Category Archives: Mediterranean

The Aeròdrom Militar de Pollença

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Mallorca has three airports; did you know? There is Son Sant Joan, there is Son Bonet, and there is an airbase in Port de Pollença.

The Aeròdrom Militar de Pollença was built in 1937, seventy-five years ago this year. At that time, the Spanish Guerra Civil was in full swing; General Franco was well on his way to assuming power with his iron fist. Earlier this week, a commemorative act was celebrated for the 75th anniversary of that airbase, calling for a largish assembly of the Mallorcan bigwigs.

I was not invited to the commemorative bash; why should I have been? Thus, I made my way to Port de Pollença yesterday, where I had a minor confrontation with a young female from the Military Security personnel. Supposedly I am not allowed to take a photo of the main gate to the precinct, and no-one else is either. Well, I never.

The Pollença airbase is primarily geared for amphibian aircraft and seaplanes. The first such aircraft were submitted by the Italian Air Force in early 1937, which already had their base in Mallorca’s Aeródromo de Son Bonet near Palma. As of 1954, a number of Grumman SA-16 were stationed in Pollença and later a couple of Dornier 24. The Grumman SA-16 were withdrawn from Pollença in 1960 and moved to Palma. They were replaced with a number of CL-215 CANADAIR, principally equipped for the extinguishing of forest fires.

Nowadays, the Pollença unit forms part of the Spanish Fuerzas Auxiliares de Apoyo Operativo del Mando Aéreo General de la Fuerza del Ejército del Aire and comes under the Ministry of Defense in Madrid.

There is some local opposition to the airbase in Pollença claiming that in our modern age, the military base does not serve much of a purpose, apart from its forest fire fighting capacity. I think it is quite possible that before long, the Aeròdrom Militar de Pollença may change its purpose yet again or indeed, may simply cease to exist.

The photos (colour, top) were taken in Port de Pollença, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 22nd, 2012. The time was 15:18:33 and 15:26:21, respectively. The photos (b&w, bottom) were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of requetes.com and elsitiodejactres.blogspot.com, respectively.

Muchas gracias.

The Sardine’s Mock Funeral

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The Sardine was buried in Felanitx last night, the night before Ash Wednesday (today). The mock funeral sermon was thoroughly enjoyable for its wit, burlesque mockery and joyous satire. I wish you could have witnessed it.

From today onwards, Mallorca will submit to the rigours of Quaresma (Lent) for 45 days until Divendres Sant (Good Friday), or so it would have been in the olden days. In this day and age, when materialistic gratification is far more desirable than any spiritual quest, my guess is that less than one in five residents will want to know of the tradition of fasting and repentance, and even less than that of fasting on a full-scale of zealous devotion in the ways of the Catholic Church. I must say that the fervency of our Muslim neighbours at times of Ramadan is probably like the Catholic commitment might have been here some 50 years ago, in my estimation. I may be wrong though.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Spain. The date: February 21st, 2012. The time was 21:36:51.

Prisoners of War Camps in Mallorca

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In a blog entry a couple of years ago, I reported about a number of Concentration Camps in Mallorca. Perhaps that term was a bit harsh. Perhaps one should call them Internment Camps or Prisoners of War Camps. There were five or six of those prison camps on the island, with two of them in Palma. All of the camps were for male prisoners with one exception, Can Sales in Palma, where female detainees were kept.

In the Parc Natural de la Península de Llevant, at the foot of the Puig des Porrassar mountain, one can find the Campament des Soldats, a military camp now in ruins where the Republican soldiers were kept as prisoners between 1939 and 1943. By then the Nationalist and Fascist Falange movement of Francisco Franco had won the Guerra Civil, taking lots of prisoners who were kept in approximately 400 prison camps situated all over Spain. The soldiers at the prison camp near Artà were held captive and had to work on the construction of the Cami dels Presos. Four barrack-type buildings surrounded a large central courtyard. The beauty of the landscape nowadays belies its barren conditions then. There must have been some tremendous suffering. All of the prisoners had come from the Spanish mainland. In turn, Republican prisoners taken in Mallorca were sent off to prison camps on the Peninsula.

Not far from here, there is a watchtower known as Sa Talaia Moreia, not immediately related to the prisoners camp.

The Cami dels Presos was a road built to allow large canons to be transported up to the mountain top of Sa Talaia Moreia to install a fort with heavy defense artillery overlooking the coast. At that time, Franco feared an imminent attack by the Allied troops of Britain, France, Canada, Belgium and USA. That’s why we find the bunkers built along the coast between Alcúdia and Can Picafort, as well as the towers for submarine target practice along the same coastline. The attack never materialized and the road was in the end unfinished; the fort was never constructed and the canons were never mounted. Germany was on the way to its defeat by the Allies and Spain was by then safe from an Allied attack.

History is right under our noses, even to this day.

The photos were taken near Artà, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 18th, 2012. The time was 12:13:37 and 12:17:36, respectively.

The Demise of a Sardine

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Tomorrow, February 21st, Mallorca (and Spain) will celebrate the last day of Carnival. Ash Wednesday, on February 22nd, is the first day of Lent according to the calendar of Western Christianity, occurring 46 days before Easter. Lent in Mallorca is called Quaresma. An old lady plays a prominent role during the Mallorcan Lent; she is called Quaresma Vella (or Jaia Corema, Old Mother Lent). You can read about her in my previous blog entry.

On the night before Ash Wednesday, i. e. tomorrow night, the Mickey will be taken out of local authorities and in particular, the Catholic Church. A burlesque mock funeral will be held to bury the Sardina. The Confraria de Penitents de la Santa Sardina will organize the parodic festivity. In Felanitx, a funeral sermon will be held by the Reverendíssim Francesco Peretus Perruquectus della Piazza Pax.

Sardine burials will also be held in other Mallorcan pueblos, such as Manacor, Artà, Son Servera, Llucmajor, Inca, Sa Pobla, Alcúdia, Sóller and Calvià. You can read about the slightly morbid but really humorous tradition in my earlier blog post.

The photo was reproduced from a poster designed by Miquel Suñer.

Moltes gràcies.

The Parc Natural de Llevant

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The land of Aubarca north of Artà was acquired by the Govern de les Illes Balears in 2001 and protected as a Nature Reserve under the name of Parc Natural de la Península de Llevant. The area extends to some 1,400 hectares of land. You may be tempted to consult the official website of the Balearic Government but I fear that you may be misled there. Here is what they have to say (I expect Google Translate must take part of the blame):

This Nature Reserve is constituted for different Mediterranean habitats such as|how the oak wood, wild olive groves and pinewoods, the cliffs, are the sandy beaches, the torrents, that they combine with the created agricultural ecosystems to the length of the time|weather, forming one of the zones of landscape richer and several of Mallorca.

How on earth they can get away with such gibberish I do not know. Luckily, and irrespective of the unfortunate website, the Parc Natural de Llevant is a perfect location for a nice walk in some beautifully unspoilt landscape affording pleasant views across the barren hilly range of the Serra de Llevant with a distant glimpse of the neighbouring island, Menorca. You can do some bird watching there and look out for the Common Raven (Corvus corax) or the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Or you could find some rare plants such as the Ceba Marina (Drimia maritima) (see photo below) or the Saladina (Limonium minutum). If you have not paid a visit yet, you might wish to discover some virgin beach settings there, such as S’Arenalet des Verger (with basic overnight hostel facilities).

The photos were taken near Artà, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 18th, 2012. The time was 11:15:12 and 13:04:13, respectively.

Airport Statistics

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During the twelve months of 2011, a total of 22,726,459 passengers passed through PMI airport. That’s 11,363,230 real people, coming or going, a strong 7.6 % above the numbers for 2010. That’s near enough the highest number of passengers this airport has ever handled in any one year, and that’s with the chips down. Perhaps it is all related to holiday making in North Africa being diverted elsewhere; what do you think?

In January, however, passenger numbers amounted to 614,434 in Palma, or 10.1 % less than a year ago. This decrease might be accountable to fewer flights on offer than there were twelve months ago, or to the demise of Spanair who ceased operations on January 27th.

Overall, the statistics suggest a picture whereby the total number of passengers are steady on a high to very high level for most of the season, whereas the figures during November, December, January and probably February are getting smaller by the year, due to airlines cutting back their flight frequency during the winter month and thus, flight tickets becoming more expensive. The days of the cheap ticket bonanza seem to be over, perhaps irretrievably.

The photo was taken near Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 16th, 2012. The time was 17:43:15.

Sunset Boulevard

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Many moons ago I walked the length of Sunset Boulevard, from downtown L. A. through Hollywood to Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. Nothing quite equals the magnificent beauty of the Pacific Ocean or the sheer luminosity of the Californian light.

When it comes to sunsets, though, nothing can compare with the impressive splendour of the Mallorcan sundown. We have had some stunning sun-setting performances over the last five days. Okay, I have to admit that seeing the beauty of the sun disappearing beyond the horizon and actually capturing the dramatic view on camera is not at all the same. What I saw yesterday on the beach of s’Arenal, near Palma, was eons better than what I can demonstrate in the resulting photo. I offer my apologies.

The photo was taken in Platja de Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 16th, 2012. The time was 18:20:28.

The Ermita de Sant Miquel

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I don’t know if you have noticed that churches, temples and mosques often share the same location, with centuries between them, often with one being built over the previous edifice. In Mallorca, the Cathedral in Palma is such an example. Before the Conquista in 1229, the main mosque of Madina Mayurqa was found in its place. The conquering Christians originally used the mosque as a place of worship, until it was demolished and construction began in earnest for La Seu. You may have noticed that the Cathedral has a perfectly east-facing orientation, towards Mecca, or Jerusalem, as they would now say.

The Oratorio de Sant Miquel near Campanet (see both photos) can be counted as another example amongst a handful here in Mallorca. The location for this oratory on the banks of the Torrent de Sant Miquel was originally used as a Paleo-Christian temple (approx. 600 A. D.), before it was used and rebuilt as an Islamic mosque. After the Catalan conquest, a chapel and hermitage were constructed here in the Gothic style, one of the earliest ones in Mallorca of the new period under King Jaume I. In the pulpit there are three pretty old carved figures, representing Sant Pere, Sant Miquel and Sant Joan Batista. Another fine feature are the Teules Pintades (painted roof tiles).

The chapel and its surrounding landscape make for a splendid excursion. Within walking distance, you can find the Coves de Campanet and Ses Fonts Ufanes, the underground springs considered one of only two Monuments Naturals in Mallorca.

The photo (top) was taken near Campanet, Mallorca, Spain. The date: February 14th, 2012. The time was 18:04:19. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr and fullos.

Thank you very much, and

moltes gràcies.

Hail and Thunder

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On the weather front, let me tell you that I witnessed some beautiful cloud formations and a rather splendid sunset last night. Shortly after taking the above photo near Inca, I was surprised by a brief hail storm near Campanet with dark clouds on the horizon, accompanied by some thunderous rumblings in the distance. The mountains behind Inca on the way up from Caimari and over towards Pollença were still snow-capped.

For today, sunny spells are forecast for the first time since the cold winter weather started, when was it, ten days ago? Temperatures are said to increase ever so slightly as of today. The Yellow alert is reduced to some local areas in the south of the island for today and an all clear is envisaged for tomorrow. Snow, if any, will only fall above 500 m today, and subsequently above 700 m, 800 m, 900 m, and 1000 m, as from tomorrow. Siberia seems on the retreat.

The photo was taken near Inca, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 14th, 2012. The time was 17:45:34.

Traditional Boat Builders

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The world of boats in Mallorca is divided into two distinct hemispheres, and never the twain shall meet. There is the leisure boat, Sunseeker-type market, predominantly sailed by the affluent foreign ex-patriot whose yacht is moored in Port d’Andtratx, Puerto Portals, Sa Rapita or Cala d’Or, and there is the traditional fisherman’s boat, commonly known as Llaüt, and anchored in Portocolom (see photo), Cala Figuera (Santanyí), Porto Cristo, Cala Ratjada or Port de Sóller.

My sympathies are with the latter. I admire the craftsmen who still follow the traditional technique of building boats from wood. Not many of those Drassanes or Astilleros (ship wharves) are remaining on the island but, there are two such establishments in Portocolom, building and repairing Mallorcan Llaüts, just in case you are interested. Three more Drassanes exist in Marratxi, Port d’Alcúdia and Port de Sóller. In all of Mallorca, currently only 6 or 7 Mestres d’Aixa (Master Llaüt builders) remain.

The photo was taken in Portocolom, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 9th, 2012. The time was 13:33:36.