I would like to start this month with reference to the series of multi-lingual meetings set up by Calvia’s foreign department to explain the rights and obligations of a Calvia citizen in these different languages.
Not only have Calvia’s socialist opposition party gone public with their accusations of the current council’s misuse of public funds (in organising these meetings) but have indeed gone to the court with a denuncia. What a cheek!
Fancy spending council money on a mishmash of council citizens.
In Empress Najera’s day it was neatly distributed amongst herself and her cronies!
I’m not going to get into a political argument but when I heard that 15 service personnel were captured and confessed that they were in Iranian waters I thought that with 14 being men and 1, a woman, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who was reading the chart!
As you know I have in the past been very critical of the apparently xenophobic attitude of the local chamber of commerce.
Perhaps things are changing under the new president, Juan Gual de Torella.
In a recent interview with the weekly newspaper, la EconomiaBalear Sr. Gual offered 45 proposals for the local politicians.
Interestingly, second on his list was to start teaching English in primary schools and continue to do so up to university level.
Probably because he’s a keen yachtsman he is also making some very positive noises about the industry.
He was asked what he thought needed to be done about the port of Palma.
He responded saying that they wish to support the cruiser business but most importantly,private yachting.
He believes the port should expanded to provide more room for berthing but vitally also for the supply and service industry surrounding it.
He acknowledges that the Baleares is losing out to yards on the mainland.
He hopes to get support from the Spanish state which will encourage both public and private investment.
He was also asked about the economic restrictions on the nautical sector.
His view is that the charter industry is heavily burdened by the matriculation tax which in effect prevents foreign flagged yachts to charter in Balearic waters and points out that both France and Italy are benefiting having sorted out their previous problems.
He believes that the autonomic power of the Balearic government may be able to resolve the matriculation problem on a local basis and believes that there is far more to gain financially by attracting these foreign yachts than from the matriculation tax.
Ironic init?
The locals suck their teeth and mutter obscenities about all inclusive holidays but who is filling the all inclusive Playa de Palma hotels this Easter?
Yes, you guessed right- locals!
Here’s one for the ladies.
A woman was helping her husband set up his computer, and at the appropriate point in the process, told him that he would now need to enter a password. Something he will use to log on. The husband being in a rather amorous mood figured he would try for the shock effect to bring this to his wife´s attention. So, when the computer asked him to enter his password, he made it plainly obvious to his wife he was keying in P... E...N...I...S.
His wife fell off her chair laughing when seeing the reply on the computer:
***PASSWORD REJECTED. NOT LONG ENOUGH***
Religion- you can keep it!
First we have the rag-head nutters that complain about a few cartoons featuring their God and now over in the US of A, a New York gallery has angered a US Catholic group with its decision to exhibit a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.
The six-foot (1.8m) sculpture, entitled "My Sweet Lord", depicts Jesus Christ naked on the cross.
Catholic League head Bill Donohue called it "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever".
90 kg of chocolate was used to make the sculpture which depicts Jesus without a loincloth- what a palaver over a milky way and a couple of maltesers!
You’ll remember that the ex-mayor of Andratx attributes the start of his fortune to a couple of lucky wins in the lottery. Well, this is chicken-feed compared to what’s now being found in the ex-mayor of Marbella’s corruption case.
Can you believe the lucky bugger’s family won the quinella, bonoloto and Once 8 times in six months in 2005.
The winning coupons were found in the safe? Er….um…no…nor do the rozzers!
This of course is a scam where a genuine winning lottery ticket is bought with “dirty” money (with a premium paid to the genuine holder- 5 to10% according to the size of the win) and then cashed in as “clean money”.
The boss had to lay-off someone, and he narrowed it down to one of two people, Debra or Jack.
It was an almost impossible decision because they were both superb workers. Rather than flip a coin, he decided he would fire the first one who used the water cooler the next morning.
Debra came in the next morning with a horrible hangover after partying all night.
She went to the cooler to take an aspirin.
The boss approached her and said, "Debra, I don´t like doing this but I have to lay you or Jack off."
Debra responded: "Could you jack off? I feel like sh*t this morning”
Expect yet more restrictions on anchorages starting this season.
Last month the Balearic government designated fourteen coastal areas of “importance” around the islands which comprises of 66,000 hectares. 6 are in Mallorca, 3 around Menorca and 5 covering Ibiza and Formentera.
These, not only prohibit commercial fishing but also aim to regulate pleasure boating.
As far as yachts are concerned there are two grades of restriction. In some cases only previously placed buoys (with a charge for its use!) can be used with anchoring absolutely prohibited and in others there are “free anchoring zones” but strictly only in sand and not where there is any weed.
This is all designed to protect the prairies of posedonia grass that is vital for the ecology of the coastal waters.
The areas around Mallorca are: bays of Alcudia and Pollensa, off the mountains of Arta, costa de levante, cap de enderrocat-cap blanc, Cabrera and Dragonera.
So much for the freedom of the seas!
With the local elections looming on 27th May the political parties are starting their campaigns. Unless you read Spanish I’m afraid you’re not going to get anything but a very biased view if all you read is the Daily Bull****.
It must always be remembered that the owner of the Daily Bull**** (and Ultima Hora) is a raving United Mallorquin party supporter and is a mortal enemy of the Party Popular (PP).
Please don’t blame the journalists as their hands are tied!
Did you happen to see the interview with UM’s leader, Maria Antonia Munar, (she is also the leader of the council of Mallorca) in the 1st April issue?
This was a piece of propaganda that Goebbels would be proud of.
At the present time I’ve lost count of the official complaints and denuncias against her for lavishing tax payers’ dosh around on her cronies, not to mention a small matter of 30 Million Euros allegedly not going into the Council coffers over a recent deal on a piece of property called Can Domenge.
Discounting the fawning interview she contradicts herself ridiculously and lives up to her nickname of Princess with more than a whiff of a Regal power complex.
Q. President Matas insists it is the Island councils who have power over urban legislation.
A. That’s a lie.
Q. …you have come in for a great deal of criticism.
A. …If, for example, I’d let them build huge theme parks…they wouldn’t have attacked me.
Look out for some real bullshit spouted and mud slinging from now on but I very much doubt if we’ll see much reference in the Daily Bul**** to the socialist party (PSOE) and probably the square root of f***- all regarding Centre right (PP) except of course unless they are down-wind of the brown stuff!
I was having a few halves with Bobby of STP boatyard in Palma the other day he told me that finally, all the paperwork has been done to start work refurbing the yard.
The two month delay has, in a way, been beneficial as with the extra space they have been able to make a big dent in the backlog of booking they inherited.
He said that they have sorted out more than a hundred boats, the restriction, of course being, how many the lifts can handle.
Soon the new area will be off limits and the refurb with start.
As I’ve said before when it’s all done it will be one of the best yards in the Western Med.
Toodle-pip
Bates