A wise move

The other-day we received a telephone call from a lady who said that she had attended a concert in Palma but had been amazed at the lack of security. Now, initially this strikes you as rather alarmist but the attacks in Paris last week have pushed the issue of security to the top of everyone´s minds. Are we safe? Well, the simple answer is that I would say that Majorca is one of the safest places in Europe but that doesn´t mean that the security services on the island can drop their guard. Spain, unlike other European countries, has not raised its terror alert. I suspect that the French and Spanish security services are working closely in case any of the suspects in the Paris attacks elect to take advantage of the open borders and move into Spain. Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, has said that Spain will not be joining the international air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq but the government did signal that it would provide help to the French military. Spain is simply not getting involved in any armed conflict. The memories of the Madrid bombings are still fresh because it has to be remembered that the worst terrorist outrage on mainland Europe was in the Spanish capital. I think at the end of the day it is a wise decision by the Spanish government. I think now is the time for cool heads rather than jumping into military action when all the risks are still unknown.