«Paradise spoilt by local youths» in cala Bona

Reference. Cala Bona, “Paradise spoilt by local youths”.

My wife and I have recently returned from our 4th visit this year to Cala Bona where we have an apartment in the Gran Sol Apartments. We are very disappointed at the increasing difficulties which arise on each of our visits with the Local Youths on the beach and in the general area including the apartment garden. There appears to be drug dealing, damage to beach and street furniture, litter and general rowdiness from them and using the beach and garden of the apartments as a urinal. This has now progressed to abuse of residents and visitors both physical and verbal. It has been described to me “running the gauntlet” to the beach after approx 16.00 hrs almost every day.

This is not a new issue but this year is much worse. The Disco seems to attract them and if this is not bad enough the noise from the disco until 04.00 hrs makes it virtually impossible to sleep until after this time. The disco does switch the speakers off in the entrance when they remember sometime between 00.01 hrs and 01.00 hrs but the noise is so loud it vibrates in the block until 04.00 hrs when they close.

I have observed a significant drug dealing culture going on around the area and in particular on the beach. On the rare visits by the Police they drive past and cannot see the 15 to 20 youths at times almost always local Spanish and of quite a young age. The amount of damage done to beach furniture and litter left around every night is enormous.

The residents of the apartment block have tried to confront the youths and have also spoken to local residents who advise us not to confront them due to incidents that have taken place. We have already had one resident physically abused and I understand may be reluctant to continue in court due to fear of further reprisals. A fire was started in the garden earlier this year which only prompt action by a resident stopped it from becoming serious. I personally am now hissed and gestured at in the street, on the beach and in the garden whenever the youths see my wife and myself, as are other residents. The residents are finding that family and friends will not visit anymore due to the unpleasantness.

I hope that you can print this letter and advise us what else we can do other residents are seeing solicitors and we have in the past rung the Police and Guardia but not always do they respond and really it needs a serious crackdown before someone gets really hurt and Cala Bona is not spoilt by a few. I will be visiting again shortly but if the circumstances do not improve we shall have to review our situation.

The best advice would be to keep raising the issue with the local authorities and the police. Ed.

When is a spy not a spy

When is a spy not a spy? When he or she is a hacker! And what is a hacker? Someone who says he/she is a scientist that has the sole objective to discover things for the simple pleasure of getting further than others. But that seems to mean in computing terms, being able to hack into other people's web sites, but apparently without any ulterior motive, nor wish to damage.

Apparently those who enter your web site with a lucrative ulterior motive, trying to rob your details, information, etc. for their own use or for selling to the highest bidder are known as crackers.

Well, well, well.
So, people who manage to invade your personal web page, just because they do not steal or sell on anything are not really spies, or even thieves. They are scientists.

And what about someone who breaks into your house but just has a quick look round and doesn't take anything. Is that person also a scientist?
What about invasion of privacy?
In Palma at the moment there is a congress of hackers taking place at the Parc Bit and they have been discussing all these matters of internet security.

What is the use of having a security password for one's internet connections, when evidently anyone who really wanted to invade one's internet privacy would either be a hacker or employ one? Only an unenlightened mortal like myself, who has no idea how to hack into anything would be stopped by a simple password. Sometimes I have great difficulty hacking my own computer and special programmes, because I forget my own passwords, and this happened last week when I was installing a new computer.

Rather a friend's university student sons were doing the installation, and when it got to the point of resetting one of my internet connections, I couldn't find my notes on the user name or password.

Typical!!! No problem they told me - and after a few minutes of feverish typing and page changing they proudly told me the information!! I was amazed and also shocked. But then I suppose we have mostly all seen the film about the young boy who hacks into the USA defence system and almost starts a world war, and there are many true words spoken in jest.

Ah well, at least I'm not exactly a computer illiterate which I had suspected I would be in the XXI century. But I'll say one thing - the more up-to-date the apparatus, the more complicated it gets and the longer it takes me to learn how to use it. And the same goes for my new mobile phone. I don't think I really need all the different applications it has and it is taking me too long to learn how to work it.