By Humphrey Carter
Sulky Sarkozy recently accused Britain of having an island-mentality, which he clearly does not like and perhaps the same can be said about Majorca.
Having just returned from Santander in northern Spain, it was where the Spanish royals holidayed before the new generation came to Majorca, the open-all-hours fever is certainly sweeping across the mainland.
My stay not only included a Sunday but also the All Saints fiesta on November 1. Now, while on both of those days Palma would have been like a ghost town with the vast majority of bars and restaurants closed, not to mention the shops - not energies, such as wave and wind power, continuing to prosper albeit somewhat hampered by the recession. It is also a very popular tourist destination for the in Santander.
All of the seaside city's eateries were open, the terraces were full of people basking in the sun and having fun on their days off.
There were even a few clothes shops open.
Northern Spain has traditionally been the back bone of the country's industry with agriculture, fishing, mining, ship building, steel working and now renewable domestic and international markets, but the northern regions do not depend on it to survive.
By nature they are hard workers who obviously do not oppose opening on Sundays and Bank Holidays so everyone can have some fun while they make money.