And the beach bars of Puerto Alcudia are attracting the Costas interest

By the beach near to the marina are bar restaurants. This part of the beach is sometimes referred to as Xara, as this is the name of the building where the bar restaurants are located. Visitors to Puerto Alcudia will be very familiar with them, as the beach walkway bisects the building and the terraces.

According to GOB, concessions granted by Alcudia town hall in March 2020 for this sector of the beach contemplated the installation of a wooden platform but did not include any commercial use or terrace for bar activity. In essence, GOB maintain that these bars do not have authorisation.

One again enters the realms of obscure planning in order to try and understand all this, but if GOB are challenging a presence that has existed for years, one has to ask why they are doing so now. The town hall’s councillor with responsibility for the beaches, Domingo Bonnin, said on Wednesday that he was unaware of GOB having denounced the terraces to the Costas. He added that the proprietors were waiting for the Costas authorisation, which usually comes through in the middle of April. The terraces have been set up therefore in anticipation of this authorisation.

But whatever the ins and outs of authorisations, there are occasions - and this is one of them - when I get frustrated with GOB. As a group it does many good things, but it seems relentless in picking up on anything, even where - and those familiar with the beach will appreciate this - occupation is hardly a problem. The beach is big. What the hell does it matter?

Meanwhile, one of the proprietors, Toni Llompart of Pipper’s, was one of the roundtable speakers at an event at Alcudia Auditorium on Thursday. This was the Alcudia Circular Economy Forum. Toni’s roundtable was about gastronomy tourism in Alcudia. Another was on the use of local product. One of the participants in this was Dani de Castro of the gastronomy group DCastro. His sister, Macarena, is a Michelin-star chef.

What struck me about these discussions was where restaurants are located. Maca de Castro is in the general area of the main tourist centre but not right in it. Otherwise, and as well as Pipper’s, there was representation from Bistro Mar and Miramar - both in the port.
Does this point to a geographical differentiation in terms of gastronomy tourism, with the main tourist centre (Pedro Mas y Reus, Tucan and between) largely excluded? If so, it does perhaps speak again to the desire for regeneration of the area.