BLACKMAIL
The Taxi Association turned up the heat on the Consell Insular last week, calling an impromptu strike on Wednesday, before announcing dates for more strikes which are to include Easter weekend. The action was taken as part of a last gasp attempt to try and stop the transport minister, Albert Prats, from passing new legislation which will create 136 temporary licences for this summer, half of which will be available to current licence owners and half to drivers. The legislation was eventually passed on Friday, as protesters stood remonstrating outside the Consell building.
The president of the Confederation of Taxis in Spain revealed more strikes would take place over the coming months, and that they would not be providing a minimum service on any of the days effected. He speculated that only around 10 per cent of the taxis would be working on these days, when regulations stipulate minimum service is 50 per cent.
However, the consequences of the illegal strike on Wednesday could be grave, as the Consell and all of the Town Halls on the island revealed they had launched a police investigation into the walk-out. The president of the Ibiza Town Taxi Association, Jose Serafin, claimed no action had in fact been taken on Wednesday, and the strike would begin on Friday at midnight, as they had announced last week. However, an absence of any vehicles at the major ranks across the island, including the airport, told a different story, and it seems the current licence owners have started to employ underhand tactics in their attempts to convince Prats to let them have all of the temporary licences.
The strike first became apparent at Can Misses hospital, where the rank remained empty throughout the afternoon, and the continued phone-calls of reception staff to the radio-taxi service went unanswered. Huge queues also formed at the airport, before it became apparent very few taxis were going to arrive and people started to make alternative plans.
The capital was the most affected, with just 10-15 per cent of the 81 taxis which should have been in operation, running some sort of service.
Serafin later confirmed they had had technical difficulties at the central office with the radio-taxi and that most of the major hotels, the airport and Can Misses had been warned that the service would be out of order during Wednesday afternoon, a claim denied by staff at the hospital.
The drivers added further fuel to the fire by claiming they had not been able to take out the cars during the afternoon, after all of the owners went home at midday with the keys. Serafin himself claimed he had not been working that afternoon, as his vehicle was conveniently being serviced in the garage.
The Town Hall of Ibiza announced on Thursday they would be carrying out a full investigation into the lack of taxis throughout Wednesday, claiming it was illegal to call a strike without any pre-warning. There also needs to be a minimum service provided, which was also not on offer. Licence owners found guilty could be fined from anywhere between 1,300 and 2,600.

AROUND THE ISLAND

May Boost
The president of the Hotel Federation, Roberto Hortensius, announced last week that the vast majority of hotels on the island would be opening their doors at the beginning of May. With just over ten weeks to go until the unofficial start of the tourist season, reservations for May were described as encouraging. Hortensius added that the considerable number of events now organised throughout the month would ensure significant arrivals.
Among some of the numerous events organised are - a Junior Football tournament in San Antonio (1st-4th May), the Medieval Market in Ibiza Town (9th-11th May), the Magiclown festival in Cala de Bou (1st-4th May), the 8th Quadriathlon in Ibiza Town (4th May), the International Film Festival (23rd-31st May), as well as the International Music Conference (28th-30th May).
The quantity and range of these activities means May is set to be one of the busiest in recent history. The British market is also set to add its weight to the rising numbers, with school half-term falling on 26th May. Leading British tour operators stated that May had sold extremely well this year, especially during the last two weeks.
With the early arrival of Easter this year, many hotels will open for a week in March and then close their doors until the beginning of May.
Hortensius said he was less optimistic the National market would perform as well as it had done last year, claiming that growing inflation added to an increase in interest rates meant most Spanish families had far less disposable income at the moment, which would undoubtedly affect the decision on whether to take a holiday in 2008.

Chain Smoking
A total of 178,996,011 packets of cigarettes (20´s) were sold last year within the Balearics, 1,201,168 more than last year. The Islands sit in 5th place for the most amount of packets sold within an autonomous region, well behind the leader Madrid which recorded total sales of 529,754,972. However, the alarming part is that while the sale of cigarettes in the majority of the other regions fell, it increased within the Balearics. This is despite the Islands being the first to introduce local legislation restricting smoking in public places.
However, sources at the Health Department claimed the increase could be more to do with a link to tourism than an increase in the number of smokers. The Brits were blamed for the vast majority of this increase with sales boosted by the increased number of tourists who visited during 2007.

Medieval Graves
On Thursday Transport Minister, Albert Prats, announced his administration would be preserving the medieval graveyard found two years ago whilst work was taking place on the final part of the Airport-Ibiza road close to the Can Fonoll roundabout. The cemetery dates back to the 10th century when the Muslims ruled the island. So far a total of 167 individual graves have been found, with all of the bodies pointing towards Mecca, as is the Muslim tradition. There are children buried in the cemetery, as well as adults, with one skeleton discovered still with a spear sticking out of it, the probable cause of death, commented one expert!
Prats said the decision showed the willingness of his party to preserve the historic past of the island, unlike the previous administration. He made particular mention to the ancient graveyard in Puig den Valls which the previous PP-run Consell decided was not worth preserving.
The archaeological site will, however, eventually be built on. First all of the skeletons and other pieces found will be taken to the museum in Ibiza Town for conservation. The site will then be covered in a special protective surface, and then in soil. This will ensure the area is preserved and can be rediscovered at any time in the future. The airport road will then be continued over the graveyard.
The site is to be open to the public this Friday and Saturday from 9a.m.-1p.m. and then again at 4p.m.-6p.m. For anyone wishing to see a genuine piece of island history, it will be well worth the visit.

School Investment
The Govern Balear is set to invest 26.4 million over the next two years on educative facilities within Ibiza and Formentera. The news was announced by the president of the Govern, Francesc Antich, who said that the high immigrant population throughout the islands meant that education had become one of his administration´s top priorities.
The two year plan will see the building of a new primary and secondary school in San Antonio, as well as a primary school in Sa Bodega and Es Pratet. The primary school in San Ferran, Formentera, will also get a complete re-fit. A total of eight buildings will also be renovated including l´Urgell in San Jose, es Vedra in San Agustin and IES Macabich in Ibiza Town.
Until both primary schools are finished in San Antonio and Ibiza Town, a delegate for the Ministry of Education, Margalida Mari, announced they would be installing a total of seven portakabins, four in ses Paises and three in a location in Ibiza Town still to be named, as a short term measure until the building is complete. She said she hoped the temporary structures would not be used for more than two years.
However, some teaching unions claimed the investment in new buildings was coming too late and the situation would be critical in two years time, adding that the renovations were not actually creating many more places.

IBIZA TOWN

Ibiza Nueva
The plans for the new marina in Ibiza Town (Ibiza Nueva) were revealed last week, to the surprise of most. The project includes reducing the number of berths by 30 per cent, allowing boats of up to 50 metres to moor within the port. The plans were revealed by the new company which recently won the right to sell the berths in the popular marina for the next 17 years. It seems the new owners, Serveis Maritims Port d´Eivissa SL, are trying to maximise their income over the next few years, to help recover some of the outlay the work is set to cost. Conservative estimates claim the owners will spend in the region of 27 million over the next two years, in addition to the 5.4 million a year in rent due every year.
This will mean reducing the number of berths by 157, to ensure larger vessels will be able to moor in the marina during the summer months, which will substantially increase revenue when space is at a premium.
The new marina will have a total of 379 berths, with just 14 for boats under six metres, 6 of seven metres, 103 for boats up to eight metres, 96 places for boats up to 12 metres, and 54 for vessels measuring up to 15 metres. All this will then be complemented by 46 berths for boats of 20 metres or less, 32 for vessels up to 30 metres, 18 for 40 metre boats, one for 42 metres, one for 45 metres and finally two berths for vessels up to 50 metres in length.
Around 65 per cent of the berths will be available to reserve all year round, with the remainder sold in blocks.

SAN ANTONIO

Club Nautico
Renovation work on the marina in San Antonio began in earnest last week. The project will see the capacity of Club Nautico increase from 377 berths to 574, just under 200 more than the current capacity. The port will also be able to welcome vessels of up to thirty metres in length (there will be six berths), although 80 per cent of the berths will be for boats of less than twelve metres.
The total size of the marina is set to increase by 14,000 square metres, to 62,000 square metres, and will have a total of ten jetties.
The project will take just ten months to finish, but due to the ban on work during the summer months, the completion date has been set for May 2009.
The new price-list was also released last week. It will cost a total of 15,000 to moor a boat of up to twelve metres in length within the new port until November 2036. This increases to 63,000 for boats over twelve metres. The official cost for renting one of the largest berths, capable of holding boats up to thirty metres, is 793,000, although none of the six are likely to be sold to encourage more stop-overs.

Sea Cleaning
Around 100 people, the majority qualified divers, took part in the 6th annual spring-clean of the San Antonio sea-bed last weekend. The total amount of rubbish collected this year was far less than in the previous five years, which showed, according to Mayor Jose Sala, that people were becoming more conscious of the effects of throwing rubbish into the sea.
However, the sheer variety of articles found was startling; the most bizarre being a quad bike discovered on the sea-bed close to Cala Bassa. However this was certainly not the only item found, others included an e-Mac computer, a Black&Decker drill, several car batteries, a plastic chair, traffic cones and five shopping trolleys.

Club Fined
The club, Amnesia, has been fined a total of 28,000 for failing to close on time a total of ten times during the summer of 2007. The Town Hall of San Antonio issued a total of eight fines of 3,000 each, and two of 2,000, to the popular club for failing to respect their official closing time. The club has to stop the music by 6a.m. and then has a total of one and a half hours to empty the premises. They failed to comply on at least ten occasions last year. The Councillor, Jose Ramon Serra Pilot, said they were not the only club or bar to be fined, but they had certainly collected the most.
Serra also confirmed his administration would be clamping down on dogs, classified as potentially dangerous, who were not fitted with a muzzle when in a public place. The law also states that they must be on a lead of no more than two metres at all times. It is also illegal for the animals to be in the care of anyone under the age of 18, or for any one person to have more than one of these animals. The fine for breaking any of these laws is 200.

SAN JOSE

Bypass Road
The new urban plan for San Jose was set to be unveiled this week. The plan has been updated for the first time in over 20 years, and was greeted with warm applause by most. The plan seeks to protect coastal areas which have seen huge building developments over the last few years, including Cala Tarida, Cala Vadella and es Cubells. Instead, development will be concentrated in the already built-up areas of Cala de Bou, San Jordi and to a degree, the urban centre of San Jose.
However, the big news from the plan is the reservation of land in order to build a new ringroad, which is set to take some of the traffic away from the town centre. The road will begin in-between the petrol station and the restaurant es Pla, just before the town centre, where a roundabout is planned. A road will then be built towards the cemetery, continuing northwards past the new Medical Centre. The road will then join the San Jose-San Antonio road, once again, via a roundabout.
The oouncillor in charge of the project, Josep Antoni Prats, said he had reserved land for the construction of the road, but the final decision would lie with the Consell Insular, as to whether it did eventually get built.
The plans also include a commercial park close to the new roundabout, with Prats claiming the area is already heavily built up and it makes sense to build more houses and shops in this area.
The Town Hall will also be building new municipal offices behind the current installations. These were described as urgent, as the current premises had become far too small and a modification was needed.
News also leaked out about the construction of a SYP supermarket close to the Town Hall. The area 100 metres to the east of the building, where constructors are currently building flats, will be home to the popular supermarket chain. It is hoped work can be finished on the building by next year.
Meanwhile, in Cala de Bou hopes the Town Hall would eventually build a promenade grew, as Prats underlined his intention of protecting the coast. He promised that his administration would preserve a 20 metre area around the coast, which had previously been protected by the Coastal Authorities, with the long term aim of building a promenade.
Prats also announced the Town Hall would be building a huge park between Port des Torrent and Cala de Bou in front of the Hotel Sirenis Seaview Country Club. It will be 90,425 square metres in size.

Too High
The Town Hall of San Jose announced last week they had rejected the counter-arguments of the property developer, Global Estates, concerning a building in Cala Vadella. The building, which was stopped last summer, and has yet to be re-started, provoked complaints from neighbours due to its size. In reality buildings in the zone are allowed a ground floor, as well as two subsequent floors to a maximum of eleven metres. However these luxury apartments had an additional floor and measured 15 metres in total. The company will now be forced to present a new project, or face having to demolish part of the building.
Similarly, sources confirmed that the construction known as El Mirador de Cala Tarida, which was stopped two weeks ago, will be reduced from a total of 186 chalets to just 60.

SANTA EULALIA

Purifier Plans
The project to renovate the water purifier in Santa Eulalia was made public last week, although a firm date on when it is due to begin is still no clearer. The work was supposed to begin this year, but the new Consell Insular has given priority to the purifier in Playa den Bossa, meaning the project has been put on the back-burner for the time being, much to the annoyance of the mayor, Vicent Mari.
The new purifier will service a total of 58,300 people, over 25,000 more than the existing machine, while producing a total of 14,000 cubic metres a day, 75 per cent more than at present. The project is set to cost a total of 7.6 million and, when started, will take 24 months to complete.
Meanwhile, the possible location of the Ibiza Town water purifier was revealed on Saturday. After no suitable land could be found within the municipality, it was decided it would be located in Santa Eulalia. Although nothing has yet been decided the favoured location is a 40,000 square metre piece of land half a kilometre from Ca na Negreta and Can Ramon and a kilometre from Puig den Valls. The mayor confirmed he had been approached by the Consell with the suggestion, but could not comment further as he was yet to visit the location himself. However, he confirmed he was not happy at the prospect, and claimed it was ludicrous to put infrastructure which would solely benefit the citizens of Ibiza Town inside another municipalitys boundaries. He said his administration would be the ones who would have to deal with all the problems, which included the smell and noise. He ended by stating he would make it as difficult as possible for the Govern Balear to locate the purifier inside Santa Eulalia´s boundaries.

Beetles Return
Specialists working for the Consell Insular confirmed on Tuesday they had discovered another case of red palm weevil at a house in Santa Gertrudis. The forty year old palm tree had to be destroyed as a result.
The adult weevil is orange with black spots, and measures from 2cm. to 4 cm. in length. It has a typical weevil shape with a long snout. The larva has no legs and measures close to 5 cm.
The symptoms of an infested palm tree can vary, but there is generally irreversible degeneration of the newest leaves. They first begin to hang lifelessly, and within the next few days they completely deteriorate and fall off. As the infestation progresses, the boring of the larvae and the bacterial rot, typical of the internal tissue of the palm tree are so serious that they affect the integrity of the crown of palm fronds, which lose their tension and hang limply.
The Ministry is clearly alarmed by the discovery and has warned people, especially those with several trees, to be on the lookout for the effects. Early detection of the attack is difficult because the damage caused by the larvae is generally only visible after prolonged feeding. However, according to ministry officials, given the seriousness of the threat of this insect, it is necessary to take decisive action and adopt the best corrective measures, the most effective being to identify infested palm trees, cut them down and destroy them, before the adults can spread to other hosts.

CRIME & INCIDENTS

Man Injured
A 29 year old British man was seriously injured on Wednesday, when the BMW car he was driving collided with a truck on the road to Cala Vadella in San Jose. The cause of the accident is still not clear, but it is believed the vehicle of the injured man invaded the other lane, although nothing has yet been confirmed. A breath-test carried out on the lorry driver proved negative. The injured man was rushed by ambulance to the Vilas private clinic in Ibiza Town, where he was said to be suffering injuries to the head, chest and knee-cap. His life was not said to be in any danger.

Operation Collapses
The police operation codenamed Brujas, which led to the arrest of 20 people last summer, all convicted of belonging to the biggest drugs ring in the island´s history, is slowly collapsing. Just six of those originally arrested remain in prison, with the supposed number two within the gang the latest to be released. However, the judge claimed there was no evidence convicting him of any involvement with the gang, other than a few shared phone calls.
The arrests last summer led to police recovering 12,000 ecstasy tablets, whilst claiming the group were responsible for distributing around 70 per cent of this type of drug on the island. However, since these allegations, the judge in charge of the case has been slowly releasing the defendants due to the lack of evidence.

NEWS FROM THE MAINLAND

Delicate Diplomacy
The British and Spanish Governments were desperately trying to avoid an all-out confrontation week after New Flame, a cargo vessel which collided with another ship in waters off Gibraltar last August, eventually sank causing yet another oil spillage.
The Panamanian-registered cargo ship, carrying 27,000 tons of scrap metal, had been partly submerged since it collided with a Danish tanker carrying 37,000 tons of unleaded gasoline on 12th August 2007. The Danish tanker was able to continue its journey and tie up at Algeciras port, while New Flame slowly split into two and ended with just the upper part of the vessel visible.
It is claimed a total of 800 tonnes of fuel has washed up on the shores of beaches in Andalucia since August. The latest bad weather last Sunday resulted in water entering the fuel tanks of the vessel, causing yet another oil spill which affected an eight mile stretch of beach.
The local Government of Andalusia is threatening to report the authorities in Gibraltar to the European Union for neglecting their responsibilities. The British Ambassador to Spain, Denise Holt, also became embroiled in the battle, as she was ordered to a meeting with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs´ Director for Europe and North America Jose Pons. However, a statement later claimed that while the British Government was sympathetic to the problem and would do anything in their power to help, they believed the problem had been dealt with adequately by the Government in Gibraltar.
On Tuesday Gibraltars Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, admitted that although the oil spill had in fact come from the New Flame, it had been cleaned up in 24 hours and was therefore of reduced importance, although not for that, less regrettable. Meanwhile, sources from the New Flames insurers claimed they had not given up hope of the firm, Titan Salvage, being able to recover the vessel and its cargo.

Too Thin
Three models were banned from taking part in a fashion show in Madrid last week, for being too thin. The ban follows the introduction of new guidelines brought in by organisers of the Madrid fashion week in September 2006, which stated they would not be hiring any models who looked too thin and waif-like. The decision was made after protests that teenagers and young women were trying to copy their rail-thin looks, and developing eating disorders in the process.
Organisers at the week long Pasarela Cibeles show in the capital use the body mass index or BMI -- based on weight and height -- to measure models. Last year they turned away 30 per cent of women who took part in the previous event. The three models singled out this year had a BMI of around 16, while the average height-weight ratio this year was around 1.75 metres and 55 kilos.
Organiser, Leonor Perez Pita, said the show was trying to promote health and beauty and they would continue with the policy.
Initially it was believed the three were British models, but it was later revealed the doctor had confused their country of origin due to the fact they were all speaking English. They were in fact of Italian, French and Polish nationality.
The new regulation has generally been applauded across the world, with Milan following suit. However, disappointingly The London Fashion Show has not followed Madrids lead, with many fearing top models might go elsewhere if they are forced to step on to the scales or to fatten up for the catwalk.

New Route
AVE, the high speed train run on the mainland out of Madrid, will officially open its new route from Madrid-Barcelona today (20th Feb). Transport Minister, Magdalena Alvarez, was one of the first to travel the route on a trial run last week, claiming the wait and inconvenience had been well worth it. The work has been dogged with problems, and during the last four months has caused a great deal of inconvenience for regular users of the transport network. However, the waiting is now over and just 15 years after celebrating its 15th birthday, the company has opened the most high profile and what they hope to be the most profitable part of the network.
AVE, an acronym for Alta Velocidad Espanola, first began back in April 1992 as a spin-off from the Expo´92 being celebrated at the time in Seville. The project was criticised at first and claims were made it would run empty after expo finished. However, the network proved a complete success and until this year has carried nearly 41 million people at speeds of 300 kmph.
The network has slowly been increasing its destinations over the last 15 years, and with the addition of Barcelona, now reaches a total 19 cities, including Zaragoza and Málaga. The initial section from Madrid to Lleida, via Zaragoza, opened on 11th October 2003. However, this was followed a catalogue of problems which caused a great deal of inconvenience to many people and the project became ridiculed by the national press. The Government continued with the project, and remain confident the popularity of the route will ensure the last few months soon become a distant memory.
The Madrid-Barcelona line will be one of the world's fastest in commercial operation, with trains reaching a top speed of 350 km/h and covering the 600 kilometres between the two cities in just two hours and forty minutes. It previously took almost six hours. The cheapest price for the journey will be around 100.
Iberia airline responded by claiming their service was still far superior and they did not expect seat sales between the country´s two most popular cities to be affected.

Rajoy Visit
In the run-up to the General Elections, which are due to take place on 09th March, the opposition leader Mariano Rajoy will make a whistle-stop tour of the islands to try and drum-up support for his PP-party. The visit is due to take place today (20th Feb.) and will include a meeting at 1pm in Mahon, Minorca, followed by his visit to Ibiza and a meeting with party members at the conference centre, finishing off an exhausting day with an evening meet in Palma.
The race for the presidency is extremely close with the latest figures released last week putting current Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, ahead by just 1.5 points. However, neither candidate can afford to become too confident and it seems it will be all to play for come March 9th.
Since being elected, the PSOE-Zapatero government has supported coalition efforts in Afghanistan, approved gay marriages, supported reconstruction efforts in Haiti, and cooperated on counterterrorism issues. However, cracks have recently begun to appear within the economy and interest rates, as well as inflation, are both at record highs, along with unemployment. After sweeping to power back in March 2004 on the back of the Madrid bombings, the popularity of Zapatero has wavered during the last year, putting the PP back in the hunt for the country´s top position.

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