Dear Islander,
I think that the front page story is quite shocking! Not for the fact that there is contamination around a boatyard area but for the reaction of the authorities- shock, horror! For the statement from a ”jobsworth” in the office of the director general of the coasts that “they never knew about it” read, “no-one has complained so, as far as we’re concerned, the problem does not existÓ. This attitude, if it wasn’t so serious and so typical of the Spanish mind-set regarding all environmental issues (don’t start me on mattresses and washing machines dumped in the countryside) is almost laughable.
And, I remind you that a recent conference organised for personnel of local marina management on, ‘pollution in marina environments’ in Palma scheduled for the 9th of March was cancelled due to a total lack of interest! It seems that no-one (except perhaps yachtsmen) gives a s**t about the environment. All this hoo-ha about blue flags for local beaches is just pure bullshit in my opinion! Look out for negative stories in the German press about this as it´s so close to Arenal beaches!
As a follow up to the front page story in the last issue regarding the restrictive practices being implemented in Croatia, the letter on page 6 will be of interest.
I spoke to one local skipper who had experienced Croatia last year. His comment was, “Don’t bother. It’s too much hassle, even, as we are, a private yacht used just by the owner, his family and friends. We’re off to Northern Greece this season”. I would be very interested to get some feed-back from others that have been to Croatia recently.
Looking to the future, I would draw your attention to the ad on page 16 regarding a trip we are organising to go to the Monaco Boat Show in September. As we go to press we haven’t ironed out the details yet but if you’re interested in visiting the show please get in touch with us now.
It appears that it is likely that there will be some delay in the announcement of the “winner” of the concession for the boat yard in Palma. In the initial presentation a number of bids were rejected on various technicalities. These have been appealed against and a judgement has to be issued from legal sources in Madrid even before the lengthy business of comparing the merits of the individual bids is started.
Well, here comes Summer- have a good one.
John Rule