HOPEFULLY Real Mallorca's footballing success will bring back the so-called feelgood factor which has been sadly missing from this island. With the island facing yet another poor summer season there are tough times ahead. Whether or not the new Balearic government will be able to reverse the downward trend has yet to be seen but off the pitch it is rather difficult to be optimistic about the island at the moment. The fact that the high summer season will last just six weeks this year instead of its usual 12 or even 14 is deeply worrying and the affects of this state of affairs will be felt hard this winter. Why is Majorca in such a mess? Complacency has set-in and there was a perception that tourists would come here whatever happen. This is not the case. The Germans are heading to Eastern Europe where it is much cheaper and the British are busy re-discovering other parts of Spain. But out of the gloom I suspect that some good will come. The situation Majorca is suffering at the moment has happened to other competing resorts, Greece included. What new tourism minister Joan Flaquer must do is order a comprehensive review of the industry and discover just where the island is going wrong. It is too late to save this summer so all his efforts and that of his team must go into summer 2004. In footballing terms it's called rebuilding the squad. This is what he must do. For the last two or three years Majorca has been busy scoring own goals. Let's see if we can put one in the back of the opposition's net and start climbing up the table again. Majorca should take heart from Real Mallorca and plan for the future.
Time for change