Category Archives: Sports

The Balearic Mountain Championship

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The annual car race up the Sant Salvador mountain near Felanitx is the fourth out of six races making up the Campeonato de Baleares de Montaña 2012 (Balearic Mountain Championship). So far, races were held to Valldemossa, to Monte Toro and to the Castell de Son Mas in Andratx. After Felanitx, two more races remain in this year’s competition, up to Puig Major (October 6th-7th) and to Cala de Sant Vicenç (October 20th-21st).

Tomorrow, September 1st, will be a day of training sessions, starting at 16h30. The proper race will be held on Sunday, September 2nd, at 09h30. Thirty cars have registered to compete here in Felanitx. And the winner is …..

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of mallorcarallye.com.

Muchas gracias.

The Slow Decline and Fall of Bullfighting in Mallorca

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There was a bullfight event in Palma’s Coliseo Balear the other night (Thursday) with three Toreros. The event will have been the only corrida this year in the island capital. There won’t be a bullfight in Felanitx this year either, for the third consecutive year, and Inca has also cancelled its annual bullfight. The anti-taurine movement may slowly get the upper hand in Mallorca after all. There were close to one hundred animal rights protesters outside Palma’s bullring on Thursday night making their voices heard, whistling and shouting insults at the pro-bullfight spectators. The bulls, it seemed, were not perturbed, even though in the end not a single bull survived the spectacle.

One bullfight was staged in Alcúdia earlier this year, and another one in Muro. That was it, as far as I know; three bullfighting corridas in a whole year when in the past there may have been ten or twelve. Times they are a-changing.

The photos (top and centre) were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es and the photographer, Manu Mielniezuk. The photo (bottom) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 26th, 2012. The time was 19:36:48.

Muchas gracias.

Mountain Olympics at the Barranc de Biniaraix

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Whilst the couch potatoes amongst us, including yours truly, were busy watching the London 2012 Olympics on the telly last Sunday, a few hundred Mallorcan men and women (and children and dogs) participated in a kind of Mountain Olympics at the Barranc de Biniaraix, near Sóller. The competition was organised by the Secció de Muntanya del Círculo Sollerense and was held for the eleventh year. The contest was held in two categories, one against the clock and the other one just for the excitement of participating. The course had a length of 4.8 kilometres of cobbled Cami de Pedra en Sec.

Young Pere Rullan Estarelles was the overall winner in the male category with a time of 00:28:15, whilst María Eugenia Gallastegui Alemany was the fastest female with a time of 00:38:50.

If you haven’t been to the Barranc de Biniaraix you should make that one of your walks and hikes to do when the Olympics are over and done with. You will find one of the best scenic routes on the island, I promise, and you won’t have to run.

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com, C.C.D.S. and the photographer, Joan Vicens i Vidal.

Thank you very much, and

moltes gràcies.

The Dragonera Event

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Sa Dragonera is a small and rather beautiful island, just off the coast of Sant Elm, at the Western-most point of Mallorca. In 1995, the island was declared a Parque Natural (Nature Reserve) and has enjoyed environmental protection ever since.

For the last twenty years, an annual kayaking event has taken place there, involving a 13 km long Volta a Sa Dragonera by canoe or kayak, and so again this Sunday just gone. I wish I was fitter than I am and in a more suitable athletic shape; I would really like to participate in one of these festively sportive challenges. A challenge it is every time; even though there is neither a race nor a winner, but the currents of the open sea on the western shore of Sa Dragonera can apparently be quite strenuous, depending on wind and weather.

For the last two years, there has also been a similar swimming contest, the Volta a Sa Dragonera nedant, an open water swimming challenge but also, non-competitive. The course is over a distance of 10 km, and all they got at the end was a lousy T-shirt. No, I’m only joking. A total of 110 swimmers participated in the event last May, including extreme swimmer Anna Wardley from the UK. Ms. Wardley had earlier swum the English Channel and the Straits of Gibraltar. She has recently embarked on a 5ive Island Swim Challenge for charity purposes, a series of five extreme swims around Dragonera (done), Portsea (Hampshire, UK), Jersey (Channel Islands), Tiree (Inner Hebrides, Scotland) and the Isle of Wight (Solent, UK). Not bad for a female who used to work in Public Relations. She actually commented that the Dragonera swim proved to be much tougher than she had expected. I bet. Well done, in any case. One done and four to go, Anna. Best of luck.

The photos were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com/photos/jmdiazpalmer (top), ultra-quim.blogspot.com.es (centre) and annawardley.com (bottom).

Thank you very much,

muchas gracias, and

moltes gràcies.

The Seven Year Itch

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Rafa Nadal has done it again. He beat the seven-year itch and conquered his seventh Paris Open trophy at Roland Garros yesterday, Monday, after Sunday’s final had to be interrupted because of rain, and continued on Monday. Nadal has won Roland Garros in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and now, 2012. Congratulations to the man from Manacor. Only Richard Sears, William Renshaw, William Larned, Bill Tilden and Pete Sampras have achieved a similar feat by winning the same Grand Slam seven times.

Yesterday’s win was Rafa’s 11th Grand Slam trophy. He has also won twice in Wimbledon (2008 and 2010), one Australian Open (2009) and one US Open (2010), apart from winning 21 Master Series titles, eight in Montecarlo (2005-2012), six in Roma (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012), two in Madrid (2005 and 2010), two in Indian Wells (2007 and 2009), two in Canada (2005 and 2008) and one in Hamburg (2008).

The list of Nadal’s tennis achievements would not be complete without mentioning his 17 ATP titles: seven Conde de Godó in Barcelona (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012), two in Stuttgart (2005 and 2007), one in Sopot (2004), one in Costa do Sauipe (2005), one in Peking (2005), one in Acapulco (2005), one in Bastad (2005), one in Dubai (2006), one at Queen’s (2008) and one in Tokyo (2010).

Rafa also won four Davis Cup trophies, in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, as well as the Gold Medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

And the man has only just turned 26.

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of futuretennisstars.com and the unnamed photographer.

Thank you very much.

High-Tech in the High Mountains

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My friend and loyal reader David commented on the breadth of the topics this blog covers, and that he never realised that Mallorca was so interesting. These kind words were well received. Mallorca offers so very many different facets indeed and even more than I have covered in the nearly five years of this blog’s existence (six weeks to go for the fifth anniversary) and its 1,789 blog posts. The thing is that most of us are only aware of our immediate surroundings and environment. Let me talk about golfers who know more than I do about what is going on in the golfing circuit, and perhaps much less about falconry. Or the boat people who are fully entrenched in yachts and knots and marinas, and not very much else apart from wining and dining.

Yesterday, for instance, the most amazing Ultratrail Mallorca took place in the Serra de Tramuntana, and not many people gave it much attention apart from close friends and family members. There were perhaps 1,800 participants walking, running, ambling and limping the 105 kilometres between Andratx and Pollença, with the best able ones beating themselves in just over eleven hours, all satellite tracked from high above and chip controlled from down below. I think it is amazing what goes on here on the island and what a shame that most of us are not aware of half the going-ons, most of the time.

Anyway, a big applause to the brave athletes who yesterday not only managed to cross the finishing line after some twelve to twenty hours but who also conquered themselves in the proceedings. What an inimitable feat.

The yellow machine in the photo (above) is a high-tech chip detector on one of the five check-points between start and finish in yesterday’s competition. Each and every participating athlete was equipped with a microchip and his or her whereabouts or passing-through and time was monitored. The red numbers on the runner’s vest in the photo indicate one of the 1,200 participants who started the race in Andratx at 00h00, and the green number tag indicates one of the 600 participants who started the competition in Valldemossa at 08h00. The carriers of red had been on the go for 18 hours by the time this picture was taken, and the carriers of green, ten hours. Utterly amazing.

I reckon there will be much more going on here in Mallorca before my enthusiasm and wonderment are exhausted. Stay tuned.

The photo (top) was taken in Escorca, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 21st, 2012. The time was 18:13:29. The image (below) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of Google and siguemeya.com.

Thank you, and

muchas gracias.

Marathons, Triathlons and Ultratrails

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For some reason or other, Mallorca has become a much favoured place to hold athletic races of the mega distance. The island capital organizes an annual International Half Marathon ‘Ciutat de Palma’, currently in its 18th year, which attracted in excess of 1,500 runners about a month ago. The TUI Marathon was launched in 2003 and is now in its 9th year. Last year, 1,404 runners attempted the full length marathon and 3,487 runners started out in the half marathon. This year’s competition will be held in October.

In 2011, the first ever Mallorcan Ironman triathlon competition was held with 1,698 participants who braved a swim course of 1.9 km, a cycling distance of 90.1 km and a running circuit of 21.1 km. This year’s Ironman will be held in May.

Last Sunday, a triathlon was also held in Portocolom, already for the 15th time, covering 1 km of swimming, 10 km of running and 100 km of cycling. The photo (below) is from the 2009 event.

Next Saturday, April 21st, an Ultratrail Serra de Tramuntana will be held for the fourth time, spanning 105 km of Tramuntana mountain terrain from Andratx to Pollença (see photo above). A shorter distance (the Trail Serra de Tramuntana) will be held the same day between Valldemossa and Pollença (62 km). I am not sure if you can imagine the utter exhaustion a run over such a distance of the roughest mountain trails, up from sea level to about 1,300 metres of altitude and down again, will cause the participants. I simply do not know how they do this but I certainly have nothing but respect for the athletes’ endurance and stamina. The winner will need no more than 12 hours, can you imagine? Last year, there was one man (Toni Contestí) who ran the Doble Ultra Trail Serra de Tramuntana from Andratx to Pollença and back again, would you believe it, in an incredible 39 hours and 35 minutes. That’s 219 km of running through the unforgiving mountains. Unbelievable.

All this makes me feel such a wet.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of facebook.com/TrailsMallorca. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of sergiotriatlo.blogspot.com.es.

Muchas gracias.

Cycling in Mallorca

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I like to think that I know the astounding number of pleasant treats Mallorca has to offer to the resident or visitor alike but, do I really?

Let’s take the cyclists, as just one example. I met up with a few hard-core cyclists last week who were over here from Canada. Ignorant as I am I asked why they could not go on some terrific cycling excursions in the Canadian Rockies or the Yukon Territory, much nearer home. Well, of course one can’t. There are better mountains in Canada and China and USA and Scandinavia and wherever else, but none of these has any roads through them, or if they have, they were cut into the mountain scape over the last fifty years or so and thus, are modern, wide and straight and fast and unattractive. Here in Mallorca, the mountain roads in the Tramuntana area were built hundreds of years ago for donkey carts and thus, are slow and winding and more pleasant for cycling than anywhere else, and more challenging. If you want to know about Anita and Peter’s Mallorca cycling adventures over the last few years, you can have a sneak on Anita’s blog. Anita’s reporting sounds exciting and makes one want to be a cyclist and/or come to Mallorca or even live here. Sadly, I am not a cyclist but, luckily I do live here.

Anyway, we all know that Mallorca is a cyclist’s paradise. They come here twice a year and they come in hordes. A few hundred thousand of them arrive on this island every spring between February and April and again, in the Autumn, between October and November.

There is a group of 20 more Canadian cyclists here at the moment. They arrived last Saturday and will be here for two weeks. They are staying in Cala d’Or, of all places, and they will want to do the Cap Formentor, Andratx to Sóller, the Sa Calobra madness and probably the rest of the island as well, including Sineu and the central Mallorcan plain. Welcome, folks, and make yourselves feel at home.

The photo was taken near Fornalutx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 30th, 2012. The time was 15:45:13.

24 Hours in the Life of an Island

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(near Felanitx, at 00:40:23)

Twenty-eight years ago today, I orchestrated an exciting photo event in Los Angeles, California, in collaboration with one Red Saunders. Together, we edited the book that covered that event: 24 Hours in the Life of Los Angeles. All those years ago, we had assembled a team of 145 people, including 103 photographers from all over the world plus 16 local school children, to capture the life in this metropolis in the run-up to the 1984 Olympic Games.

Today, I have the pleasure to invite you to sample a similar adventure, somewhat different but nonetheless exciting, albeit without its results ending up in a glossy coffee-table book. I endeavour the making of a comprehensive portrait of Mallorca, my home for the last 25 years, by taking photographs over a period of 24 hours in the life of this island. This time, there is no team and there are no other photographers involved or invited. I will upload photos every few hours, depending on broadband connection, and today’s post will grow bigger and longer as the day progresses. The first photo was taken this morning at 00h40 on top of Puig de Sant Salvador near Felanitx, and the last one will be captured just before midnight in Plaça d’Espanya in Felanitx. Let’s see how it goes and let’s witness, if I will last the Tour de Force.

(Portocolom, at 01:28:42)

(Porto Cristo, at 02:03:46)

(Son Servera, at 02:52:00)

(near Canyamel, at 03:10:01)

(Cala Rajada, at 03:32:23)

(Cala Rajada, at 03:43:12)

(Felanitx, at 04:39:18)

I made a scheduled return to Felanitx to upload the first photos of this self-set challenge. Quite unscheduled, I fell asleep and had a 45 minutes nap. I was still good on time and schedule, though.

(near Petra, at 07:41:13)

(near Petra, at 08:00:33)

(Santa Margalida, at 09:24:54)

(Muro, at 10:44:09)

(near Muro, at 11:35:52)

At this time, I was still running to schedule, more or less. But it began to dawn on me that the task I had set might be a bigger one than I had calculated. I may have underestimated the challenge and the sheer distance between places, and I may have overestimated my abilities as a one-man-band. I decided that Mallorca was, in fact, a continent.

(near Muro, at 12:11:55)

(Port de Pollença, at 13:59:13)

(Pollença, at 14:18:33)

By now, it was quite evident that I was running late, and well behind schedule. I decided to alter my route plan. Instead of returning south via Crestatx, Sineu and Sant Joan, I decided to go up into the mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana to see if I could catch up on time by eliminating some of the planned stops.

(near Pollença, at 14:58:40)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:23:18)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:25:40)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:32:31)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:33:02)

(near Fornalutx, at 15:37:35)

(near Fornalutx, at 15:43:27)

It now was clear: there was no way I could complete the whole island portrait, and comprehensive at that, within the self-elected time frame of 24 hours. For a start, there was no way that I could upload any photos during the course of my parcours. There were just too many kilometres to be driven from point to point. Mallorca is too big an island to be ticked off in one single day by one individual. I realized that I would have needed to employ the good services of a driver to allow me to concentrate on the scene selection and the location, instead of me minding the business of getting there in the first place. And it would have been wise to seek the support of an assistant to keep my back free from the logistics of the task. Me, on my own, doing the driving, route planning, rescheduling, time keeping, scene selection, setting up the tripod, shooting, editing, copy writing, Lightroom-ing, WordPress formatting and what have you, was just too much for one elderly man. And I was getting tired, sleepy, red-eyed, exhausted and anxious. I needed a hug, or a helpline, or something.

(near Sóller, at 15:51:15)

(Sóller, at 16:45:14)

(Sóller, at 17:03:36)

(Sóller, at 17:11:26)

In Sóller, I accepted the inevitability of defeat. It simply was impossible to cover all of Mallorca or at least, all 48 locations that I had scheduled, in one day and on my own. I would barely manage half that number and not even half the total distance. By now I had done some 300 kms, and I would surely need to do the same again, or more, with more than two thirds of the time already gone. I would need to be fitter (and younger), less mad, better equipped, better supported and assisted, and more realistic. I should simply have listened to my wife.

(Alfàbia, at 17:46:32)

(Alfàbia, at 17:54:46)

In Alfàbia I decided to go home. I needed to upload some of my photos and take stock. I might go out again after that to cover some of the Mallorcan hinterland, Porreres, Campos, Llucmajor, Sant Joan, Villafranca, Sineu, Llubi, and so on. For now, I certainly would not be able to cover the western parts of the island, Andratx, Estellencs, Banyalbufar, Valldemossa, Deià, Orient, Alaró, Bunyola; I might have to have another go at the region at some later stage. Palma, I was pretty sure that I would skip Palma for now.

(Felanitx, at 23:43:43)

Having aborted the project and not having gone out again once I arrived back home after 20 hours on the road and in the hot sun, I was busy photo editing, photo optimizing and uploading. I now did not need to do that final shot just before midnight that I had scheduled from earlier this morning. But I wanted to do it anyhow to have a pair of bookends, so to speak. As it happens, I met my friend John and he kindly agreed to pose as another mad hatter for mad me. No. This is not me sitting there, just in case you wondered.

Good night, and thank you for joining me on this ride and this very long day indeed. I need some sleep now.

The Morgan Plus 8

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When I spotted this beautiful Morgan Plus 8 on Palma’s Via de Cintura last Thursday, the Rally Clásico Isla Mallorca had just commenced. Even though this Roadster is a vintage car design, it was probably not old enough to classify for participating in the Mallorca rally. The UK-built Morgan Plus 8 was built between 1968 and 2004. This particular one was probably built after 2000 and thus, did not qualify for participation.

This year’s Rally Clásico Isla Mallorca finished last Saturday; the overall winning team was Dominik an der Heiden/co-driver Ottenburger in a 1979 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. Congratulations. The winner in the Female category was Bel Dezcallar in a Triumph TR3.

The photo was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 15th, 2012. The time was 19:57:46. The video was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of YouTube and SO911ST, showing last year’s winning team, Stefan Oberdörster and his co-driver, Olaf Heupel, in a 1976 Porsche 911 ST, in this year’s rally.