Big is not better

THE ill-fated convention centre on Palma´s sea front is rapidly becoming a monument to the recession and the “good old days” when the local authorities spent money like water, without a  care in the world. The half completed centre is now slowly rotting away. It is a great shame. At the moment there is simply not enough money to complete the project although a major international hotel chain is said to be  interested in it.  I have always thought that plans for the convention centre were not fit for purpose. Like most things built before the recession  it is  far too big and far too expensive. I believe that it has a price tag of 60 million euros. Just like the Palma Arena velodrome, which is hardly used,  and the Palma Metro line, which can sometimes count its passengers on a single hand it was designed under the headline, big  is beautiful. If only some of the public money which was lavished on these projects  could be recovered  the local economy would not be in such a bad state. I suspect  that one day the convention centre will  be completed and like everything else on this island it will be busy during the Summer and empty during the Winter, just like Palma airport. The next time the local authorities go on a spending spree Iwould ask them to do their homework first. Big is not always better. A smaller convention centre would be a massive asset to Majorca. One that is so big and so expensive just becomes another white elephant, of which there are many on Majorca.