Tag Archives: Transport

Phileas Fogg

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Once or twice a year, there is fog to be found on Mallorca’s roads. Years ago, some friends of ours came to visit, flying in from Germany. Palma International airport was closed for about five hours, first thing in the morning, and their flight had to be re-routed to Ibiza. Instead of 08h00 in the morning, they finally landed in Palma at 14h30.

The fog last night was not quite as bad. The foggy conditions on the motorway from Palma to Llucmajor were only intermittent and again, between Campos and Felanitx, where I live. Driving a car in foggy conditions is not the best setting for taking photos of the fog, and I must admit that my wife got cross and worried when I could not resist the temptation. The resulting image is not half as good as the visual impression that I had whilst driving my car but there you are. Nobody said taking photographs was easy.

Just in case you feel mislead about my Phileas Fogg reference, take it easy. Jules Vernes is said to have based his novel Clovis Dardentor on the Coves del Drac in Porto Cristo and thus, must have visited the island. Phileas Fogg never visited Mallorca; his character was fictional.

Postscript: Five aeroplanes could not land at PMI airport this morning between 08h30 and 09h15 and had to be diverted. So it was pretty bad fog, after all.

The photo was taken near Campos, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 13th, 2011. The time was 22:31:07.

Tin Lizzy

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Yesterday, on one of my numerous rambles through Mallorca’s back alleys, I came across another unexpected find. The wrecked car shown here is not a Tin Lizzy which would have been the Ford Model T (built between 1908 and 1927). A Ford it is alright but, I would rather make that the Ford Model B, also known as Ford Model 18 (built 1932 – 1934).

I very much doubt that a car like this was ever sold in Spain, let alone in Mallorca. Not many landed gentry would have been able to afford such a luxury in Spain  and less so in the years leading up to the Civil War. I suspect that the car was rather bought overseas by an erstwhile Mallorcan emigrant who had subsequently made his fortune in South America, perhaps Argentina or Cuba, and had then brought the automobile back to Mallorca upon his return to the land of his forebears, possibly after 1940. Or perhaps I have inadvertently trespassed on a former property of Joan March Ordinas, not quite yet gentrified in the early Thirties.

It is a shame that the coche is in this quite lamentable state and seems rather beyond repair. Fully intact Model B examples have become rare, even in the USA.

The photo was taken near Artà, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 6th, 2011. The time was 18:24:20.

The Rule of 2 Leguas

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In the old days, distances in Mallorca were measured in Leguas. There was a Legua Real for distances on land and a Legua Marítima for distances at sea. The old Legua Real had a length of 6,687 metres. For distances on sea, the Legua Marítima had a length of 5,573 metres. The Legua has an equivalent in the English measure of a league, even though they are not equivalent distance.

You may have noticed, or you will discover once you study a Mallorcan map in some greater detail, that there is a strange rule of distances that governs Mallorca’s pueblos and their distance from one another. All towns and villages seem to be roughly 2 Leguas Reales apart (some 13 km), give or take a bit. It may be 12 km in one case and perhaps 14 km in another, but in general, almost all Mallorcan urban places appear to be equidistant.

See for yourself. Llucmajor to Campos: 13 km. Campos to Santanyí: 12 km. Felanitx to Manacor: 13 km. Inca to Santa Maria: 14 km. S’Aranjassa to Llucmajor: 12 km. Sa Pobla to Santa Margalida: 12 km. Llucmajor to Algaïda: 10 km. Montuïri to Algaïda: 11 km. Andratx to Es Capdellà: 11 km. Alcúdia to Pollença: 11 km. And so forth. You can take your own pueblo and check on the distance to the next village up the road.

As always, there is a reason for this strange rule and this close proximity: the donkey cart. In the old days, farmers had to bring their goods to the nearest market, or from one pueblo to the next one. And 2 Leguas Reales was roughly the distance that a normal, that is, slow donkey could pull a cartload of goods in one session. That would be from here to the market in the morning, and then from the market back home in the afternoon.

I once had a Mallorcan friend, Joan Estepol, whose father was a horse dealer. When Joan was a boy, he accompanied his father to the market in Sineu, to sell horses and mules. They lived in Felanitx and they had to walk twice the distance, i. e. 4 Leguas Reales from Felanitx to Sineu, or 27 kilometres. The journey took them two days, there and back. Luckily, for Joan and his father, the market was only held once a week. Joan is dead now. I rather miss him and the stories he told me about life in the old days.

The photo was taken near Llucmajor, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 1st, 2011. The time was 14:12:50.

Sentimental Journeys

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I must confess that I am intrigued by old things of a bygone era, be that a classic car, an old fountain pen, a motorcycle with sidecar, a Thirties wireless radio, a Wurlitzer jukebox, an old-fashioned printing press, you name it. Saying that, you’ll be surprised when I tell you that you’ll find none of these in our house, except perhaps for a fountain pen from the Seventies.

Here in Mallorca, my heartbeat goes up every time I see an old farming instrument, a plough perhaps or an old wine barrel, a horse cart like the one shown in the picture or a loom of yesteryear. You may call me old-fashioned, sentimental, a romantic even, but, there you are.

Even more than the old objects I admire people such as some of my friends here on the island who lovingly restore and cherish such old treasures. One friend collects and lovingly reconditions old motorbikes, another proudly stores and restores vintage cars, yet another overhauled his old horse cart with great care and dedication and has just laid his eyes and his heart on yet another, slightly bigger carriage, as old and equally beautiful..

Talking about the cart in my photograph, I have you know that you won’t be able to take this vehicle on any public road in Spain, not even here in Mallorca. There is a law prohibiting old spoked wheel carts, wooden or otherwise, careering up and down public roads as long as their wheels are rimmed with an iron band. Should you want to cruise with such an old cart, you would first have to refit the vehicle with modern type, rubber-tyred wheels. Of course it can be done but, it will not quite be the same.

The photo was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 6th, 2011. The time was 12:52:58.

A Record Figure of 3,403,098 Passenger Movements

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PMI Palma International airport is going through a good year in 2011. Passenger figures between January and July 2011 were up some 8.4 % on the previous year with a total of 12,683,541 air passenger movements, according to AENA, the Spanish airport body. That in itself is not an outstanding number but, 3,403,098 passengers were counted for the month of July alone, making this a best ever monthly figure in the 50 plus years of PMI airport history, representing an increase of 11.8 % over the same month of the previous year. And the month of August 2011 is expected to better the record figure. Everybody is pleased except for the people in Egypt and other North African destinations.

Hotel occupancy was recorded for July 2011 by the Federación Empresarial Hotelera de Mallorca (Mallorcan Hotel Federation) at 93 %, a figure not recorded for the previous four years. There are some good bits about Mallorca, even in the time of crash and crisis.

The photo was taken at PMI airport, Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 14th, 2011. The time was 00:26:18.

The Goods Train in Palma’s Underbelly

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Right underneath the Cathedral, an intricate tunnel system connects what used to be Palma’s harbour with the Plaça d’Espanya where the train station of the Ferrocarriles de Mallorca was situated. One can still see the tunnel exit even though it is now bricked-up. Above an arch facing the pond in Parc de la Mar, a sculpted stone depicts the goods train, bearing the date Año 1932, the year of the line’s inauguration. When the car park was built below the Mercat de l’Olivar, one could catch a glimpse of a number of tunnels crisscrossing some 20 metres below street level.

The first train line between Plaça d’Espanya and the Port de Palma was built overground in 1874 and inaugurated in 1877. Initially, the goods trains were pulled by horses (see photo centre); after 1881 they were pulled by steam engine locomotives (see photo bottom). The underground line was built in 1928 and put into service in 1931, extending to a length of 2,046 metres of which 1,252 metres were subterranean. The underground train service for merchandise was discontinued after 1965; after that the goods service continued overground once again.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 15th, 2011. The time was 14:55:59. The photos (centre and bottom) were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of railsiferradures.blogspot.com and spanishrailway.com, respectively.

Muchas gracias.

Take The A Train

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The incoming government discovered a few weeks after taking office that there was no money left in the coffers. On the contrary, the Comunidad Autónoma de les Illes Balears is presently said to be in debt to the tune of 5,587,000,000 €. That’s not quite as much as the National Debt of the USA (14,354,208,667,449 $ as of July 31st, 2011) but still, it is a frighteningly large sum of money. In the Illes Balears, as per June 30th, 2011, the annual budget, i. e. the difference between the annual revenue income and the annual current expenditure, is in deficit by 575,000,000 €.

As a consequence of doing the numbers, one of the big projects of the previous government has now been cancelled, the train-tram between Manacor and Artà. The budget for this ambitious mobility venture had been publicized by the Consellería de Movilidad y Medio Ambiente of the previous Govern as being the proud sum of 120,000,000 € but, on the actual building site in Artà, a panel quotes the even heftier amount of 190,000,000 € (see photo top). Whatever the actual figure might have been, the train will now not be extended beyond Manacor, at least not for the foreseeable future. At a guess, I would have thought that half the budget has been spent already on excavation and earth moving and so forth over the last four years since the project began. But, that money is probably still owed to the subcontractors and should be included in the overall debt figure quoted above, or shouldn’t it?

The photo (top) was taken in Artà, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 18th, 2011. The time was 13:32:58. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of picasa.google.com and alternativaaltren.

Muchas gracias.

A Tragic Weekend On Spain’s Roads

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Sad news:

Last weekend proved to be a tragic one when a total of 28 lives were lost in 23 accidents on Spanish roads. It was the worst weekend since the beginning of this year and, the worst since August, 2009, according to the Dirección General de Tráfico (Spanish government body in charge of traffic), counting casualties registered between 15h00 on Friday afternoon and 24h00 on Sunday night. Of the dead, 15 were under the age of 35. In addition to the fatalities, 32 people were hurt in these accidents, including 17 being seriously injured.

The pueblo of Felanitx was amongst the afflicted communities with a bad road accident on Sunday morning when a small passenger car with four youngsters swerved off the road, somersaulted and crashed. M. O. G., a 21-year-old, was dead on impact whilst the driver had to be cut from the wreckage and is now at the UCI (intensive care) in a serious condition. The two other passengers were admitted to Manacor hospital with minor injuries. A blood test was taken from the driver and proved negative; the young man had not been drinking alcohol even though he had attended an all night village fête in Sa Pobla. The funeral (church service) was held in Felanitx last Monday night with an overwhelming turnout of families, friends and neighbours.

There is good news, though. Since the beginning of 2011 and until July 17th, 774 people have died on the roads in Spain, which is 72 victims less than during the same period last year, representing a decrease of 8.5 %. That’s some kind of consolation.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 19th, 2011. The time was 13:14:12.

To See Mallorca From The Sea

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There is no question that Mallorca is a very beautiful island. Mallorca seems spoilt for its richly varied landscape – mountains, hills, plains, bays, coves, beaches and caves. But believe me when I say that you have not seen half of Mallorca’s beauty, if you have not yet viewed the island from the outside, from the sea.

For instance, if you come here by car, you take the ferry-boat, let’s say from Barcelona or Valencia. One can not imagine a nicer view than when you wake up from a night’s sleep spent on a calm sea, and at 06h00, with an hour to go before docking in Palma’s harbour, you dress and climb up to the top deck, and there it is, the beautiful coastline of this mysterious landmass, that is your chosen residence, for the time being anyway. The dawn makes for hazy air, and Mallorca’s silhouette is vague, half asleep and calm. La Isla de la Calma. Unrushed, the ferry-boat slowly approaches Sa Dragonera, eventually, ever so slowly, passing the sixth largest of the islands of the Balearic archipelago. Then the island proper, the largest of the six, Mallorca. Sant Elm first, then Port d’Andratx, to be folllowed by Cap Andritxol, Peguera, Santa Ponça, Cap de Cala Figuera. It takes the Acciona ferry perhaps an hour to crawl along the Mallorcan coast line all the way to Ciutat, past Magaluf, Palma Nova, Portals Nous and Illetes. Cala Major eventually, and finally Sant Agustí. How beautiful it all looks, partly because it does, and partly because it is such an early hour. The sun is not up yet, the day is just considering beginning, and so are the Mallorcans and so is life on the island. The traffic has already started. Builders, plumbers, dustmen, the police force – they are all up, on their way to their jobs, their offices, their duties. Finally you can see Palma’s La Seu (the Cathedral) in the distance, you can just about make out the Dique del Este, and with a bit of luck, King Juan Carlos’ Mallorcan abode, the Palau Marivent.

At about 07h00, you arrive at Palma’s ferry terminal, but still, another 30 minutes or so pass, before the boat is tied to the Moll (mooring), and the car decks open their doors. Now, car passengers are allowed to disembark. By now, Palma is fully awake, ready to welcome you, to invite you ashore, to accept your visit. The contrast is immediate: the view from off-shore makes Mallorca magic; but the onshore impression is harsher: business and commerce. Some eight or ten years ago, the Trasmediterránea ferry-boat company organised one or two annual Mallorca round-trips with large, 1.200 passenger capacity ferry boats circumnavigating the island from Palma to Palma, in a westerly direction, by way of Sa Dragonera, Deià, Soller, Sa Calobra, Cap de Formentor, and so on, all the way back to Palma, 13 hours later, approaching the port from the East, by way of Cabrera and Cap de Ses Salines. These tours were magic, magnificent, wonderful. It is a great pity that the ferry company has discontinued this particular offer, but if enough of us put in a request, who knows Acciona as it is called now might put the offer back on again, any day soon. To enjoy that sensation to view and experience this island from its best side, the off-shore side, you will now have to hire a boat, or convince a friend who owns a boat to invite you on a boat trip. Perhaps you have Mallorcan friends who enjoy some weekend fishing and proudly own a Llaüt (Mallorcan fishing boat). They might ask you along one day, on a fishing expedition. Accept the invitation. Grab the opportunity and discover the beauty that I am talking about.

The photo was taken in Portocolom, Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: June 16th, 2011. The time was 13:30:03.

Waiting For Godot

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If you want to get about in Palma and the bicycle is not your choice of transport, you may well be directed to the services of the Empresa Municipal de Transports (EMT). In the old days, after 1881, there were streetcars in Palma de Mallorca being pulled by mules and horses (see photo bottom). The service was modernized in 1941 when electric trams replaced the horse-drawn tram service, operating until 1958. After that, the Palma trams were replaced by buses. In 1985, EMT was established jointly by the Ajuntament de Palma and the Consell de Mallorca, a municipal transport company currently operating 30 metropolitan routes by day plus a sufficiently extensive night service.

Recently, services were somewhat disrupted for a bit of strike action lasting a few hours per day over four or five days, just before the May elections were held in Palma and the island. I suppose that with the new leadership in charge in both, the Palma council and the Consell de Mallorca, demands of the EMT bus drivers will have to be heard or else, more strike action can be expected, with more passengers doing some forced waiting.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 21st, 2011. The time was 15:10:46. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of campus.usal.es.

Muchas gracias.