Elections in Majorca
With the regional and municipal elections taking place in Majorca and the Balearics today, the past few days have been full of reporting about the parties and their last-minute pronouncements: each day with the exception of yesterday, which, as it is the “day of reflection”, does not permit political comment or promotion. (This might seem a little strange in these days of less controlled social media, but so be it.)
From Tuesday to Friday we looked at the eight parties and their candidates for the Balearic presidency, and the picture which emerged, as reinforced by opinion poll surveys, is that the results of today’s parliamentary election are uncertain. And might such uncertainty affect the island’s economy?
On Wednesday, Jason Moore suggested that a coalition government - and the uncertainty it might bring - could affect recovery.
Day-to-day administration
While the politicians were gearing themselves up for today’s elections, the day-to-day administration of local government did not come to a halt, though in Palma, and in the case of the Palacio do Congresos, things did stop. Time had run out on a new award for the management of the convention centre complex as reports had not all been received before the City Council there entered a phase during which decisions cannot be made (until a new administration is sworn in). In Calvia, meanwhile, the long-awaited local ordinance regarding anti-social behaviour (street drinking and so on) was approved by the council. Under a headline of “is this the beginning of the end for Magalluf as we know it”, the provisions of this local legislation were outlined; it will in fact come into force from around 9 June.
Magalluf insanities
On Sunday there were two critical letters of a Viewpoint which had not referred to the problem of the so-called prostitutes (the mugging ones) and the consequent safety issues in Magalluf. The point does perhaps need to be made that these Viewpoints are only short items of opinion which are not designed to cover all aspects of an issue. Coverage of this particular problem is in fact given a good deal of coverage on the pages of the paper, as in an article on Tuesday by Andrew Ede. “Do they take us for fools? was its headline, and it queried moves in both Calvia and Palma to deal with issues that afflict certain parts of the two municipalities and finished by referring to the “greatest of the insanities”: the mugging prostitutes of the streets. There had been, as reported on Sunday, a further death as a result of a fall in Magalluf: that of a 49-year-old. As Frank Leavers observed on Wednesday, the age was well beyond that which one might expect.
The big mouth of Real Mallorca
With Real Mallorca having secured its position in the Second Division, the club was hit by a row concerning Albert Riera who, when he signed for the club earlier this season (only a few weeks ago), was supposedly going to be its star name and who, in an interview that was published in “The Bulletin” in March, was going to be “completely focused” on Real Mallorca.
Somewhere the focus was lost, and the reason was that Riera had announced that he wouldn’t play for Mallorca again while Miquel Soler was still coach. Monro Bryce didn’t mince his words on Friday: “Albert Riera’s an average player with a big mouth and a long history of disruptiveness”.
Heroes at work and play
l Much more heartening in a loosely footballing sense was the report on Thursday of the five-a-side football team from Essex police which had been taking part in the Santa Ponsa Football Tournament.
On returning to Stansted Airport, they headed home in a minibus only to see a vehicle on fire.
“They immediately responded to the emergency, stopped and pulled the driver of the Mercedes Benz out of the way shortly before the car burst into flames.” All in the course of duty, you might say, but a reminder of the at-times heroic work that police and security forces perform.
And with this in mind, it was pleasing to have been able to report last Sunday on a break in Pollensa by wounded veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan which had been organised by The Not Forgotten Association with the help of the local community on Majorca.