, he fears that they will undermine and marginalise a greater emphasis on continuous assessment and thus be sole determinants of a pupil's progress. He isn't the only education minister to query the use of testing. For example in Castile and Leon, where the government is run by the Partido Popular, its minister has voiced concerns.
March believes that Lomce and its tests do not answer the needs of current-day society, and he may well be right in believing this, but the problem he has is in convincing society in the Balearics that he has a better solution to the problems that exist in the islands' system of public education. If he has, he might begin by establishing what the "needs" actually are.
Education, fundamental though it is, is an issue which is usually too dry to attract a great deal of public attention. Debates over curriculum can seem too removed. When educational affairs become more explosive, as happened with the trilingual teaching rumpus and the subsequent teachers' strike, they come firmly into the public domain. Otherwise, parents and society in general issue a collective sigh that expresses their ennui with the issue and with politicians endlessly kicking it around.
So even when March alludes to "needs", a constant enough word in any politician's lexicon, the reaction is firmly in neutral. No one much listens because no one is much interested. What might these needs be? Good education? Better education? As a teacher might request - define and discuss. And more to the point, seek to quantify. Increased percentages for this or that. Defined higher numbers going to university. Defined lower numbers dropping out. Defined higher numbers attaining higher scores in languages, maths and science. Target-setting, in other words, and performance measures - pupils, teachers and schools - plus testing. Where have we heard all that before?
People should of course listen and should of course be interested, and not only parents. And of these parents, in Mallorca there are significant numbers who are foreign. Not all can afford private schooling, so the kids go to the public schools and into a public education system that has constantly underperformed. It does perform in other regions of Spain, but the Balearics is one of the worst.
Might there be mitigating circumstances for the repeatedly low attainment in core skills and subjects, and might one of them be the foreign pupil quotient? The Balearics as a whole has the highest foreign population percentage among all the Spanish regions. It also has the highest percentage of foreign pupils, albeit this is not evenly distributed. According to data for 2012, foreign pupils accounted for 11.9% of the primary school population but 18.7% at secondary level, which is where international comparisons are made that indicate the underperformance in key areas.
But what these figures don't reveal is how many of these pupils are Spanish (and/or Catalan) speakers or the age at which they entered the local education system. (The greatest numbers of foreign pupils across the country are of Moroccan and Romanian origin.) Intuitively one has to accept that the age of entrance and native language may prove disadvantageous (and that almost seven per cent difference between primary and secondary might be considered to be very revealing). However, even allowing for this there is now information from the Balearic government itself which reveals failings in key areas, one of them being language.
The government's own institute for education system quality assessment reports that four out of ten 13-year-olds fail to reach required levels in both Catalan and Castellano. Moreover, this situation has been getting worse. For maths, the figure climbs to almost 60%. Such underachievement cannot possibly be explained by a foreign-pupil population.
The inabilities when it comes to the two official languages should be very concerning for March and his ministry. In other regions with two languages, such as the Basque Country where educational performance is vastly superior, there aren't weaknesses.
It might be tempting to consider government policies on language and the way they change to be at the heart of Balearic underperformance, but even these cannot provide a full explanation. The question, therefore, is what does. March can attack Lomce and may be right in doing so, but that, as was also the case with the trilingual teaching row, shouldn't divert attention from an underlying malaise, its identification and remedy. Those are the needs.
One of the main objections that March has is to the introduction of external testing. While not opposed to tests as such, he fears that they will undermine and marginalise a greater emphasis on continuous assessment and thus be sole determinants of a pupil's progress. He isn't the only education minister to query the use of testing. For example in Castile and Leon, where the government is run by the Partido Popular, its minister has voiced concerns.
March believes that Lomce and its tests do not answer the needs of current-day society, and he may well be right in believing this, but the problem he has is in convincing society in the Balearics that he has a better solution to the problems that exist in the islands' system of public education. If he has, he might begin by establishing what the "needs" actually are.
Education, fundamental though it is, is an issue which is usually too dry to attract a great deal of public attention. Debates over curriculum can seem too removed. When educational affairs become more explosive, as happened with the trilingual teaching rumpus and the subsequent teachers' strike, they come firmly into the public domain. Otherwise, parents and society in general issue a collective sigh that expresses their ennui with the issue and with politicians endlessly kicking it around.
So even when March alludes to "needs", a constant enough word in any politician's lexicon, the reaction is firmly in neutral. No one much listens because no one is much interested. What might these needs be? Good education? Better education? As a teacher might request - define and discuss. And more to the point, seek to quantify. Increased percentages for this or that. Defined higher numbers going to university. Defined lower numbers dropping out. Defined higher numbers attaining higher scores in languages, maths and science. Target-setting, in other words, and performance measures - pupils, teachers and schools - plus testing. Where have we heard all that before?
People should of course listen and should of course be interested, and not only parents. And of these parents, in Mallorca there are significant numbers who are foreign. Not all can afford private schooling, so the kids go to the public schools and into a public education system that has constantly underperformed. It does perform in other regions of Spain, but the Balearics is one of the worst.
Might there be mitigating circumstances for the repeatedly low attainment in core skills and subjects, and might one of them be the foreign pupil quotient? The Balearics as a whole has the highest foreign population percentage among all the Spanish regions. It also has the highest percentage of foreign pupils, albeit this is not evenly distributed. According to data for 2012, foreign pupils accounted for 11.9% of the primary school population but 18.7% at secondary level, which is where international comparisons are made that indicate the underperformance in key areas.
But what these figures don't reveal is how many of these pupils are Spanish (and/or Catalan) speakers or the age at which they entered the local education system. (The greatest numbers of foreign pupils across the country are of Moroccan and Romanian origin.) Intuitively one has to accept that the age of entrance and native language may prove disadvantageous (and that almost seven per cent difference between primary and secondary might be considered to be very revealing). However, even allowing for this there is now information from the Balearic government itself which reveals failings in key areas, one of them being language.
The government's own institute for education system quality assessment reports that four out of ten 13-year-olds fail to reach required levels in both Catalan and Castellano. Moreover, this situation has been getting worse. For maths, the figure climbs to almost 60%. Such underachievement cannot possibly be explained by a foreign-pupil population.
The inabilities when it comes to the two official languages should be very concerning for March and his ministry. In other regions with two languages, such as the Basque Country where educational performance is vastly superior, there aren't weaknesses.
It might be tempting to consider government policies on language and the way they change to be at the heart of Balearic underperformance, but even these cannot provide a full explanation. The question, therefore, is what does. March can attack Lomce and may be right in doing so, but that, as was also the case with the trilingual teaching row, shouldn't divert attention from an underlying malaise, its identification and remedy. Those are the needs.
Tuesday, August 09, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 9 August 2016
Morning high (6.03am): 21.2C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 10 August - Cloud, wind, 26C; 11 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 26C; 12 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest and Variable 2 increasing Northeast 3 to 4 around midday.
Fine today but that forecast for tomorrow has reverted to what it had been and now brings with it more of a chance of rain. Looks like tomorrow may be a day for Palma police to activate "Operación Nube" (Operation Cloud) for when tourists descend on the city in hire cars and bring the place to a standstill.
Evening update (21.00): High of 31.8C.
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 10 August - Cloud, wind, 26C; 11 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 26C; 12 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northwest and Variable 2 increasing Northeast 3 to 4 around midday.
Fine today but that forecast for tomorrow has reverted to what it had been and now brings with it more of a chance of rain. Looks like tomorrow may be a day for Palma police to activate "Operación Nube" (Operation Cloud) for when tourists descend on the city in hire cars and bring the place to a standstill.
Evening update (21.00): High of 31.8C.
Square Names: Spain and Franco
When, do you imagine, will the nationalist (Mallorcan) left in Palma present the motion for a decree to change the name of Plaça Espanya? There wouldn't be anything so mad as altering it officially to Plaza España (which officially it used to be), for clear reasons of politico-linguistic correctness, or Anglicising it as Spain Square (which would be utterly ridiculous). Rather, there would be an entirely different name. Anyone care to offer some alternatives? Perhaps there should be a referendum, otherwise known in Palma-land as a citizens' consultation.
One possibility might be Plaça Més in recognition of all things Mallorcan nationalist. Or how about pre-empting the elevation of the mayor-in-waiting to the rank of mayor next year? Rename it Plaça Antoni Noguera, the deputy mayor who models cities, or one in particular. While they're at it, just rename Palma, but for God's sake leave off the "de Mallorca": Antoni Noguera, the new capital of Mallorca, named in his own image.
Why might they even consider a renaming of the square? The clue, quite clearly, is in the current name. Espanya (aka España): Spain, a concept of nationalism at variance with the one promoted by Més. Think they might not? Well think again. The Més brethren in Sencelles have succeeded in getting the town's Spain square converted to, erm, the Town square, Plaça de la Vila.
Sencelles isn't of course Palma. It is a rural backwater known principally for its wine and for the youth of the municipality haring around the streets on old Mobylettes while being hosed down with water (drought, what drought?) and then rolling two giant bales of hay into the square (Espanya or otherwise) before proceeding to throw the hay at each other. But notwithstanding its comparative inconsequence in the scheme of Mallorcan things (everywhere is inconsequential compared with Palma), Sencelles may act as the spur for Palma to follow the lead of somewhere in the sticks rather than presuming that it must always lead others.
For Palma, for Més and for its republican tendencies, there is an additional justification. Més in Sencelles weren't simply objecting to Spain being the name of the square, there was also the fact that it was "Francoist denomination". And in this regard, Més were absolutely correct. The Spain name was applied following the Civil War, so the renaming is a case of going back to how things were. Few people actually call it Plaça Espanya in any event.
A similar situation applies to Palma's Plaça Espanya. Once upon a time, certainly from the seventeenth century, an area was known as the Plaça de la Porta Pintada in reference to the gate in the mediaeval walls through which it is said that King Jaume I entered in his conquest of 1229. The square was for a time also known as Joanot Colom. He was one of the leaders of the sixteenth-century Germanies uprising that was eventually put down by Carlos V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Colom was beheaded, drawn and quartered, and Porta Pintada was one of the locations for his remains to be put on show. This name endured for a couple of decades before it became Eusebi Estada, who was the chap mainly responsible for building Mallorca's railway. A further couple of decades on, and along came Franco.
In 1990, the Castellano Plaza España was officially dropped in favour of the Catalan. Around the same time, the name Plaça de la Porta Pintada was restored, but it refers only to a part by Olms street.
Going back in time, the historical legacy of the smaller square might suggest that the whole of Plaça Espanya should revert to its seventeenth-century name. Moreover, and apart from direct nationalist sentiments, there is also the fact of the statue of Jaume I and so the link to the days of the conquest and the tale of the Porta Pintada. However, given a desire for historical accuracy, Porta Pintada cannot claim to be the whole square, as it didn't used to occupy the area it now does.
Might there be a change of name? In Sencelles it probably doesn't cause too many issues, but in Palma it would do. Plaça Espanya is very well known and referenced. But as has been seen with the Feixina monument and the intention to demolish it, the current town hall is not averse to seeking to eliminate Francoist symbolism.
There are of course plenty of other Spain squares knocking around. Inca has one, for instance. As it also has a calle Héroes del Baleares, a reference to the same circumstances surrounding the monument. Més have been calling for it to be done away with for years. The street has another name, La Balanguera (the Mallorcan hymn), but the very fact that there are two names creates confusion.
Change the name of Plaça Espanya? Well maybe, but the confusion would be immense.
One possibility might be Plaça Més in recognition of all things Mallorcan nationalist. Or how about pre-empting the elevation of the mayor-in-waiting to the rank of mayor next year? Rename it Plaça Antoni Noguera, the deputy mayor who models cities, or one in particular. While they're at it, just rename Palma, but for God's sake leave off the "de Mallorca": Antoni Noguera, the new capital of Mallorca, named in his own image.
Why might they even consider a renaming of the square? The clue, quite clearly, is in the current name. Espanya (aka España): Spain, a concept of nationalism at variance with the one promoted by Més. Think they might not? Well think again. The Més brethren in Sencelles have succeeded in getting the town's Spain square converted to, erm, the Town square, Plaça de la Vila.
Sencelles isn't of course Palma. It is a rural backwater known principally for its wine and for the youth of the municipality haring around the streets on old Mobylettes while being hosed down with water (drought, what drought?) and then rolling two giant bales of hay into the square (Espanya or otherwise) before proceeding to throw the hay at each other. But notwithstanding its comparative inconsequence in the scheme of Mallorcan things (everywhere is inconsequential compared with Palma), Sencelles may act as the spur for Palma to follow the lead of somewhere in the sticks rather than presuming that it must always lead others.
For Palma, for Més and for its republican tendencies, there is an additional justification. Més in Sencelles weren't simply objecting to Spain being the name of the square, there was also the fact that it was "Francoist denomination". And in this regard, Més were absolutely correct. The Spain name was applied following the Civil War, so the renaming is a case of going back to how things were. Few people actually call it Plaça Espanya in any event.
A similar situation applies to Palma's Plaça Espanya. Once upon a time, certainly from the seventeenth century, an area was known as the Plaça de la Porta Pintada in reference to the gate in the mediaeval walls through which it is said that King Jaume I entered in his conquest of 1229. The square was for a time also known as Joanot Colom. He was one of the leaders of the sixteenth-century Germanies uprising that was eventually put down by Carlos V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Colom was beheaded, drawn and quartered, and Porta Pintada was one of the locations for his remains to be put on show. This name endured for a couple of decades before it became Eusebi Estada, who was the chap mainly responsible for building Mallorca's railway. A further couple of decades on, and along came Franco.
In 1990, the Castellano Plaza España was officially dropped in favour of the Catalan. Around the same time, the name Plaça de la Porta Pintada was restored, but it refers only to a part by Olms street.
Going back in time, the historical legacy of the smaller square might suggest that the whole of Plaça Espanya should revert to its seventeenth-century name. Moreover, and apart from direct nationalist sentiments, there is also the fact of the statue of Jaume I and so the link to the days of the conquest and the tale of the Porta Pintada. However, given a desire for historical accuracy, Porta Pintada cannot claim to be the whole square, as it didn't used to occupy the area it now does.
Might there be a change of name? In Sencelles it probably doesn't cause too many issues, but in Palma it would do. Plaça Espanya is very well known and referenced. But as has been seen with the Feixina monument and the intention to demolish it, the current town hall is not averse to seeking to eliminate Francoist symbolism.
There are of course plenty of other Spain squares knocking around. Inca has one, for instance. As it also has a calle Héroes del Baleares, a reference to the same circumstances surrounding the monument. Més have been calling for it to be done away with for years. The street has another name, La Balanguera (the Mallorcan hymn), but the very fact that there are two names creates confusion.
Change the name of Plaça Espanya? Well maybe, but the confusion would be immense.
Monday, August 08, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 8 August 2016
Morning high (6.18am): 21.8C
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 9 August - Sun, 29C; 10 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 26C; 11 August - Sun, cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 3 to 4.
A fine day ahead. Breezes lighter today and picking up again from tomorrow. Improvement to the forecast for Wednesday; now looking less cloudy.
Evening update (20.15): High of 31.7C.
Forecast high: 30C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 9 August - Sun, 29C; 10 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 26C; 11 August - Sun, cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 3 to 4.
A fine day ahead. Breezes lighter today and picking up again from tomorrow. Improvement to the forecast for Wednesday; now looking less cloudy.
Evening update (20.15): High of 31.7C.
Royal Week In Mallorca
Spain's royals are no different to other royals - those who are of some significance, that is - when it comes to being obliged to do the press photo shoot. And there's no better time to shoot them, so to speak, than when they're enjoying their annual hols by the seaside. This is all pretty normal, but what wasn't last week was the apparent sponsoring by a fashion store. Which one was it, do you suppose? Zara, Armani, Marks and Sparks? Primark perhaps. Probably not.
You might determine that fashion is not one of my strong suits (sic), but even I couldn't fail to notice that there was something of the catalogue about their highnesses and the two nippers as they strolled around the Marivent gardens (minus any citizens getting in the way). Summer casuals with style: it would be something like that I would imagine, were I to pay any attention to the frivolity of fashion sloganising.
The King, being the solitary male in the family group, was rather more bold in the choice of shirt colour than the hoopy, stripy, light estival blues and whites of the royal females, yet even he had succumbed to the subdued subtleties of the fashion parade. So much so that the shirt and trouser combination appeared to have been borrowed from Iglesias (Pablo, that is, and not either of Julio or Enrique). Was this a sign, did one suppose? His Majesty has, after all, had to endure a less than totally relaxing vacation, what with attempting the seemingly impossible, that of finding anyone to run the country. But Iglesias? Hard to believe, given that Podemos turned down the chance of some decent nosebag at yesterday evening's shindig at the Almudaina.
The King will have been able to reacquaint himself with the one Podemista who deigns to show up on these occasions and then only because she's obliged to as the speaker (president) of the Balearic parliament. Xe-Lo, for it is she, does of course have her own fashion line. It's a sort of Mama Cass circa 1967 minus the chemicals. It most certainly won't be a brand that Tizzy will be recommending for the next royal photo opp.
I'm still interested to know, and I've been waiting a year, if Xe-Lo actually took along a doggy bag to the previous Almudaina thrash and filled it with some canapes and the odd bottle of cava and then thumbed a lift to the nearest soup kitchen. She had, it should be recalled, let the King know that money for the reception could have been more wisely spent on the deprived citizens of the city, i.e. those at the soup kitchen(s). In the absence of any official communique from Podemos, I would have to assume that she contented herself with tucking into things on sticks and forgot.
Other royals have also been in circulation. The former king put in what is now a rare appearance in Mallorca because of his sister's eightieth do, and the following evening the various generations headed off to the Land of the Beautiful People for dinner. What is it with reporting on these occasions? The royals were at a "well-known restaurant". Why not just say that it's Flanigan, especially as the name is clearly to be seen in the bloody photo. There again, the hoi-polloi would be unfamiliar with restaurants down Portals way. The place is a bit like Jersey. They put barriers across the road to keep the riff-raff out and demand to see evidence of wealth from a bank statement. Not that there is a great deal of wealth actually kept in banks down Portals way one would imagine.
Then there were the Urdangarin minors, taken off to the regatta by the Queen Mum. Nowhere to be seen were the parents. The Queen Mum was beaming as she always does beam. God bless her, given what she has to put up with. We were informed that the nippers - Sofia and Leonor - would not be at the regatta as they "do not practise sailing". They may well not do, though being seen with the cousins might constitute some awkwardness, what with the business with the parents.
Of all the royals on show, it is possible that Podemos would have taken greatest exception to the King's other sister, Elena, the one who isn't waiting to hear what fate the judges have for her. Elena went to the bullfight. So did her two children. Isn't there something about under-16s not being allowed into bullfights? According to Wikipedia, the daughter, Victoria, isn't 16 until 9 September. If so, then Podemos (and others) might want their say on the matter. Sounds like a case of shooting one's royal self in the foot. Which of course is precisely what Elena's son did, when he was under 14 and not meant to have been using a firearm because of his age. But then, as they say, age is just a number.
You might determine that fashion is not one of my strong suits (sic), but even I couldn't fail to notice that there was something of the catalogue about their highnesses and the two nippers as they strolled around the Marivent gardens (minus any citizens getting in the way). Summer casuals with style: it would be something like that I would imagine, were I to pay any attention to the frivolity of fashion sloganising.
The King, being the solitary male in the family group, was rather more bold in the choice of shirt colour than the hoopy, stripy, light estival blues and whites of the royal females, yet even he had succumbed to the subdued subtleties of the fashion parade. So much so that the shirt and trouser combination appeared to have been borrowed from Iglesias (Pablo, that is, and not either of Julio or Enrique). Was this a sign, did one suppose? His Majesty has, after all, had to endure a less than totally relaxing vacation, what with attempting the seemingly impossible, that of finding anyone to run the country. But Iglesias? Hard to believe, given that Podemos turned down the chance of some decent nosebag at yesterday evening's shindig at the Almudaina.
The King will have been able to reacquaint himself with the one Podemista who deigns to show up on these occasions and then only because she's obliged to as the speaker (president) of the Balearic parliament. Xe-Lo, for it is she, does of course have her own fashion line. It's a sort of Mama Cass circa 1967 minus the chemicals. It most certainly won't be a brand that Tizzy will be recommending for the next royal photo opp.
I'm still interested to know, and I've been waiting a year, if Xe-Lo actually took along a doggy bag to the previous Almudaina thrash and filled it with some canapes and the odd bottle of cava and then thumbed a lift to the nearest soup kitchen. She had, it should be recalled, let the King know that money for the reception could have been more wisely spent on the deprived citizens of the city, i.e. those at the soup kitchen(s). In the absence of any official communique from Podemos, I would have to assume that she contented herself with tucking into things on sticks and forgot.
Other royals have also been in circulation. The former king put in what is now a rare appearance in Mallorca because of his sister's eightieth do, and the following evening the various generations headed off to the Land of the Beautiful People for dinner. What is it with reporting on these occasions? The royals were at a "well-known restaurant". Why not just say that it's Flanigan, especially as the name is clearly to be seen in the bloody photo. There again, the hoi-polloi would be unfamiliar with restaurants down Portals way. The place is a bit like Jersey. They put barriers across the road to keep the riff-raff out and demand to see evidence of wealth from a bank statement. Not that there is a great deal of wealth actually kept in banks down Portals way one would imagine.
Then there were the Urdangarin minors, taken off to the regatta by the Queen Mum. Nowhere to be seen were the parents. The Queen Mum was beaming as she always does beam. God bless her, given what she has to put up with. We were informed that the nippers - Sofia and Leonor - would not be at the regatta as they "do not practise sailing". They may well not do, though being seen with the cousins might constitute some awkwardness, what with the business with the parents.
Of all the royals on show, it is possible that Podemos would have taken greatest exception to the King's other sister, Elena, the one who isn't waiting to hear what fate the judges have for her. Elena went to the bullfight. So did her two children. Isn't there something about under-16s not being allowed into bullfights? According to Wikipedia, the daughter, Victoria, isn't 16 until 9 September. If so, then Podemos (and others) might want their say on the matter. Sounds like a case of shooting one's royal self in the foot. Which of course is precisely what Elena's son did, when he was under 14 and not meant to have been using a firearm because of his age. But then, as they say, age is just a number.
Sunday, August 07, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 7 August 2016
Morning high (5.40am): 23.1C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 8 August - Sun, 30C; 9 August - Sun, 29C; 10 August - Cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 to 6. Swells easing to one metre.
Expected to be mainly sunny today with quite stiff northerlies at times. Outlook for the week now suggesting cloudy days on Wednesday and Thursday.
Evening update (19.00): Some cloud this morning, but that disappeared to give a very good day. High of 29.8C.
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 8 August - Sun, 30C; 9 August - Sun, 29C; 10 August - Cloud, 26C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North 4 to 6. Swells easing to one metre.
Expected to be mainly sunny today with quite stiff northerlies at times. Outlook for the week now suggesting cloudy days on Wednesday and Thursday.
Evening update (19.00): Some cloud this morning, but that disappeared to give a very good day. High of 29.8C.
Where Common People Go: Lloret
The region known as the plain of Mallorca (Pla de Mallorca) extends from Algaida to the bay of Alcudia. For administrative purposes, the two coastal municipalities - Muro and Santa Margalida - are not part of what is referred to as the "mancomunidad" of the plain. This "commonwealth" of municipalities is the most active of ones that exist in Mallorca, and one of its activities is trying to attract more tourism.
Once upon a time, in the days before mass tourism, the plain was - all things being relative - well populated. The migration to the coasts in search of employment and the dramatic shift away from an agrarian economy changed this. While populations elsewhere have risen markedly by comparison, those of the plain have stood still or even declined.
Ambitions that the mancomunidad has for tourism are based principally on agrotourism and rural hotels, but this is a region where there is more than quiet villages and farming. It is one with echoes of long-ago spirituality, as with the Cura Sanctuary and the Puig de Randa in Algaida, where the thirteenth-century religious philosopher Ramon Llull went to experience an hermitic existence. There is also Petra, the birthplace of Father Junipero Serra, now a saint, the founder of many of California's missionaries. In a more secular sense, there is the one-time palace of the Mallorcan kings in Sineu.
The common interests of the mancomunidad were at variance with its two most northerly members. Despite their own long and rich agricultural traditions, Muro and Santa Margalida with their respective tourism-resort economies found, or thought they did, greater common purpose with other coastal municipalities. Together with Alcudia and Pollensa, they formed a separate mancomunidad, which broke down through lack of interest, or rather because of the specific interests of resort towns to a degree in competition with each other.
Common purpose on the plain might be said to be no more typified than by one of the smallest of the municipalities. Lloret de Vistalegre is at the heart of the mancomunidad. It's not the nominal capital - Sineu is - but it is surrounded by five other municipalities, and one of its principal claims to fame, confirming its place at the heart of the region, is that it is home to the geographic centre of Mallorca. This is in what is called Sa Comuna. Sometimes translated as "commune", it is a common and was for the use of the common man. It still is. As a communal space, it dates to the twelfth century when it formed part of the farm estate of Manresa.
Lloret may be tiny, it may be easily overlooked, but as with many places in Mallorca it has its own complicated past. Manresa gives a clue, as this is what Lloret used to be known as. At the end of the sixteenth century, Manresa was dropped, not in an official way but because the common will determined that it was substituted. The new name was Llorito, and there are plenty who nowadays still refer to this. As ever, there are arguments as to the derivation of this name, but the definitive one has to do with the founding of the convent to Our Lady of Loreto.
The Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto on the Italian east coast contains the house of the Holy Family, which was supposedly and miraculously transported to Loreto at the time of the Crusades. Anyway, this led to the devotion of Our Lady and ultimately to the founding of the convent in what was then Manresa. With the arrival of the convent, Llorito was adopted, though there were different versions, such as Laureto and Lloret. It is argued that Lloret was the original Mallorquín name.
But how did it come to be Vista Alegre as well? Having officially adopted Lloret in 1927, the town hall added this in order to distinguish it from other Llorets. Pretty simple really. Just call it Lloret with a nice view. In 2000, the Vista and Alegre were officially joined and became Vistalegre.
The parish church of the Virgin of Lloret is one of the typically colossal structures that seems out of proportion to the demands of what has never been a large local population. Nevertheless, as with other such churches, it is one for which we should be grateful on account of its splendour. The Virgin is, though, only one patron. The other is Sant Domingo - Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order. He died on 6 August, 1221. It is therefore fiesta time in Lloret, and tonight the demons will be marauding.
The story of Lloret is, above all, one of the common people. Now part of a "commonwealth", it has its famous common, while its name owes everything to the common will.
Once upon a time, in the days before mass tourism, the plain was - all things being relative - well populated. The migration to the coasts in search of employment and the dramatic shift away from an agrarian economy changed this. While populations elsewhere have risen markedly by comparison, those of the plain have stood still or even declined.
Ambitions that the mancomunidad has for tourism are based principally on agrotourism and rural hotels, but this is a region where there is more than quiet villages and farming. It is one with echoes of long-ago spirituality, as with the Cura Sanctuary and the Puig de Randa in Algaida, where the thirteenth-century religious philosopher Ramon Llull went to experience an hermitic existence. There is also Petra, the birthplace of Father Junipero Serra, now a saint, the founder of many of California's missionaries. In a more secular sense, there is the one-time palace of the Mallorcan kings in Sineu.
The common interests of the mancomunidad were at variance with its two most northerly members. Despite their own long and rich agricultural traditions, Muro and Santa Margalida with their respective tourism-resort economies found, or thought they did, greater common purpose with other coastal municipalities. Together with Alcudia and Pollensa, they formed a separate mancomunidad, which broke down through lack of interest, or rather because of the specific interests of resort towns to a degree in competition with each other.
Common purpose on the plain might be said to be no more typified than by one of the smallest of the municipalities. Lloret de Vistalegre is at the heart of the mancomunidad. It's not the nominal capital - Sineu is - but it is surrounded by five other municipalities, and one of its principal claims to fame, confirming its place at the heart of the region, is that it is home to the geographic centre of Mallorca. This is in what is called Sa Comuna. Sometimes translated as "commune", it is a common and was for the use of the common man. It still is. As a communal space, it dates to the twelfth century when it formed part of the farm estate of Manresa.
Lloret may be tiny, it may be easily overlooked, but as with many places in Mallorca it has its own complicated past. Manresa gives a clue, as this is what Lloret used to be known as. At the end of the sixteenth century, Manresa was dropped, not in an official way but because the common will determined that it was substituted. The new name was Llorito, and there are plenty who nowadays still refer to this. As ever, there are arguments as to the derivation of this name, but the definitive one has to do with the founding of the convent to Our Lady of Loreto.
The Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto on the Italian east coast contains the house of the Holy Family, which was supposedly and miraculously transported to Loreto at the time of the Crusades. Anyway, this led to the devotion of Our Lady and ultimately to the founding of the convent in what was then Manresa. With the arrival of the convent, Llorito was adopted, though there were different versions, such as Laureto and Lloret. It is argued that Lloret was the original Mallorquín name.
But how did it come to be Vista Alegre as well? Having officially adopted Lloret in 1927, the town hall added this in order to distinguish it from other Llorets. Pretty simple really. Just call it Lloret with a nice view. In 2000, the Vista and Alegre were officially joined and became Vistalegre.
The parish church of the Virgin of Lloret is one of the typically colossal structures that seems out of proportion to the demands of what has never been a large local population. Nevertheless, as with other such churches, it is one for which we should be grateful on account of its splendour. The Virgin is, though, only one patron. The other is Sant Domingo - Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order. He died on 6 August, 1221. It is therefore fiesta time in Lloret, and tonight the demons will be marauding.
The story of Lloret is, above all, one of the common people. Now part of a "commonwealth", it has its famous common, while its name owes everything to the common will.
Saturday, August 06, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 6 August 2016
Morning high (6.05am): 22.2C
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 7 August - Sun, wind, 28C; 8 August - Sun, 29C; 9 August - Sun, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 4 to 6 easing 3 to 4 in the afternoon. Swells to two metres.
Expected to still be quite breezy today and tomorrow, but that's no bad thing at all. General outlook is stable, with temperatures over the following days edging towards the 30 mark.
Evening update (21.00): Clouded over somewhat this evening. High today of 29.7C.
Forecast high: 29C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 7 August - Sun, wind, 28C; 8 August - Sun, 29C; 9 August - Sun, 29C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): North-Northeast 4 to 6 easing 3 to 4 in the afternoon. Swells to two metres.
Expected to still be quite breezy today and tomorrow, but that's no bad thing at all. General outlook is stable, with temperatures over the following days edging towards the 30 mark.
Evening update (21.00): Clouded over somewhat this evening. High today of 29.7C.
What Did The Government Know About Low Cost?
The Balearic government has finally made an official statement about the Low Cost Travel Group. Biel Barceló's appearance before parliament's tourism committee came two and a half weeks after the online travel agency collapsed. This was an appearance greeted with self-congratulation. PSOE's Isabel Oliver praised Barceló for "volunteering" to appear, in contrast to how ministers with the previous government would not. Barceló himself said that Abta had congratulated the government for its handling of the affair. Maybe Abta has done, but why did it take so long for there to be an official statement? Since the collapse there have been different messages emanating from the government, not all of them coherent. Its consumer affairs department said hotels could not demand payment from Low Cost customers, yet the government's website is still offering advice about claiming on credit cards or from the government if a second payment has been demanded, which it has been in most instances.
Barceló's reference to "speculation" by Low Cost was presumably a reference to trading that was going on right up to the last minute. He had said the same thing before he went before parliament, so nothing new there. Perhaps the only thing of real note to emerge from his appearance was what he had to say about employees at the ParcBit office having believed that it might be closed but had not suspected that the company would go under.
The "speculation", if one is to believe Low Cost's CEO Paul Evans, was because there was hope that a buyer would come forward. In the only interview he has given - with the UK's "Travel Weekly" - Evans made this claim. As revealingly, Evans suggested that the move to Palma may well have been a mistake. He was sure that it was a "contributory factor" in creating an adverse effect on trading. The loss of Atol and Abta coverage in the UK was therefore harmful.
A government cannot and should not attempt to micro-manage businesses, but there are questions about the government's role in the Low Cost affair that are simply not being addressed. The tourism ministry was in effect the regulator, the guarantor. Why was it seemingly so unaware of issues with the company? Why was the bond lodged with the government reduced from two million to 1.24 million? Why was a bond of that size lodged at all, when it was vastly in excess of what Balearic tourism law requires? Was it voluntary, as Evans says it was, or had it been insisted upon by the previous government? In either case, was this a recognition of the inherent risks of the Low Cost operation?
It wasn't of course only employees who had concerns. Several hotel chains have stepped forward to say that they had stopped working with Low Cost because it was a bad payer. This wasn't recent, it goes back to the time when Low Cost moved to Palma. Was the government, both current and previous, aware of this? If not, why not? It was the regulator. Was there, therefore, evidence of cash flow problems as well as high debts dating back some considerable time which the government chose to ignore or knew nothing of?
David Abril of Més suggests that the collapse of Low Cost will not be the last of its kind in the Balearics. If this is the case, then which other operators is he referring to and what monitoring is the government undertaking?
Rather than congratulating itself, the government should be taking a long, hard look at itself, and that's even before we move on to the question of redundancy payments, over which the government has no control. All it can do is to say that it is "insisting" on the procedure being started.
Barceló's reference to "speculation" by Low Cost was presumably a reference to trading that was going on right up to the last minute. He had said the same thing before he went before parliament, so nothing new there. Perhaps the only thing of real note to emerge from his appearance was what he had to say about employees at the ParcBit office having believed that it might be closed but had not suspected that the company would go under.
The "speculation", if one is to believe Low Cost's CEO Paul Evans, was because there was hope that a buyer would come forward. In the only interview he has given - with the UK's "Travel Weekly" - Evans made this claim. As revealingly, Evans suggested that the move to Palma may well have been a mistake. He was sure that it was a "contributory factor" in creating an adverse effect on trading. The loss of Atol and Abta coverage in the UK was therefore harmful.
A government cannot and should not attempt to micro-manage businesses, but there are questions about the government's role in the Low Cost affair that are simply not being addressed. The tourism ministry was in effect the regulator, the guarantor. Why was it seemingly so unaware of issues with the company? Why was the bond lodged with the government reduced from two million to 1.24 million? Why was a bond of that size lodged at all, when it was vastly in excess of what Balearic tourism law requires? Was it voluntary, as Evans says it was, or had it been insisted upon by the previous government? In either case, was this a recognition of the inherent risks of the Low Cost operation?
It wasn't of course only employees who had concerns. Several hotel chains have stepped forward to say that they had stopped working with Low Cost because it was a bad payer. This wasn't recent, it goes back to the time when Low Cost moved to Palma. Was the government, both current and previous, aware of this? If not, why not? It was the regulator. Was there, therefore, evidence of cash flow problems as well as high debts dating back some considerable time which the government chose to ignore or knew nothing of?
David Abril of Més suggests that the collapse of Low Cost will not be the last of its kind in the Balearics. If this is the case, then which other operators is he referring to and what monitoring is the government undertaking?
Rather than congratulating itself, the government should be taking a long, hard look at itself, and that's even before we move on to the question of redundancy payments, over which the government has no control. All it can do is to say that it is "insisting" on the procedure being started.
Friday, August 05, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 5 August 2016
Morning high (6.20am): 23.4C
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 6 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 29C; 7 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 28C; 8 August - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6 easing 4 to 5 in the late afternoon. Waves to three metres.
Wind has changed round with northerlies set to dominate for the next few days, the breezes quite strong at times.
Evening update (19.45): Well, quite a difference; ten degrees difference in terms of highs today and yesterday. Light cloud for much of the day. High of 28C.
Forecast high: 28C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 6 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 29C; 7 August - Sun, cloud, wind, 28C; 8 August - Sun, 28C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Northeast 5 to 6 easing 4 to 5 in the late afternoon. Waves to three metres.
Wind has changed round with northerlies set to dominate for the next few days, the breezes quite strong at times.
Evening update (19.45): Well, quite a difference; ten degrees difference in terms of highs today and yesterday. Light cloud for much of the day. High of 28C.
Mayors Who May Not Be Mayors
Here's a conundrum. Why is it that mayors may not be mayors? Is it because they are not allowed to be? How can that be, if they are already mayors? The question's illogical. Ah but, what if mayors may not be mayors because, despite appearances which indicate that they are, in reality they aren't? Does that clarify things? Tell you what, let's have an example.
It is the Partido Popular's Marga Duran who has let the cat out of the bag. She isn't a mayor, though she would have liked to have been. She lost out in Palma because the three-way alliance (?) between PSOE, Més and the Podemos Palma branch (Som Palma) blocked her way. As such, it might be expected that she would be less than glowing in her praise of the mayor who denied her the opportunity. So is it all sour grapes? One rather suspects that it isn't. In fact, one pretty much knows that it isn't. The cat left the bag long ago and has been been stroked benignly and smilingly ever since. By whom? By a mayor who may not be a mayor. José Hila, the mayor of Palma.
There's the title right enough, but otherwise ... ? Marga confirmed, if confirmation were required, the reality. In essence, Hila performs an honorary role. He appears when it is necessary for him to appear, smiles nicely, tells everyone that there's consensus and dialogue and then disappears to his honorary office. He may appear to be the mayor but he isn't. In Marga's damning words, he carries no authority. Instead, his town hall is governed by three factions, one of them his own - PSOE - from which some mutterings have emanated regarding his effectiveness. They have not been expressed loudly but they rumble lowly nevertheless in the seventeenth-century corridors of the old town hall.
Which is a bit of a shame. Hila seems to be a perfectly pleasant and decent bloke. One might disagree with some of his politics, but what's there to dislike? Smartly turned out, a ready smile, always there to offer supportive words. Perfect. But if all he's doing is performing an honorary function, then you would hope for all of this.
Is it really his fault? Up to a point it is. He was after all party to the three-party alliance of which he and PSOE are a part. The question mark following alliance above indicates that this alliance (aka pact) is not all that it may appear or wish to appear. Hila is thus a hostage to the misfortunes of PSOE in needing to establish pacts. Without them, they wouldn't be setting foot in the corridors of power, be they those of the town hall, regional government or the Council of Mallorca.
PSOE can generally only operate in alliance. It's been like this for some time in Mallorca, but until recently the dice were loaded in its favour. Since the elections last year, the dice have rolled differently. Where PSOE ostensibly lead, there are powers behind the thrones. Leaders, e.g. Hila, are therefore relegated to honorary roles. Grace and favour, bestowed on them by those who wield the real power, not because those others gained more votes but because without them PSOE would be nowhere.
President Armengol is similarly a hostage to misfortune. Her honorary function isn't, however, quite as tenuous as Hila's (not yet anyway). The mayor was only ever half a mayor anyway. Under the deal with Més and Som Palma, he'll be stepping aside next year. By August 2017 he will no longer be mayor. He's already, therefore, on his way out, though it is questionable whether he's ever been in. He will be succeeded by Antoni Noguera of Més. So sure was he of the prize that awaits him, that he was given (or more likely gave himself) the grand responsibility for the "model of the city". Blimey, it doesn't get more mayoral (in-waiting or already in practice) than that. He has the whole city in his hands. Unlike Hila.
Pacts, coalitions, alliances - call them what you like - can only work if there genuinely is consensus and not a stream of consciousness which seeks to confirm that there is. What one gets is what one has in Palma and the regional government. (The Council of Mallorca is rather different and that's largely due to Miquel Ensenyat.) Marga Duran is correct in referring to the "three governments" in Palma, the three parties each with their own domains, pursuing their own agendas. Oh, they'll say otherwise, and not just Hila, but is anyone really convinced?
Armengol, meanwhile, appears so in thrall to the model she presides over that she is wishing it on Pedro Sánchez, PSOE nationally and therefore Spain. But it is for appearance. She would hardly say anything else, given that she was taken hostage by Més and Podemos. Presidents as well as mayors may not be presidents.
It is the Partido Popular's Marga Duran who has let the cat out of the bag. She isn't a mayor, though she would have liked to have been. She lost out in Palma because the three-way alliance (?) between PSOE, Més and the Podemos Palma branch (Som Palma) blocked her way. As such, it might be expected that she would be less than glowing in her praise of the mayor who denied her the opportunity. So is it all sour grapes? One rather suspects that it isn't. In fact, one pretty much knows that it isn't. The cat left the bag long ago and has been been stroked benignly and smilingly ever since. By whom? By a mayor who may not be a mayor. José Hila, the mayor of Palma.
There's the title right enough, but otherwise ... ? Marga confirmed, if confirmation were required, the reality. In essence, Hila performs an honorary role. He appears when it is necessary for him to appear, smiles nicely, tells everyone that there's consensus and dialogue and then disappears to his honorary office. He may appear to be the mayor but he isn't. In Marga's damning words, he carries no authority. Instead, his town hall is governed by three factions, one of them his own - PSOE - from which some mutterings have emanated regarding his effectiveness. They have not been expressed loudly but they rumble lowly nevertheless in the seventeenth-century corridors of the old town hall.
Which is a bit of a shame. Hila seems to be a perfectly pleasant and decent bloke. One might disagree with some of his politics, but what's there to dislike? Smartly turned out, a ready smile, always there to offer supportive words. Perfect. But if all he's doing is performing an honorary function, then you would hope for all of this.
Is it really his fault? Up to a point it is. He was after all party to the three-party alliance of which he and PSOE are a part. The question mark following alliance above indicates that this alliance (aka pact) is not all that it may appear or wish to appear. Hila is thus a hostage to the misfortunes of PSOE in needing to establish pacts. Without them, they wouldn't be setting foot in the corridors of power, be they those of the town hall, regional government or the Council of Mallorca.
PSOE can generally only operate in alliance. It's been like this for some time in Mallorca, but until recently the dice were loaded in its favour. Since the elections last year, the dice have rolled differently. Where PSOE ostensibly lead, there are powers behind the thrones. Leaders, e.g. Hila, are therefore relegated to honorary roles. Grace and favour, bestowed on them by those who wield the real power, not because those others gained more votes but because without them PSOE would be nowhere.
President Armengol is similarly a hostage to misfortune. Her honorary function isn't, however, quite as tenuous as Hila's (not yet anyway). The mayor was only ever half a mayor anyway. Under the deal with Més and Som Palma, he'll be stepping aside next year. By August 2017 he will no longer be mayor. He's already, therefore, on his way out, though it is questionable whether he's ever been in. He will be succeeded by Antoni Noguera of Més. So sure was he of the prize that awaits him, that he was given (or more likely gave himself) the grand responsibility for the "model of the city". Blimey, it doesn't get more mayoral (in-waiting or already in practice) than that. He has the whole city in his hands. Unlike Hila.
Pacts, coalitions, alliances - call them what you like - can only work if there genuinely is consensus and not a stream of consciousness which seeks to confirm that there is. What one gets is what one has in Palma and the regional government. (The Council of Mallorca is rather different and that's largely due to Miquel Ensenyat.) Marga Duran is correct in referring to the "three governments" in Palma, the three parties each with their own domains, pursuing their own agendas. Oh, they'll say otherwise, and not just Hila, but is anyone really convinced?
Armengol, meanwhile, appears so in thrall to the model she presides over that she is wishing it on Pedro Sánchez, PSOE nationally and therefore Spain. But it is for appearance. She would hardly say anything else, given that she was taken hostage by Més and Podemos. Presidents as well as mayors may not be presidents.
Thursday, August 04, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 4 August 2016
Morning high (5.30am): 22C
Forecast high: 35C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 5 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 6 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 7 August - Sun, wind, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southeast 3 to 4, locally 5 by the evening.
Southerlies today are going to make things pretty stifling. High 30s in all areas. Tomorrow quite different as a strong northeasterly cools things down.
Evening update (20.00): High of 38.1C.
Forecast high: 35C; UV: 8
Three-day forecast: 5 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 6 August - Sun, cloud, 27C; 7 August - Sun, wind, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): South-Southeast 3 to 4, locally 5 by the evening.
Southerlies today are going to make things pretty stifling. High 30s in all areas. Tomorrow quite different as a strong northeasterly cools things down.
Evening update (20.00): High of 38.1C.
How Many Shopping Centres Do You Need?
It was before I got to the meat of the subject that I thought oh no, here we go again. And once I had got to the meat, the feeling hadn't altered. The first part was to do with theme parks. There it was, another plan for a theme park. Not quite bang in the centre of Palma but well inside its urban sprawl. It turned out not to be quite as thematic a park as the intro had intimated. Indoor ice-rinks, surf machines and botanical gardens aren't themes, they're attractions: add-ons to the meat of the beast - a shopping centre.
Mallorca has form with theme parks, very little of it positive. Anyone remember the Tierra Santa, the Christian theme park? Even Christians (ones with whom I discussed the project) were either sceptical or aghast. Last heard of, some years ago, it was being lined up for some land in Inca, having been touted around much of the island. And that was the last that was heard of it, thank God.
Or perhaps you'll recall the Danish operation, The Theme Park group, with its plan for a lavish project somewhere between Llucmajor and Campos. You must recall this one, what with the photos of representatives around a table with the Balearic president, José Ramón Bauzá. It was getting on for five years ago. Since then, nothing, though the website's still there with the promise of "an environmental and sustainable approach to the design of the project". One imagines that this is not necessarily in line with the sustainable philosophies of the current Balearic administration. It might have met with the philosophies of the Bauzá administration, but some time after its announcement, the tourism minister, Carlos Delgado, said he had no idea what was happening with it. Nor did anyone else.
Delgado was something of a theme-park advocate. Or at least he was when he entered government in 2011. There were various items on his wish-list, and theme parks were one of them. Perhaps it was the non-emergence of any which contributed to his resignation. His successor, Jaime Martínez, offered no such wishes, but when once asked about the possibility of theme-park development in Mallorca, he admitted that the possibilities were low if not zero. The regulatory and environmental hoops to go through would be tortuous and in all likelihood prohibitive.
So, when there was this recent reference to a theme park, my reaction was that it was dead in the water even before the announcement was made. But it wasn't of course a theme park as such. It was for a shopping centre. Oh no, here we go again. How many shopping centres does one city need or to be planned? Of the latter, we have, among others, the one for Ses Fontanelles in Playa de Palma. On, off, on, off, and so it goes on. With regard to the realities, shopping fans are counting the days until FAN Mallorca Shopping throws open its doors in September and the multitudes rush forth and strip Primark bare.
I would like to be able to give an answer to the question regarding the number of shopping centres but unfortunately cannot. There may be worthy research into shopping centre-population ratios, but if there is it would be subject to all sorts of variables, such as the number of shops, while with Palma there is the additional and far from insignificant variable of tourism (one already on the island rather than one drawn by a shopping centre.)
Intu, which wishes to create Port Mayurqa in Palma, has been knocked back by the town hall and the government but it isn't giving up. The moratorium on new large commercial developments may well be extended when new regulations are approved (probably next year), but there's always a more compliant Partido Popular regime lurking round the corner of the ballot box. At least Intu is a company that knows what it's doing: you don't get to operate as many shopping centres as it does without having some idea. One would therefore assume that it has done its numbers and worked out that Palma does indeed need another shopping centre.
But there are needs and there are needs. Those of smaller retailers are all too easily overlooked by the land grab by larger retailers and shopping centres. When MediaMarkt opened in Palma, there was a campaign against it because of potential impact on local traders. Emphasis on this local trade is very much a theme of the current government, for which sustainability goes beyond vague promises of it, as with Intu's "sustainable tourism product", a claim that one has to question. If it were a genuine theme park, then perhaps. But it isn't.
Sure, it would generate jobs, but at what cost? Sustainability infers observing the needs of whole communities, which aren't only those of Palma. They are island-wide.
Mallorca has form with theme parks, very little of it positive. Anyone remember the Tierra Santa, the Christian theme park? Even Christians (ones with whom I discussed the project) were either sceptical or aghast. Last heard of, some years ago, it was being lined up for some land in Inca, having been touted around much of the island. And that was the last that was heard of it, thank God.
Or perhaps you'll recall the Danish operation, The Theme Park group, with its plan for a lavish project somewhere between Llucmajor and Campos. You must recall this one, what with the photos of representatives around a table with the Balearic president, José Ramón Bauzá. It was getting on for five years ago. Since then, nothing, though the website's still there with the promise of "an environmental and sustainable approach to the design of the project". One imagines that this is not necessarily in line with the sustainable philosophies of the current Balearic administration. It might have met with the philosophies of the Bauzá administration, but some time after its announcement, the tourism minister, Carlos Delgado, said he had no idea what was happening with it. Nor did anyone else.
Delgado was something of a theme-park advocate. Or at least he was when he entered government in 2011. There were various items on his wish-list, and theme parks were one of them. Perhaps it was the non-emergence of any which contributed to his resignation. His successor, Jaime Martínez, offered no such wishes, but when once asked about the possibility of theme-park development in Mallorca, he admitted that the possibilities were low if not zero. The regulatory and environmental hoops to go through would be tortuous and in all likelihood prohibitive.
So, when there was this recent reference to a theme park, my reaction was that it was dead in the water even before the announcement was made. But it wasn't of course a theme park as such. It was for a shopping centre. Oh no, here we go again. How many shopping centres does one city need or to be planned? Of the latter, we have, among others, the one for Ses Fontanelles in Playa de Palma. On, off, on, off, and so it goes on. With regard to the realities, shopping fans are counting the days until FAN Mallorca Shopping throws open its doors in September and the multitudes rush forth and strip Primark bare.
I would like to be able to give an answer to the question regarding the number of shopping centres but unfortunately cannot. There may be worthy research into shopping centre-population ratios, but if there is it would be subject to all sorts of variables, such as the number of shops, while with Palma there is the additional and far from insignificant variable of tourism (one already on the island rather than one drawn by a shopping centre.)
Intu, which wishes to create Port Mayurqa in Palma, has been knocked back by the town hall and the government but it isn't giving up. The moratorium on new large commercial developments may well be extended when new regulations are approved (probably next year), but there's always a more compliant Partido Popular regime lurking round the corner of the ballot box. At least Intu is a company that knows what it's doing: you don't get to operate as many shopping centres as it does without having some idea. One would therefore assume that it has done its numbers and worked out that Palma does indeed need another shopping centre.
But there are needs and there are needs. Those of smaller retailers are all too easily overlooked by the land grab by larger retailers and shopping centres. When MediaMarkt opened in Palma, there was a campaign against it because of potential impact on local traders. Emphasis on this local trade is very much a theme of the current government, for which sustainability goes beyond vague promises of it, as with Intu's "sustainable tourism product", a claim that one has to question. If it were a genuine theme park, then perhaps. But it isn't.
Sure, it would generate jobs, but at what cost? Sustainability infers observing the needs of whole communities, which aren't only those of Palma. They are island-wide.
Wednesday, August 03, 2016
MALLORCA TODAY - Weather Alcúdia and Pollensa 3 August 2016
Morning high (5.18am): 23.1C
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 4 August - Sun, 34C; 5 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 6 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 1 to 2 increasing East-Southeast 3 to 4 around midday.
Warm old night and early morning. Hot day to come and even hotter tomorrow.
Evening update (19.30): High of 36C.
Forecast high: 31C; UV: 9
Three-day forecast: 4 August - Sun, 34C; 5 August - Sun, wind, 27C; 6 August - Sun, cloud, 27C.
Sea conditions (northern Mallorca; Alcúdia and Pollensa bays to 20.00): Variable 1 to 2 increasing East-Southeast 3 to 4 around midday.
Warm old night and early morning. Hot day to come and even hotter tomorrow.
Evening update (19.30): High of 36C.
Margin Of Error: Tourist satisfaction
Opinion surveys can with some justification be said to only provide a snapshot of opinion, but companies which conduct them will always point to the professionalism of market researchers and the rigour of their methodologies, for which margins of error are taken into account and indeed duly noted.
The most recent Gadeso survey of tourist satisfaction had a maximum margin of error of five per cent either way plus a 95.5% level of confidence. What that means is that if other batches of people were surveyed, 95.5 times out of 100 there would be the same results within a five per cent margin. The original survey results can therefore be said to be if not totally definitive, then more or less definitive.
The survey only asked 400 people. Of all the millions of tourists who come to Mallorca, that sounds like a pretty small sample. It is, but within the market research industry (and a similar process is observable with all the statistics about tourist spend, etc. that are trotted out), there is an accepted standard for providing "reliable" data. The margin of error is that standard. For 400 people, the margin is defined as five per cent. The greater the sample, the lower the margin.
This explanation, whether of course you accept it or not, means that the satisfaction survey is sound in statistical terms. The problem, and this is the case with tourist spending surveys, is that the research is based on random sampling. Again, the margin of error would maintain that there is reliability, but of the millions who come to Mallorca, to be boiled down to 400 and to be representative of highly diverse backgrounds is a method that does make one wonder.
But let's say that the survey was pretty much accurate. If so, it doesn't provide for particularly encouraging reading. Despite the improvements that have been and are being made, the general level of satisfaction stubbornly refuses to increase. There are factors which start from higher base levels of satisfaction, such as the overall approval for accommodation, but this higher base is skewed through elevated appreciation of the non-mainstream, e.g. rural accommodation, to which can be added the newest element in the survey, that of the holiday rental. Both these secure significantly greater scores than hotels. In the case of holiday rentals, this should tell its own story of refuting claims that they are of a low standard, while hoteliers - for all their investment - are discovering that the punter isn't impressed enough to push the satisfaction rating upwards.
The factors which more than others drag the satisfaction level down are lack of cleanliness, noise and the "gastronomic and commercial offers": these are bars, restaurants and shops to you and me. As with all the time, effort, investment and publicity directed towards hotel improvements, so gastronomy, we are told repeatedly, has undergone something of a revolution. It may indeed have, but the revolution seems to have passed tourists by. As for the price-quality ratio of this "specialised offer", it is the worst performing factor of all. Ouch!
Of all the findings, it is the one about returning to Mallorca that perhaps offers the greatest alarm. This is down quite markedly from 2014, insofar as a 3.2% fall can be described as being marked, which the market research industry would insist that it can be. What does one conclude from this decline? Is it because of the numbers of tourists who, through a form of holidaying Hobson's choice, have abandoned other destinations, come to the safe haven of Mallorca and found it less than wholly satisfying? Hard to say, but if this is the case, then it is some confirmation of the fear that Mallorca is living through a time of plenty thanks only to the travails of others.
Another type of snapshot of opinion, social media, provides an insight into what people on the island make of all this. If tourists are so apparently dissatisfied, then why are they coming? There was one comment from a shop owner who berated tourists (all of them?) for being rude. Unfortunately, it may be that rudeness or lack of good service which leads to the "commercial offer" being rated as low as it is.
But amidst those who join in on what for some is currently high season for tourist-baiting (nothing to actually do with the survey as such), there are others who are in agreement. There is an issue with cleanliness, for instance. And as for the hoteliers, they're just out for what they can make. No change there then, when it comes to a general local perception of the hotel industry.
Is the static level of satisfaction a reason to be concerned? Maybe it is, but I can't help but feel that if the same survey were to be conducted in some specific locations the levels would be considerably higher. Margin of error or not.
The most recent Gadeso survey of tourist satisfaction had a maximum margin of error of five per cent either way plus a 95.5% level of confidence. What that means is that if other batches of people were surveyed, 95.5 times out of 100 there would be the same results within a five per cent margin. The original survey results can therefore be said to be if not totally definitive, then more or less definitive.
The survey only asked 400 people. Of all the millions of tourists who come to Mallorca, that sounds like a pretty small sample. It is, but within the market research industry (and a similar process is observable with all the statistics about tourist spend, etc. that are trotted out), there is an accepted standard for providing "reliable" data. The margin of error is that standard. For 400 people, the margin is defined as five per cent. The greater the sample, the lower the margin.
This explanation, whether of course you accept it or not, means that the satisfaction survey is sound in statistical terms. The problem, and this is the case with tourist spending surveys, is that the research is based on random sampling. Again, the margin of error would maintain that there is reliability, but of the millions who come to Mallorca, to be boiled down to 400 and to be representative of highly diverse backgrounds is a method that does make one wonder.
But let's say that the survey was pretty much accurate. If so, it doesn't provide for particularly encouraging reading. Despite the improvements that have been and are being made, the general level of satisfaction stubbornly refuses to increase. There are factors which start from higher base levels of satisfaction, such as the overall approval for accommodation, but this higher base is skewed through elevated appreciation of the non-mainstream, e.g. rural accommodation, to which can be added the newest element in the survey, that of the holiday rental. Both these secure significantly greater scores than hotels. In the case of holiday rentals, this should tell its own story of refuting claims that they are of a low standard, while hoteliers - for all their investment - are discovering that the punter isn't impressed enough to push the satisfaction rating upwards.
The factors which more than others drag the satisfaction level down are lack of cleanliness, noise and the "gastronomic and commercial offers": these are bars, restaurants and shops to you and me. As with all the time, effort, investment and publicity directed towards hotel improvements, so gastronomy, we are told repeatedly, has undergone something of a revolution. It may indeed have, but the revolution seems to have passed tourists by. As for the price-quality ratio of this "specialised offer", it is the worst performing factor of all. Ouch!
Of all the findings, it is the one about returning to Mallorca that perhaps offers the greatest alarm. This is down quite markedly from 2014, insofar as a 3.2% fall can be described as being marked, which the market research industry would insist that it can be. What does one conclude from this decline? Is it because of the numbers of tourists who, through a form of holidaying Hobson's choice, have abandoned other destinations, come to the safe haven of Mallorca and found it less than wholly satisfying? Hard to say, but if this is the case, then it is some confirmation of the fear that Mallorca is living through a time of plenty thanks only to the travails of others.
Another type of snapshot of opinion, social media, provides an insight into what people on the island make of all this. If tourists are so apparently dissatisfied, then why are they coming? There was one comment from a shop owner who berated tourists (all of them?) for being rude. Unfortunately, it may be that rudeness or lack of good service which leads to the "commercial offer" being rated as low as it is.
But amidst those who join in on what for some is currently high season for tourist-baiting (nothing to actually do with the survey as such), there are others who are in agreement. There is an issue with cleanliness, for instance. And as for the hoteliers, they're just out for what they can make. No change there then, when it comes to a general local perception of the hotel industry.
Is the static level of satisfaction a reason to be concerned? Maybe it is, but I can't help but feel that if the same survey were to be conducted in some specific locations the levels would be considerably higher. Margin of error or not.
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