Covid requires that institutional acts which would have been held indoors, e.g. a town hall building, are now in the great outdoors. And in Alcudia, for today’s act to proclaim the village (sic) as one of Spain’s most beautiful villages, the outdoor venue will be the Pont de la Vila Roja amphitheatre.
Alcudia and Pollensa both officially became part of the network of “Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España” in January last year. Because of Covid, the ceremonies for proclaiming this were put on hold. Pollensa’s was yesterday.
The fact that Alcudia and Pollensa are neighbours is highly convenient for the association’s representatives. They won’t have had far to go, but perhaps they could have made life easier by combining them. Somewhere suitable outdoors that’s halfway. By the road signs marking the Alcudia and Pollensa boundaries on the coast road maybe.
But that wouldn’t do, as it wouldn’t be representative of the two “villages” and reasons why they were admitted to the network - examples of preserved cultural heritage, for instance, such as the amphitheatre.
National and international recognition will come as a result of being part of the network. There will therefore be a further boost to tourism. Herein lies an advantage, and a motivation for the town halls having applied for admission.
They both passed the rigorous audit - the great majority of applicants do not - so well done Alcudia and Pollensa. As to whether the award will make much difference in terms of attracting more tourists, I’m not so sure, but it can’t harm being one of the most beautiful villages.
However, what I fail to understand about Alcudia and Pollensa being admitted into the network is how they qualify as villages. The actual “pueblos” (the historic centres and surrounds), then possibly so, but there is the rest that has been mentioned when it comes to this distinction, which basically makes it municipality-wide. I was under the impression that there was a population limit in order to be considered a village by the network. Both Alcudia and Pollensa are well over this.
Fornalutx, the first village in Mallorca and the Balearics to be one of the most beautiful villages, is quite different to Alcudia and Pollensa. Given its population, it can’t be anything other than a village. The award made perfect sense. These two do not, and in their own way - in explaining why their councillor didn’t attend yesterday’s ceremony - the Alternativa per Pollença have reinforced this.
In referring to “natural heritage” in Pollensa, the party has spoken about the vulnerability - the situation with the bay, the “saturation” of vehicles in Formentor. These are municipal references that have nothing to do with the historic centre of Pollensa.
I’ve no issue with the distinctions, but I simply don’t get them.