02/04/2013 00:00
TW
0
By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
THE Fray Juniper Serra Museum in Petra this week received a major boost when the Ministry for Tourism pledged to invest the 120'000 euros needed to finally complete the reformation of the birthplace of the Majorcan friar who founded California.

President of the Association of Friends of Fray Juniper Serra, the former United States Consular Agent to the Balearics, Tummy Bestard, said this week that he is overjoyed by the deal struck with the local Ministry for Tourism. “We can now complete the complex which comprises three adjacent buildings. “We can re-plumb the site, put in new electricity and toilets and a bar and also make it accessible for the disabled. “We can't put in a lift because it is a listed building so there will be interactive screens in all the lower rooms to enable people in wheelchairs to see what's going on upstairs and watch special events and activities from the ground floor,” Bestard explained.

The hard work carried out by Bestard and his association over the years in reforming the site and promoting it in association with the Fray Juniper Serra Foundation, is finally beginning to pay off.

This year, 30'000 people have visited the museum and only last week a group of 20 Californians made the pilgrimage to their “birthplace”. Now that work is about to start on finishing the reformation, Bestard is in talks with Air Berlin about launching special packages for Majorcans wishing to visit California and tour the missions Serra founded which are still operating today. They are also, he said, for Californians who want to make the pilgrimage to Petra to learn more about their “founding father”.

400 '000 AMERICANS “Air Berlin are very excited about the venture. “There used to be flights to Majorca from Miami and New York in the 70's and around 400'000 Americans used to visit the island every year,” Bestard said. “So, we're looking to revive that via Germany but with the emphasis on Fray Juniper Serra. “But, it's not only laying on the flights, it is setting up people both here in Majorca and in California to look after the special Fray Juniper Serra package holiday makers,” he explained. “That is not going to be so difficult here in Majorca as the focal point is Petra but in California it is going to be more complicated because there are so many missions to see,” Bestard explained. “But, everything is moving in the right direction and we have another meeting with Air Berlin this week. In fact, airline directors are going to be coming to visit Petra for the first time to see what we are really talking about,” he explained. “The history of Fray Juniper Serra is taught in schools in California and other parts of America, it's part of the school curriculum, so there is a huge catchment market in the States,” Bestard added.

And, all this work is part of the build up to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Fray Juniper Serra in 2013 and that is the target Air Berlin has also set for launching the flights and packages between Majorca and the United States. “We're so grateful to the Ministry for Tourism, over the past two years, it has invested a total of 180'000 euros in reforming the site and every single cent has gone into the project which is very important for Majorca,” he said.