Author: somethingforyourmallorcaweekend

I've lived and worked in Mallorca since 1990. I've worked at Pirates Adventure & Radio One Mallorca. I now work at Wave Mallorca Radio and have my own Concierge service called Prioritymallorca.com. This blog will give you my news, views and my life on our island in the sun.

Don’t Forget Your Core Supporters!

This weeks thoughts are a bit of a double edged sword. I want to give out praise where praise is due but  there are a couple of negatives coming too. The negatives are in my opinion constructive and believe me when I say I only want the best outcome.

I’ve been a Real Mallorca fan since I came to the island. I started going regularly in the early 2,000’s, so I’ve seen the good times and the really bad times. In the 2016/17 season they were relegated to Segunda B meaning they couldn’t go much lower. In that league average attendances were around 3 or 4,000, you could sit in your allotted season ticket seat and not have anyone near you. Believe me at times it was awful to watch but we still went every week. At that time Mallorca were bought by a group of Americans investors who without doubt at that time would have been wondering what they had got themselves into. Remember that relegation doesn’t happen in American sport. However back to back promotions meant they returned to La Liga in record time. Another relegation during COVID was quickly turned around the following season and last season they finished a very successful ninth in the league.

During all this time the owners have invested a lot of time and money into the Club and away from the pitch their marketing and in particular their social media ranked them third in La Liga behind the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona. One thing that had held the club back was the stadium. Built in 1999 for the World Student Games and leased to the club by the Palma City Council for 50 years, there had been many arguements over its renovation and in particular the running track. Thankfully those arguements subsided and work began on moving the stands closer to the pitch. When you visit the stadium now it is something to be proud of and this week a season record crowd of 22,051 saw the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey. 

One of the major changes to the stadium has been on the corporate side. New offerings include the ‘Tunnel Experience’, the ‘Premium Club’ and the new VIP boxes above the North stand. One of those boxes for a season for 12 people will cost you an eye watering 44,000€. If all these offerings are sold and the money can be reinvested into the team that can only be good for the club. 

Now I did say at the beginning of this there would be a couple of negatives. As I said I hope the club is looking into the issues I’m highlighting as it seems that the average season ticket holder like me has been left behind. I am more than happy with the stadium on the inside, my beef lays on the outside. Part of the renovation was to convert the old Mallorca Cafe into a state of the art club shop. Which I’m not criticising as it looks amazing but the Mallorca Cafe was a meeting point for fans before the game. Last Tuesday there was a temporary constructed outside bar that was nowhere near big enough to service the thousands of people outside. Remember that you can only buy an alcoholic drink outside a La Liga ground as it is banned inside the stadium. So you can imagine what it was like. Are their any plans to replace the Mallorca Cafe, that would not only be used on match days but as before for people to enjoy it for a morning coffee or to watch away matches on a big screen? Surely this is an opportunity for the club to make extra income? On top of the lack of being able to get a drink, there were two mobile caravans selling burgers at 8€ a pop. Neither despite their best intentions could cope with the amount of people. If the outside experience of us fans not wanting the corporate experience is being looked into then that is something to look forward to. The other problem is trying to get out of the stadium at the end of the game from the club car park. It took me an hour to get out on Tuesday night. I’m not sure what the answer is as it seems the majority of the crowd drive to the stadium. When a game is on there are cars parked everywhere, even on the motorway hard shoulder! Would the club and Palma City Council look at extending the metro service? Or maybe offer a rolling free bus service back into the city? There was talk by the previous government of building a tram service from the centre of Palma to the airport and also to Son Espases hospital. Could this be extended to the stadium? These projects were to paid for in part by European or Spanish Government subsidies. Alfonso Diaz, Mallorca’s Chief Executive has said “Basically, we want this stadium, which is a major building in the city, to be a venue for the city and its people. Little by little, this is being achieved and this space is being opened up so that it could be used 365 days per year and not just 19 or 20 times when there is a football match. The city and its people should be able to enjoy this venue with facilities that can be used for social, sporting, and entrepreneurial activities.” That’s great but that outside experience and the transport problem needs looking into. 

I will of course carry on being a season ticket holder as there’s nothing I want more to see the club be successful. I believe having a club in La Liga is positive for the island and is another arm to our tourist offering particularly in the low season. Not only that, it is an avenue for all youth footballers here to go into the professional game. 

As the song sung at the stadium goes “Rojo, negro hasta que me muera” (meaning red and black until I die).

But please remember and look after your non-corporate supporters. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

Quality Street

If you’re visiting London you’ll be inundated with recommendations of where to visit. One place that might not be high on some peoples lists is St Pancras International Station. It opened in 1868 and is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture and one of the most elegant stations in the World.  It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, Netherlands and France with an exciting collection of shops, restaurants and bars, including Europe’s longest Champagne bar. It is normally the station I go to if I’m going to watch Arsenal, the theatre or go shopping. 

One of the things I love about St Pancras is the piano that is in the middle of the concourse. Now this isn’t any old piano, on the 4th of February 2016, Elton John performed a medley at the station, to promote the album “Wonderful Crazy Night.” Following his performance, he donated the piano to the station, marking it with the inscription, “Enjoy this piano. It’s a gift.

Last week that famous piano hit the news, if you could call it news. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in a long time. A guy was playing and live streaming on his you tube channel, when a group of Chinese tourists who happened to be in his shot asked him to stop filming them. They apparently were waiting to use the piano and as the guy who was playing said, “well why don’t you go away and come back when I’m finished?” They refused. You couldn’t make it up. The next day the piano was sealed off and the station said it was due to maintenance work. Can someone get a grip please!

I noticed when travelling to the UK that there was a piano situated between gates C and D in the airport at Palma. One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is play the piano. I can play Match of the Day and the Wombles of Wimbledon, so you can tell I’m no Elton John. It’s on my list of things to do in retirement. 

All this though reminded of how much I love watching street entertainers. Talented musicians have taken to perform on London’s transport network since 2003 with the London Underground Licensed Busking Scheme, brightening people’s journeys with genres from rock, to classical and pop for 364 days-a-year. 20 years on, the network now has more than 200 registered buskers, the busking scheme has up to 39 pitches across 25 central London stations which are clearly defined by a semi-circular floor graphic. 

Staying in London, I would thoroughly recommend you go to Covent Garden as the street entertainers there are second to none. Since the 1660s Covent Garden has never missed a chance to put on a performance. The first record of Covent Garden street entertainment came in 1662, when Samuel Pepys’ diary notes that a marionette show featuring a character named Punch took place on the Piazza. The best place in my opinion to watch the entertainers is the roof terrace at the  Punch and Judy pub. The pub was built in 1787 and was named after the Punch and Judy shows performed there for the children of the flower sellers.

We have street entertainers in Palma, particularly in and around the Cathedral area. I love to watch the statues, who are amazing. All street entertainers should have a licence that can be applied for at Palma Town Hall. 

Our holiday in Jamaica was enhanced by the guys that wandered the beach during the day. In particular the guy in the picture with my son Jude. He did his version of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’ whilst basically strumming his guitar up and down with no actual tune. No offence but he would have been better off singing ‘One Tooth’ as he was dentally challenged. But he was very grateful for the beer we invited him to, to persuade him to move on. He would in fact treat us to the same rendition pretty much every day and in a strange way we used to look forward to his performance. 

The Bob Marley film ‘One Love’ should arrive in our cinemas here in Mallorca around February 14th. He is still revered in Jamaica and it’s a film I’m very much looking forward to seeing after our holiday there.

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

New Year, New You?

New Year, new you. How’s that going for everybody? I’m not really one for New Years Resolutions. If you want to change something then for me do it in the moment, why wait? Last year after a health scare and doing a full MOT it became obvious to me that I needed to change. 

Remember that old saying, ‘Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will. We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game.’ So the game I was playing needed to change. You’re not getting any younger gets levelled at me, which is fair enough. But can I just check something, am I the only one who gets new knee or hip adverts come up on social media? The infinite amount of walking apps I receive too and also  the old fella doing his exercises sat on a chair, cheek! I’ve had a gym membership at Viva gym in Son Fusteret Palma for quite a while now. I use it when the boys are at football training in the evenings. I say ‘use it’ as that’s not entirely true. It’s a winter thing as in the summer we’re too busy at Pirates. I had been going regularly before Christmas and made a point of going as soon as I got back from holiday. Having Christmas and then a holiday isn’t a great combination if losing weight is on your agenda. I walked in last Monday evening to a gym that was packed with people of all shapes and sizes. Yes it was obviously the new year resolution brigade out in force. Some of them obviously had got new gym wear or new trainers as a present and were there to show them off. I wonder how long they will last? It’s all down to how much you want it. For me, I’m going to go as often as I can for as long as I can and hopefully see a difference. 

Splitting my work and family time for me now is more important than ever. I love watching my boys grow up and change. Regular readers will know I have two boys, Jacob and Jude. Jacob is 18 and in his last year of school and Junior football and Jude who is 14. They are like chalk and cheese. Jacob has been working with me at Pirates for a couple of years and is a grafter. Try telling his Mum that, because at home he’s completely the opposite. It will be interesting to see what career path he will take after this summer season. We still have to push him into the shower after football training or a match and he has no interest in fashion, as a football shirt will do. Whereas Jude will shower before and after a game and will dress immaculately even if we’re just going to Lidl. The difference in them though does make it interesting to watch them grow and change. Jude in particular should be my motivation as over the past year he has lost 25kgs. He did it with the help of a professional nutritionist and his own will power. Without doubt it’s helped him from a confidence point of view both in his football and his own personality. I’m very proud of my two boys and look forward to seeing then grow further. 

During the pandemic we decided to get ourselves a dog. It’s a big undertaking as to be honest it’s like having another child. Beau our Labrador has become part of the family now and for my Wife and I gives us an opportunity to get out walking. Thanks to Montaire Labradors where we got Beau from who’ve been a great help. 

Lastly and not on any purpose, is my long suffering Wife, Rachael. Who else would put up with us three or four now for all these years? She has done an amazing job with her theatre school over the last 15 years even managing to get through the pandemic. So well that the school that she does her classes in on a Saturday asked her to become their drama teacher a couple of years ago. She also gets a special mention this week because it’s her 50th birthday. Guess what? Work and football have got in the way of us celebrating this week but hopefully there’s a gap between games that we can celebrate this weekend. 

Happy Birthday Rachael, we all love you and thank you for all you do for us. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

5 Answers To The Question, What To Do At An Airport When Waiting For A Connecting Flight?

We knew that after a couple of weeks away seeing family and friends over the Christmas period and then jetting off to the beautiful island of Jamaica, we still had the dreaded return journey. Flights returning home always seem quicker which in most cases they are but not for us as we had the added complication of getting from the UK to Mallorca and in the winter time that isn’t as easy as you think.  It’s the getting off of one plane and then getting back on another which is the pain. Only this pain was going to be slightly longer than we wanted. Landing at Gatwick at 06.45 in the morning, we then had to wait until 17.00 to get our flight back to Mallorca. 

So what do you do when waiting for a connecting flight at London Gatwick or any other airport for that matter? Our problem was that Easyjet(others weren’t available) only allow you to check-in a maximum 3 hours before your scheduled flight time. Airports aren’t really designed for you to spend a significant amount of time landside, the fun only starts once you get airside. It’s a question though that will pop up again and again during this piece. Believe me when I say I exhausted all efforts to try and take away the boredom we faced. 

The three hotels right by the North terminal where we landed and were leaving from are the Premier Inn, Sofitel and the Hampton by Hilton. The Sofitel check-in is from 14.00, the Hampton by Hilton is from 15.00. That is the same as the Premier Inn who were the only ones to offer an earlier check-in at 11.00 for only £10.00 but this is only payable on arrival and subject to availability on the day. 

So a hotel was really a no go. 

All the airport lounges are airside. Which when you think about it makes sense but why not offer one that is landside? I’m sure there’s many more people who will be in the same position as us with a connecting flight and also those who would like to take the stress out of actually getting to the airport in the first place. It’s an idea if you’re reading this someone at Gatwick Airport.(unlikely!)

I even considered leaving our luggage at the airport which you can do. I found a company called stasher.com that offer certain places that will store your bags for £4.75 a bag. Then you could take a train to London to see the sights, have a meal, go shopping or go to the theatre as on the Gatwick Express you can arrive at Victoria in 30 minutes. Or take the train to Brighton, go the pier, visit the lanes or have some seaside fish & chips!  All of which you can get to also in only 30 minutes. The problem with either of those is you arrive knackered and you might not enjoy it as much. 

Another idea which we did the night before we flew to Jamaica was to take the local bus from the airport to Crowley Cineworld. It takes 15 minutes and was £2.00 each, each way. We saw a film, well I say saw a film, as the one I went to I fell asleep in. My Wife who’s my usual nudger had gone to a different one. Right outside the cinema you can eat at Nandos, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut or Five Guys to name a few. 

What we eventually decided on was a place on the ground floor of the South Terminal called Yotelair. Basically they are pods that have either double beds or bunk beds with a TV, shower and toilet. The advantage is they’ll let you book in at anytime for a minimum of 4 hours. It cost us £49.99 for each pod for the 4 hours and £10.00 for every extra hour after that. To be honest I found them a little bit claustrophobic but my Wife and boys slept without any problem. It was good though to have a shower after an overnight flight. After leaving our hotel in Jamaica at 12 midday on Thursday, we arrived back at our house in Mallorca at 21.00 on Friday night. 

I hope this will help anyone who has a similar journey to us coming up. As for us well we’re already planning on where we can go next year.

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

A Solution To Winter In Mallorca?

We’ve just got back from being away for the Christmas holidays. Working the Summer season in Mallorca makes it impossible for us to go away at any other  time. This year we used Center Parcs at Woburn in Bedfordshire as our base to visit family and friends and for them to visit us. After the Christmas celebrations we flew to the beautiful island of Jamaica and the resort of Negril. I was looking at the two destinations to see how they compared to Mallorca and what could we learn from them. 

Woburn Center Parcs is the newest of the five Parcs around the country and was opened in 2014. The other sites are Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire and Whinfell Forest in Cumbria. Ten years ago virtually to this day I wrote the following about Elveden Forest Center Parcs in Suffolk.

‘Our final 3 days were spent at the Centre Parcs site at Elveden Forest. If you’ve never been I would thoroughly recommend it for families. “The Center Parcs concept is to provide short breaks in the forest, bringing families together and back to nature with high quality accommodation, a range of outstanding leisure facilities and over 200 activities, all set within a protected and enhanced woodland environment. 

Each village is set in 400 acres of natural woodland, with trees, streams and wildlife surrounding Apartment and Lodge accommodation. At the heart of each village is the Subtropical Swimming Paradise, an extensive range of restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, plus, Center Parcs’ own Aqua Sana spa facility.”

Now we didn’t go for the weather as you can imagine but it led me to think why couldn’t this concept work in Mallorca?’

So just to repeat I wrote that 10 years ago when the last Parc at Woburn was opened and my thoughts haven’t changed in the slightest. In the Summer it would be a no brainer and in the winter a great way of prolonging the season. On average 2,000 plus  people a week, surely that’s worth exploring? The problem we have is there are currently no incentives for businesses to stay open in the winter as far as I know. We are an island so we need the airlines to commit and once they do it will create a snowball effect. Whilst Center Parcs has all their bars and restaurants on site you could argue how does that help the resorts? Well pretty much the same way as all inclusive has done. People will always want to explore and spending your whole holiday in the same place all the time isn’t for me and many others as I’ve discovered whilst in Jamaica. 

Since I wrote the above a Spanish company(not Center Parcs) but who have a similar concept did moot a similar idea to Calvia Town Hall. The idea was to use the land occupied by Western Water Park and the old Aquapark on the outskirts of Magaluf. They had talked to the owners of the land and the idea was then pushed higher to the Balearic Government. Guess what? It was refused! I’m not party to the reason why but it was an opportunity lost in my opinion. 

The arguement about winter in Mallorca apart from airline links always comes back to the weather. The winter weather though has definitely improved and as I write this from a beach in Jamaica you may be laughing as I hear it’s turned colder and there’s snow on the mountains at home. Believe me it’s a damn sight better there than the UK was over Christmas and that didn’t stop everyone having a good time at Woburn.

So I’ve made the case for Center Parcs, what about Jamaica?

The major negative people will always throw at you between Mallorca and Jamaica is the weather. But it’s worth remembering the curse of Jamaican weather is the hurricane or rainy season and it officially lasts from June 1st to November 30th. Temperatures though are still high nearly all year round as opposed to Mallorca where in the winter it’s colder. To be honest it s difficult to make a comparison as there’s no denying both islands are stunningly beautiful and have beaches to die for. I’d say the infrastructure of Mallorca is better than Jamaica but I’d say the Jamaicans are friendlier. Neither is a criticism of the other, just my opinion. Mallorca of course is a lot closer to home, a 2 hour flight compared to a 10 hour flight is always helpful. I don’t though think there’s a case for where is better but if I had to choose then of course it would have to be Mallorca. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

A Solution To Winter In Mallorca?

We’ve just got back from being away for the Christmas holidays. Working the Summer season in Mallorca makes it impossible for us to go away at any other  time. This year we used Center Parcs at Woburn in Bedfordshire as our base to visit family and friends and for them to visit us. After the Christmas celebrations we flew to the beautiful island of Jamaica and the resort of Negril. I was looking at the two destinations to see how they compared to Mallorca and what could we learn from them. 

Woburn Center Parcs is the newest of the five Parcs around the country and was opened in 2014. The other sites are Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire and Whinfell Forest in Cumbria. Ten years ago virtually to this day I wrote the following about Elveden Forest Center Parcs in Suffolk.

‘Our final 3 days were spent at the Centre Parcs site at Elveden Forest. If you’ve never been I would thoroughly recommend it for families. “The Center Parcs concept is to provide short breaks in the forest, bringing families together and back to nature with high quality accommodation, a range of outstanding leisure facilities and over 200 activities, all set within a protected and enhanced woodland environment. 

Each village is set in 400 acres of natural woodland, with trees, streams and wildlife surrounding Apartment and Lodge accommodation. At the heart of each village is the Subtropical Swimming Paradise, an extensive range of restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, plus, Center Parcs’ own Aqua Sana spa facility.”

Now we didn’t go for the weather as you can imagine but it led me to think why couldn’t this concept work in Mallorca?’

So just to repeat I wrote that 10 years ago when the last Parc at Woburn was opened and my thoughts haven’t changed in the slightest. In the Summer it would be a no brainer and in the winter a great way of prolonging the season. On average 2,000 plus  people a week, surely that’s worth exploring? The problem we have is there are currently no incentives for businesses to stay open in the winter as far as I know. We are an island so we need the airlines to commit and once they do it will create a snowball effect. Whilst Center Parcs has all their bars and restaurants on site you could argue how does that help the resorts? Well pretty much the same way as all inclusive has done. People will always want to explore and spending your whole holiday in the same place all the time isn’t for me and many others as I’ve discovered whilst in Jamaica. 

Since I wrote the above a Spanish company(not Center Parcs) but who have a similar concept did moot a similar idea to Calvia Town Hall. The idea was to use the land occupied by Western Water Park and the old Aquapark on the outskirts of Magaluf. They had talked to the owners of the land and the idea was then pushed higher to the Balearic Government. Guess what? It was refused! I’m not party to the reason why but it was an opportunity lost in my opinion. 

The arguement about winter in Mallorca apart from airline links always comes back to the weather. The winter weather though has definitely improved and as I write this from a beach in Jamaica you may be laughing as I hear it’s turned colder and there’s snow on the mountains at home. Believe me it’s a damn sight better there than the UK was over Christmas and that didn’t stop everyone having a good time at Woburn.

So I’ve made the case for Center Parcs, what about Jamaica?

The major negative people will always throw at you between Mallorca and Jamaica is the weather. But it’s worth remembering the curse of Jamaican weather is the hurricane or rainy season and it officially lasts from June 1st to November 30th. Temperatures though are still high nearly all year round as opposed to Mallorca where in the winter it’s colder. To be honest it s difficult to make a comparison as there’s no denying both islands are stunningly beautiful and have beaches to die for. I’d say the infrastructure of Mallorca is better than Jamaica but I’d say the Jamaicans are friendlier. Neither is a criticism of the other, just my opinion. Mallorca of course is a lot closer to home, a 2 hour flight compared to a 10 hour flight is always helpful. I don’t though think there’s a case for where is better but if I had to choose then of course it would have to be Mallorca. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

4 Ways to Improve Mallorca in 2024

So here we are in 2024, planning for the new tourist season here in Mallorca. With a new Government in place on the island it will be interesting to see what impact they have on the islands biggest industry. There are a lot of things that need sorting as we are by no means a perfect holiday destination.

What will happen to the ‘Tourism of Excesses’ which was a flagship policy of the previous administration and in particular the red zones that were created in the resorts of Magaluf, Arenal, Playa de Palma and San Antonio in Ibiza. We’ve talked about this before but the biggest problem was it should have been the whole of the resorts and not a map drawn that conveniently left out certain establishments. The new Government has said it will change the policy but we are yet to find out exactly what that will be.

The Tourist Tax has been a political hot potato since its introduction in 2016. Its aim was to fund projects encouraging a sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism model, particularly projects that boost the preservation of the environment (nature, country life, agriculture and sea life), off-season tourism, historical sites and cultural heritage, research and development. In some cases this was true but there have been questions as to where some of the money has gone. A perfect example this week, a story broke that of the 53 municipalities in Majorca 9 do not have water fit for human consumption. Remember the advert ‘the water in Majorca don’t taste like what it oughta?’ Well surely that’s a project that should have funds given to it. 

The taxi situation in July and August is an absolute joke. Despite the introduction of Uber there are not enough taxis to meet the demand particularly in high season. I’ve checked out the cost of obtaining a licence and it can vary but you are looking north of 100,000€ and in some cases you can double or triple that. You don’t hear many complaints about the buses, trains or even the airlines, so surely someone can come up with a taxi plan? Something needs to be done as it’s not helping the tourists and likewise the residents that live here. 

I touched on this subject a couple of weeks ago but the graffiti situation seems to be getting worse. I’m all for controlled graffiti in certain areas but the situation right now is getting out of control. More importantly it creates a negative impression for tourists arriving on the island. My suggestion was to set up cameras to catch the people and make them clean it up. Some Cities have set up designated graffiti areas, Miami is a very good example of this. All graffiti is illegal in Miami-Dade County. If convicted, the vandal will be fined, may face jail time, may have to pay restitution, and will have to complete community service hours. Parents of offenders may be liable for damages. Graffiti once was considered a sign of urban decay, the sort of thing that might keep tourists away from a neighborhood. Now, not only is it an accepted art form, but it’s also the subject of a new tour in one of Miami’s trendiest neighborhoods, Wynwood, where legal outdoor murals by graffiti artists cover the walls near art galleries and restaurants.

The two-hour tour — which has participants riding Vespas — is offered by a company called Roam Rides. It starts with a 15-minute ride from Miami Beach over the Venetian Causeway to the Wynwood Arts District, considered the mecca of Miami’s emerging arts scene, and includes four or five stops to survey the area’s best graffiti. The tour ends with lunch at a happening Wynwood restaurant.

Now there’s an idea for Palma City Council.

I’ve touched on the negatives here which is something I wouldn’t normally do but let’s remember nothing is perfect and by tackling these issues we will become better. 

Mallorca is a beautiful island of contrast. From the beautiful beaches in the North, to the mountains of the West, the caves and coves of the East and the bustling busy nightlife of the South. There is something for absolutely everyone. 

If ever there is a destination built for tourism it is our island. It hasn’t been one of the most popular destinations in the World for the last 50 years for nothing. It is in my opinion still one of the best holiday destinations, an island with turquoise blue waters, secret coves, soft golden sands, lush green foliage, rugged mountains, picturesque villages, amazing cuisine, an up and coming wine industry, bustling nightlife and a vibrant capital city. We’re also an island in the Med only a couple of hours flight from most European cities. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

It’s a Public Vote

I grew up watching Sports Personality of the Year. It was one of the programmes I always looked forward to at the end of the year. Now I’m showing my age here as this was before satellite tv was invented. So you could watch most sporting events on terrestrial tv. My earliest memory of a winner was probably John Curry the ice skater who won in 1976. By the way I was 10 years old for those asking. 

Since the invention of Sky it became harder for the BBC to show highlights of sport that they didn’t televise. This meant the programme wasn’t as good as it used to be and as I’ve got older I’ve tended not to watch it so much.

I have to be honest and look up who won last year’s event and it was England women’s footballer Beth Mead. She was the player of the tournament and top scorer at Euro 2022, where the Lionesses defeated Germany in the final at Wembley to win England’s first major women’s football trophy.

The 27-year-old also became the first women’s footballer to win the award.

This year another England women’s footballer won, their goalkeeper Mary Earps. Leading to a few people criticising why she won if she and England didn’t actually win the World Cup after losing to Spain in the final. 

Before we look at whether she was deserving or not let’s look at the criteria and the panel who drew up the shortlist as it’s something I had to look up.

The criteria of the shortlist should be that they,

• Reflect UK sporting achievements on the national and/or international stage;
• Represent the breadth and depth of UK sports; 
• Take into account the ‘impact’ of the person’s sporting achievement beyond the sport in question.

The industry panel for this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year included former Lioness and Euro 2022 winner Ellen White, ex-Olympian Colin Jackson, Paralympian Ellie Simmonds and former Scotland rugby union international Chris Paterson.

Sports journalists David Coverdale (Daily Mail), Rob Maul (The Sun) and Charlotte Harpur (The Athletic) were on the panel alongside Olympian Katherine Grainger, now Chair of UK Sport.

Representing the BBC were director of sport Barbara Slater, head of sport content Philip Bernie and Sports Personality of the Year executive producer Gabby Cook.

The Panel were given an extensive list of the top sportspeople from 2023 Including information on their achievements, provided by the production team of Sports Personality of the Year. The Panel were also able to consider other potential candidates who were not on the list. 

They chose, Stuart Broad (cricket), Frankie Dettori (horse racing), Alfie Hewett (wheelchair tennis), Katarina Johnson-Thompson (athletics) Rory Mcllroy (golf) and Mary Earps (Football)

On the night itself the award goes to the sportsperson whose sporting actions have most captured the UK public’s imagination during 2023. There’s an important word in that last sentence “public”. Let’s not forget it’s a public vote and they decide who wins. It’s a bit like a general election if you feel so passionately about something then use your vote. Two of the people who’ve been so critical of the winner have been Journalist Piers Morgan and former footballer Joey Barton. I wasn’t surprised about Barton as his views on pretty much everything are left field but I was surprised about Piers. Everyone as always is entitled to their opinion as long as you don’t get personal, which Barton in particular did. Interestingly though when asked, neither did vote so that sums it up for me. 

Back to the winner Mary, she also won the World Cup tournament’s Golden Glove, the Best Women’s Goalkeeper at FIFA’s The Best awards and was named England Women’s Player of the Year. She stood up against Nike who wouldn’t release a replica shirt with her name on and when they eventually bowed to pressure she sold out twice in both October and December.

A thoroughly deserving winner in my eyes. 

Take care everybody and can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

The Road to Hell

I have a love-hate relationship with the Via de Cintura. For those reading this who are asking who or what? It’s the ring road around the capital city of Palma here in Mallorca. Now I’m not called Dad Taxi for nothing, I drive that road more or less once a day 7 days a week and sometimes twice. It might be for work but usually it’s to get my two sons either to and from football training or a match. I have done the journey from Santa Ponsa to Son Fusteret where the boys train in 15 minutes on a good day and 1 hour and 30 minutes on a bad day. 

A decision in February 2021 made by the then Government to reduce its speed limit from 120 kilometers an hour to 80 kilometers an hour caused an outcry at the time. They claimed it was with the aim of combating pollution, reducing emissions and unclogging a road on which traffic jams formed every day. Antoni Cànovas, who at the time was one of the most respected Road Safety Experts in the country said that there were other options. “It is not logical that on roads with 2 lanes the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour and on a highway that’s lit up, with three lanes in each direction and no roundabouts it’s 80 kilometers an hour.” He added “The speed limit could be reduced to 100 kilometers an hour during the day and increased to 120 kilometres an hour from 21:00, they should consult the professionals before making decisions like this.”

Despite this the policy was brought in. Remember the words “combating pollution, reducing emissions and unclogging a road on which traffic jams formed every day.” Did anyone see any change? No me neither. In fact I’d say the traffic has got worse and the emissions greater by being stationary for so long. 

Now there’s a new Government in town and since Monday the new limit is 100 kilometers an hour. I had to laugh though that no expense had been spared to cover up the 80 kilometers an hour signs. They did it with bin liners! 

I’ve had plenty of opportunities to sit and watch the world go by listening to Chris Rea’s road to hell and noticing some weird and not so wonderful things.

On the road to Santa Ponsa you go underneath the roundabout at the Magaluf turn off and on the right hand side there’s a random bush growing out of the wall. 

The graffiti is a massive problem all the way around the ring road. Actually an island problem if I’m honest but that’s for another day. I can’t believe that someone hasn’t invented a graffiti free concrete or metal yet. Why don’t they put up cameras in the hotspots and when you catch the people doing it make them clean it off. I’m not against graffiti if it’s in a controlled area like the wall in Magaluf but it doesn’t create a good first impression for tourists arriving on the island. I’m hearing that they’re planning to put up more acoustic screens to reduce the noise for residents. No offence but if you’ve bought a property near the islands busiest road surely you’ll expect noise? Also how long do you give them before they’re covered in graffiti too?

Does anyone else use the feeder lane at the Bendinat turn off to speed past the waiting traffic? Or is it just me? 

Why are there no entry signs on the opposite side of the road in certain places where it is totally impossible to drive up anyway?

Luckily there are no roundabouts until you get off but don’t get me talking about how the Spanish navigate them. It’s not normal!

That Chris Rea song has just changed to “I’m driving home for Christmas”.

Take care everybody and can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

Shop Locally and Give to Charity this Christmas

Christmas shopping is not something us boys look forward to. Me in particular, so much so I prefer to ask people to give me an idea of what they would like to receive. I do though love the food and drink shopping at this time of year. I do believe in helping local businesses and I’ve picked out a couple that I’ve bought from in the past. These people would always be one of the first to help when charity was calling in my old job on the radio and I now count them as friends. But more importantly they are very good at what they do. I caught up with them all this past week to find out what they’re doing leading up to Christmas. 

Simon at Bespoke Provisioning studied for 3 years training at Chefs school which included becoming a fully fledged butcher and fishmonger. 

You may remember him from the Escape bar in Palma which he ran for 16 years. When he left the bar he started The Meat & Fish Society which has now become Bespoke Provisioning. They specialise in the highest quality meat and fish, fully  trimmed, cut, filleted, vacuum packed and labelled and delivered on time. They deliver to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca (fixed rates to Ibiza and Menorca so no surprises) Simon has cheffed for Queen drummer Roger Taylor on his new yacht ‘Rock n Roll’ and has cooked at countless events. 

As the yacht provisioning is a little quieter at this time of year he is offering for Christmas, Whole organic Turkeys, boned and rolled organic turkeys and gammon joints in various sizes. 

For more information please call or whatsapp Simon on 619 593 387. Facebook 

“the meat and fish society” for pictures, videos and general information. 

And you can Email him on sales@mn2v.co

Since 2005 Elisa and Mikey from the World of Wine have been building relationships with the industry’s most acclaimed vineyards and winemakers from ‘Old World’ to ‘New World’, Spain to New Zealand and France to Australia. They source exceptional wines made from the highest quality grapes and deliver them personally to your doorstep or superyacht quayside.

You can indulge in the spirit of Christmas with their curated selection of wines, exquisite champagnes and a festive array of drinks. Why not have a pre-dinner bottle of champagne Vueve Cliquot and Moët Chandon are always the classic favourites. This year Blanc de Blanc and Pol Roger Brut Reserve are very popular too.

Every year they are finding more wines from Mallorca, such as Ses Rotes, Es Verger, Son Mayol Rose and Castel Miguel. They also have a full selection from the mainland of Spain, Italy, France, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. 

If you’re looking for a wine to pair with your turkey then they recommend a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Albariño. Don’t be fooled by the name World of Wine as they can supply beers and spirits including, Port, Brandy, Whiskey and even Tequila! And remember all these are not just for drinking, they are for gifting too. 

For more information please call;

Elisa Llewellyn: +34 669 075 466

Miguel Perez: +34 636 188 598

In years gone by I would be heavily involved in a Christmas charity campaign. I feel a little guilty that not working on the radio has limited my ability to do the charity work. However I had a coffee with Nick from Yachting Gives Back this week who we helped on a number of occasions and asked what help they could do with this Christmas.

Yachting Gives Back are a registered charity through which the yachting industry – both yachts and service companies – are helping to alleviate the problems of poverty and hunger in Mallorca. They collect non-perishable foodstuffs & hygiene products and they then deliver to those in need on the island. The main charities the help are;

Associacio Tardar is a food bank & Soup Kitchen in Palma. They provide simple, balanced meals daily to hundreds of people in the centre of Palma. The operation relies totally on volunteers and donations and they collaborate with Social Services to reach the people most in need of help.

Mallorca Sense Fam is a food bank and charity shop in Palma. Mallorca Without Hunger is a local food bank providing regular supplies of basic foodstuffs to the most vulnerable families in Palma. It is run by a network of volunteers and supported by donations from private individuals & entities, as well as public food banks. MSF has its own application process and conducts initial interviews with people seeking help. 

Es  Refugi is a non-profit association working in collaboration with the Social Services to meet the basic needs of those who, due to different circumstances, are at risk of social exclusion. Over the years Es Refugi has worked with people with addiction problems and currently focuses on the long term unemployed, who may have ended up defaulting on their mortgage payments, lost their unemployment benefit and in the process also lost family contact. Es Refugi runs a shelter and social kitchen for 50 people in the finca Ca l´Ardiaca II in the outskirts of Palma.

Can Gaza is a rustic finca in Secar de la Real is a home for about 25 men who suffer from serious consequences of past drug and alcohol addictions. Despite their weak physical condition, they all contribute in the daily chores of the finca. Those in better health restore furniture and other household items in Taller Marginalia, a treasure trove of second hand wares in Can Valero. Through daily work, each member of the community contributes to their own wellbeing as well as that of their “extended family”, thus helping to build up their self confidence and sense of dignity.

Asociación Siloé is a non-profit entity of public interest under the umbrella of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Services, providing care and a family-like environment for terminally ill AIDS sufferers in a vulnerable situation, without financial resources or family support. 

SOS Mamas was set up by two former colleagues and friends who created a Facebook page where people could offer equipment no longer needed, and families with children lacking resources could ask for what they require, in total anonymity. This humble initiative has grown into an organisation that attends to the basic needs of thousands of regulars in various areas on the island.

It was great to catch up with Nick again and he mentioned that if you want to donate anything then milk,  any cooking oil and hygiene products are always needed. 

For more information please Email: nick@yachtinggivesback.com or call +34 619 117 937.
Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the islands number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com