To be honest only the most diehard fan like me would have predicted a Mallorca win over Barcelona at the weekend. A home win against Real Madrid earlier in the season gave us some hope but unfortunately that hope was to last just 65 seconds. Give a team like Barca that early advantage and you’re dead and so it proved. I was slightly unsure of the starting eleven. Sastre at left-back was given the run around in the first half. Understandably out of position but didn’t look comfortable and was substituted at half time for Fran Gamez who looked a little more capable. Pedraza instead of Baba didn’t work either in midfield. I know Baba was coming back from injury but fit enough for the bench fit enough for the game for me. He ran the midfield against Real Madrid and might just have closed down the pass that led to the first goal. Upfront we were toothless with neither Budimir or Cucho posing a threat. Kubo was our most dangerous attacker and had two good chances in the first half. Let’s face it we’re not in their league, all you have to do is compare the two playing budgets. Barcelona’s is 671 million euros and Mallorca’s is 30 million euros(the lowest in the league).

I’m sure questions were asked about how in a stadium that is closed a fan managed to get on the pitch? Apparently it was a dare from his mates and he managed a selfie with Barcelona player Jordi Alba before finally being caught by security. His aim was a selfie with his idol Lionel Messi as he was wearing a Messi Argentina shirt but he’ll have to make do with a 3,000€ fine and a football stadium ban.

I liked the way the tv had superimposed a crowd and added in crowd noises it made the experience more lifelike and better than the Bundesliga.

Be interesting to see what the Premier League does differently to the Germans and the Spanish.

Sky Sports have announced that they have created a range of optional crowd noises and chants for viewers ahead of the Premier League’s return tonight.

With matches set to take place behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, there have been plenty of discussions over how to improve the spectacle for supporters. They will introduce a crowds feature in partnership with FIFA 20, which will give viewers the choice between added supporter or stadium noise along with commentary. In addition, a ‘Choose a Chant’ feature will allow fans the opportunity to vote on what song should be played, with the ability to opt between club anthems or player-specific chants.

Fans on big screens and specific cameras to celebrate towards are some of the other “broadcast enhancements” that will be used too. Sky have always been ahead of the game when looking at enhancing the game for the armchair fan so I’m looking forward to see what they do.

Last night Mallorca played away in Villareal, less than 72 hours after their Barcelona gubbing. Vicente Moreno shuffled his squad by making 5 changes from the starting line-up on Saturday. Sedlar came in at left back with Fran Gamez moving to right back. The midfield was completely different, Dani Rodriguez was banned after a yellow card so in came Lago, Febas, Baba and Pozo. Kubo moved up front with Cucho and Budimir dropped to the bench.

Also on the bench was Luka Romero the 15 year old dubbed the Mexican Messi and one of the most exciting young talents in Spain. He can’t sign a professional contract until he’s 16 in November so Mallorca are currently paying him a monthly salary and have rented an apartment on the island for him and his family.

Mallorca were unlucky not to go ahead after a dipping shot from Baba from outside the box hit the bar. Not long after though they went behind when they again failed to cut out a cross that was scrambled home by Bacca. Mallorca dominated the second half making 5 changes at varying times including taking off Kubo which I didn’t understand as he’s been our best player in both games. Another dipping shot from Baba came back off the bar and Cucho missed a far post volley into an empty net which summed up their night. A draw probably would have been a fair result but a 1-0 loss puts pressure on the Manager and his team. Attention turns now to Friday at 19.30 and a home game against relegation rivals Leganés. Now if ever you wanted to describe a game as a six pointer then this is it.

Jacob my eldest was invited back to his club last week to find out the schedule for their return to action. They’ve been given a training plan from now until week beginning July 27th when they are expected to return to pre-season training. All down to how the virus behaves over the coming weeks of course but it gives him something to look forward to. In fact I’ve agreed to join both of the boys on their pre pre-season so if you see me running up the hills of Santa Ponsa then please stop to check I’m ok!

Take care everyone, I’m back at the Weekend.

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online atwww.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Because of the Lockdown we had to move the Radiothon from May into June. Next Friday the 19th at 7am Ayesha and I will begin our 36hrs of non-stop broadcasting finishing at 7pm on Saturday evening. Our aim is to beat last years total of 25,363.11€, which in the current situation will be difficult but we’ll give it a good go. One thing I’ve learnt during my time here on the island is there are lots of very generous people out there. I’m pleased to say we have every hour sponsored , so a big thank to The Anchor Bar, ElectroMarine, A2Dental, Pelion Consulting, Herbalife, The Boathouse, Nauti Parts, Bosuns Locker, Crocodile Properties, Corner Bar, Something Borrowed, Delicioso, Real Homes, Paella Lover, Stick No Bills, Phil & Jamiee, Natur Cavall, Peter Ledwidge, Tot Fruti, La Casita Del Mar, Threadworks Palma, Premier Design & Build, Dreammakers, Calvia Vet, Sea Shuttle, El Toro Foods, Palma Jump, Premier Pools & Gardens, Bray Marine, Lee the Barber, Liquid Nano, Pauline Quirke Academy, World of Wine, The Meat & Fish Society, HSJ Clinic and Deep Blue Sea Training.

The Radiothon was set up in 2015 when Jo from our office asked the Breakfast Show if we would consider broadcasting for 24 hours for charity. This challenge was duly accepted and the Radiothon was born. For the first 2 years we raised money to help the Pirates Charity Premiere and their charities. When the Premiere stopped in 2016 we decided to keep the fundraising going by setting up The Jacques Sasson Foundation. Jacques will be best remembered for his invention of the Pirates Adventure show in Mallorca and employed me in 1994 and i’ve worked there ever since. Now we can’t do this without your help so they’ll be plenty of ways you can support us. For a minimum of 5€ you can pay for a song to be played, you can challenge us to do something, buy raffle tickets at just 1€ each, bid on an auction item or just make a donation. If anyone would like to donate an auction or raffle prize then we would be delighted to hear from you.

The following charities have benefitted from our previous Radiothons;

2015:  Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, The Paediatric Ward of Son Espases Hospital, Salvation Army, Shambhala Foundation.

2016:  Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, The Paediatric Ward of Son Espases Hospital, Calvia Lions, Help 4 Heroes.

2017:  Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Son Espases Intensive Care Unit, SOS Animal Mallorca, Fundacion Nazareth, Club Vidalba.

2018:  Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Son Espases Intensive Care Unit, Asociacion Ondine, Feliz Animal Andratx.

2019:  Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Son Espases Intensive Care Unit, ASPANOB, ASDICA.

The total raised in our Radiothons so far is 106,200.59€.

This year’s Charities will be Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and their COVID Emergency Appeal, Son Espases Intensive Care Unit, Yachting Gives Back and the Cancer Support Group Mallorca.

Pirates and the Radio at a later date have been supporting GOSH for 15 years now.  So far we have raised 748,804.50€ and in that time the money has been put to many different projects including a Pirates treatment room. More recently the money has been spent in four main areas: rebuilding and redevelopment of the Hospital; research (GOSH are currently embarking on a 5-year research strategy to target rare diseases in childhood); latest and replacement medical equipment; parent accommodation and support services for families and patients. This year the money will go towards their COVID Emergency Appeal and we are very proud that we will pass the three quarters of a million euro mark for GOSH.

We have been working with Son Espases for 5 years now and this year we are helping the only Child Intensive Care Unit in the Balearics. Our first donation to the Paediatric Ward of Son Espases Hospital was used the money to redecorate the doors of each room with cartoon characters making them look less like hospital bedrooms. Something we learned very early on our many visits to Great Ormond Street was the biggest challenge was to make the hospitals look less like hospitals so the children could relax. The second year we helped redecorate a new pirate ship-themed CAT scan in the Paediatric Department. Some 350m² of decorative vinyl wrapping gave Son Espases entry into a very select group of hospitals to implement such an idea, alongside the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York, the Hospital Municipal Jesus in Rio de Janeiro and Hospital San Juan de Dios in Barcelona. In each case they’ve proven that this fantasy décor creates a warm, inviting, relaxing atmosphere and reduces levels of anxiety – making life easier for patients and professionals alike. Over the last three years we have been helping the intensive care unit firstly with murals above the beds of the children. And for the last 2 years we have helped build a rest room for the parents of the children being treated by the intensive care unit.

Cancer Support Group Mallorca (CSG) is a registered association that was formed to help the expat community in Mallorca. Being told you have cancer, or that your cancer has returned, can leave you feeling shocked, upset and very isolated. There are so many questions to be answered and so many feelings to deal with. So their aim is to help patients, carers and anybody who has been affected by Cancer. Mainly by reducing stress, increasing your sense of control over your own life, improving your self-esteem, reducing loneliness and providing practical help. Krista, Rebecca and their team do amazing work and one of things main things I got back from them is please can you spread the word to let people know that they exist.

For more information please go to www.cancersupportmallorca.com

Yachting Gives Back started a year ago as a food-raising campaign in which the yachting industry, including yachts, service companies and anyone else, could help to alleviate the serious problems of poverty and hunger in the Balearics. As well as food, Yachting Gives Back now collects clothes (adults and kids), bedding, toiletries, cleaning products and toys. They work with several local charities, including Associación Tardor, a social dining room serving 300 meals a day which has recently opened a new homeless shelter in Palma, Mallorca Sense Fam, a food bank which delivers foodstuffs to underprivileged families, Shambhala Fundación which works with vulnerable young adults and JoyRon Foundation helping Mallorca’s children in need.”

Nick and his team have done an amazing job in a short amount of time.

For more information please go to www.yachtinggivesback.com

We have an incredible list of auction and raffle prizes which are listed below.

Second Hand Chevrolet Aveo 1.2 Car. Daisy & Mike, Quality Used Cars Son Bugadellas

A days Charter 10-6pm for 8 people with Skipper(Food & drink not included) Azzura Yachts in Conjuction with Tristan at Prosperity Real Estate

1 hour sightseeing flight over Mallorca for up to 3 passengers Jonny Balearic Helicopters

Golf resort voucher for 2 x 3 days accomodation and golf unlimited(Flights not included)  James Arnold & the National Golf Resort in Lithuania.

Jeroboam of UP Ultimate Provence Rose wine from France. Elissa & Mikey World of Wine

RAD 4 Inflatable Clair & Russel Nauti Parts

A table for up to 10 people with a Magnum of Champagne Martyn Social Club Palma

A day with Golf Pro Peter Ledwidge Peter Ledwidge

A day in the life at Radio News Hub in Leeds UK Radio News Hub Team  

Meat Lovers Basket Simon at The Meat & Fish Society

4 nights in Villa Blanco in Cala Murada (available Oct 2020 – March 2021) James at Mallorca Villa Management

1 day learning to Jet-Ski with the use of a Jet-Ski Clair & Russel Nauti Parts

You can bid on auction item by sending a message via our Facebook page or by texting me on 670 704 311.

2 Return flights to UK Tui Flights

2 Return flights to UK Jet2.com

6 months satellite TV subscription GNTV

Family Passport for 2ad & 2ch Katmandu

1hr Physio or Acupuncture treatment Mallorca Physiotherapy

50€ Voucher Dunns Butchers Santa Ponsa

Pedicure Spa with Shellac Mes Per Tu

Hot Stone Massage  Mes Per Tu

Pirates Adventure 2ad & 2ch Maindeck Pirates Adventure

Pirates Reloaded 2 adults Maindeck  Pirates Reloaded

Gringos 2 adults Standard Gringos

Anti-Ageing Facial plus Manicure & Pedicure Denise Beauty Salon

2ad 2ch Entrance to Western Water Park

2ad 2ch Entrance to Marineland

2ad 2ch Entrance Aqualand

1 Months Free Subcription  PQA

3 x 1 hour Private Lessons  Renegade Martial Arts

3 x 1 Hour Kick Boxing Classes Shinkai Gym Santa Ponsa

Newly embroidered Soft Shell jacket  Threadworks

Newly embroidered Soft Shell jacket  Threadworks

2ad 2ch Entrance to Palma Aquarium  Palma Aquarium

2ad 2ch Entrance to Palma Aquarium  Palma Aquarium

1 Hour Elasko Stretch Fitness Class  Louise Middleton

Paella for 4 + 1 bottle Armero Adrover Rosé Restaurante Can Biel Felanitx

1 Hour Wake Boarding Lesson Mallorca Wake Park

50€ Voucher TotFruti Palma Nova

50€ Voucher  Hornblower Embroidery

50€ Voucher Mr Lee the Barber

Raffle tickets are available at just 1€ each from the Radio Station & various places around the island. Ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction. We can also deliver them to your home or workplace. The draw takes place two weeks after the Radiothon on Friday July 3rd.

You can come and join us at the studio at the Wave House Hotel if you wish or listen into the fun on all the ways below.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11http://www.radioonemallorca.com.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

After taking a little break from talking Tourism last week, I have to return to it this week. You may or may not know this but right now this island is in a mess. We’re now in the first week of June and despite us being out of permanent lockdown for 6 weeks I still don’t see a plan. On Monday we’re going to be in phase 3 and most big tourist industry businesses are still not open or are even planning to be open. Worrying numbers I’ve read this week are firstly that in the Balearics in May, unemployment rose 92% compared with May 2019. There were 35,792 more unemployed, and the percentage increase was the highest in the country. Also that just under a quarter of the islands hotels were planning to open in July. That’s 300 out of a total of 1300. My optimism of a couple of weeks ago has turned to pessimism because of the situation we’re in right now. We went into lockdown on March 14th and now 3 months later there is no clear plan going forward. What exactly have our Government been doing? I’m not having the well their hands have been tied by central Government excuse. I’ve told you before that whilst Spain’s GDP for Tourism is 12%, ours here is 44% and if you take in all other industries indirectly connected we’re talking 85%. So many businesses that rely on Tourism still aren’t open and are no clearer when they will be open because there’s no plan. Well that’s not true there is a sort of plan but right now it doesn’t make business sense to open. Look around the main tourist resorts and you won’t find anything open apart from family run businesses. It reminds me a little of the winter situation. The hotels won’t open because there’s no planes coming, the bars, restaurants and cafes won’t open as the hotels aren’t open so you end up back to square one.

I told you last week one of the biggest hold ups is the Social Security law that says if you take only 1 person off of the ERTE(furlough) you have to pay 45% of the social security for the rest of the staff you employ. That runs into thousands of euros a month for businesses employing a lot of workers. If they relaxed that law right now I guarantee you’ll see more businesses taking a punt on opening this month. I’ve spoken to bar owners, restaurants, hoteliers and excursion suppliers and they’re all saying the same thing. I’m no economist or politician but if I was, in the 3 months since we’ve been on lockdown my sole thoughts and efforts would be. These islands depend on tourism, how do I get the people off the ERTE, back into work, paying back into the system and also making sure that I’m not adding in any difficulties that would ultimately stop them doing so.

I repeat that’s been 3 months and still no one is any the wiser. There’s no winter season to fall back on here, we’ve flogged that campaign enough. So if we don’t get going soon how are businesses going to survive until next Easter?

The other problem is the ERTE(furlough) scheme. I’ve spoken to a few employment lawyers this past week and they all say there’s total confusion.

A report last week said that 30,000 people hadn’t been paid their ERTE money. The official service looking after this is called the SEPE and they weren’t prepared for what was coming. They’ve received 21,307 claims affecting around 150,000 workers in the Balearics and they can’t cope. So they employed lots of part-time people to relieve the strain, the problem is those people aren’t qualified in dealing with these problems so in actual fact the problems become greater.

Most big businesses will need 2-3 weeks in order to get open. I can give you first hand experience at Pirates and what we are waiting for.

The quarantine to be lifted in the UK.

Tour Operators and airlines to let us know predicted numbers they are flying in.

What hotels are open and where.

The ERTE social security payments before we open to be taken away.

What Aforo(capacity) we can open up to.

What other restrictions are going to be placed on us.

I know the Government can’t answer all of those but the last three would be helpful.

If we are coming out of phases at different times across the country then surely plans for tourism here could and should be fast tracked. Although all deaths are regrettable, there have been 226 fatalities across the Balearics which is 0.8% of the total deaths in Spain. Madrid and Catalunya account for 53% and are currently in phase 1 whilst we are in phase 2. They are asking to go to phase 2 on June 8th while we will be moving into phase 3 on the same date. With the final state of alarm now extended to June 21st, it won’t be until near the end of the month before flights start arriving. So for most businesses it’s going to be the middle of July before they’ll be ready to open. It’s a very difficult call with so much uncertainty as I imagine most businesses are looking to survive into 2021 and the wrong decision now could be very costly.

I’m doing my very best to be positive here but I feel we’re being let down badly.

Let’s leave you on a positive note. One of my favourite restaurants reopened on Wednesday. I can’t recommend Can Pedro in Genova enough and I’m looking forward to going again.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11http://www.radioonemallorca.com.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Having got some great feedback when I’ve concentrated on Mallorca and tourism I’ve decided that I would do a midweek blog covering all the football here on the island and keep my weekend blog to talk about the island and more particularly tourism.
La Liga has announced their return on Thursday June 11th with the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis. Real Mallorca will restart their league campaign with the small matter of defending Champions Barcelona at the Son Moix on Saturday June 13th at 10pm. Like all games across Europe they will begin behind closed doors. Denying us here on the island the chance to see Messi, Suarez and Griezmann live. The boys and i went to the away game in December where Mallorca got gubbed 5-2. It was a Messi masterclass, he scored a hat-trick and made everything look so easy. It was a pleasure to be there even though we were on the end of a good hiding. I suppose if there was ever a good time to play them then it would be after a 3 month gap of lockdown. We might just catch them off guard a little like we did against Real Madrid at home and a point would be like a win to be honest.

I wonder if there will be anyone who will try to get near the ground as there are areas of the car park you can actually see part of the pitch. I’m sure the police won’t allow it but let’s see.

We play at 10pm Saturday evening and less than 72 hours later we’re in Villareal for a 7.30pm kick-off. Organisers have only released scheduling details for the first two rounds of fixtures, although La Liga chief Javier Tebas confirmed there will be matches behind closed doors every day of the week until the season is completed on the 19th of July. The heat is going to be a problem for all teams, Weekday matches will kick off at 19.30 and 22.00, while weekend games will begin at 17.00, 19.30 and 22.00, with an extra slot at 13.00 if it is not too hot! I think that’s a given.

I read this week that there is a plan to bring back crowds to La Liga, not in the 11 games left of this season but at the beginning of next season. The plan I hear is 30% capacity at the beginning of next season (starting 12th Sept), 50% in November and 100% in January. How are they going to choose who gets to go and who doesn’t? My idea is give first refusal to the season ticket holders who have been with the club from the barren years in Segunda B 3 years ago. Not the glory hunters who started this season. 30% is around 6-7,000 and the boys and me would qualify.

Mallorca have offered season ticket holders a 25% refund for the 2019/20 campaign or you can opt for alternative including a 15% discount on merchandise at official club stores, name engravement on the ‘Fan Wall’, future matchday experiences such as VIP access and ‘Meet & Greet’ events or facility rentals for birthdays or matches.

With no fans allowed at grounds it’s Interesting that the President of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, Miguel Ángel Ramirez believes that their Segunda division game against Girona on June 13thcould be the first game in Europe attended by fans since the pandemic began. He believes that because of the low infection rate on the island could make it safe for fans to watch the game. There’s been 2,326 cases across the Canary Islands and 151 deaths. If that happens then surely there’d be an argument here as across the Balearic Islands there’s been 2,191 cases and 226 deaths.

If it can’t happen in La Liga then it would be something that Atlético Baleares might look into. Having been made Champions of Segunda B Group 1, Baleares are waiting to see who they will play in the play-offs. They boast 3 players from the UK, the Shashoua brothers have just returned to Mallorca from their quarantine in the Uk. Armando is on loan from Tottenham and Sam is on loan from Tenerife. Hopefully Jordan Holsgrove the Scottish U-21 International on loan from Reading will be back from injury. Whoever they get it’s a huge game for the club and it would be great for the island if they could get promotion. They’ve been in this position 3 times previously in 2012, 2017 and last season agonisingly losing to Mirandes on away goals.

I told you that last week my two were going back to CD San Francisco in Palma and we have already begun their pre-season training together. I’ll keep you posted on their progress and all local football here too.

Take care everyone, I’m back at the Weekend.

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Pedro Sanchez announced last weekend that tourists would be allowed back into Spain from the 1st of July. It’s a huge turnaround from where we’ve been over the last few weeks and great news for the island. However more needs to be done to encourage the bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels and excursions to open here on the island. You may have noticed that we may be in phase 2 but the main tourist resorts are dead. Number one of course there’s no tourists but at the moment there’s no incentive for businesses to open. One of the main factors is social security. Right now if you are a company that employs 100 people who are all currently on Erte(furlough) and you want to start cleaning your premises with say with 1 person. The Government are currently saying you have to pay the social security not just for the 1 that you’ve employed but you have to pay 25% in May and 45% in June for the other 99 too! That’s a crazy situation to penalise companies employing people. You are not only removing them so the Government doesn’t have to pay them but you will be paying back into the system too. Companies have suffered enough already so don’t make it even more difficult for them.

This week I wanted to pick up on something else the Prime Minister announced last week. As long as everything goes well in the coming days and weeks then we will see the return of La Liga on June 8th, with the first match expected to be the derby between Sevilla and Real Betis on Thursday June 11th. All matches will be played behind closed doors, there are 11 games to play this season, with leaders Barcelona two points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the division.

More importantly at the bottom of the league it’s a chance for Real Mallorca to get themselves out of the relegation places. They currently lie third bottom on 25 points with Leganés and Espanyol below them on 23 and 20 points respectively. Above them are Celta Vigo on 26, Eibar on 27 and Real Valladolid on 29 points. I’d say these are the six teams scrambling to avoid relegation.

Mallorca’s remaining games are;

Home: Barcelona, Leganés, Celta Vigo, Levante and Granada.

Away: Villareal, Real Madrid, Atlético Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla and Osasuna.

Like last season their home form is much better than their away form but just before we went into lockdown they got their first away win of the season 1-2 at Eibar which also pulled them into the relegation battle. I think they can win 4 out of 5 of their home games except of course Barcelona. Away though is very hard to call looking at the fixtures but if you take last season as a guide they are going to have to get at least 1 away win bearing in mind they do win the 4 at home. That would put them on the 40 point mark. Last season Celta Vigo finished fourth bottom with 41 points to avoid relegation and Girona finished third bottom on 37 points and were relegated. It’s a tough ask especially with no fans at any of the games. Without doubt the players were inspired last season on their way to promotion by the home support but it’s the same for all teams.

Looking at the experience of the German Bundesliga who are two weeks into their return. I would say they need to pipe the crowd atmosphere into the stadium. You need someone with a football knowledge who can see when things are happening in the game and add pre-recorded crowd reaction. It’s a bit like a DJ who knows what to play at certain times in a nightclub but using crowd singing and noise. I’m happy to volunteer! Another idea used in Germany by Borussia Monchengladbach fans was to buy 12,000 cardboard cut outs of themselves and place them in their stadium to make it look busy. A slightly better idea than the South Korean team FC Seoul who were forced to apologise this week after they used sex dolls instead of mannequins to fill seats during a K League match at their empty stadium on Sunday.

Seoul’s match against Gwangju was being played without spectators due to ongoing measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the dolls had been dressed in the club’s colours while others were holding placards supporting the team. But eagle-eyed fans watching the match on television immediately took to social media to raise doubts about the inflatable spectators. The club issued a statement on saying the supplier had told them the dolls were not “adult products” but apologised for failing to check. Sounds like an episode from Only Fools and Horses, you couldn’t make it up!

Congratulations to Atlético Baleares who this week were made Champions of Segunda B Group 1. There were still 10 games to go but the League have decided to end things immediately and go straight to the play-offs. Remember that winning your Segunda B group doesn’t give you automatic promotion, you have to play a play-off two legged game against one of the winners of one of the other regional groups. Baleares posible opponents are UD Logroñes, CD Castellón or FC Cartagena. Logroñes seem to be the team to avoid, they were 13 points clear having only lost twice. Win your play-off you go up, lose your play-off and you drop back into the play-offs with the teams that finished second, third and fourth. Interestingly they contain two teams from Ibiza, UD Ibiza and Pena Deportiva. I think Baleares have a great chance and can build on the disappointment of not going up last year. It would be great for the island if Real Mallorca stay up and Atlético Baleares get promoted.

One element of football I’ve missed more than anything is watching the boys play. Last week we got news that both of them have been asked to go back to CD San Francisco. Jacob into Cadete B & Jude into Alevin A. Jake will resume training at the beginning of August and Jude will start at the end of August. Both of them were really happy to receive the call and so were we, we’re counting down the days!

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Last weeks column and blog certainly got you talking. Nobody could see a negative in having tourists here in the winter. Well a couple said they like the winters tourist free but as we’re having a summer free then maybe they’ll relent! I was even asked to get it translated into Catalan and send it to the powers that be. If anyone would like to do that I’d be happy to hear from you. Everyday there seems to be more positive news about the pandemic which will mean more lockdown measures being eased. One thing that I don’t understand here is the introduction of face masks? 70 days into the lockdown and now we’re told that we have to wear them? It’s because we’re all being let out they say. But we’ve all been in supermarkets since this started not being made to wear them and now we do? I don’t get it. Face masks will be the new hand sanitiser and someone, somewhere is making a fortune. The front page of the Spanish newspaper Ultima Hora on Thursday said that families were spending between 72 and 115 euros a month on masks alone. That can’t be right especially when people are struggling to put food on the table.

On the plus side there seems to be some green shoots of a sort of summer season here on the island.

Easyjet plans to resume a limited number of flights from June 15th. Although nothing to Palma as yet.

Ryanair plans to resume up to 50% of its flights from July 1st.

Further routes will be announced over the coming weeks as customer demand increases and lockdown measures across Europe are relaxed.

The two main Tour Operators Tui and Jet2 are currently saying mid June to begin their programmes. Remembering that these companies fly holiday makers to lots of different destinations and they will I imagine open up each country when given the go ahead to do so. That won’t mean to begin with Palma as the Government here are still saying domestic travel before international travel. We have to think that at the moment because of the state of alarm the whole talk is about Spain. But my understanding is as soon as the autonomous regional Governments begin governing again the Balearics and the Canary Islands will start before the mainland. Tui Germany will be the first to start in Mallorca and I would imagine that the UK won’t be far behind. My guess is the first or second week of July.

I think we have to be realistic that the numbers won’t be like a normal July and August but it’s a start. Simon Calder the man most TV companies turn to when there’s a travel problem held a poll on Twitter asking would you be happy to travel abroad this summer and 65% said no.

A similar story in Ireland where a poll in the Irish Mirror found that just over three-quarters of all respondents were willing to forgo the sunshine and stay at home. They asked: “Would you fly off on holidays this summer given Ryanair promises to be back in the air by July 1?” – with both yes and no voting options.

A whopping 76.3% of voters said they would not fly this summer while just under 24% wanted to jet off to sunnier climes.

Mind you I imagine there will be a price war amongst Tour Operators and airlines looking to fill seats which might well persuade a lot more people to book. They only have realistically until the end of August when the children will probably be returning to school in the UK.

The other deciding factor could be the weather as if the summer is a washout then more people might be tempted. Temperatures were warm in the UK this week meaning the coastlines were busy. The papers were coming out with the age old headlines, We’re hotter than the Maldives and Marbella, were two places that got a mention.

The UK government seems to be putting a lot of obstacles in the way too. Apart from Ministers saying it was doubtful that a foreign holiday could happen, they added a two week quarantine which was probably the most damaging. You might think that they are encouraging more people to not go abroad and consider a staycation but this is a fine balancing act because in another way they are harming their own tourist industry too. Tourism before the lockdown contributed £106 billion to the British economy and was 11% of its GDP and supported 2.6 million jobs. That GDP figure is interesting when you consider Spain’s is virtually the same.

Given the choice of two weeks on Southend beach or two weeks here then I know what I would be choosing. No offence to Southend, it’s the one that’s been plastering the news this week with their crowded beaches. In fact I used to go clubbing there most weekends in my youth. Zero 6 and TOTS were my hangouts back in the day. But for me Mallorca would win every time. It is the perfect time right now for us to explore our island. Lots of us I’m sure haven’t been to quite a few places that are often talked about as must sees here. As the lockdown eases there will be ample more opportunities to go out and explore. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the island in the summer virtually tourist free, so make the most of it.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Once again a massive thanks for all the feedback on my column and blog from last weekend. The video we shared by Rocky Reborn was seen over 9,000 times and shared 500 times on Facebook. In a week that is amazing numbers and far outstrips the official Mallorca Tourist Board video. This was by no means a competition, I wanted to highlight what I thought was a lazy, boring video that did nothing to promote our island in a good way. By the reaction we got most of you agreed with me.

Let me take you back to January and to Fitur, the annual tourism fair in Madrid. The Balearic President Francina Armengol, and the Tourism Minister, Iago Negueruela we’re pushing out the message for action against Tourismophobia and the challenge of sustainability. They wanted to avoid saturation and the negative effects that it causes on destinations, particularly in Palma, where it generates complaints from social and environmental groups.

In February the tourism of excesses decree was passed, the objectives of this were “to protect the Balearics from certain excesses and to ensure that the islands offer an agreeable experience and that no one is confronted by situations that they would not tolerate in their own country”. The Tourism Minister explained at the time.

Fast forward three months and halfway into May and you can say that their plans have been a success. We don’t have any saturation or drunken tourism as unfortunately we don’t have any tourists. The Coronavirus has completely wiped out everything. So where’s the recovery plan? Well let’s encourage the Spanish to holiday here from the mainland they say, even though some parts of Spain have been badly affected by Covid19. Any bar, restaurant, cafe, shop or excursion will tell you, no thanks they don’t spend any money in resort. Ok don’t worry we’re speaking to the Germans. Maybe a better option as the cases there have been a lot lower than other countries. However, any bar, restaurant, cafe, shop or excursion will tell you again, no thanks they don’t spend any money in resort. What the island needs, as it always has for the thirty years I’ve lived here is the UK market.

The problem is at the moment the UK isn’t really helping itself. After not locking down as heavily as here in Spain they’ve got the highest death rate currently in Europe. One thing we often forget is that the UK is an island obviously with a much larger population than Mallorca but still able to shut its borders. So why bring in after a six week lockdown a two week quarantine? Damage is already done. Not helped also this week by the Health Secretary saying “it was unlikely that Britons would be able to enjoy an international summer holiday because of the coronavirus.” Great, just what the tourist industry wanted to hear.

So as I said last week we may have a summer but it’s going to be very short.

The subject of winter tourism was mentioned to me in feedback last week. To be honest this would be the perfect time to do it. Surely the Government would want as many people off the ERTE(furlough) and PARO(unemployment benefit)and working, with businesses paying into the system? When I arrived here in 1990 there was a thriving winter tourism market but gradually over the years that was left to dwindle away. You’ll get the age old arguement that it’s not warm enough. Well it’s a lot warmer than the UK and if you go across the water to Benidorm, their winters are packed and with the same temperatures as ours.

So what can we offer? We’re an island in the Med only a couple of hours flight from most European cities. We have to change the chip from sun, sea and sand although we do have days that are still suited to that. Also I’m not saying a week or two weeks as some of these ideas can be done in a long weekend.

Hiking: Mallorcas natural beauty and terrain make it a hikers paradise.

Cycling: The majority of professional cycling teams use Mallorca as a training base.

Horse Riding: Natura Cavall offer some amazing riding experiences with the Sunday Times travel section doing a full feature on them this summer.

Football: Real Mallorca currently play in La Liga and Atlético Baleares play in Segunda B.

Shopping: There are a number of shopping centres including Porto Pi, Mallorca Fan and Mallorca Fashion outlet. Palma the capital offers the ardent shopper an unbelievable array of shops including El Corte Inglés, Zara, H&M and lots of designer boutiques.

Sights: Palma has some truly beautiful sight-seeing opportunities including the Cathedral, Bellver Castle and the Es Baluard museum of Modern & Contemporary Art to name just three.

Restaurants: I challenge you to find a better City than Palma for its diversity of restaurants in beautiful surroundings.

Local Fiestas: famed across the island, every month there’s something happening.

Wine: has become a big industry with wine tours and fairs all over the island.

Excursions, winter excursions are all about sightseeing including the Soller train, Caves of Drach and the Palma City sightseeing buses.

Putting the above into a monthly plan.

November, there’s fiestas celebrated all over the island. Just after Halloween Muro hosts the Pumpkin Fair, Caimari has its Olive fair, Mancor de la Vall entertains the Mushroom Fair. There’s also Sa Pobla’s Agricultural Fair of farming exhibitions, arts & crafts markets and a horse show. There’s a new wine fair in Santa Maria del Cami which is a fabulous event to sample some the island’s local wines.

December, Christmas fairs pop up all over the island including Pueblo Espanyol, Port Adriano and Puerto Portals. The capital Palma is a wonderful place to shop but also to dine in some of the best restaurants in Europe.

January, sees the fabulous Three Kings celebrations with the one in Palma being the most spectacular. In the middle of the month there’s the San Sebastián Fiestas the patron saint of the capital with big bonfires and concerts occupying the main squares of the city, followed by the legendary fire runs.

February, sees the landscape transformed by almond blossoms with an almond blossom fair in Son Servera. Palma is a perfect City to celebrate Valentines which falls on a Sunday in 2021, so perfect for a romantic weekend away.

March, Carnival arrives on the island with a huge procession in Palma and other celebrations across the island.

April, Easter falls right at the beginning of the month meaning an early start to the Summer with business being able to begin clawing back the losses of 2020.

Do I think this will happen? No, because they’re too blinkered and can’t see beyond the summer. But we’re in a “new norm” and we can hope.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Last Saturday it was so refreshing to see people out walking and running again. You could feel the positive vibes as people were allowed out to enjoy this beautiful island. This weekend it will be 8 weeks since the start of the lockdown here and sometimes the little things in life are the special ones. I’m not saying I’m enjoying it but I’ve sort of got used to this way of living. So I don’t think I was the only one who thought that after being let out at certain times the incoming new phase would allow us to be able to meet in groups of a maximum of ten was a little bit surprising.

I’ve been saying all along that I thought this has been taken too far but after what we’ve had to go through maybe this step was a little too much? But on the other hand we have to try and get back to something of normality as soon as possible and this is perhaps the only way. It looks like it will be a slow process but each step so far has been a successful one which is encouraging. Remember that adults with kids have been allowed out now for two weeks and there hasn’t been a spike in the numbers. Current Balearic numbers are 1,935 cases, 1,374 recoveries and 202 deaths. You may well have read that there are 19 municipalities in the Balearics that do not have any active cases and 6 municipalities that have never had any cases of coronavirus.

Interestingly we learned this week that Love Island 2020 has been cancelled.

ITV bosses have pulled the plug on the summer series revealing it was a logistical impossibility to safeguard ‘the wellbeing of everyone involved’ amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.

Kevin Lygo, Director of Television at ITV said: ‘We have tried every which way to make Love Island this summer but logistically it’s just not possible to produce it in a way that safeguards the wellbeing of everyone involved and that for us is the priority.

‘In normal circumstances we would be preparing very soon to travel out to the location in Mallorca to get the villa ready but clearly that’s now out of the question.

In Sant Llorenc des Cardasser where the Villa is situated over on the East coast of the island there have been just 11 cases of Covid19. It’s a shame as it’s great publicity for the island which got us into many peoples living rooms. The biggest audience last year was more than six million for one episode. They go on to say that it will return bigger and better in 2021.

That leaves us in a position to promote ourselves. I noticed this week that my colleagues at the paper shared a video from the Council of Mallorca tourism department. Now to be honest I found it a bit dull, hardly any of the places were recognisable and the music was uninspiring. Firstly there’s the age old arguement of Mallorca or Majorca? We don’t have to get into the whys and wherefores here but if you’re promoting a video to what I believe is to the English market than why have the strap line #SeeYouSoonMallorca. When all the main tour operators like Tui, Jet2 and Easyjet call it Majorca. Before you say well it’s obvious isn’t it? My honest answer to that is no. I lost count the number of people who used to ask me as a Rep at the airport “is this Parma Italy?”

I’ve shared the video amongst friends and the general opinion was the same as mine that it doesn’t show us in the best light. You can go onto the Majorca Daily Bulletin website to see it and note that at the moment it’s been viewed just 1,600 times. Then compare and contrast it to the video I’ve shared on my personal Facebook page and see the difference. Thanks to Rocky Reborn for letting me have the opportunity to show the amazing video he made. It goes to show that with some imagination and passion what can be achieved.

Remember this is the Council of Mallorca Tourist Board so you’d expect that in an era of social media that there’d be thousands if not millions on their pages waiting to see all those videos and images wouldn’t you? Search Mallorca.es and you’ll find the Facebook page has 4,176 likes, the Twitter page has 4,357 followers and on Instagram it’s called mallorcatourism with 1,286 followers. Need I say any more? So with a little bit of research I find that the promo videos are poor and the social media pages haven’t got hardly any followers.

If we’ve been in lockdown for eight weeks then surely there should have been a concerted effort to get all those numbers up. What hope have we got? I said last week that Tourism in the Balearics accounts for 44% of our GDP and indirectly with lots of other industries 85%, surely we can do better than the social media numbers I’ve quoted above? If I were to mention the name Iago Negueruela to you, would you know who he was? I’m ashamed to say I had to look him up. He is our Tourism Minister and certainly someone who needs to get his finger out. I would say he was more important than the President right now. I don’t see at the moment any international tourists arriving before July, if they do in what numbers are they going to arrive and what disposable income will they have to spend in bars, restaurants and excursions? I’ve mentioned it before but places like the Canaries and even Benidorm have winter programmes where here we don’t. Where with a bit of investment and thought we probably could. But unfortunately too many Governments have been guilty of not looking beyond the Summer. So right now you’re expecting tourist businesses to survive the year on a three and a half month season!

I like to leave on a positive and whereas I see this summer being a bit of a washout, 2021 I think will be booming and the Sunshine Isle will once again prove itself to be the jewel of the Mediterranean.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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

Firstly I just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback I got from last weeks column and blog. Obviously it was seen by all the readers of the Daily Bulletin and its been viewed more than 1500 times on my blog in all of these countries. The UK, Spain, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Australia, Andorra, Turkey and Jersey.

My concluding question last week was has it all been worth it? I did say I don’t do the serious stuff but this weeks subject follows on nicely from that question so I feel I’ve got to continue.

This weekend would normally be the traditional launch of the Summer season here in Mallorca. But here we are still in lockdown and the prospect at the moment of not knowing when or if we are actually going to be able to start.

In order for the tourists to return we firstly need to get our state of alarm lifted. That started this week with a four phase plan set out by the Government and then each autonomous region manages their lockdown but still having to ask the Government about any change. The Balearic Government have already stated that the airports and ports will be one of the last things to reopen. All Spanish airports are anticipating reopening on a phases basis too, with national traffic first, then European and then international.

With that in mind surely with the number of cases and deaths across Spain why would the Government consider national travel first before European and international? Unless there’s going to be testing either at the airports or beforehand with some kind of proof that you are not carrying the virus then I don’t see that as a good way to start.

Passenger numbers through Palma airport were up 2.4% in February 2020 compared to 2019 which was encouraging. By mid March this of course all changed and by the end of March they were down 60%. This decrease has continued and will continue until someone comes up with a plan.

16,453,697 tourists visited the Balearics last year. The three predominant markets which made up 67% overall were Germany with 4,539,921, the UK with 3,745,545 and Spain with 2,772,773. The next closest was Scandinavia with 780,278.

Within those numbers Mallorca received 11,869,977 or 72% of the overall numbers. 4,182,626 were from Germany, 2,425,356 were from the UK and 1,597915 from Spain. Of those top three Germany seem to be in the best position to travel to the island. The sweeping statement by the German government’s tourism commissioner this week who said in an interview that there would be risks travelling to Spain this Summer probably didn’t help. When you consider that overall cases in the Balearics stand at just under 1% of the total across Spain. You have to say there is a very small chance of catching it here.

The whole of tourism across the island is in a current state of paralysis with the majority of staff on ERTE, the Spanish equivalent of furlough. The measures brought in so far do not alleviate any of the problems and at the moment there doesn’t seem to be much hope until the end of June. The hotels have been told they can reopen on May 11th but not their common areas. However they have a far greater problem as in the UK Tui have cancelled all holidays until June 11th, Jet2 say they will restart on June 17th. Both of these seem unlikely for us here as travel between provinces and islands in Spain has been banned until at least June 22nd, so when air and land borders will be reopened for foreign tourists remains to be decided upon.

This Government has been accused of being anti-tourism in the past with measures such as the Tourist Tax, Holiday rentals, reducing cruise ship numbers and alcohol laws. Now it needs a plan to kickstart the whole economy, it’s not going to be easy and the phases brought in so far are cautious.

Tourism in Spain is the third major contributor to national economic life after the industrial and the business/banking sectors, contributing about 10–11% of Spains GDP. Now you compare that to the Balearic Islands and a totally different picture emerges. Tourism has been the “main industry” and still is the main engine of growth in the Balearic Islands economy. A study by the European Union European Regional Development Fund in 2017 said that Tourism activities account for more than 44.2% of regional GDP in the Balearic Islands and generate more than 30.8% of total direct employment on the islands (employing currently more than 130.000 people), that is three out of ten jobs. In addition, it should be noted that tourism has an indirect impact on other types of sectors: services, agriculture, construction, etc. altogether representing more than 85% of the Balearic GDP.

That is a frightening figure and shows firstly what a mess we’re in and secondly if that figure is so high why would you be anti-tourism?

I’ve been in tourism for the whole of my working life. Starting in the Uk at Butlins, followed by Tour Operating here in 1990 and then the excursion side in Pirates since 1994. I’m no expert but this is serious and at the moment we’re on a pedalo without peddles.

Mallorca in my opinion is one of the best holiday destinations in the World. We’re an island with turquoise blue waters, secret coves, soft golden sands, lush green foliage, rugged mountains, picturesque villages, amazing cuisine,  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. We may be in a problematic situation right now but we’ll be back.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

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