The memo would appear not to have got as far as Pollensa. The mayor, Negueruela's one-time Balearic Government comrade, Martí March, was in Madrid. And there were the photos to prove it. Will the mayor now find himself on the PSOE naughty step? Probably not, as municipalities seemed to have been exempt from whatever edict may have been circulating.
Pollensa had its own mini-stand, replete with an array of leaflets, and Pollensa had its message for the tourism world. A commitment to sustainable tourism (whoever would have guessed?) formed part of a message with a checklist that studiously avoided any mention of lounging around on beaches under a blazing high-summer sun, assuming the sunloungers have in fact been put out in time.
Nature, sport, nautical, ornithology, heritage and culture, gastronomy, local products. Yes, they all featured, albeit the town hall may just have preferred to play down the nautical. Coincidental to Fitur, marine environmentalists Arrels Marines drew attention to contamination from a fourth boat to have sunk in the Bay of Pollensa over the course of four weeks. Only one of the four has been in the Alcudia area. The other three have been in Puerto Pollensa. As everyone is aware, there is the general discussion regarding the number of boats in the bay, illegal anchoring and pollution.
Still, it was sport that the mayor was especially interested in promoting, the Pollensa Half Marathon in particular. This year's will be the sixteenth and will be for the Spanish championship. So the mayor was smiling for the cameras in presenting the half marathon in the company of others but looked less pleased when on the far end of a line comprising many a Partido Popular representative. It was evident that there was no PSOE three-line whip demanding non-attendance as Mayor March was next to Inca's Virgilio Moreno; Inca is apparently promoting itself as a tourist destination.
The only slight hiccup on the half-marathon promotional front was that Capdepera had also pitched up in Madrid in order to promote the Cala Ratjada Half Marathon. Capdepera was able to boast that this is the island's oldest half marathon - this year's will be the fortieth - and that it has become a "benchmark" for sportspeople. Not that it really mattered, as Pollensa's will be later than previously - mid-May - while Cala Ratjada's will be on April 12.
PSOE's March and Moreno were on the wrong end of a PP-dominated photo-opportunity line-up, but the Inca mayor was undeterred by this. He can maintain a beaming smile even under the most trying of circumstances; March doesn't pretend to. Next to Moreno was Alcudia's Fina Linares, and Alcudia were out in force to present 'Once upon a trip. Alcudia, a fascinating culture'. Once upon a trip? Was this supposed to be a play on once upon a time? Hard to say, but one must say that a video is pretty good in the way it highlights the likes of the bigheads gang, S'Estol Rei en Jaume, plus Pollentia, Sa Bassa Blanca, and the Via Fora.
The mayor said: "We are a municipality active all year round, with a festive calendar that sets the pace of life and offers visitors a unique experience at any time of the year. And this year we want to show our feelings and our history through a cultural approach that makes us unique and different from other destinations." All this valuing of culture and heritage is (inevitably) from a "sustainable perspective".
Because culture was the theme, Alcudia didn't dwell on the sport and so didn't highlight the fact that Ironman 70.3, a genuinely international sports event, will be the week before the Pollensa Half Marathon. Hey ho.
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