The Postman Only Rings Once

Life often depends on how you look at things. This applies to Mallorca just the same. Take the mail delivery system as an example. I know a number of residents here who, over the years, have done nothing but complain about their mail not reaching them in time, or at all. I personally have nothing but the best experience with the local postal delivery.

Living rurally, which is my own experience, means that mail does not get delivered. Instead, you are meant to collect your mail yourself from the person in charge in your particular village. It may be the local bar where all the mail is delivered to and where you go for a coffee to then nonchalantly enquire about any letters that may have arrived. If not the bar, it may be a local grocery shop where you collect your letters and bills together with a bit of local gossip. In Ca’s Concos d’es Cavaller it used to be a lady who opened her own house for one hour per day to hand out the mail to whoever was expecting some post. I just loved visiting her once a week. At one time, years ago, she greeted me saying that she had heard that I had been put into prison.

Now I live in Felanitx, in a townhouse. The mail gets delivered here a few times per week by the jolliest mail lady you can imagine. We are in the custom of exchanging a kiss on the cheek when she deliveres a long awaited parcel, i. e. it is me kissing her cheek in gratitude for the safe delivery. It’s just wonderful.

Some locals in the countryside are now spoiling it, I think, by putting up mailboxes along a country lane in a rather offensive manner. I suspect it might be foreigners who are too timid to speak the local language and rather opt for the anonymity of an impersonal delivery system without any gossip and without a kiss on the cheek. I pity them.

The photo was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 11th, 2009. The time was 13:52:28.

Autumn Harvest

Just as Mallorca is preparing itself for the arrival of a first wintery spell of snow, albeit only in the highest of our Tramuntana peaks, the countryside is still bristling with a full crop of late Autumn produce. Now is the time when membrillos (quince), nisplers (medlars), noguers (walnuts), clementinas (tangerines) and castanyas (chestnuts) are reaching their final state of ripeness. There may also still be some kakis (persimmons), some late figs, some madroños (strawberry tree fruit) and some magraners (pomegranates) in the markets.

Grapes should have been harvested a few weeks ago. Oranges, lemons and grapefruits will be ripe nearer Christmas time. November is also the month for the harvest of olives, an all-important crop for the local agricultural sector. There are said to be about one million olive trees in Mallorca. The best Mallorcan olive oil now has a Denominación de Origen Oli de Mallorca seal of quality control attached.

Mallorca is not really in the habit of celebrating Thanksgiving as such, as far as I know. No turkeys for us on November 26th, I am afraid.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 2nd, 2009. The time was 18:40:28.

Stratocumulus Clouds

A walk in the countryside can give you the most gratifying encounters, be that the visual beauty of the landscape, the temperaments of the weather, some unexpected wildlife, some unusual botanical display, a majestic rainbow or a dramatic cloud formation.

Over the last few days, such encounters would more likely have been related to the antics of autumnal weather that we have had here, recently. There were hailstorms in Mallorca this week. There was another gota fría. There were heavily gushing winds and there was a sudden drop in temperature by as much as 8° C. Now we are even told that there might be snow today in the higher reaches of the Tramuntana mountain range.

Yes. Mallorca, and indeed most of Spain, has been put on a storm warning of the Level Orange alert category for today and tomorrow. 40 Spanish provinces are predicted to suffer high winds, rain, snow and high coastal waves. 32 provinces are graded as Level Yellow areas (riesgo), whilst 8 provinces share with the Islas Baleares the Level Orange warning (riesgo importante), according to the Spanish weather authorities Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET).

If there really will be snow today in Mallorca, this would be quite early in the year for us. Mind you, the Serra de Tramuntana had snow as early as October 30th, a year ago. The Stratocumulus clouds that I witnessed yesterday certainly looked threatening. Nothing came down from them where I was, though, nothing but cinco gotas. But you never know.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: November 7th, 2009. The time was 16:18:18.

Hidden Gardens In Palma

Palma de Mallorca offers a wealth of delightful gardens, as I am sure many of you will know. Unfortunately, a large number of those enchanting treasures are usually hidden away from our eyes being either privately owned or forming part of a closed monastic convent, or simply are part of the exclusiveness of a residence to Spain’s royal family here on the island.

On the occasion of the currently available Ruta dels Patis de Palma through some of Palma’s stunning courtyards, I came across a lovely hidden garden of immense proportions the other day that I didn’t even know existed. The garden forms part of Ca l’Arquitecte Alomar, a house that belonged to the architect Gabriel Alomar i Esteve (1910 – 1997) and is now owned by his heirs, in the Calatrava district of Palma’s upper old town. Gabriel Alomar i Esteve was the architect responsible for planning the enlargement of the city of Palma during the 1940s and 50s. The fascinating garden occupies a large space that in days gone by may well have been part of the adjoining monastery of Santa Clara. The house forming part of the garden looks an authentic stunner as if built during the late 18th century but was in fact built by the architect himself no more than 70 years ago.

I do recommend you take part in one of the guided patio tours. Tour 1 is not available any longer, but guided visits along the itinerary of Tour 2 are still being offered until Monday, November 9th. From November 10th to 21st, Tour 3 will be offered with guided visits through patios and perhaps even a garden or two in the Ciutat Baixa, the lower part of Palma’s old town. Admission is 5 € (4 € for residents). Tours are offered alternatively in Castellano, Catalan, English, German, French or Italian. Please make your reservations by telephone under 971.720.720.

The photos were taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: November 4th, 2009. The time was 12:57:15 and 12:55:42, respectively.

The International Forum on Beach Safety

Our illustrious Govern de les Illes Balears is in the midst of holding the II Jornades de Seguretat a les Platges (2nd International Forum on Beach Safety) at the stylish Centro Riskal. Whilst Palma’s new Palau de Congressos with its seafront location is nowhere near completion yet, the Riskal conference centre is quite a long way away from the nearest beach.

According to the press information, the international forum deals with beach lifeguard rescue services in a wider context, as a part of a more complex system of public safety on a local, national and international level. Attendants to the meeting were welcomed last Wednesday night at the Castell Sant Carles, Palma’s harbour fortress. Today, a guest speaker from Honolulu (Hawaii, USA) will give a presentation at the conference venue on The Hawaiian model of lifeguard rescue service on beaches: Honolulu City & County Lifeguards. Sadly, the director of Life Guard operations in Oahu, Hawaii (Ralph Goto) could not attend as envisaged, instead he will be filled in by the equally able Ka’ala Souza, also from Hawaii.

Ka’ala Souza is an expert in surfing, body-boarding, fishing, diving and paddling and has been working with the Oahu Ocean Safety Division. Since he arrived on our island last Tuesday, he has already discovered many good things in common between Mallorca and Hawaii. From his own website I was allowed to borrow a photo (below) that I wanted to share with you, entitled Aohe hana nui ke alu ia (No task is too big when done together).

I hope Ka’ala will make it back home safely to Hawaii, in good time for this year’s Triple Crown of Surfing competition, starting November 12th (next Thursday).

The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Colònia de Sant Jordi, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 20th, 2009. The time was 13:10:16. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet, courtesy of Ka’ala Souza.

Mahalo and many thanks.

Healing The Wounds

The district of Serralta in Palma de Mallorca is still trying to come to terms with the tragedy and its consequences of twelve days ago, when a four storey building collapsed just like that killing seven people on impact. The remains of the building have now been completely cleared. Speculation is rife that the building was only approved for two storeys (ground floor plus first floor) and that deficiencies and a lack of reinforcements are to be blamed for the accident.

Since the accident, two buildings not far from the scene had to be evacuated with concerns for their occupants’ safety.

Even before the accident, a kind of technical inspection for buildings constructed before 1900 was already in place, at least in Palma as far as I can make out. On a stroll through Ciutat yesterday, I found this small sticker stuck to the door of a rather old looking place suggesting some kind of activity or other. But the building that collapsed was apparently built after 1950, so the ongoing technical inspections, if indeed there are any, would not have checked on the house that came tumbling down.

Palma’s politicians were quick to blame the owners and would rather have all proprietors take responsibility for the safety of their private dwellings or commercial buildings, for that matter. I rather think that there are no easy answers or quick solutions once a tragedy of this magnitude has happened. I am inclined to think that buildings from the time before 1900 are probably safer than those built later. What do you think?

The photos were taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: November 4th, 2009. The time was 15:23:55 and 13:22:51, respectively.

Out Of Work

A total of 81,683 people are currently unemployed in the Balearic Isles (October 2009), up 24,701 from this time last year, i. e. an increase of 43.3 % over this time last year. This is the highest unemployment figure recorded here for the last 25 years.

To add insult to injury, for some reason some 30 % of these unfortunate people out of work do not qualify for unemployment benefits, here.

Whilst we are told that the European Union seems to be coming out of the recession and that the economic outlook for 2010 is slightly up, and even better for 2011, this optimistic view does not seem to hold for Mallorca. La Crisis seems to be biting more severely here and in Spain than in the rest of Europe. In all of Spain, there are currently 3,808,353 people without employment (October 2009), an increase of 35.1 % over the same time last year.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 30th, 2009. The time was 10:10:11.

Nature Confused

Last Saturday (October 31st) was the earliest I have ever seen almond blossoms in Mallorca in over twenty years. By nature’s own calendar almond trees do not develop their buds until middle to late December, but I have seen blossoms as early as the beginning of December or, occasionally, even by the middle of November. But this, the end of October, is quite unbelievable. Nature must be confused somehow, at least here in the Balearic islands.

The time of day when I spotted the almond blossoms a few days ago was not conducive for a decent photograph, so I decided to go back there yesterday. And nearby I found a couple of almond trees that were also displaying their pale blossoms. The tree seen earlier thus was not a freak appearance but part of a whole campaign of early Spring symptoms. The problem is that we are still some seven weeks away from Winter. What do these trees think?

Over the last three years since I have been doing this Mallorca photo blog, I have observed that there were quite a number of irregularities to the local weather pattern. But this latest one surely counts as the most astonishing upsets in weather predictability.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: November 2nd, 2009. The time was 12:12:13.

Sa Llotja

One of the most outstanding buildings in Palma de Mallorca is often mistaken for a church. Sa Llotja is not and has never been a place of worship of a religious kind; it was the old seat of the Col.legi de Mercaders (Merchants guild), in other words a trading exchange.

Sa Llotja (La Lonja in Castellano) is considered a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. It was built from 1420 to 1452 by Guillem Sagrera, who was responsible not only for the project, but also for the building of the work down to its sculptural details, such as those of the Ángel de los mercaderes above the main portal and the ten gargoyles, plus various others all of which are of a splendid quality. The Llotja’s indoors forms a single space with two rows of tall, spiralling columns, creating a magnificent space with a splendidly vaulted ceiling. During the 15th century, the Mediterranean Sea came up to the Muralla Islámica (city walls) into which the Llotja building was seamlessly integrated.

The building is currently closed for extensive restauration work, including a new flat roof and some meticulous repair of the stone work including most of the sculptures, all courtesy of the Consell de Mallorca.

The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 11th, 2008. The time was 13:54:11. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet, courtesy of Archiseek.com.

Muchas gracias.

All Saints

Most Mallorcans were busy yesterday and, indeed, for all of last week with the preparations for today’s Tots Sants celebrations.

Tots Sants (Todos los Santos, All Saints) is an annual event celebrated throughout the Catholic world honouring deceased family members and remembering the dead. The affair is taken rather seriously with graves and tombs being cleaned thoroughly, to be decorated with lavish adornments of ample flower bouquets.

As this year the fiesta falls on a Sunday, some Mallorcan municipalities have decided to declare tomorrow, Monday, a day off, such as Palma.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 21st, 2009. The time was 18:02:12. The photo (bottom) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 31st, 2009. The time was 18:00:07.