Seven days

Portillo on a train
Someone who once appeared to be destined for party leadership and perhaps even higher office was in Majorca for purely non-political reasons.
 Michael Portillo was filming for the BBC’s Great Continental Railway Journeys and, aided by George Bradshaw’s 1913 guide book, he was going to Manacor from Palma via Inca. Why Manacor? “Bradshaw wrote about Manacor in 1912 and 1913 and how it was the capital of pearls,” he told us.

Rugby and football
The Bulletin was delighted to be closely involved as media sponsor with two sporting events.
The ninth Majorca Beach Rugby Tournament in Magalluf kicked off last Saturday, and the following day’s paper was full of photos of an occasion played out in the unusually warm weather for the time of year.
 There were further photos on Tuesday of the tournament, which is destined to be even bigger for its tenth anniversary in 2016.
On Wednesday, it was the turn of the round ball and of the presentation for the fourth annual five-a-side Mallorca Football Tournament for government and security personnel that started in Santa Ponsa on Friday, a tournament that is genuinely global, with teams from China, the Middle East, Russia, Europe and even Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

Boat show and the “Sorrento”
Meanwhile, Palma’s Boat Show, which ended on Monday, was being described as the “biggest and best since it began”, and among those who attended was the British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley.
Jason Moore caught up with him while he was also visiting HMS Dauntless, and the ambassador spoke, among other things, about the possibility of British police officers being deployed on the streets of Magalluf this summer.
He voiced his support for the plan, one which the Guardia Civil backs, but noted that it was a matter for the Home Office, with a final decision unlikely to be made until after the election.
We followed the woes of a different ship, the ferry “Sorrento”, which had caught fire off Majorca the previous week. The decision was taken to tow the ferry to Sagunto in Valencia, something which caused concern among residents of the port there and among environmentalists.
The government delegate to the Valencia Community went to great lengths in explaining that all measures to prevent any pollution (or risk of sinking) had been taken.

The chimps of Sa Coma
A matter of controversy arose surrounding the Safari Zoo in Sa Coma, from where two chimpanzees, Adam and Eve, escaped on Monday.
The shooting of Eve caused particular consternation, the Spanish wing of the Jane Goodall Institute being especially vocal in condemning the shooting and also the conditions in which the chimpanzees had been kept.
Its statement drew into question what it considered an “excuse” for not having used tranquiliser darts instead.
When Adam was found drowned on Thursday, animal rights groups called for there to be an investigation by the regional government and for the zoo to be closed.

Elections in Majorca
While polling was taking place in the British election, official campaigning for the elections in Majorca and the Balearics was starting.
On Friday, we included a photo of various party leaders and representatives who came together for once as part of a campaign for organ donation.
The latest opinion poll (can we now of course trust polls?) confirmed findings of previous polls which have shown that President Bauza’s Partido Popular will lose its current majority after the 24 May election and that the party may struggle to find support to even form a coalition government.

And finally ... Magalluf
It wouldn’t perhaps make a week if there were not some reference to the seamier side of Magalluf, and on Thursday it came in the form of a letter from Martin Headford who was far less concerned with the “media hype surrounding the behaviour of Brits abroad” than with “the scourge of the vile African street muggers, alleged prostitutes and Eastern European pickpockets”.
His letter, one felt, spoke for a very great number of the resort’s business owners, residents and visitors.