Seven Days

The News in the North    
The Bulletin launched a new weekly Saturday feature Northern Spotlight with news from two of the most prominent expatriate communities in the area -- ESRA, the English-Speaking Residents Association, and the Anglican Church of Puerto de Pollenca. Annual general meetings are not always the happiest of occasions but ESRA North’s had nothing but good news and a spirit of achievement, especially in its charitable activities which had raised 5,500 euros in 2013 and already 3,500 in the new year. A new committee was elected and presentations made to the three retiring members. A celebratory lunch followed.
The past year has proved to be a challenging one for the members of the Anglican church of St Andrews in Puerto Pollenca with the need to find a new place of worship and, now, a new Chaplain. It is looking for “an energetic priest who is community minded and a team player”. Advertisements will be appearing in mid-February and details are on chaplain@anglican-mallorca.org.

“Tranquillo hombre”    
The appearance of Princess Cristina of Spain in a Palma court to answer questions about her knowledge of a major corruption scandal was widely billed as “history in the making” and an event of “world interest”.
But the Bulletin’s editor, Jason Moore, who was there with Chief Reporter, Humphrey Carter, was not so sure despite the number of police and some 300 protestors -- as these excerpts from his report show: “My cab driver asked me why I was heading into Palma so early on a Saturday morning and I remarked that I had a date with a Princess. He smiled and asked whether I had watched the game last night. I pressed him and he didn’t appear the slightest bit interested in a senior member of his royal family appearing before a judge...
At just before 9.45am Princess Cristina had arrived and history was being made (well I think!). It is one of the lovely things about Palma and Majorca that nothing alarms it too much. It is “tranquillo hombre”.”

Wild Majorca    
Each Tuesday in the Bulletin Michael Montier Wild Majorca devotes two pages to his experiences as a bird-watcher on Majorca and the satisfaction they give him: “Looking at nature takes us out of our narcissistic state and helps us to see other things. It brings people of all persuasions, religions and races together in a united group with a common interest. It allows us to see how important it is to preserve beautiful places and not put our selfish interests above the environment.
It’s worth mentioning that Michael Montier’s feature also includes the Bird of the Week in Majorca as well as one of his own stunning colour photographs of the Majorcan countryside.

TV Piracy
l Confusion and uncertainty continued over     UK TV transmissions on Majorca after both the BBC and ITV changed their use of satellites. For many people all BBC channels and some of ITV had disappeared leaving EastEnders addicts distraught and Coronation Street loyalists apprehensive.
A BBC spokesman said, “BBC domestic services are for licence fee payers living in the UK, Channel Islands and Isel of Man only.”
ITV took a similar line, saying that its licence was for the UK only and that “we do not seek to promote our services elsewhere.” Generally, though, there seemed to be a feeling that ways would be found to continue the TV piracy of which most of  us have been guilty for many years.    

Tasty Bits
Andrew Valente’s Food and Wine weekly Thursday feature always includes a restaurant review but also has useful advice for those readers who like to cook interesting meals at home. His subject this week was offal and where it can be bought in Palma -- “If you don’t know the world of textures and tastes that can be found in the different kinds of offal you are in for some new culinary sensations.”
There followed descriptions of fifteen types of offal, from the familiar higado, riñones and corazon to the rarer carrillada (cheeks of the cow and pig), and rabo (the tail of pigs, sheep or calves) -- and not forgetting criadillas concerning which Andrew Valente had this to say: “They are the ternera’s testicles and they make very good eating. If you were to have them sliced and breadcrumbed and didn’t know what they were, you would think you were eating little medallions of veal.”

Yes or No
Scotland’s September Yes/No referendum on independence from the United Kingdom has already enlivened the Bulletin’s Letters to the Editor columns. Their focus has mainly been on the fact that Scots living outside Scotland will have no vote in the referendum while the English and other outsiders living in Scotland will be able to have their say.
Another dimension of a complex issue was raised by Andrew Ferguson who wrote: “I can trace my family back 700 years in Scotland but I will have no vote...What saddens me is that this little country is completely in thrall to the genetically lefty nationalists and hard line socialists in the Glasgow area, with some West Lothianites like Alex Salmond thrown in. The lesser populated but much greater area of the Highlands and Islands is far more inclined to stay with the UK, but will be subjugated totally in an independent SNP--dominated Scotland run from Edinburgh.”

In Brief
    
Plans by the council of Pollensa to control public behaviour on its streets have run into opposition by a group calling itself “Platform against the Civic Law in Pollensa”.
 The council says it is responding to complaints about binge drinking, begging, gambling and rough sleeping in the streets; the Platform opposing such controls, which claims it has no political affiliation, fears that the law could be too easily extended to other activities such as running, skating and cycling.
 
The number of walkers and climbers using the five mountain refuges run by the Council of Majorca has increased considerably in the past two years, from just less the 18 thousand to over 25,000. British, French, German and Spanish visitors accounted for 90 per cent of users of the refuges.     

Kestrel, a 30-metre luxury superyacht designed by Ron Holland and built at a cost of between 8-10 million euros and launched in 2012, is being sold in what may be the first “online auction” with a reserve of less than two million euros. The yacht is berthed in Port Adrisano marina and the auction is being held by Sweeney Kincaid whose managing director said its owners “want it to go to a good home”. The deadline for sealed bids is 27 February.