So, foot and shooting spring to mind. Well done, Spain, once again the inmates are out and about and running the asylum.
Forecasts are for a bumper year for tourism, much needed after a long hard time where most businesses, relying on Jonny Tourist, struggled to pay the bills, let alone put bread on the table or money in the bank. The Hacienda and Social Security, however, ruthlessly pursued every last centimo due and in my case, and I am sure in others too, if they owed YOU money, it could take up to a year to get it back. Meanwhile, they kept sending their bills and charging interest for late payment.
More employment, more taxes. More hotel bookings, more taxes. More car hire, more taxes. Petrol, drinks, food, coach trips, boat trips, yacht charter, diesel for the yacht charter, cleaners: the list is endless. But all additional revenue for the powers that be. Politicians, it must be said, can “talk a good talk”. However, it doesn’t make them almost overnight into economists or even businessmen.
Impose the tourist tax. Who wins? The tourist? Er, no. The local businesses? Er, no. Just the government, which at present are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of even more dosh to help grease wheels, transfer into bizarre accounts. (Me cynical? Just a little.)
If the one euro per tourist was left in the wallet of Señor “Giri”, then that money would filter through the economic system to food, drinks, trips car hire, i.e. the whole tourist sector. And, of course, would eventually end up as extra taxes. What the Americans like to refer to as a “win/win” situation. Wouldn’t that be great!
THE Spanish have a rather good expression, “no pasa nada”, which basically means don’t worry about a thing. At present, Spain is not going through its finest hour: the country doesn’t have a government after the stalemate following last month’s general election; the King’s sister went on trial in Palma on Monday; Catalonia, one of the richest regions in the country, is pushing for independence; and the economy continues to suffer. But you don’t get the impression that the average Majorcan is too concerned. “No pasa nada!” The talk in the bars is still of football, and live TV coverage of the trial of the Princess Cristina didn’t really hasn't attracted much attention. Can you imagine if Britain was in the same boat. You can imagine the headlines: “Will the last person to leave Britain please turn the light off”; the “Shame of Britain”, etc. But Spain is different and it is a very good thing and perhaps one of the reasons why I live here. No one appears too concerned about anything, well apart from their daily lives. The fact that Spain doesn’t have a government and there isn’t much chance that it will have one soon either is not causing Majorcans to lose any sleep, or so it appears. In my local bar yesterday all the talk was about Real Mallorca’s weekend defeat under the new owners. I think someone mentioned the princess but the comment failed to get much reaction. Enjoy life and be happy, not a bad way to go through life in these difficult times.
You are lucky to have a bar to go to - they are all closed around here. The only place you can get an evening drink in Santa Ponsa or Magaluf is the all night chemist.
AT mid-day yesterday, thousands of people stood in silence for 15 minutes outside their offices, stopped their cars, walked out of shops and banks in respect for those slaughtered in Thursday's bomb attacks in Madrid. In Palma, as hundreds of drivers pulled up and leapt out of their vehicles wherever they could, the horns of ships in the port marked the start and finish of the silent protest as tears of sympathy and anger marked the faces of many. Schools and colleges across the Balearics took part, the education authorities said that participation was massive.
A large number of students had written poems that were later read out while all pupils called for the fight against terrorism to continue.
As the day developed, anti-terrorism posters and banners started to appear on terraces and windows across the region, black bows fluttered from hundreds of car aerials. Union bosses said that few employees had remained at their posts during the 15 minute silence and blood centres were inundated with volunteers for the second consecutive day. Yesterday another 150 people gave 50 litres.
Travel agents said that, while bookings in general were as normal, a large number of people either cancelled flights to Madrid or changed their travel dates. Those who cancelled received full refunds.
The banks Sa Nostra and La Caixa have set up two special accounts for people wishing to make donations to help the victims right now everybody is doing all they can to help ease the pain of those caught in the blasts, a UGT General Workers Union boss said yesterday. The CAEB (Confederation of Balearic Business Association) called on its members to not only take part in last night's protest, but also combine their forces in doing whatever they can to help. The Balearics, along with the rest of the country, is on a high state of alert, with scores of extra police on the streets, especially in Palma.
SPANISH High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon flew into Palma yesterday to question the four suspected members of a Russian Mafia arrested on Friday in Calvia and Palma.
Security was extremely tight at the Palma High Court as the four suspects, including the alleged Russian Mafia boss Gennadios Petrov and his personal secretary Ioilia Ermolenko, were interviewed by Garzon who launched an investigation into the activities of the Russian Mafia in Spain two years ago and gave the green light for 400 heavily armed police to launch Operation Troika early on Friday morning.
At least 30 arrest warrants have been issued and 21 suspects were arrested in various parts of Spain. While Garzon was interviewing Petrov and co. in Palma, the other 17 suspects were being interviewed in Madrid, Malaga and Alicante and the security forces said that the operation is still live and the investigation open.
Petrov was arrested at his luxury waterfront mansion of Sol de Mallorca just after 6am on Friday and yesterday afternoon Garzon ordered that the four Majorca suspects be transferred to Madrid for further questioning.
Petrov is alleged to be the head of the Tambovkaya-Malyshevskaya Mafia which is named after a town near St Petersburg.
Members of the National Police and the Guardia Civil serious crime squads yesterday continued searching the five properties stormed in Majorca on Friday. Apparently, bank accounts holding 12 million euros have been frozen, thousands of euros seized in cash and a signed painting by Salvador Dali dated 1949 also confiscated.
According to sources close to the investigation, the Mafia set up its logistical and financial base in Majorca and on the mainland an estimated 12 years ago and from here controlled its illegal activities in Russia and a number of former Soviet states.
The Balearic Confederation of Business Associations (CAEB) has arrived at a figure of economic growth for 2015, its president, Carmen Planas, saying yesterday that its estimate is 2.9%. If so, then this was two per cent above 2014's growth figure, while the forecast for 2016 is slightly up at 3.1%.
Planas said that recovery is gaining ground in the Balearics, stressing a fourth-quarter growth figure of 3.5%, making six quarters of consecutive growth, which has not occurred elsewhere in Spain. The final quarter of 2015 is what has given the confederation optimism to push its 2016 forecast to 3.1%, though Planas added that recovery is still vulnerable and that the economy may well slow in the second half of the year.
The CAEB report into business and employment shows that the business fabric in the Balearics is contributing to a swifter and more intense revival in employment and labour market normalisation than in other regions of Spain. Planas identified two key challenges for 2016. One is being able to contribute to an increase in GDP and employment and the other has to do with reformulating production processes in order to boost productivity and make better use of resources. "It's not a case of doing more but of doing better."
All sectors of the economy finished 2015 in positive shape. Construction, for example, experienced 3.7% growth. In 2014, it had slipped by 1.2%. The upward performance in 2015 was notable - from 1.8% in the first quarter to 4.9% in the fourth. The services sector, meanwhile, increased from 1.3% growth in 2014 to 2.9% last year. Between the first and final quarters growth was 2.5% to 3.4% in the fourth quarter.
Figures from the national ministry of development show that the sale of homes in the Balearics fell by two per cent over the second quarter of the year. There were decreases in only two Spanish regions between April and June: the Canaries was the other. The number of transactions in the Balearics was 4,910. In the second quarter of 2017 it was 5,012.
In Spain as a whole, there was an average increase of 11.5%, which equated to 160,287 transactions. This was the second highest quarterly figure since 2007. The regions which registered the highest relative increases were Asturias (up 22.2%), Andalusia (21%) and Aragon and Murcia both with 20.3%.
Palma was eighth among major cities. There were 1,714 sales during the second quarter. Madrid topped the list with 12,949, followed by Barcelona with 4,184. Immediately above Palma were Alicante with 2,003 and Malaga (2,338).
Sales to foreign buyers over the quarter amounted to 25,454, almost 16% of the total. Alicante province recorded the highest number.
If you thought Pink City Jaipur is only a tourist destination, you thought wrong. Apart from its emergence as a major industrial hub in the recent past, the Rajasthan capital has also turned out to be an educational hub in the state. The city is home to over 600 educational institutes, and ranks second in terms of number of higher education institutes in India, with Bengaluru lying on top. Students come from across the country come to Jaipur to pursue higher education. Dats show nearly 1.67 lakh students enrolled across different universities during 2016-17 in Jaipur.
Some of the prominent universities in the city are the University of Rajasthan, the JECRC, the Jaipur National University and Amity University. The city also has good engineering and management colleges. The Malaviya National Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Health Management Research and the Institute of Rural Management are the some prominent names in that list.
Other than colleges and universities, the city is also known for coaching institutes for management colleges.
Since students move to the Pink City in great numbers every year, the demand for rental housing has been growing in the past decade. Among the most-favoured student localities are Mansarovar, Pratap Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Sanganer, Vidyadhar Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Banipark, Bapu Nagar and Tonk Phatak.
Bapu Nagar: The locality is well connected with the other parts of the city through the Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg and the Tonk Road. Students from the University of Rajasthan and Lal Kothi (the center point of coaching institutes) prefer the area because of its affordability.
Jagatpura: This locality provides easy connect with several educational institutes such as JECRC, the Jaipur National University and the Poornima University. Since it is located on the outer radius of the city, it is also quite affordable.
Sitapura: Being closest to JECRC and the Poornima University, the locality is the first choice for the students from these universities.
Malviya Nagar: The area is in the southern part of the city, and is located close to the Malaviya National Institute of Technology. Easy accessibility from various universities and central Jaipur makes it an ideal best location for students.