Something of an irregular theme on these pages have been absurd examples of Facebook automatic translations on local town hall pages. The town halls can’t themselves be in control of these, but Pollensa and Sa Pobla do seem to be more dogged by the oddities than others.
True to form, therefore, Pollensa has recently let it be known that in English the Mare de Déu del Carme Church in Puerto Pollensa is Our Lady of Karma. This is perhaps an understandable gaffe, albeit that in religious terms it doesn’t quite conjure up the image of Our Lady of Carmel being carried aloft and onto a boat in mid-July.
We have also had, and how can we avoid them, the Covid recommendations. So for the end of the year, the town hall gave the following message. In Catalan, it read:
“Acabam l’any amb un missatge de responsibilitat per a tots els pollencins i pollencines. Recordau les 3 emes: Mascareta, Mans netes, Metres de distància.”
Facebook managed to change all this to: “We end the year with a message of responsibility for all poultry and poultry. Remember the 3 episodes: Masquerade, My nieces and nephews, Metres of distance.” Oh well, at least part of it was correct.