THE Council of Majorca’s Environment department is planning to complete a 126 km hiking trail between Arta and Lluc by 2012. The route will link the Tramuntana range with the Llevant mountains in the east of Majorca.

A spokesman for the Council confirmed yesterday that the excursionist trail will be set up in five main stages and have four alternative diversions. The cost of completing the route and ensuring its upkeep will be 10.5 million euros.

The outline of the route has longed formed part of a recognised “grand cross-country walk” officially registered by the Spanish Federation of Mountain and Climbing Sports. In compliance with Balearic law, the project has already been put up for public scrutiny as part of a regional Territory conservation plan.

Environment councillor Catalina Julve said yesterday:“If we link the Arta to Lluc to the already existing Dry Stone Route (Pedra en Sec), there will be 409 kilometres of mountain trails for people to enjoy hiking and excursions. In fact, the project will link Andratx with Capdepera.

The five stages of the trail will have a “refuge” on each one - these simple stone buildings provide overnight shelter and areas for holding barbecues and are already in place on some of the stages. Others are yet to be built. Setting off on an excursion from the Arta end of the route, 17.2 kilometres of walking will bring trekkers to the refuge of s’Arenalet des Verger. Also on this first stage are alternative offshoots to Cala Rajada and Capdepera. From here, a complete second stage will pass through Llevant Nature Park. Walkers will reach Betlem after 14.1 kilometres. Signposts are already up and excursionists can enjoy the route.

WITH Spring not really having yet made its mind up as to whether it’s here or not, both residents and visitors were celebrating the opening of an indoor swimming pool in the Port of Pollensa last weekend.

Local Mayor, Joan Cerdà and other dignitaries attended an official inauguration ceremony on Sunday afternoon. The swimming pools (a smaller one for children is within the same complex) had already existed for some time but the town council assumed responsibility for covering it in at a cost of 1′400′000 euros. The Mayor said that apart from it being an all-year-round facility for local residents, the indoor pool is also an attraction for tourists and will help in the drive to lengthen the “summer season”. The infrastructure had been completed by the time last August came round but papers certifying the facilities as being safe for public use took their time in coming. A company by the name of Algalia has been given the contract for the management and maintenance of the pool, and they held an “open doors” event at the weekend to mark the occasion.

PALMA will be the first city in the country to have its traffic light system working off an electricity saving scheme. In just a few weeks, 10′000 coloured lights throughout the municipality will be functioning off new technology which could save the city up to 200′000 euros a year in costs.

As of today’s date, 6′000 of this figure have already been realigned to the new system and the rest will reportedly be completed by the end of the month. Palma City Council’s Transport department said yesterday that the lights functioning off the energy saving programme are more visible at night and trigger lower amounts of CO2 emissions in comparison with conventional traffic signalling. A spokesman said that within a year, the new lighting will mean that 1′587 tonnes less of carbon dioxide will have been thrown into the atmosphere. The installation of the new technology has largely been thanks to the Institute for Energy Saving whose programme of low energy light replacement was begun in Palma some ten years ago. When it is fully up and running, the state-of-the-art adaptation will now mean that the traffic signalling system will need 2′404 megawatts less per hour.

THE Town Council in Soller is taking a careful look at the money which was spent on setting up its own tourist website www.sollerturismo.com. According to Tourism councillor, Tomas Plomer, the costs amounted to 300′000 euros. He said that a report is being sought from the regional Tourism ministry “to clarify just how this money was spent by the Balearic Tourism promotion vehicle - Inestur - during the term of office of the previous government.” Plomer said yesterday that all that remains visible of this project is a single static page that has nothing to do with the work originally carried out by a tourist innovation company - GIT.

THE regional Environment ministry has teamed up with German tour operator TUI in a project to plant 60′000 trees in an area of Majorca’s natural Llevant park which has been depleted by forest fires.

An agreement was signed between the two parties yesterday at an “Alternative Tourism” fair in Munich which will mean an investment of 663′000 euros in the reforestation programme. The Balearics were represented by Environment Minister Miquel Angel Grimalt, and TUI by Environment Director, Andreas Koch.

TUI have previously committed to backing a ministry scheme christened “Project Bosque” (wood) in which the tour operator guaranteed to plant a million trees in the Balearics during the term of office of the present regional government. It has already financed planting of 450′000 of them.

An area which is specifically targeted for reforestation is Ses Bolos in the municipality of Arta, which is encompassed within the Llevant natural park. The hillside territory has been susceptible to natural deterioration and the project will witness the planting of 57′600 trees - pines and wild olives - over an area of 48 hectares. The figures assume 1′200 trees per hectare. Because of the nature of soil and exposure to inclement weather in the zone, technical specialists have ruled out plant seeds and opted instead for reforesting with trees which are already on their way to maturity.

FORMBY chess Grandmaster Stewart Haslinger has broken into the English top ten following an international tournament win.

Stewart, from Ainsdale, claimed a clear first place victory at the III Open Internacional Ciutat de Palma competition in Trofeo Iberostar, Mallorca.

Seeded 10th at the start of the event, Stewart won seven games, including three versus fellow Grandmasters and triumphed with seven-and-a-half points from nine games.

The victory in Mallorca capped off Stewart’s finest year on the chess circuit that saw him claim equal first positions in three other major tournaments, as well as making his debut for England.

Stewart represented his country at the Four Nations Chess Challenge, held in Oslo, Norway in February.

In teams made up of five men and five women, Haslinger played against opponents from Latvia, Sweden and Norway, finishing unbeaten in three games helping England to second place.

At the end of April, Haslinger scored an equal first place at the XXI Benidorm International Open, but was eventually pushed down to fourth on a tie-break.

Stewart was again thwarted by the tie-break rule when he ended up equal first in the fifth South Wales International in July.

Haslinger suffered the same fate in October at the Essent Open competition in Hoogeveen, Holland having gone into the tournament seeded 14th.

Despite a ground breaking year for Formby’s number one chess player, Stewart says he cannot make a living out of playing chess professionally but he will continue as an amateur.

MAJORCAN farmers kicked off Balearic day proceedings a little earlier than officially planned yesterday by handing out seven tons of free fresh Majorcan produce to the general public in protest against the Balearic government’s farming policy.

A giant b-b-q was lit at the top of the Borne while gigantic sacks full of potatoes and other local produce , including oranges, lettuces and onions, were opened for the passing public to help themselves.

President of the ASAJA Farmers Union, Biel Company, said that the demonstration, one of a series which farmers have mounted over the past week outside government offices in the Majorcan capital, was organised in protest over the local government’s “inefficient” management of the local agricultural sector.

But, he stressed, that yesterday was just an aperitif of more and much larger protests to come. The free-fresh produce demonstration is going to be held every Friday until the middle of May when a giant all-island tractor protest will be organised with hundreds of farmers expected to drive on Palma.

Balearic President Francesc Antich, while agreeing to help the farming community, accused the agricultural sector of ““always being in crisis”. Company yesterday repeated the Union’s call for the immediate resignation of the government’s Director General for Agriculture, Maria Jose Sausi, and urged the government to start taking the farming sector’s predicament seriously. “Not only are we too being crippled by the recession, we have also had a series of natural disasters to cope with over the past six months,” said Company.

An estimated 11 million euros of damage has been caused by the adverse weather but Company said the government has only agreed to 5.4 million euros of aid, less than half.

Exports, such as the potatoes to England, have been seriously curtailed by the Autumn storms and the Winter rain forced many growers to postpone sowing the new crop which will mean that this coming winter’s harvest will be delayed again - hitting exports even further.

Untitled DocumentSource: Majorca Daily Bulletin
by Humphrey Carter

A CONFERENCE is taking place tomorrow in the Cultural Centre at Costitx organised by the Christopher Columbus Association which aims to re-examine the national origins of the great 15th century explorer. The hypothesis is still on the table that he might actually have been Majorcan.

The theme of the conference will be “Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America”. Attendees will be attempting to place the person of Columbus in a historical context as having been born in Felanitx in 1460 - the son of the Prince of Viana and Margalida Colom. An initial presentation will be given by the president of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Ballesteros, whilst the leader of the Balearic Parliament, Maria Antonia Munar will bring the event to a close.

The first address will be given by Cristobal Colon de Carvajal, the Duke of Veragua, who will talk on “The loss of the ship, the Santa Maria.” The Duke of Veragua is the most direct descendant of the discoverer of America, as amongst the various branches of the Columbus line, he belongs to the main “trunk” of the family tree. The generations have been traced meticulously since the death of the Admiral in 1506. The Duke is clearly visible as the head of that particular offshoot of descendants, now in its twentieth generation. Second to speak will be the president of the Royal Columbine Society of Huelva, Doctor Jose Maria Segovia Azcarate who will speculate on “What was the real face of Christopher Columbus like?” Following a break, Doctor Manuel Antonio Garcia Arevalo, the president of the Garcia Arevalo Foundation of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic will bring a new perspective to bear on the personality of Columbus and finally, the conference will be addressed by Gabriel Verd Martorell, secretary of the Christopher Columbus Cultural Association on the subject of new historical evidence to support the theory that the explorer was Majorcan.

PALMA City Council said yesterday that plans to create a 125′000 square metre park on the sea front are in their final phase with predictions being made that they will be presented for approval in the second week of March.

A spokesman confirmed that the plans now include a “large number” of the amendments that were put forward during the period of time the project was put for public scrutiny, one of which will be to enable the Council to make use of 40′000 square metres within the park boundaries for public purposes - entertainment, concerts, exhibitions, etc. Urban Planning Councillor, Yolanda Garvi added that the aim of wanting to achieve as wide a consensus as possible has been achieved and that the Council of Majorca will then need to approve the development by 16th July.

The key changes to the initial project are that any building work will be reduced to half the original height and that the park will be “leafy and green” with more space made for planting, allowing trees to grow to their maximum height and width.