When the Consell de Mallorca bought the Mallorcan possessió of Raixa in 2002 for the sum of 8,200,000 € with quite some substantial help from the Spanish government and the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente in Madrid, the general public was promised that the famous estate, its historic buildings and the splendid gardens would be restored to their former glory as soon as possible. One should perhaps bear in mind that the central government minister in charge in Madrid at the time was Jaume Matas, a Mallorcan who later turned into the President of the Govern de les Illes Balears (1996-1999 and 2003-2007).

Alas, nothing much has happened since the purchase was done. Perhaps money ran out. Perhaps what funds were left in Mallorca had to be spent on the Palma Arena (another folly, also closely related to Señor Matas).

In 2007, we were promised that at least the Raixa gardens would be cleaned up and re-opened for the public. But, you can still not access the gardens should you ever want to go there.

Now we hear that at least parts of the garden will be opened before the end of 2009, any time soon so to speak. But I very much doubt it if I may say so.

If one can believe what is published in the Mallorcan press and in particular, in the Diario de Mallorca, nothing much has happened to the Raixa gardens so far. The gardens still seem to be in a state of neglect. Essential repair work to caminos, walls, stairs and columns have not been carried out yet, not to speak of the plants, the trees and the pond. The gardens would seem in a state of total abandonment. In short, a disaster.

The media reports that the unbelievable sum of 32,000,000 € has been spent so far for the purchase of Raixa and works carried out since 2002. If you would care to see that figure expressed in the old Pesetes money, here we go: 5,324,352,000 Pts., a staggering amount of money in any currency. May I remind you that these funds have been paid for with tax payers’ money that you and I have contributed through IVA and other direct and indirect taxes.

I think that someone independent should take a closer look. Perhaps Raixa is yet another example of embezzlement, briberies, corruption and illegal party political funding being committed out of public money. The Palma Arena is already under juridical investigation. A number of politicians have already been arrested.

The photos were borrowed from the Internet. Thanks are due to diariodemallorca.es.

Muchas gracias.

Post Script:

The Consell de Mallorca pronounced these days that at the occasion of the Diada de Mallorca (September 3rd to 20th), guided tour visits will be offered at Raixa on Saturday, September 5th (11h00). The Mallorcan press seems to believe that similar tours will be offered weekly from now until the end of this year.