Promenade Fears
There was outrage on Friday as the Town Hall of Ibiza released plans for the new promenade in ses Figueretes. The walkway will start at the Los Molinos hotel and pass all the way through es Viver eventually reaching Playa den Bossa where it will stop on the border with San Jose, (next to Hotel Algarb). The esplanade will have a width of six metres in ses Figueretes and es Viver, and four metres in Playa den Bossa.
However, the controversial project will see a total of 33 expropriations at a cost of €714,614. Worryingly, a number of hotel swimming pools are on the list and could be demolished if the Coastal Authority decides to go ahead with the project and recover land encroaching on public territory. Those establishments most affected by the new plans include Los Molinos, Ibiza Playa, and el Ebeso, all of which have swimming pools which are extremely close to the sea and would have to be removed if the project was eventually given the green light.
The President of the Hotel Federation, Juanjo Riera, said those affected were extremely worried, as he warned the consequences for the area would be serious. He explained tourists would not use hotels which did not have a swimming pool, therefore seriously crippling the area. He continued that there were alternatives to the project which would allow the pools to remain and explained a meeting had been arranged for this week to try and resolve the situation. Those involved will include the head of the Balearic Coastal Department, Celesti Alomar, the island president, Xico Tarres, the mayors of both Ibiza Town and San Jose, Lurdes Costa and Josep Mari Ribas, as well as 15 hoteliers from the area.
The Residents Association, for their part, said they were delighted with the project. A spokesman for the group explained they had been waiting more than ten years for the plans to come to light. For this reason they have suggested the promenade is built in two phases to try and speed up the process. They explained that the ses Figueretes part, which already has a promenade, could begin almost immediately, as this would not involve expropriations. They feared the second part could take much longer as it would prove far more complicated as it involved the forced takeover of many private pieces of land.

AROUND THE ISLAND
Full Up
The “no vacancy” sign will once again be put up outside all of the marinas on the island during summer 2009. According to the president of the association, Rafael Palmer, occupancy will reach capacity throughout most of the season, although most of the related businesses are set to suffer.
Palmer said that demand had not been affected by the current economic crisis and nearly all of those residents on the island with boats had already reserved their berth for 2009. He said the percentage of moorings taken by passing trade was very small, ensuring the majority of marinas would not suffer, like most other sectors. However, he continued that those businesses connected to marinas were “feeling the pinch”. The sale of fuel during the winter fell by 20 per cent, a trend which is set to continue, due to the fact that while patrons would not be giving up the luxury of having a boat, they certainly would be taking them out a lot less.
Restaurants, bars and shops in or close to marinas were also reporting a fall in trade, reflecting a tendency to limit expenditure by boat owners.

Where’s That?
Carlos Bernús, the Councillor for Tourist Promotion in Formentera, was said to be surprised at the lack of awareness about the island amongst British people. His comments came after an appearance by the island in the recent “A Taste of Spain” bonanza which took place two weekends ago, in London. Regent Street was closed for the day as stands from across the country were displayed to an interested public. The Balearics were represented by the horses from Menorca, whilst popular local musician Paco Fernandez, thrilled the crowds with his Spanish guitar.
However, the event highlighted the lack of information amongst the British sector about Formentera. Whilst all of those asked knew where Ibiza was, few had a clue about the whereabouts of its smaller neighbour. Bernús said this needed to change as the British market was of great interest and one which could grow in the near future.
However, this should have come as no surprise as, according to a report by a travel watchdog in UK, an alarming one in five Britons go on holiday without being able to point out their destinations on a world map.
The report showed holidaymakers found Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Faro in Portugal and Bangkok in Thailand, the hardest to pinpoint, while closer to home Palma de Mallorca was quite often confused with Las Palmas in the Canaries. Just some of the confusion which ensures around one million holidaymakers every year end up in destinations they had no intention of going.
The study went on to show an incredible 1.9 million Britons arrived at their holiday destination with the wrong currency.

Labour Agreement
Companies linked to the transport of tourists are to introduce new measures which will see employees working half an hour every day, free of charge, in return for job guarantees. The transport association suggested the moves to the Trade Union after a fall in revenue of between 15 and 20 per cent. This has led companies to cut their fleets by up to 10 per cent, a move which has put jobs on the line. The increase in working hours (from 7½ hours to eight) has already been accepted by the two biggest transport companies in the Balearics, Transunión and Ultramar, in return for the company guaranteeing six-month contracts.
Unlike the hospitality sector fijos-discontinuos (employees with a secure job) in the transport industry do not have to be offered a six-month contract, ensuring that a huge number of drivers will not be contracted this year until business picks up in July, - just one of the reasons the Trade Union has agreed to the half an hour increase.
Meanwhile, the retail agreement which will govern the wages of the sector for the next two years was thrashed out in record time. Despite the economic crisis which has seen deflation of 0.8%, salaries for those working in shops and supermarkets will continue to rise over the next two years at the cost of living plus 1.4 per cent in the first year and 0.4 per cent in the second year.

Inherited Debt
A document released last week by the Treasury department has shown the previous PP-run, (Partido Popular), Island Council handed over power with a debt of more than €14 million when they were eventually ousted in 2007. The official document was unveiled after the former PP-president, Pere Palau, had disputed the figure.
With the aid of the Treasury information the current Island Councillor for the economy, Tomas Méndez, said his PSOE-ExC party took over with long term debt at €8.4 million, while short term debt had reached €6.4 million, a total of €14.8 million. He revealed that the majority of this had come from the purchase of the hippodrome, and loans taken on to cover over-expenditure in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
The response by Méndez came after he had been accused by the PP of running up a €25 million debt during his first two years in office. However, he responded that most of his administration’s arrears had been inherited by the previous Government and that, at the moment, debt was running at €18.4 million.
Meanwhile, a study by the Diario de Ibiza newspaper showed the Island Council had completed just 48 per cent of its campaign promises, as it approaches the mid-way stage of its administration. According to the paper, of the near 400 promises which were made during the election campaign, just half have already been started or achieved. However, most of what is still to be done includes the “meatier” parts of the promises.
The Health Department has been the only one to get its “star” project off the ground, with an agreement to build the new hospital next to Can Misses, which should begin at the end of the year. However, there are still many promises which remain unfulfilled including the promise to get the doctor-patient ratio down to 1-1,200. It still remains at 1-1,800. Meanwhile patient waiting times have also not been reduced down to 48 hours, as promised back in 2007 by PSOE-ExC.
Neither have any of the long term plans for the treatment of mental health been started.
The departments overseen by second-in-command, Albert Prats, also have a success rate which is so far below the 50 per cent mark. The Council’s Department for the Environment has yet to start the Residual Plan, which promised a complete overhaul of the current system. A single organisation dealing with the supply of water across the island is still to be set up.
Prats’ Transport Department has not done much better with the main proposal, the Mobility Plan, which was to look at public transport on the island, still not off the ground. However, the councillor claimed a huge marketing campaign had been carried out to encourage people to use public transport, which was proving a success. In addition vital changes to the Ibiza-San Antonio and Ibiza-airport roads had been carried out.
The Department for Town Planning was also heavily criticised for achieving very few of its goals set out in 2007, with their main promise of burying electric and telephone cables across the island remaining unfulfilled.

Airport Complaints
The Island Council announced its surprise last week over the unveiling of the new plans for the airport which were unveiled by AENA, (Airport Authority), the previous week. The councillor for planning, Miquel Ramon, confessed he was yet to receive a copy from AENA, and that he had had to download a version of the plan from their internet site. He continued by revealing his surprise at the decision to build a car park for up to 2,000 vehicles on the site of the current facility. He continued that this had never come up in previous meetings with AENA.
However, he was much more understanding when it came to the 110,000 m2 of land which AENA was planning to take from the ses Salinas natural park. He said this would merely involve fencing off the area, to ensure the airport met European regulations ensuring there was at least 150 metres between the landing strip and private land. He assured the public that no buildings would be constructed on the land.
Meanwhile GEN, the island’s green party, was far from happy with the plans, and said the majority were completely unnecessary. It called the fencing of land in ses Salinas intolerable, and claimed the little protected land on the island needed to remain “untouchable”. A spokesman said the group would be making an official complaint to the European Commission in order to try and stop the work from being carried out. It also demanded the authorities put a stop to the building of the car park and any extension of the terminal building.

Resident Promise
The new resident’s certificate hit the headlines last week in the run-up to the European elections as Rosa Estaras said she would abolish the “green paper” if voted in. The PP-party candidate revealed she had met British residents of the Mallorcan town of Llubi, who had expressed their dismay at the new system which does not include a photo and always needs to be accompanied by photographic identification, i.e. a passport. Not one to avoid the chance to win over new voters, Estaras said she would support the idea of banning the paper if she did eventually get a seat at the European Parliament, a promise she repeated when confronted by a group of Germans complaining about the same problem.

Model Looking for Home
The national newspaper, ABC, has reported that Naomi Campbell is on the look-out for a property on the island. The top model, who is a frequent visitor during the summer with her boyfriend the Russian, Vladimir Doronin, was said to have been interested in the property currently owned by Borja Thyssen in Cap Martinet. The paper claimed a deal was a certainty until various planes flew by the property on a military exercise ensuring Campbell soon called off the deal.

Guru Success
The much-deserved success is continuing for local British resident, Guru Josh, after his song “Infinity 2008” hit the number one spot in the Spanish charts. The song, which was originally recorded in 1989 and re-released last year, has been a massive hit across Europe and reached the number one spot in Belgium, France and Denmark. As of last week it also hit the top of the Spanish charts.
"Infinity" was first released in 1989 from the album of the same name. It achieved success in many European countries, such as Germany, UK and Austria, peaking at #5 in the UK chart in January 1990, and has been featured on numerous compilations from 1990 to the present day.
The music video for the song on YouTube has been viewed more than 52 million times making it one of the most-viewed videos on the website.
Record companies at first made a decision not to release the new version outside of Europe, in countries such as Australia and the United States of America, preventing it from achieving the prior success that it enjoyed. However, in April 2009, the track was picked up by Ultra Records in the United States and made its debut on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart at number 20. However, just three weeks later it had reached the number one spot, dethroning Lady GaGa's "Poker Face", which had spent a record setting 15-week run in that position.

Discobus Begins
The Island Council began the new night bus service known as the “discobus” on Saturday, which is to run through until 30th September. There are a total of four different routes which will run through the night. The first is the San Antonio-San Rafael-Ibiza Town route which will arrive directly to the port via la avenida de Santa Eulalia, el paseo de Juan Carlos I, la avenida Vuit d’ Agost, Bartomeu Rosello and Ignacio Wallis.
The second route will run from Port des Torrent-San Antonio, with the third and fourth services covering the routes between es Canar-Santa Eulalia-Ibiza Town and Playa den Bossa-Ibiza Town.
The cost for a single trip will be €3 except for the Port des Torrent-San Antonio route which will cost just €2.40. A book of five tickets can also be purchased for €12.

Jones Return
Grace Jones, the model and actress who shot to fame in the 1980s, will be back on the island in August to perform at “We love……Space”, it was announced this week. Although she has made many film appearances, including Bond’s A View to a Kill she is better known as a model and singer. Her androgynous appearance, and outrageous musical act employing live lions and leopards, has made her a cult favourite at the beginning of the 80s. However, most British viewers will remember her after she famously attacked Russell Harty when he turned away from her to speak to the other guests on his program.

IBIZA TOWN
Proper Complaint
Building work taking place on a site behind Pacha Hotel close to es Botafoc was eventually stopped last week after the Town Hall received an official complaint “from the right source”. Following numerous denuncias from local residents, the Town Hall revealed its legislation meant it was unable to stop work on a building until it had received a complaint from a tourist establishment affected. After weeks of traffic congestion this duly came and the Town Hall ordered work to stop, with the company now unable to start up again until 30th September.
Meanwhile, the Island Council revealed that work taking place across the island as part of the plan E (the State-financed projects which were introduced to get people back into work) would continue throughout the summer. The exception to this would be work which was being carried out in heavily tourist populated areas which would be stopped immediately.

SAN ANTONIO
Another Demolition
The Island Council has ordered the demolition of a two-floored property in San Rafael. The 146 m2 house was built on a 15,000 m2 piece of rural land, close to a 300 m2 property which had permission. The owners originally claimed the new building had been an extension to the original finca, but this argument has been rejected. The owners of the property now have one month to demolish the building, after which the Council will carry out the work at the expense of the owners. They will also be fined €136,624.

SAN JOSE
Beach Demolition
The plan to recover the dunes in ses Salinas and es Cavallet announced by the Balearic Coastal Authority, (Costas), began in earnest on Monday as 14 disused beach huts in es Codolar were demolished. The work was first announced during a visit to the island by the head of Costas, Celesti Alomar. Work will now move on to four huts close to es Cap Falcó.

SAN JUAN
Internet Possibilities
Residents in San Juan will now have the possibility of accessing a high-speed internet connection via satellite, thanks to an agreement which has been signed with the Town Hall. Mayor Antoni Marí claimed businesses and houses would now be able to get access which varies in speed from 256 kb to 2 mb, although the price would be slightly more expensive than the approximate €50 most operators offer in urban areas.
The agreement has been signed with Net2 who revealed they would have a technician working in the area, and installing the necessary equipment to ensure the connection. The first month’s quota will also be free, in addition to a €50 reduction on the price of the initial installation, which currently stands at €350.
Net2 predict they will have between 300 and 800 customers within eight months, who have, until now, been unable to receive internet connection due to the rural location of the municipal.
The changes will be made as the Balearic government announced it would be spending €548,000 on the installation of WIFI connections across the islands’ schools.
This is all just part of the €27 million improvements to be spent on schools over the next 12 months and which will see computer-child ratios fall from one in 14 to one in four.

FORMENTERA
Beach Paradise
A survey by Tripadvisor, the free travel guide and research website, has voted ses Illetes beach in Formentera the fifth best in Europe. In a poll of all its European users Mirtiotissa in Corfu came out top, followed by Calis beach in Turkey, with es Trenc in Mallorca coming third.
Within Spain ses Illetes was second, with Cala Bassa in sixth, and Benirràs in eighth place.

CRIME & INCIDENTS
Identity Unveiled
The man found dead close to the police station at the entrance to San Antonio has been identified as a 29-year-old Argentinian man. The body of the man was discovered on Sunday afternoon in a field close to the station on the Ibiza-San Antonio road. Police immediately ruled out any third parties, after no signs of violence were detected, predicting he could have overdosed. The autopsy, which was carried out on Monday, showed he had been carrying 56 small packets of cocaine in his upper stomach, each containing 12-13 grams of cocaine. Two of the bags had broken open causing his death. Doctors found a total of 710 grams of cocaine inside his stomach.
Police revealed he had arrived on the island just hours before aboard a flight from Madrid. He is said to have been alone and, at the moment, police do not suspect anyone else was involved.
Police had to take the dead man’s fingerprints to identify him.

Car Chase
The case involving Spanish actor, Micky Molina, and a British man eventually reached court last week after a series of suspensions. The case dates back to the events of August 2004 when an altercation between the two men left Molina with facial injuries. However, new to the case this time was the ex-girlfriend of the actor, who said she had been pressurised into not appearing as a witness beforehand by Molina, and that she also did not want the case to have a negative affect on the custody battle he was having over access to his children.
For the first time last week, ex-girlfriend Elena Lopez gave her side of the story via video-conference. She claimed Molina was in a foul mood at the time of the incident because she had earlier informed him of her intention to leave the island to visit her parents. Just then a car, driven by the Brit, overtook Molina on avenida Sant Josep de Vila heading towards San Antonio, causing Molina to brake sharply. The heavy traffic caused both cars to stop soon afterwards, at which point Molina got out of the car and began insulting the other driver. In the words of his girlfriend “he completely lost control” and began kicking the side of the British driver’s vehicle. She then claimed her ex-boyfriend bent the windscreen wipers of the car, before going to the boot where the British man had some bottles of beer in a cooler. He grabbed one of the bottles and smashed it on the floor. Up until this point the British man had not reacted and decided to lock himself in his vehicle, but at this point he got out of the car, approached Molina with something in his hand and struck Molina in the face causing him to bleed profusely. The Brit, in his defence, said it was a pair of sunglasses. They then both got in their cars and a chase began, with both vehicles reaching 250 km/h, according to Lopez. It ended close to a ravine in Jesus where Molina pleaded for help from the man, who merely laughed and drove away.
She confirmed the significant difference in size between the pair, saying the British man could have knocked the much smaller Molina to the ground at any time.
The British man, for his part, explained that he grabbed hold of Molina like he did his son, whilst the actor explained how the incident and subsequent legal process had seriously damaged his career.
Molina’s lawyer is asking for a five-year prison sentence and damages of around €12,000. The British man’s lawyer, meanwhile, is demanding his client be cleared, in addition to damages of €4,100.
The case continues……

Drug Busts
Officers arrested a 26-year-old British man last weekend accused of possessing more than 23,450 ecstasy tablets. The investigation started several months ago after police searched a car which had been stationed in a private car park in Cala de Bou. Police believed the British registered vehicle had been used the previous summer in the transportation and distribution of drugs. However, much to their surprise, on opening the boot they found a total of 23,453 tablets, as well as 924 grams of MDMA. They soon located the identity of the owner of the vehicle, and subsequently raided his apartment at a residential complex close to where the car had been parked. At the premises police discovered €228,120 and £15,400 in cash. In both the car and apartment they also found various different pieces of identification. However, it proved more difficult to locate the British owner whom investigators believed had left the island. The opening of the discotheques, however, soon saw his return, and he was arrested at the opening of Space last Sunday.
Meanwhile a 20-year-old British man was arrested on Friday after being caught with 176 ecstasy tablets as he tried to enter a club in San Antonio. During a later search of the man’s hotel room officers discovered a further 5,248 pills. He was immediately arrested.

Another Fatality
A 46-year-old Argentinian became the sixth fatality on the island’s roads on Wednesday after crashing his motorbike, a Yamaha R-1, into a roundabout on the Ibiza-San Antonio road. According to officers he was heading in the direction of San Antonio when he crashed into the circulatory sign indicating the direction of the roundabout, close to the Montecristo industrial estate. There were no other cars involved.

Police Stops
The police crackdown on drink-driving continued over the weekend as 21 people were caught over the legal limit in a control which lasted just over an hour. The checks began at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday morning on three different roads around the capital. A total of 287 vehicles were stopped, which lead to 21 drivers failing the test. All will now face prosecution and could lose their driving licenses.
However, the message seems to be getting across to some, and on the opening weekend of the major clubs just eight drivers of the 107 breathalysed were found to be over the limit, a sign according to San Jose councillor, Paquita Ribas, that people were finally recognising they should not drive after having been drinking.

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