In January 2020 just before the pandemic started the Government of the time brought in a new law to combat the tourism of excesses. Two years then passed before they could really bring this to the fore. 

It was brought in to the resorts of Magaluf, Arenal, Playa de Palma and San Antonio in Ibiza. In Magaluf where I’ve worked for the last 34 years they devised a red zone map which didn’t cover the whole resort just parts of it. Which at the time was questioned by me and a lot of other people. How can you have a rule that only covers half a resort? Or to put it even more bluntly, a business on one side of a road is banned from doing something that a business on the other side of the road can? Also the name itself was very negative and seemed very targeted at the British and German markets. Which happen to be the two largest source markets travelling to Mallorca. Meaning that their sheer volume is going to create an excess anyway. 

I never saw a truly targeted campaign against the Spanish and their “botellón” as it’s called here. Botellón is a Spanish activity when people congregate in public areas to socialise while drinking alcohol. The activity is popular among teenagers and young adults partly in response to rising drink prices at bars or clubs, and partly because more people can meet in one place. Just in case you didn’t know. 

To be honest it was all completely stupid and not workable. Now before all you keyboard warriors start, I’m all for the rules but let’s have it fair and either make it for everyone or don’t have it at all. Also there were plenty of other ways you could have improved those resorts. Policing being one of them.

So has it been a success? 

Well here it was no surprise that you started to see more and more people go to Palma Nova the resort next to Magaluf to do their so called “excesses” and come into Magaluf later already well oiled. 

In an interview in March with the then Tourism Minister Iago Negueruela, he said, “there was no going back on the law of excesses.” He claimed it had been a success and would continue to push it forward.

Unfortunately for Negueruela, his Government got voted out in the May elections. So now what happens? Well the new Government was sworn in at the beginning of July so not giving it enough time to influence this season. However I read this week that the new Tourism Minister Jaume Bauzá, announced that the so-called decree against tourism excesses will be renamed “responsible tourism”, to avoid associating negative terminology with tourism in the legislation to combat anti-social behaviour.

At last someone has taken the negative and turned it to a positive. Interestingly he said that the number of tourist places under the last administration had increased by 115,000 thus creating its own “excess”. Imagine resorts that are already busy in July and August are made even busier and thus creating saturation and without doubt more anti-social behaviour. In his eyes, the so-called decree of excesses has been a failure. In order “to change this negative vision” it will become responsible tourism. 

Too late for this season but it will be interesting to see what happens next year. I do hope they get rid of the red zone map so all of us in the area of Magaluf can become “responsible”. Which to be honest the majority already are. I hope we as the businesses that work in the area and have done for many years are asked for our opinions. We would be happy to help and see a thriving resort in the future. 

Good to see Real Mallorca win last weekend away at Celta. That eased a few relegation worries. This weekend they’re away at Girona and don’t forget they have Barcelona at home the following Tuesday night. My two had great wins playing more a less at the same time last Saturday. Luckily for me the two pitches backed onto each other which meant I could watch both games at the same time. Jacobs team won 3-1 and Jude’s team 4-1. Jude plays Saturday and Jake plays Sunday this week so making it easier for Dad Taxi. Plus the small matter of the North London derby this weekend making it once again a very Football heavy couple of days. 

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 

Luis Rubiales has finally quit as head of the Spanish football association. August 20th was when Spain won the Women’s World Cup and not a day has passed without the story being mentioned. He decided to tell Piers Morgan in an interview that he was quitting but added he would be denying the charges of sexual assault brought forward by the Spanish player Jenni Hermoso. It was obvious to most level headed people that his position was untenable following his actions at the World Cup Final. But still some people think there was some sort of political plot to get rid of him. I say, if he didn’t do what he did then this story wouldn’t have happened and possibly if he had apologised from the outset then it might not have exploded like it did. 

The hunt is on for his replacement, which might be an interim for now because of Spains bureaucracy meaning a new President of the RFEF can only be voted in, in an Olympic year, which is next year. Three candidates have emerged. 

The favourite is former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who interestingly enough was involved in his own kiss storm back in 2010. After winning the World Cup he kissed the girl who was interviewing him, although some people didn’t know it but Sara Carbonero was his girlfriend at the time. They went on to marry each other but have now split. During his highly successful career in Madrid, Casillas won all major club titles, including five La Liga titles, four Supercopa de España titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup. With Spain he won two European Championships and the World Cup.

Mateu Alemany Font is another candidate and former president of RCD Mallorca during two tenures. Between 2017 and November 2019 he was the General Director at Valencia CF, and was most recently director of football at FC Barcelona. He was on his way to Aston Villa last summer before Barcelona persuaded him to stay for another year. 

The last one to mention and someone who is currently the Vice-president of the RFEF is Elvira Andres. She is a lawyer and expert in sports law, who has spent a significant part of her professional career in institutional transparency and compliance. Within the RFEF, she has held various roles, including Compliance Officer (2018-2020), Head of Integrity (2020-2022), and Vice President of the federation (since 2020).

All three offer something different and it will be interesting to see who is successful as whoever gets in has a big job on their hands. 

I always get people asking me how to get hold of Real Mallorca tickets. The best way is on the website or going to the club itself. Note that they are playing Barcelona at home on Tuesday 26th of September at 21.30. Tickets are on sale now and it will be a sellout. They currently have just over 18,500 season ticket holders which means there won’t be many tickets available to buy. 

I am pleased to say that youth football has started again on the island. For me it’s what I love about autumn, winter and spring here. Of course it helps if your own sons or daughters are playing but I’ve found myself watching more and more football that doesn’t necessarily feature my two. Case in point I drove down to watch my friend in Ibiza Martin Makepeace’s son Dani play in goal for Portmany against Andratx last Saturday. Dani is blessed with having a father who is 6ft 7in and the family trait continues which these days is so important for a goalkeeper. He’s gone up an age group to play in Portmany’s Nacional team, which is a great achievement. On arriving at Andratx me and my youngest discover that we have to pay 8€ each for the privilege. I thought that was a bit of a rip especially when we were only able to stay until half-time, until I discovered that Martin too had to pay to watch his own son play! Just so you’re aware this doesn’t happen in all youth football it’s mainly the older ones who are playing in Division Honor or Nacional as they have to travel Inter island and in the case of Division Honor to the mainland too. Also the club that my boys play for San Francisco don’t charge the parents of the boys that are playing. 

Talking of boys going up an age group. My youngest Jude who is also a goalkeeper has been called up for Cadete Autonomíca this weekend. He’ll be on the bench as back up to the first choice goalkeeper but still it’s great experience for him. He’s been training all week with them and will go with them to their game on Saturday lunchtime. As long as he doesn’t play he’ll be free to play for his own team Saturday evening. Each weekend I check the fixtures and hope that my two are not playing at the same time. This Saturday though Jude kicks-off at 17.00 and Jake at 17.45. As luck would have it they’re both playing in Son Fusteret where the two pitches are back to back so I can watch both games. 

Jake kicked off his season in Petra last week. As we thought it was a tough game with most of the village out watching their team. Petra went ahead in the first 5 minutes and I thought here we go. But just before half-time we equalised with a header from guess who? Yes Jake, who is a left-back by the way and somehow found himself in the box to force it home. It’s been that long since he scored he didn’t know what to do. The game finished 1-1, so he’s been crowing all week that he’s the top scorer. 

If anyone would like any advice on football for boys and girls here on the island then I’m happy to help you. Just send me an email to rprior@globobalear.com 

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 

Those of us in hospitality industry are breathing slightly easier because we’ve reached the magic month of September. The months of July and August are a time when you put your head down, work hard and look forward to living your life again. All of a sudden with all the stresses of the last two months you suddenly realise that there are only seven weeks until the end of season. Dare I mention that there are just over 100 days to Christmas? Actually a shameless plug coming here. Saturday September 30th at Gringos we are celebrating Christmas. It’s a great opportunity for those who love the festive season, love a night at Gringos or haven’t had the chance to come and visit us this season. If you’re not aware of the phenomenon that is Gringos, then it’s an adult only rave-bingo night with prizes, on-stage audience dance-offs, tequila, and much more. But this one is a little bit different because we’re celebrating Christmas! 

A little early we know but it wouldn´t be Gringos if we didn´t do the unconventional. 

Normally we have thunderstorms at the beginning of September, the air is cleared and the temperatures drop to a more manageable level. What we’ve had so far is a hurricane one weekend and strong winds and rain the following weekend. The upshot of it all is now the temperature has gone back up, work that one out! 

To be honest September is my favourite month, well it will be once those temperatures drop. But you can now find a parking space, get a restaurant reservation, see your family and possibly even get a taxi? Ok well you can’t have them all. 

The saying you don’t get anything for free is hitting home hard in Spain and I don’t think too many people are aware of it. It’s a ticking time bomb of people losing their right to unemployment benefit.

Let me explain. 

When the pandemic began we all thought the Spanish Government were very generous in giving the people unable to work the ERTE(furlough). What we weren’t told at the time was that they were using the money we’d paid in to get PARO(unemployment benefit). So basically if you get fired tomorrow the money you were paid on ERTE would be discounted from your PARO which in most people’s cases means you’ll hardly get anything. Also all the workers that have worked the last two years without claiming PARO but got the ERTE will also be entitled to hardly anything. 

This is the second kick in the teeth for workers this year. After doing their tax returns in the middle of the year, most workers like in other years were expecting to pay back nothing or even get a rebate. But the majority were saddled with a bill of between 1000€ and 2000€! All because of the ERTE.

However there are instances on the mainland where workers have made a claim against SEPE(State Public Employment Service) and have won their cases. This sets a judicial precedent and I would urge everyone out there in this situation to speak to their lawyer or citizens advice to see where they stand. Like most things SEPE won’t mention it to you, it’s up to you to take it further.

I hope this is a wake up call for younger people here as there seems to be a distinct lack of people wanting to work. They’re happy to work for six months and expect the Government to pay for them to sit and do nothing for the other six months. It’s just not sustainable and people of my age must wonder if there will be any money left to pay pensions in the future. I’ve been saying for years a winter plan needs to be put in place but nobody has managed it yet. The other problem is because of the cost of living here, less and less people are coming over from the mainland to work. Like they used to do pre-pandemic. The country is still in a state of flux after the non result at the general election which basically means nothing is getting done and believe me there is plenty to do. 

I mentioned last week that my role of Dad Taxi has restarted. Last week we drove all the way to San Llorenç on the East coast for a friendly match. Just what you want on a Saturday morning. Only to discover that my youngest Son was carrying an injury and the coach didn’t want to risk him. This week we’re off to my eldest sons first league game in Petra. Not the most hospitable of places particularly when it’s an 18.00 hours kick-off and most of the village have been on the ale all afternoon. I kid you not when I say a grandmother in Mallorquín asked me whether I was born to someone with a dubious past time when I shouted something in English at a game last year. I’ll leave you to work that one out. Great fun though and I wouldn’t miss it for the World.

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 

Not much happening on the Spanish football front right now so I thought I’d look around for some more Spanish news.

A Spanish Cabrales blue cheese has broken the record for most expensive cheese ever, after getting auctioned off for over 30,000€ at a local cheese festival. Yes you read that right. The cheese was matured in the mountain caves of Asturias in Northern Spain by Guillermo Pendas at his family cheese factory. It’s manufactured by using raw cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk, then it’s aged for a minimum of 8 months in mountain caves in the Cabrales region in the Picos de Europa national park in a small village called “Póo de Cabrales.” An unfortunate name and I’m saying nothing! 

The storm that hit us in Mallorca last Sunday certainly made some headlines. Whilst many of us knew bad weather was coming, I don’t think the ferocity of what hit us was forecast. I was driving at the time it arrived and it was very difficult to see through the windscreen or not get hit by flying objects. Our own Captain Scarlett from Pirates was caught on an aeroplane coming back from Alicante in the storm. Her video has been shown on many media outlets and has been watched by over 68,000 people on You Tube. Thankfully although extremely scary the pilot managed to land safely back in Alicante. 

I’m a little worried for Real Mallorca. Three games into the season and just 1 point to show for it. Kang In Lee is a big miss in attack and the defence which was so solid last year looks a little creaky now. I hope I’m wrong and they can get a win against Athletic Club de Bilbao this Sunday. A couple of signings before the window shuts to improve the squad is in order and if the results don’t improve then the coach Javier Aguirre could be on his way.

How can I ignore the pantomime that is the Spanish women’s football and the President Luis Rubiales?

Believe it or not Spains women’s Football team won the World Cup two weeks ago. What should have been one of the greatest sporting achievements in Spain has been ruined by an absolute clown.

The events of the past two weeks have made headlines all around the World.

⚽️ Spain win the World Cup

⚽️ Rubiales grabs his crotch celebrating the win

⚽️ Rubiales grabs and kisses footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips

⚽️ Hermoso reveals she did not enjoy the experience 

⚽️ Rubiales issues an apology

⚽️ FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings 

⚽️ Rubiales says he won’t resign and calls the kiss “consensual”

⚽️ The Spanish Government begins legal proceedings 

⚽️ Hermoso issues a statement saying “at no time was the kiss consensual”

⚽️ 81 Spanish players announce that they won’t play until Rubiales is removed

⚽️ The Spanish Federation says it’s taking legal action against Hermoso

⚽️ FIFA suspends Rubiales

⚽️ The coaches of the team resign in protest at Rubiales conduct 

⚽️ Rubiales Mother goes on hunger strike

⚽️ Rubiales Mother admitted to hospital 

All this over one man’s stupid actions. How is he still in the job? This is a filmmakers dream, you couldn’t actually make it up. Either he shouldn’t have done it in the first place or after he did he should have resigned. 

Finally this week my eldest son Jacob in his last year of youth football won a tournament last weekend. They beat Penya Arrabal and Platges de Calvia on the way to the final against La Salle. The final was on Sunday evening, yes when the rain was still pouring, so Dad Taxi got absolutely soaked. It was all worth it though as they ran out 1-0 winners. One more week of training and their season starts, with my youngest having two more weeks of training and his season starting. After the madness of July and August, the Summer season starts to slow down into most people’s favourite month of September. Dad Taxi starts to earn his money again. 

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 

Congratulations to La Roja who beat our Lionesses fair and square last Sunday to win the Women’s World Cup. I thought technically and tactically Spain were better and when your goalkeeper is your best player then you knew England had a problem. No shame in that though but Spanish Women’s football is more advanced than Englands. You might question that as England are European Champions but when they played each other in the quarter finals in the Euros, Spain were the better team but lost the game. I said last week that Spain are the reigning world champions at U-20 level and they are also two-time reigning U-17 world champions in 2018 and 2022. In a strange way the internal problems that the squad had with their coach and 12 senior players refusing to play probably helped them. It meant he had to blood some youngsters but their experience of already being winners without doubt helped them. 

Spain also have the best European league in my opinion with Barcelona being European Champions although they have been helped by two English girls in Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh. Barcelona also hold the European attendance record with 91,644 saw them beat Wolfsburg in a Champions League game. 

Now it’s all over you have to look at the legacy and where Women’s Football can go from here. The media in the UK always try to compare and contrast the Women’s game to the Men’s game. Why I don’t know. Last week because she had made it to a World Cup Final, Serena Wiegman was being touted as the next Englands Men’s coach. Now I’m not arguing she shouldn’t be but why the constant comparison? Let’s face it, if Gareth Southgate had made it to a World Cup Final and they were outplayed like Englands women were he would have been lambasted from pillar to post. Whereas last week Englands women were “unlucky” in most people’s eyes. Is this the woke society we now live in where people are afraid to give an opinion in case it upsets someone? Let’s call it for what it is but can we stop the comparisons? 

I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup and I am looking forward to seeing the progress women’s football makes particularly domestically. Now I am talking more about in Spain and where I live here in Mallorca. 

Spains forward Mariana Caldentey started at Felanitx and the goalkeeper Cata Coll at Sant Marcel. My sons goalkeeping coach Pablo Roca flew all the way to Australia to watch Cata who he trained from a very young age. So we have the opportunity to develop more stars of the future.

I took the time out to sit down and chat to Leon Blakeley this week who is heavily involved in developing the women’s game at Platges de Calvia in the south of the island. There are a growing number of clubs introducing women’s teams, in the senior women’s leagues, I counted 35 clubs which is very healthy. The three biggest being Atlético Baleares, Son Sardina and Collerense. Notable absentees are Real Mallorca and I’m trying to find out why the islands biggest club isn’t pushing the development in women’s football. More to come on that. 

Leon however is helping with the junior element in girls football as this is the only way this is going to grow by developing the grass roots. 

One of the things that isn’t helping the juniors in the game is that there are no competitive leagues after 14 years of age. Girls the have to join a women’s team. Compare that to the boys who can play up to 19 years before they move up to the men’s game and you can see that’s a problem. Some girls play in boys teams from 6 years old and can still play with the boys from 14-16 years but the physical difference at that age is a disadvantage. Leon tells me he’s pushing the FFIB, who are the federation of football in the Balearics for a 14-16 year old girls league, which would be a good thing. 

Platges de Calvia currently have their women’s team who play 11 a side from 14 years old and upwards. Infantil and Alevin who are 10 to 14 years old who play 7 a side and Benjamin and pre-Benjamin who are 6 to 10 years old and play 5 a side. They have over 75 girls in all of their teams and are still looking for players. In particular if you fancy yourself as the next Cata Coll or Mary Earps then  goalkeepers are needed. Please give Leon a call on 676 040 111. Leon said the work he is doing is being fully supported by the Club and in particular the Club President Armando Perez. 

As I’ve said already two of the women in Spains starting line up started their football here in Mallorca so let’s hope for many more in years to come.

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 

I’m in a little dilemma, my country of birth is going to play in the Women’s World Cup Final against the country that has been my home for the last 34 years. Where will my allegiance fall? Well more about that later. 

The Women’s World Cup had gone a little under the radar for me. Yes I was aware of it but it took me until the last 16 started that I began to take a real interest into how the England Lionesses were doing. Maybe it has been the time difference in Australia with most games being on in the morning that was the problem. We were in the car going back to Luton airport when England were playing Nigeria in the last 16. We were listening on the car radio and the game was 0-0 and was heading for penalties. England were hanging on a little as they were down to 10 players after Lauren James had got herself sent off. We arrived at the car hire drop-off point when the penalties were about to begin. The boys and my Wife said shall we stay and listen and I said no let’s get to the airport. As soon as I got out of the car though I turned on the radio on my phone and we all listened intently to the penalty shootout. We were on the bus to the airport when Chloe Kelly hit the winning penalty to send England through. Now they had my attention with a quarter final to come against Columbia. Remember this was the England team minus a few injuries and retirements that had won the European Championships just last year. Despite going a goal down to Columbia they came back to win 2-1 and book a semi-final place against the hosts Australia. Up to this point, apart from gubbing China 6-1 they hadn’t really set this World Cup alight but they’d clawed their way to the last four. Australia or the Matildas as they’re better known are of course the host nation and one of the pre-tournament favourites. You couldn’t find an Aussie anywhere who weren’t predicting them making it into the final particularly when their star player Sam Kerr who had been injured was available to play a full game. Well England played their game of the tournament and despite Kerr scoring the Matildas were waltzing (sorry) out of the competition with Englands three goals coming from Toone, Hemp and Russo. 

So what of their opponents? Well nobody gave Spain a prayer going into the tournament. This was a team only in their third ever World Cup whose coach Jorge Vilda had a very public falling out with his squad just a year ago. Fifteen of their most experienced players protested to their governing body the RFEF. 

There was a call for a change in the conditions they were operating under through Vilda’s management, who was said to have created an environment of control, anxiety and stress that had emotionally impacted the squad.

He allegedly forced players to leave the doors to their hotel rooms open at night so he could verify they were in their rooms. He was said to have also checked the contents of their bags if they left and returned.

This alleged behavior prompted the 15 players to protest to which possibly a little surprisingly the federation rebuffed their request to sack the coach and stuck with him. On the eve of the tournament, three of the 15 players, Battle, Bonmati and Caldentey, eventually relented, choosing to chase World Cup glory but sowing a rift with some of their teammates.

Not really great preparation for the biggest tournament in the World. In the group stages they beat Costa Rica 3-0 and Zambia 5-0 but were thrashed 4-0 by Japan to finish runners up in their group. In the last 16 they disposed of Switzerland 5-1 followed by a narrow 2-1 extra time victory over the Netherlands. Their semi-final with Sweden didn’t really get going until the last 10 minutes. Paralluelo scoring in the 81st minute with Sweden equalising in the 88th minute and the match looked to be heading into extra-time. However a spectacular shot from Carmona just a minute later booked their final place. Although the player revolt hasn’t helped their preparations, they have gone to the tournament with a very young squad. They’ve never previously won a knockout stage game but just look at what those young players have achieved before. They are  reigning world champions at U-20 level, courtesy of a 3-1 defeat of Japan in Costa Rica in 2022, they are also two-time reigning U-17 world champions, having beaten Colombia 1-0 in the final at India 2022 and Mexico 1-0 in the showpiece match at Uruguay 2018.

More interesting for me is that two of their players come from Mallorca. The goalkeeper Cata Coll was born in Portol. She played previously for Sant Marcel, Cide, Marratxí and Collerense here on the island and was bought by Barcelona and sent out on loan to Sevilla. She’s now back in Barcelona and after a bad injury is now Spains first choice.. Whilst here on the island she was training at the Pablo Roca goalkeeping school where my youngest son Jude goes. She also trained with Jude a few times too. 

Forward Mariona Caldenty was born in Felanitx where she began her career. That was followed by Cide, Collerense and in 2014 she joined Barcelona. 

Hopefully they inspire more girls on the island to play football in what is becoming a thriving sport here. 

So this Sunday at 12 midday is the final. It’s the Lionesses versus La Roja. 

Who am I supporting? 

England of course! 

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 

I’ve been lucky in my life to meet some amazing people and do a variety of memorable things. This past week has been no exception, with Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy and their kids visiting Pirates Adventure. Both have been before and they are always fun and friendly. Peter of course had a stellar football career playing for 14 teams over 19 years, scoring 108 goals in the Premier League which puts him in an elite bracket of strikers to have broken the 100+ mark. In 2017, he broke Alan Shearer’s record for most headed goals in Premier League history. He played 42 times for England, scoring 22 goals with his trademark ‘robot dance’ goal celebration. Since retiring from football he has built a successful media career working for BT Sport (now TNT) and his podcasts are hilarious. One of the most memorable featured William the Prince of Wales, which I urge you to listen to if you haven’t already.

Abbey Clancy is a catwalk model who came second in Britains Next Top Model in 2006 and won Strictly Come Dancing in 2013. They have four children together and they are one of most down to earth and nicest celebrity couples I have had the pleasure to meet. Lately they have been doing a podcast together called ‘The Therapy Crouch’, where they are exploring the trials and tribulations experienced by them and their listeners, as they navigate their way through complex relationships. My Wife is an avid listener. 

The first thing Abbey asked me as they arrived was ‘please tell me you’re still doing chicken & chips, I love them!’ We took them all on our backstage tour which takes in all the inner workings of how our show functions and also tells the story of how we came to be in picture form. From there, they sat and enjoyed the show and were happy to pose for photos with the audience when the show allowed. As I said above they’ve been a few times now and it’s always a pleasure to meet them. 

One of my conversations with Peter was about the coming football season and that he would be working for the new satellite TV company TNT who took over BT Sport. He said he was going to the Community Shield at Wembley that weekend and I said me too. 

It was a coincidence that the same weekend we’d planned a short trip to the UK to visit our families and celebrate our sons 14th birthday. It was lovely to see my 93 year old Mother who is affectionately known as ‘the Duchess’ and now lives in a retirement home in Letchworth in Hertfordshire. Although understandably a little forgetful theses days, she still has her wits about her and can still give me a telling off. On the Saturday we had a barbecue with my Wife’s side of the family. Now I’d heard reports of how bad the weather was in the UK, so much so that my Sister had told me to bring a jumper, in August? To be honest with the temperatures we’ve had here in Mallorca, stepping off the plane at Luton was a welcome cooling relief. Back to the barbecue which my brother in law had to do under a gazebo which sheltered him from the wind and rain. It was that cold that we could see our breath whilst talking. Always good to catch up with all of the family. 

Sunday me and the boys headed off to Wembley. With the news dominated by train strikes it was my intention to drive into London. But we checked on the train situation and there were no strikes and we could get from Bedford to St Pancras in just 40 minutes. Five stops on the tube and we were at the theatre of dreams all for just £17.00 each. The food and drink however was a little more expensive with 2 hot dogs and a burger coming to £30.00 and two pints and a water coming to the same! I was though very impressed with the stadium as the only thing I’d seen there before was Ed Sheeran. Our seats were amazing and I thought reasonably priced at £65.00 each, shout out to Jeff and Ian who helped me out getting those. The game itself is always good when you win and the new rule of adding more time on at the end meant that we equalised a fine Manchester City goal in the 101st minute. With no extra time, we won 4-1 on penalties and made our journey back one to enjoy. 

Last weekend saw the start of the football season and this weekend the Premier League and La Liga returns. I’m looking forward to watching more of Arsenal and particularly Real Mallorca during the coming season. 

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 

My love of sport started as a child. I grew up playing football, rugby, cricket and basketball at school. I also played football outside of school at the weekends both Saturdays and Sundays. When I wasn’t playing sport I was watching it. Now I grew up in the pre Sky Sports era so the weekends were also taken up with watching Grandstand, Football Focus, World of Sport and The Saint & Greavsie. Remember we never had live games to watch on TV in those days, so it was the highlights on Match of the Day on Saturday night and The Big Match on Sunday afternoon. If you were lucky you could stay up late on a Wednesday evening and watch Sportsnight. I was never without my portable radio which had an ear piece and back in the day I used to listen to live football on BBC Radio 2. If I went to a live game I used to get on the train to Finsbury Park and go to Highbury to watch Arsenal. It was £5.00 to get onto the North Bank and you had to get there at 1pm to get a good place to stand for a 3pm kick-off. 

Kids don’t know they’re born today!

I’m getting to my point don’t worry. What I’m trying to say is I’m a bit of a traditionalist who can cope with change but sometimes I’ll take some convincing. 

So I’m going to say something that if you’d had asked me a year ago I would have had a totally different opinion. I actually think the winter World Cup wasn’t such a bad thing. Now if my team Arsenal had held on to win the Premier league I would of course have said that, however they didn’t, but there are different reasons for my opinion on this. We all know that Qatar won the bidding to host the World Cup because of a complete stitch up by FIFA which has since been proved. Everybody said at the time including me, a winter World Cup? It will never work. It should always be in the summer that’s where it belongs. The World Cup itself had some great games, mainly I think because the players had only played half of their league matches and weren’t exhausted after a long season. Remember England were probably only a penalty kick away from making their first World Cup final since 1966. But the final itself was probably one of the best and to see Lionel Messi finally win the World Cup with Argentina was very special. Another plus from a working point of view we at Pirates didn’t have to rearrange our shows around when England were playing. In my 30 years as part of the show we have always had a low audience if ever we decided to perform on the same night as an England game. Which we don’t do anymore by the way.

All this though isn’t just about how good the World Cup was. By having the tournament in the winter it has given us sports lovers the chance to enjoy a summer of other sporting memories. Which to be honest normally take a back seat if the World Cup or European Championships are on. When I look back this summer I’ve been able to enjoy the Ashes, Wimbledon, the Open Golf, the F1 and now the Women’s World Cup. The highlights? The Ashes has been one of the best of all time even though England ultimately didn’t win, ‘Bazball’ has revolutionised test cricket. The young Spaniard Carlos Alvarez beating the favourite Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in one of the best Men’s finals ever seen. Whilst the F1 has come a little bit of a procession with Max Verstappen winning every race. The brilliant Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’ has made F1 more fun to watch. The Lionesses look like they’re starting to play better after a slow start to the Women’s World Cup and I hope they can mirror their Euro success last year. 

Now I don’t know what I’m going to do next summer. The Premier League finishes on May 18th, the FA Cup final is on May 25th. The Champions League final is on June 1st and that’s followed by the European Championships from June 14th to July 14th. Not only that but the Olympics start in Paris on July 28th until August 11th  and we’re then back round to the start of the Premier League. The problem is those other sporting events that I have enjoyed so much this Summer will once again have to take a back seat.

I know what you’re saying, you should get out more.

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 

My eligibility to vote in the UK came when I was 18 years old. I’d just left home to become a Butlins Redcoat so the opportunity passed me by. Four years later I arrived here in Mallorca and politics wasn’t really something I was interested in apart from seeing it on the news or reading about it in the papers. 

Now like most people the older I’ve got the more interested I’ve become in it both here in Spain and back in the UK.

But there is a problem because right now I am not able to vote in the UK, in Spain and even in the local elections here in Mallorca. 

The rules are as follows;

The UK government website says….

You can register as an overseas voter if you:

• are a British or eligible Irish citizen
• were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years (or in some cases, if you were too young to have registered when you left the UK)

So I lose out there because I wasn’t registered to vote in the last 15 years.

Here in Spain I am told that, Unfortunately, if you are a foreigner in Spain, you will not be able to vote in the general elections as only Spanish citizens are eligible to do so.

And lastly here in Mallorca. I have voted a couple of times here in the local elections so like most people I was prepared to rock up and register my vote on May 28th. But new rules had been put in place because of Brexit, which meant that I along with all the other ex-pats had to re-register my right to vote. However nobody really told you this particularly the government who were in power. All the other parties were out canvassing people saying that you only had from December 1st until January 15th to do so. 

The rules were…

• Be in possession of a residence permit in Spain.
• Have resided in Spain, legally and uninterruptedly, for at least five years prior to their application for registration on the electoral roll.
• Be registered on the electoral roll in the municipality of their habitual residence, which is where you may exercise your right to vote.

I believe that the PP who won the election where I live in Calvia did so because of the foreign vote. I’m sure it would have been by more if people were made aware and given more time to register. Why was the registration time just six weeks and why did it have to be four and a half months before the elections took place? 

I think that as a resident who has lived here for 33 years and pays taxes here in Spain but does not want to give up my British citizenship I should be able to vote. 

With voting finishing in Spain last Sunday, neither of the main parties got enough votes to govern. Meaning they would need to go into a coalition with other parties but that may prove very difficult as neither party it seems will get enough to pass the threshold of 176 seats. I would imagine another election maybe called in December like in 2019 when the same thing happened. In the meantime the country will limp along with the current coalition regime not able to do too much. When you look at the political map of Spain and the islands you have to seriously doubt how the Socialists can claim a victory. 

Just a thought, give the ex-pat population the chance to vote next time. You may actually then get a result. 

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 

Last week I wrote about it being too hot to sleep in Mallorca. Last Tuesday the temperature in Campanet, towards the North of the island reached 42.2C. The highest ever recorded temperature on the island was last August in Montuiri, in the centre of the island where it reached 44.5C. The highest ever temperature recorded on earth was in 1913 in Death Valley in the United States where it reached 56.7C. Interesting though with all the talk of global warming that you have to go back to 1913 to find the highest temperature recorded. It is reported though that it could be beaten there this week. 

With all this in mind, do you have sympathy with the Just Stop Oil protesters?Just Stop Oil according to their website ‘is a nonviolent civil resistance group demanding the UK Government stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.’

So should we Just Stop Oil? Well being realistic it’s just not possible right now. If we did the world would lose over 80% of its energy supply. Fossil fuels are responsible for many of the products we use each day, from toothpaste to mobiles, to credit cards. As of now, there are few viable alternatives for these products. We absolutely should be investing in clean, alternative energy, but we’re simply not at a place to just stop using fossil fuels at this moment in time. 

Electric cars are becoming more common place and I imagine their popularity will increase when prices start to come down further. But you could ask are electric cars saving the planet? Most manufacturers like Tesla for instance will tell you yes and they say ‘None of our scrapped lithium-ion batteries go to landfilling, and 100% are recycled.’ That may well be true but you know that somewhere, somehow this won’t be true. Lithium-ion batteries contain metals such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese, which are toxic and can contaminate water supplies and ecosystems if they leak out of landfills.

The problem for Just Stop Oil is how to protest and not turn public opinion against them. They would see it that the more disruption they cause the more people are talking about it. Like I am right now. But whilst these protests are deemed peaceful, I am starting to see the public turning against them. The slow road marches in particular aren’t very popular stopping people getting to work, school or even medical emergencies. Also the sporting events protests are becoming tiring. 

What I want to know is where they get their tickets from? The Ashes, Wimbledon, The Derby and even the World Snooker Championships aren’t easy tickets to get hold of. I am currently trying to get 3 tickets for the Community Shield if they could send me their source, I would be grateful. By getting those tickets they have also denied a genuine customer or supporter from buying them.

Any DIY store that has someone coming in and asking for orange powdered paint should immediately alert the authorities. No one in their right mind is going to be painting anything orange. Except of course if you’re in charge of paintwork at Easyjet, Tango, Orange the phone network or you’re the man from Del Monte. 

The one I thought was particularly bad was the lady who threw orange confetti at George Osborne and his bride Thea Rogers. Why try to ruin somebody’s wedding day? Imagine if that was your son or daughters wedding, i for one would be furious. The lady in question was called Shirley Crabtree apparently. Now the more mature ones amongst us remember Shirley Crabtree was also known as Big Daddy who used to wrestle people such as Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki. That used to be a staple watch on Saturday afternoons on World of Sport. She is no relation I’m told.

One of the first acts of the new Government here in Mallorca is to get rid of the 80kmh speed limit on the Via de Cintura. The previous incumbents said it was brought in to reduce noise and pollution. Which was utter rubbish on both fronts as the amount of time spent stuck in traffic and not moving created more pollution. And anyone who rents or buys a property near a motorway will surely realise they’ll be noise? 

Now let’s face it most of us are all hypocrites in this. We drive petrol or diesel cars and fly off around the World on aeroplanes. I have to be honest and say I am more aware of pollution now than I was previously and I will try and do my bit. If ever you want to find out more about saving our island in particular then I recommend you talk to Brad Robertson from Save the Med Foundation here in Mallorca. You’ll not find a man more passionate about marine conservation and plastic pollution than him. 

There are of course some more high profile hypocrites. 

A leading member of the Just Stop Oil eco-protest group is sitting on an estimated £1 million pension pot from Shell.

Yes you couldn’t make it up, retired Dr Grahame Buss, 68, worked as a Principal Scientist for the gas and energy giant for 33 years but now appears as a spokesman for the climate campaign. I’ve tried but failed to find any record of him saying he’d be willing to give up his pension for the cause. 

Someone who is no stranger to hypocrisy is Prince Harry who flew via private jet from London to Palmero and was then taken in a helicopter to Verdura for a Google climate change conference, where he gave a speech on environmentalism.

The record temperatures around the world are a stark reminder of what we face. I’ll leave you with a quote from Lee Evans the comedian who said. ‘The Chinese are bellowing out crap from coal fired power stations, the Americans are all driving around in 4×4’s and Las Vegas is lit up like a Christmas tree every night but the authorities are asking me to turn off the stand by button on my TV! 

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