Dobbing your neighbour in (Part One)
It was one of those stories that comes along now and then and can cause the jaw to drop. Or make you burst out laughing. This had to do with a luxury villa that had been built on rustic land in Marratxi. There was no building licence for the whole development, most of which was therefore illegal. In itself this was unremarkable for an island where such trangressions have been known to occur. Frequently. However, the owner of this property was an official who works for Palma town hall and has done for ten years or so. Her job is in the urban planning discipline department. She is thus involved in cases of illegal building.
As the property was in the neighbouring municipality, she wouldn't have been required to investigate herself and perhaps trusted that there would be no investigation. Ultimately, though, it is rather difficult to keep quiet a plot of 40,000 square metres on which there is a villa of 700 square metres, two adjoining houses both of 150 square metres, and a basement of 500 square metres. The built area was five times the maximum permitted - just 300 square metres.
Even so, maybe it would have been overlooked had it not been for a neighbour dobbing her in - not for the whole development but because a wall was higher than regulations allow. Council of Mallorca agents for territorial discipline went and had a look. They saw the extent of the development and proceedings were started.
Meantime, it was established a) that the property was being advertised for a rent of 30,000 euros per month, b) that a plumbing company was suing her for non-payment, c) that the architect had denounced her; d) that Palma town hall was investigating her for moonlighting - providing services to two other town halls.
The Council of Mallorca has fined her 1.4 million euros and will order her to demolish at least part of the property. As more than one person has asked - how was a town hall official able to afford the development? There is, one suspects, rather more to this than meets the eye.
And Part Two ...
In a way it was something of a surprise that another story about dobbing in neighbours should have aroused critical comment that it did. The residents association in the Pere Garau district of Palma was calling on residents to report neighbours illegally renting out apartments to tourists. This form of letting is banned in the whole of Palma.
The surprise was due to the fact that the association was doing no more than authorities have done in the past and continue to do, which is to provide means whereby neighbours can report illegal holiday letting. These authorities, which include the Council of Mallorca, have actively encouraged dobbing-in. So, what was different in this case? The fact that it was a residents association doing the encouraging?
What's a 'pourist'?
Will someone dob in whoever it was scrawled 'Kill a Tourist' on a wall in Manacor? If for no other reason, the complaint should be for poor graffiti work, as this looked more like 'Kill a Pourist'. Perhaps pourist had been intentional, whatever a pourist is. Probably not, and Maria Antònia Sansó of the opposition Partido Popular at Manacor town hall was clear in saying that this did not represent the majority of residents of Manacor while blaming the left-wing administration for an "absolute lack of tourism management". Maybe there is a lack but what did this have to do with killing a tourist (or a pourist)?
Anyway, let's not take this too seriously. It was probably the work of some spotty Herbert teenager who thought it would be a bit of a laugh.
Taking the hire car to the beach
Over in Minorca last weekend, some 250 or so people, organised by the environmentalists GOB, staged a protest at Cala en Turqueta. The beach is one of three in the Balearics that are the locations for the Balearic government's pilot project to analyse human pressure using cameras and sensors. It is emblematic in a way that Es Trenc is; and Es Trenc is the Mallorcan one of the three. Against tourist overcrowding, the protesters filled the beach's car park early on, thus preventing more regular beachgoers from getting access.
How many of those beachgoers would have been in hire cars? Beach overcrowding and tourist overcrowding clearly are influenced by the number of hire cars, the government and the Council of Mallorca both having signalled that limits on the number of vehicles entering the island do have to be considered through the analysis of "objective data".
It was hardly a great surprise when Othman Ktiri, the CEO of OK Mobility and recent president of the Baleval association of car-hire firms, said in an interview that he was against limits. He did offer something of a rider - "you can't reduce the number of hire cars if you don't increase public transport" - but he will know that such an increase isn't about to happen. Chaos would ensue were there to be limits. This was his view.
Ktiri didn't refer to a suggestion that there should be a tax on hire cars. This may have been because he was unaware that there was a suggestion. It had come from El Pi, the centre-right regionalist party, who were also wanting a tax on non-residents. Isn't there already one on non-resident property owners?
Getting rid of the property cowboys
On the property front, estate agents in the Balearics have been welcoming the registration of real-estate professionals. Long demanded, regulations established by the housing ministry require registration no later than November 9. This must demonstrate that the individual is adequately qualified, e.g. by having a university degree in social and legal sciences, engineering or architecture. The register will also establish just how many people are working for real-estate companies and indeed the number of companies.
It's all about getting rid of the cowboys who have taken advantage of a largely unregulated sector, who have looked to benefit without necessarily being qualified and who have also placed clients at risk. Civil liability policies with a minimum capital of 100,000 euros per claim will also be needed.
Expropriating empty homes
The Balearic High Court has meanwhile ruled in favour of legislation introduced by the previous government for the expropriation of empty properties owned by the likes of banks and investment companies (large property owners). There had been a number of appeals against this legislation, all of which have been rejected. The scheme involved expropriation for seven years and the properties being for social renting, with the rents going to the owners.
The court's ruling contains certain conclusions that are of interest in the broader debate about housing. One is: "The social function of home ownership is defined by its destination for residential use." It is the "residential use" which may well strike a chord among some. The current government hasn't applied this scheme, but the legislation is still in force and it is understood that the government will include a version of this expropriation in its new housing law.
Leaks at a time of water shortage
Whatever the home may be, there is a risk that one particularly vital service - water supplies - will be restricted. Mallorca is at a state of pre-alert for drought, but there are parts of the island that are struggling more than most. Esporles is one of them.
Having announced a year-long moratorium on the granting of licences for building new swimming pools, Esporles town hall has approved the spending of one million euros on improving the water network. This will include the creation of two new wells, but a campaign to discover water leaks says much about the municipality's water shortage. Nine leaks were found last year, and the latest campaign - starting earlier than had been envisaged - will look for more.
There is no shortage of water in the Bay of Pollensa but there is a premium on space used by watersports enthusiasts. Windsurfers, who have been going to the Alcudia end of the bay for some 35 years, had to move because of all the kiteboarders. They took to using a space in Corral d'en Bennàssar as a car park. The Balearic government's coasts department has turfed them out; there are now rocks to prevent vehicle access.
The windsurfers, who fear they'll have to give up, can't understand the department's attitude when there are far more pressing matters, such as illegal anchoring on posidonia.