Has the World gone mad? Mansize tissues have been rebranded after customers complained that the name is sexist.

Kleenex is binning the long-time name of its largest type of tissue following complaints on social media.

They will still exist but will be rebranded as ‘extra large’, the company said on Twitter. In tweets sent to customers, Kleenex confirmed the change, urging people to ‘keep an eye out in shops’.

So how many other products or names will now have to change? Mothercare, the Isle of Man, ploughmans lunch, Mansfield, Manacor, Man Utd, Man City? Do you remember the slogan from Yorkie bars “Not for girls” blimey they’d never stand a chance these days! 

We asked our listeners on the radio and not one thought it was a good idea and before you ask that was female and male. Call me old fashioned, but I just don’t get it. Surely there’s more serious things to worry about in this World!

Don’t forget Wednesday is Halloween and there’s no excuse not to go out as it’s All Saints Day on the 1st of November and therefore a public holiday. It’s Pirates’ traditional end of year show and this years it’s Reloaded Halloween, a twist for all of the family on Wednesday 31st October from 18:00h. 

Pirates spooky spectacular is one of Mallorca’s most renowned events, this year expect to be haunted by some well-known creepy characters. Its fright night so there’s prizes for those who come in the best fancy dress costumes! 

Enjoy an evening with plenty of tricks and treats… a pre-show dinner with beer, sangria, and selected soft drinks followed by world-class entertainment with an evil twist! A spook-tacular night guaranteed, with the official after-party at Coco Bongos Magaluf.

I know a lot of work goes into this night and it will be well worth a visit. For tickets go to http://www.piratesadventure.com or call 971 130411

Now I’m not a horror movie lover but below is the top 10 scariest movie characters and for someone that hates horror movies, i watched the number one! 

1. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs) 

2. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street) 

3. Pennywise the Clown (It)

4. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) 

5. Jigsaw (Saw)

6. Michael Myers (Halloween) 

7. Count Dracula

8. Jack Torrance (The Shining) 

9. Samara (The Ring)

10. The Xenomorph (Alien)

Once Halloween is out of the way we’ve got 58 Sleeps to Christmas. 

Walkers is to release its first ever Brussels sprouts flavoured crisps!

In fact the UK’s first crisp brand has launched five “delicious” festive flavours: Turkey & Stuffing, Pigs in Blankets, Glazed Ham, Cheese & Cranberry as well as the sprout flavour snacks.

The company has even produced rival multi-bags of crisps dependent on whether you’re a sprout lover or a loather.

We asked our listeners whether Walkers missed out any festive flavours and they came up with a few that maybe could have made it. Bubble & Squeak, roasted chestnut, turkey curry, honey roast parsnip and beer & paracetamol! Now as a crisp aficionado my favourite and a definite for me would be bubble & squeak. 

Actually someone mentioned mince pie crisps which doesn’t work for me but does lead me nicely into my other Christmas story. One in 12 households has already bought mince pies, with £4million spent on them in September alone.

That is despite the fact there are still 58 days to go until Christmas.

Much like hot cross buns, mince pies are now stocked by the major supermarkets well before and after the festivals to which they are traditionally linked. Fraser McKevitt, of retail experts Kantar Worldpanel, said: ‘Consumer spending often slows in early autumn, after the excesses of summer barbecues and before the festive season kicks off.’

Mr Fraser said that colder weather and darker evenings had also inspired consumers to ‘embrace hearty comfort foods’ such as chickens and roasting joints. No mince pies in my house yet but loving the return to roast dinner Sundays!

One of the biggest successes in the travel industry is cruising and one of our biggest leisure pastimes is going to concerts. So what if you were to combine the two? Jon Bon Jovi fans might want to start planning next year’s holidays already as the rock star is set to host exciting new concerts at sea!

Passengers will get to enjoy a one-of-a-kind rock show starring Jon Bon Jovi and the 11-piece Kings of Suburbia band, as well as a second acoustic storyteller set where they can ask Jon all of their burning questions.

Not to mention there’ll also be multiple shows from support artists as well as panels with key figures from the star’s history for backstage secrets and stories from his life. Throughout the sailings there will be a series of pop-ups too, such as the Hart n Dagger clothes shop, food outlet JBJ Soul Kitchen, and an exhibition packed with memorabilia in the Jon Bon Jovi Gallery.

As an extra perk, all guests will take home an autographed event lithograph and the first 400 guests to book on each cruise will get the chance to take a picture with the man himself.

What makes this all the more exciting is this cruise will go from Barcelona to Mallorca from the 26th-30th August 2019 on the Norwegian Pearl. 

Real Mallorca dominated last Sunday’s game against Extremadura only to be denied by an injury time penalty. A draw means they remain in 6th place and this weekend they entertain 5th placed Las Palmas from Gran Canaria. Kick-off is at 18.00 on Saturday evening. Both my boys lost by narrow margins last weekend. Jude my youngest lost 2-1 away at Atlético Baleares and Jake my eldest lost 1-0 in the “Derby”between the Infantil A team and the B team. 

Hopefully they’ll get a positive result this week. 

Finally don’t forget the clocks go back tonight so we get an extra hour in bed!

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am 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 and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Last Friday I drove up to San Llorenç, the village most affected by the awful storms last week. Along with Ian from Bosuns Locker who donated and delivered 400 litres of Biodegradable liquid soap we took donations from Kurt Kircher & SY Vava, Helen Richards & Delicioso, Ady Dutton & Angie Wallace. We couldn’t get into the village but there were hundreds of cars parked of helpers who even on a fiesta day had parked and walked into the village to help with the clean up. We were redirected back to Manacor to the Crist Reí Church in Calle del Angel to deliver our donations. I know from the messages I received that lots of people were very kindly donating to the disaster fund page set up by the Ayuntamiento de San Llorenç. It was great to see the whole island get together as one and help in anyway they could. I said last week I do hope lessons are learned and that the same mistakes aren’t repeated. It has certainly been a wake up call and something we must all learn from. 

A couple of months ago I noticed that England were due to play Spain in Seville in the brand new Nations Cup. Having done so well in the World Cup and being more or less on our doorstep how could we not go? It’s a City that i’ve never been to although I’d passed up many opportunities to go both from here and years ago when I worked in The Algarve we used to sell day trips there. I managed through my good friend Martin in Ibiza to get tickets for the game and with the new 75% resident discount we were booked. My two boys couldn’t contain their excitement, my Wife less so but the promise of good wine and tapas persuaded her and so we were counting down the days. Monday lunchtime we were off and after leaving Palma an hour and 20 minutes later we landed in Seville. Now I was expecting a huge airport but it’s surprisingly small so much so that you walk from your aircraft to the terminal. We got a taxi and immediately headed for the old town and a tapas bar we’d been recommended.  You can’t help but be charmed by the narrow streets that lead to a huge, very striking and beautiful Cathedral. The tapas and wine were not only amazing but cheap too and we headed off to the hotel full but looking forward to the game. Now at the time the weather wasn’t playing ball and it had rained heavily all afternoon. However and somewhat luckily it cleared up as we were about to walk from the hotel to the stadium. Seville is home to two La Liga football teams one of which of course takes the name of the City and plays at the 42,714-seat Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium and who are currently top of the La Liga table. The other team in the city are Real Betis who play at the 60,720-seat Estadio Benito Villamarín, the fourth largest stadium in Spain and this was where we were heading a short 15 minute walk from the hotel. 

We were sat fairly central and surrounded by Spanish fans but it wasn’t intimidating and we were very vocal throughout. Especially as me and the boys had been learning the National Anthem all week. Disappointing that it was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Spanish but we sang loud and proud all the same. Now I’d gone with the expectation that a draw would be a good result and as the bookies had England at 6/1 to win the game, what chance did we have? After all the last time England had beaten Spain away was 1987. Nothing could have prepared us for what transpired in the first half. England were quite simply magnificent and were winning 3-0 at halftime. It started with Eric Dier launching Sergio Ramos which in the 80’s he’d have got away with but these days he won’t but it definitely set the tone for the game. To be honest I thought the whole team were outstanding(even the other team from North London ones!) and i couldn’t pick out just one player as man of the match as they all did their jobs superbly. The Spanish couldn’t believe how good we were playing and neither could I! It was always going to be backs to the wall in the second half as you knew that the Spanish would come out fighting and sure enough they did. Helped by a very erratic second half performance in goal from Jordan Pickford who should have been sent off and conceded a penalty when his “Cruyff turn” went a bit array. But we held on superbly for a 3-2 victory. 

The Spanish had been beaten at home for the first time in more than 15 years in a competitive fixture, a sequence stretching back 38 games, this was  England’s youngest starting lineup since 1959 and probably one of there best away performances since they beat Germany 5-1. It was a great memory for me and the boys and even my Wife who isn’t mad on football was getting into it. The following day we took a sight seeing bus around the City and we saw as much as we could before we had to fly home. If you haven’t been I’d definitely recommend it and I’ve no doubt we will be going back. 

Not such a good week for Real Mallorca who lost 1-0 away to second placed Granada. They weren’t expected to return with much but a point wasn’t far away from their grasp. This Sunday they’re at home to 17th placed Extremadura and hopefully three points will be the order of the day. Mixed fortunes for my two boys last weekend as my youngest Jude won 4-2 and my eldest Jake lost 2-0. This weekend they’ve both got big games coming up, Jude will be up against Atlético Baleares and Jake plays the against the other team from his club San Francisco who are in the same league. It’s an inter club derby of sorts and hopefully both boys will get 3 points. 

The Beatles‘ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ has been named Britain’s favourite ever studio album, in a special countdown to mark National Album Day last weekend.

The Fab Four’s eighth studio album was the only release from the 1960s to make the list, which was compiled by the Official Charts Company.

The albums were ranked using a combination of physical sales, downloads and streams in order to determine the British public’s definitive ‘favourite’.

‘Sgt. Peppers’ topped the chart with 5.34 million combined sales, edging out Adele‘s ’21’ which came second with 5.11 million, and Oasis‘ ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ with 4.94 million.

Britain’s Favourite Studio Albums Top 10

1. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – THE BEATLES 

2. 21 – ADELE

3. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? – OASIS

4. The Dark Side Of The Moon – PINK FLOYD

5. Thriller – MICHAEL JACKSON

6. Brothers In Arms – DIRE STRAITS

7. Bad – MICHAEL JACKSON

8. Rumours – FLEETWOOD MAC

9. Back To Black – AMY WINEHOUSE 

10. 25 – ADELE

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am 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 and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Thoughts and prayers are with the people of San Llorenç and the surrounding areas this week. Living on a holiday island you never expect us to be hit by the storm that hit last Tuesday. Shocking videos and pictures were all over social media and I think the realisation of how bad it was only dawned in the morning. At the time of writing 12 people have tragically lost their lives making it one of the worst natural disasters here on record. I remember the tornado of 2007 which caused massive destruction at the time but this has proved to be far more destructive. The massive clean up operation is under way and reports I’ve had from friends and listeners to the radio are that the conditions are literally indescribable.  Massive thanks to Scouse Ian at Bosuns Locker who donated and delivered 400 litres of Biodegradable liquid soap with us yesterday along with donations from Kurt Kircher & SY Vava, Helen Richards & Delicioso, Ady Dutton & Angie Wallace. You can’t get into the village but there were hundreds of cars parked of helpers who’d walked into the village. We were redirected back to Manacor to the Crist Reí Church in Calle del Angel to deliver our donations. I’m told that what is needed now is money donations as some people have lost everything. Also there was a request for doctors, nurses, builders, plumbers and electricians to help with putting the town back together again. We have posted the official donation bank account details on our Radio One Mallorca Facebook page. With the weather becoming increasingly different I do hope the authorities look at all possible problems in the future and act accordingly. 

I’ve had a busy few days since we last spoke. Last Saturday night we did our final night of Gringos at Pirates with a Christmas Special. I had great fun playing “Bad Santa” as people made their way in and whilst it was a little  strange listening to Christmas songs in October, the atmosphere was great. The 500 plus people that came had a great night. Gringos is closed now for the season but it will be back bigger and better  in 2019.

Last Weekend was an amazing one of football. Saturday morning our youngest Jude started his season at his new club San Francisco. We travelled to to the beautiful town of Porreres over on the east of the island. Jude has been made Captain which he’s obviously over the moon about especially as it’s his first season. It didn’t look good for them at 3-1 down and only 10 minutes left but they battled back to get a creditable 3-3 draw. We followed that by watching Real Mallorca thrashing Tenerife 4-1. Without doubt their best performance of the season and the third goal was one of the finest team goals I’ve seen from them. They’re away this weekend to second placed Granada and at home a week on Sunday against Extremadura. The weekend footballfest didn’t stop there as Sunday my eldest Jake had his third game of season in Palma. Having narrowly lost their first two games we were hoping they could get a win or even a draw to boost their confidence. To be honest it couldn’t have gone any better, a battling 1-0 away win was what the doctor ordered. Leaving that we went home and watched Arsenal thrash Fulham 5-1 and go above the other team from North London! Another weekend of football awaits this weekend for the boys and then we’re off to Seville on Monday to watch Spain v England in the Nations Cup. So I’ll report back next week. 

Last Monday 25 of us from Pirates congregated in Finca Son Bordills just outside Inca. We weren’t there for wine tasting unfortunately but a team building day. We did one last year and it was not only good fun but definitely a great way of learning about how your team works together. This one was far more physical than the previous one but still as much fun. It’s also a great way of integrating with people that you don’t work with on a daily basis. It’s definitely something we’ll do again next season. 

Ed Sheeran tops the list for most streamed track, top artist and album of all time as Spotify celebrates ten years.

A decade ago the streaming service burst onto the scene to compete with the Apple iPod. Now 180 million monthly active listeners tune in across 65 countries. To celebrate the milestone, the Swedish company has unveiled its lists of the most-streamed artists, songs and achievements.

MOST STREAMED SONG ON SPOTIFY EACH YEAR SINCE LAUNCH

2008: The Killers – Human 

2009: Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling

2010: Eminem, Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie

2011: Don Omar, Lucenzo – Danza Kuduro

2012: Gotye, Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know 2013: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us

2014: Pharrell Williams – Happy

2015: Major Lazer, M0, DJ Snake – Lean On

2016: Drake – One Dance

2017: Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

This week I managed to go to London and back in 18 hours. Woke up at 4am, got to the airport at 5am, the flight left at 7am and landed in Gatwick at 9am(Uk time). Got the Gatwick Express into central London for a meeting at 11am. 1pm time for a quick pint of real ale and back to the airport for 3pm. A quick bite to eat and some duty free shopping and onto the plane at 6pm. Arrived in Palma at 9pm(Mallorca time) and back home by 10pm! 

I’m not really a golf lover but I always watch the Ryder Cup which comes  around every 2 years. There always seems to be a great atmosphere built up over the three days and this year Europe weren’t given a hope against team USA. But there’s something about the Ryder Cup which turns players into World beaters both Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia who haven’t had the best of years golfing wise suddenly were hitting unbelievable shots. The sight of Poulter who is known as “The Postman, as he always delivers” eyes bulging punching his chest is such an iconic sight.

Europe definitely had what was needed regarding team spirit especially as they had lost the first morning 3-1. But they didn’t look back from there and queue some crazy celebrations. One thing that annoys me about the golf is every time they hit a shot people shout “get in the hole!” When most of the time there’s not a hope in hell. At one hole someone shouted “mashed potato!” Which I said at the time what was all that about? After discussing it on the radio I was told that Mashed potato came from one golfer wanting his mum to spot him on TV. Andrew Widmar first shouted it at the 2011 Chevron World Challenge after Tiger hit a stinger. His mum wanted to know how she could spot Widmar at the course. “What are you wearing?” she asked. “Where will you be?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “But if you hear ‘mashed potato’, you’ll know I was there.”

So now you know!

Money may not grow on trees but alcohol now does, in the form of gin-filled baubles for your Christmas fir.

The alcohol-infused festive decorations are being snapped up by eager shoppers, in the latest festive trend.

A range of online retailers are selling the ornaments, which feature lids with a hanging ribbon for your tree.

Additionally, the balls are made from a specially-treated plastic, which doesn’t affect the alcohol, and won’t shatter if knocked off the branch.

One retailer, Find Me A Gift, is advertising six 5cl baubles for £34.99 in a range of flavours and colours by brand The Lakes Distillery.

These include Sloe Gin, Lakes Gin, and Damson Gin sourced from Cumbria, and their alcohol percentage range from 25% to 43.7%.

Last Christmas sales of gin hit a record high after consumers bought the equivalent of a bottle for every adult in the UK last year, according to figures.

I think we’ve all been guilty of this as apparently nearly two-thirds of us cheat when we play board games, spurred on by a determination to beat our friends or family. But, according to a new study, bending the rules leads to people falling out, Christmases being ruined and even lovers splitting up!

The research by Hasbro, the company that makes Monopoly, revealed that 61% of us are board game cheats, and 83% have seen a game turn ugly when a cheat was exposed.

Real Mallorca got a credible draw away against Lugo last weekend but they must get back to winning ways today against the Canary Islanders Tenerife. 

Kick-off is at 4pm on Saturday at the Son Moix. I might well look at a cheeky weekend away when we play them in the second half of the season. 

My youngest Son Jude starts his season today for his new club San Francisco. We’re off to Porreres in the middle of the island, a place I’ve never visited and as I’ve said before it’s a great way to get out and about and see different parts of our beautiful island. He picked up his new goalkeeping kit on Thursday and as a former goalkeeper I’m still trying to get my head around the short sleeve shirts goalkeepers now wear. News of my eldest son Jacob is they’ve played 2 lost 2 but he got on the scoresheet last week so hopefully this weekend will see a turnaround in their fortunes. 

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

If you’ve never heard of Moonpig before let me explain. It’s a business based in London and Guernsey which sells personalised greeting cards, flowers and gifts. The website was launched in July 2000, and in 2007 the company was responsible for 90% of the online greeting card market in the UK, with nearly six million cards shipped. So why the explanation? Well I had to regale this story to you this week as whilst it was both funny and unbelievable the statements that went with it had me crying with laughter.

Moonpig sent out a tweet on Twitter saying “please stop uploading pictures of your genitals to our cards it is against our t’s and c’s. That of course brought back a load of fun and innuendo which Twitter loves. But the best of it for me came from Moonpigs very own spokesperson who said “the beauty of Moonpig is being able to personalise your card and make it special to the person you’re sending it to. We’ll produce anywhere between 100-200k cards a day and at least 2 or 3 of those might infringe our terms. We have one guy who’s particularly good at spotting them although a couple occasionally slip through the cracks.(no pun intended)

We also see a massive rise(really!)around Valentines Day, with as many as 20 a day that we have to deny. And yes, the girls are as bad as the boys.”

Now you know I like to find the weird and wonderful competitions from around the World so how about The Tiramisu World Cup? 700 impassioned pudding makers arrived in Treviso in Italy on 5th November last year to compete, whipping up their own versions of a tiramisu, which literally translates as “pick-me-up”. Tiramisu is a coffee-flavoured Italian dessert. It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa. The recipe has been adapted into many varieties of cakes and other desserts. The competition lasted for two days, with competitors divided into those who stuck to the traditional recipe and those who experimented with other flavours such as strawberry and green tea. The winning entry was made by Andrea Ciccolella, a 28-year-old factory worker from Feltre in the Veneto region(surprise, surprise) whose dream is to open his own bakery. This year’s event will take place from Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th of November 2018.

I was gutted to hear of the passing of Chas Hodges from Chas & Dave last week. I knew he hadn’t been well but I thought he was back on the mend. Even though he was a big Other Team From North London Fan and wrote a couple of their cup songs I loved their music. Loads of people have told me how great their concerts were and they always did longer than was asked for. When I was living in Ware in Herts years ago I used to see them sitting in our Indian restaurant on a Saturday night minding their own business but they would always say hello. I’m regretting now never seeing them live.

It’s less 3 months until Christmas…well 87 sleeps to be exact. So is it too soon for you to be feeling festive?

As with many expats on the island, it’s the time of year we all head home to our friends and families wherever that may be. Wouldn’t it be great though to celebrate Christmas with your Mallorca friends too?

Gringos Bingo has got just the night for you, only slightly earlier than scheduled! Christmas comes early next Saturday 6th October with the Gringos End of Season Finale.

Get in the spirit, gather your friends or colleagues, dig out your best Christmas jumpers and get merry at the much talked about bingo rave phenomenon at the Pirates Theatre!

Expect everything you would at a Christmas party, from crackers to stockings, candy canes to Christmas reindeer, Santa Claus(Me!), plus the crazy Gringos atmosphere and on-your-seat anthems all night long!

If you’re wondering what Gringos is well Its bingo but not as you know it, it’s been mixed up and twisted into one wild night out. 

Expect chaos, rave intervals, dance offs, big prizes and crazy prizes and plenty of Tequila!! Even if you don’t win, you’ll get your fair share of laughs and a crazy party night at that.

Tickets from just 20€pp – Book now online at http://www.gringosbingo.com or call the box office on 971 130 411.

A disappointing 1-3 home loss to Albacete last weekend which saw Mallorca not only lose the game but both their centre halves. The Captain Xisco Campos to a horrific injury which meant him leaving the pitch by ambulance and Antonio Raillo to a red card for elbowing an opponent in the penalty area. Strange decision from the ref who had a terrible game by the way. As he sent off Raillo but didn’t award a foul which if he had should have been a penalty. After a draw and a loss Mallorca need to get back to winning ways as their early season form has been lost a little. My eldest son lost his first game of the season for San Francisco by 2-0 to Ferriolense, let’s hope he gets a better result this week against La Salle. My youngest son doesn’t start his season for San Francisco until next weekend but they won a friendly against Cuitat de Palma by 3-1. Dad’s taxi will be busy again this Saturday and Sunday. 

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

The sunshine has returned and its looking more like a normal September here in Mallorca. Storms have pretty much wiped out the month up to now. I was travelling to Binnisalem last Saturday to see my eldest Son play football. We had to drive through a hell of a lot of rain to get there and it carried on throughout the game. Good though they won by 3-1 and my boy netting one which was their last friendly game before the league starts this Sunday. We decided to stay after the game to eat in the town with some Spanish friends of ours whose Son plays in the same team. We ate in a packed pizzeria which came recommended and I have to say the food and service was great. When the bill came it was a bit of a shock to be honest. There were 8 of us that ate a starter, main course and sweet, we didn’t drink as we were driving and the bill came to 120€! Amazing value and I was expecting to pay that for the four of us, welcome to the Pueblos! The town was buzzing with life and I hear they have their fiestas this weekend. Well worth a visit!

You may remember I was lucky enough to go and see Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium in June. It was an amazing concert and if you have the chance to go to one of his gigs then go! With that in mind you might be interested in this. 

Ed Sheeran has confirmed details of UK shows next summer, taking place in locations that hold a special significance for the singer. After a massive 2018 tour that saw him taking in four shows at Wembley Stadium, he’s scheduled four dates for 2019.

On August 16th and 17th he’ll play two shows at Leeds Roundhay Park, less than a hour from where the singer was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

He’ll then head to Suffolk on August 23rd and 24th for two shows at Ipswich’s Chantry Park, only 30 minutes from where he grew up in the town of Framlingham.

Also worth noting that he has two shows planned for Spain next year, in Barcelona at the Estadio Olímpico on June 7th and June 11th at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. Tickets will go on sale for all shows from September 27th (next Thursday) at 10am.

The World Black Pudding Throwing Championships sees competitors knocking over Yorkshire puddings on a 20ft-high plinth with famous Bury black pudding. 

Legend has it the tradition dates back to the War of the Roses and a 1455 battle in Stubbins, Lancashire, between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The two sides are said to have run out of ammunition and resorted to throwing food at each other – black pudding from Lancashire and Yorkshire puddings from Yorkshire. Visitors from as far afield as Japan, Australia and the USA were among hundreds gathered in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, to see the famous Mancunian light bite hurled. Competitors stand on a golden grid on Bridge Street in the town with the Black Puddings made by Chadwicks of Bury. 

The puds are ‘swaddled’ in ladies’ tights to prevent them exploding on impact and participants have three attempts to knock down as many Yorkshires as possible, with only underarm throws permitted.

This year’s top pudding lobber was Andrew Ferrier, aged 44, from Wombourne, near Wolverhampton. He toppled seven Yorkshire puddings, enough to take the title back to the West Midlands

A poll has revealed our favourite film quotes, and Jack Nicholson’s come up trumps.

Commenting on the data, film journalist Helen O’Hara said, “The research shows that the 16-24 year-old generation includes the most prolific quoters, with two-thirds using film phrases in conversation. That’s interesting considering that none of the UK’s top five quotes was released during their lifetime.

“It all highlights the lasting impact of these movies and their enduring appeal: even those born long after they were released still go back and watch these films; they’re still cultural touchstones.

“There’s a kudos that goes with referencing movies, and with the explosion of movie quote memes and GIFs on social media, you see how film phrases are now also used by this generation as social banter, to react and respond to a status, comment or event.”

1.“Heeere’s Johnny!” – The Shining, 1980 

2. “There’s no place like home” – The Wizard of Oz ,1939

3. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” – Gone with the Wind, 1939 

4. “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” – Dirty Harry, 1972 

5. “Here’s looking at you kid” – Casablanca, 1942 

Mine would have to be “Houston we have a problem” taken from my favourite film Apollo 13 and a phrase I’ve used on countless times when a problem has occurred. 

Family favourite Quality Street has quietly axed its controversial Honeycomb Crunch from tins two years after creating it to replace the Toffee Deluxe.

The poor mans crunchie has met a sticky end after being seen off by the chocolate covered toffee treat which was part of the original line-up in 1936.

Toffee lovers were up in arms when Quality Street owner Nestle dumped Toffee Deluxe from its selection in 2016 amid claims there were “too many toffees” in tubs. But it was forced into a U-turn last year and brought the sweet back from the confectionery wilderness taking the number of choices to 13.

Eagle-eyed honeycomb fans have noticed the most recent addition to the selection has been dropped with just 12 varieties in tins and boxes. Remember I told you that some John Lewis stores will be offering make your own pick and mix Quality Street tins this Christmas so you can fill up with your favourites rather than leaving the ones you don’t like for someone else!

A good away point for Real Mallorca last weekend against Elche means they lie in 4th place in La Liga 123. Tomorrow sees them at home at 12 midday against 5th Albacete who are a point behind and who haven’t lost so far this season. We shall be hot footing to Mallorca from my eldest sons first league game for San Francisco Infantiles against Ferriolense. Good luck to the boys!

My boys are so excited as we’ve managed to get some tickets for Spain v England in Sevilla on October 15th. I’ve never been to Sevilla so we’re really looking forward to seeing the city and watch the game too. 

I must finish on this, the Cleveland Browns who play in the American NFL have finally won a game after beating the New York Jets by 21-17. It was Christmas Eve 2016 that they last won and thus ending a 635 day and 19 game losing streak. The beer company Bud Light had locked 200 cans in 10 bars before this season started and they were only to be opened once they had won a game and Thursday night it finally happened. The Cleveland police tweeted “We WON!!! —-Wait….Oh God. The free beer thing…Ok Cleveland. Stay calm. GO BROWNS!!! @Browns @budlight #CLE”

Brilliant, imagine waiting 635 days for a win. To my friends at the other team from North London(Spurs to you) it’s only been 3 games so far!

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

September is normally a lovely month weather wise but this one has been a bit stormy don’t you think? 

Still we’ve got lots to look forward to, including;

13 days till the Ryder Cup golf starts in Paris (28/9/18)

22 days till the new Doctor Who series, with the first female Doctor (7/10/18)

43 days till the clocks go back (end of British Summertime) (28/10/18)

46 days till Halloween (31/10/18)

50 days until my birthday (just putting it out there! 4/11/18)

51 days till Bonfire Night (5/11/18)

And it’s now 100 Sleeps to Christmas! I know far too early to even mention it but things are hotting up in preparation. 

Elton John has signed-up to star in the new John Lewis Christmas advert.

The 71-year-old agreed to feature in the festive commercial for a whopping £5million.

The Rocket Man singer has spent four days at London’s Pinewood Studios and 

the finished edit, which is expected to be broadcast in November, will be soundtracked by his much-loved track, “Your Song.”

Child actors play the superstar as a youngster on Christmas day, opening presents with his family.

Then, the advert climaxes with John playing the piano as an adult.

A source on the set said: “John Lewis wanted to win the battle of the Christmas adverts this year and it has cost them a significant sum to do it, but they think having Elton on board will guarantee its popularity and blow Marks & Spencer out of the water.

“It’s a tear-jerker but also very sweet, and follows Elton from a child, through his teenage years, into how he is today.

“It is all very, very charming and the exciting crescendo at the end will be Elton playing his famous piano.”

Elton has also announced the first UK & Irish dates of his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour.

Sun June 09 2019 – Hove Central County Ground 

Wed June 12 2019 – Dublin 3Arena

Thu June 13 2019 – Dublin 3Arena

Sat June 15 2019 – Cardiff City Stadium

He will also play Madrid on Weds June 26th 2019.

Back to the Christmas ads and pressure is on John Lewis as it didn’t perform too well in last years ads and has just announced half year profits down 99%. One of its rivals M&S have just signed Holly Willoughby as its latest brand ambassador which is a very shrewd move. She’s the queen of daytime TV on This Morning and this winter she’ll be on our screens live from the jungle in Australia, co-presenting I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. 

Data firm 4C Insight scoured millions of posts on social media, analysing the public’s reaction to last years Christmas adverts and scored them accordingly to create the top 10 of 2017.

1. Aldi

2. Boots

3. Tesco

4. Lidl

5. Sainsbury’s

6. Vodafone

7. Coca-Cola

8. Waitrose

9. M&S

10. John Lewis

England were beaten by Spain last weekend in the new Nations League. Spain looked a different team under Luis Enrique and you wonder why they performed so badly at the World Cup Finals. The sacking of the Manager wouldn’t have helped and it’s more or less the same squad of players but Enrique has chosen to throw in some youngsters such as Asensio and Saul. England continued their good form and I thought they were unlucky not to get at least a draw. Spain went on this week to thrash Croatia 6-0 in their next game, Croatia of course being the team that England lost to in the World Cup Semi Final. 

I noticed a lot of the UK media marveling about the performance of Marco Asensio. A lot of them were asking why England can’t produce a player like him. I’ve watched Marco since he made his debut for Real Mallorca in 2013 and even then you could see he was going to be a great player. Watching football here virtually every day with my sons either training or playing You can see that all kids are encouraged to play out from the back & keep the ball on the deck. Until they get to the professional level all kids play on AstroTurf so their touch has to be spot on. If I compare that to how I grew up playing football and speaking to friends back in the UK it’s still very different. I think there has been a change in how players are brought up now and that’s been proved with England’s performances both at the World Cup and at the other age levels where they’ve started to win trophies. But looking at our group of players do we have a “Marco Asensio”? The biggest problem with our big players is a lot of them are struggling to get into their clubs first team. Of the 11 that started against Switzerland last week half don’t regularly get into their clubs first team. 

Butland: plays in the Championship for Stoke

Walker: plays in Man City’s first team

Tarkowski: plays in Burnley’s first team

Maguire: plays in Leicester’s first team

Alexander-Arnold: plays in Liverpool’s first team

Loftus-Cheek: doesn’t play regularly in Chelsea’s first team

Dier: plays in Tottenham’s first team

Delph: doesn’t play regularly in Man City’s first team

Rose: doesn’t play regularly in Tottenham’s first team

Rashford: doesn’t play regularly in Man Utd’s first team

Welbeck: doesn’t play regularly in Arsenal’s first team 

It’s a debate that will run and run and I for one am looking forward to watching live the Spain v England return match in Seville in mid October. 

Real Mallorca beat Cadiz last Friday with a last minute Alex López goal and are currently second in La Liga 123. In midweek the reserves beat Real Oviedo by 1-0 with a lovely goal from Fran Giner who was out injured the majority of last season and means they progress into the next round of La Copa Del Rey. Luckily enough in Friday’s draw they got a bye into the round of 32 where hopefully they will draw one of the big boys. Good to see the whole squad play in those last two games, I’m really impressed with the atmosphere at the stadium and this week they went through 10,000 season ticket holders. They are away in Elche this weekend and their next home game is a week on Sunday against Albacete which is a 12 midday kick-off.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

I’m going totally off piste this week. The great school holiday debate is something that always raises its head at this time of year both here and in the UK. Most schools in the UK are now back in school with the majority taking six weeks holiday. Here in Mallorca the private schools have gone back this week and the Spanish schools go back next week. Most of the schools here have been off since the end of the third week of June which by the time they go back means some children of which my two are included have been off for just over 11 weeks! 

So who is right and who is wrong here? 

There have been reports in the UK that some people think in the UK the summer holidays are in fact too long. In a Sky News Data poll, when asked about the duration of the annual break, which goes on for about six weeks from July to September, 43% of people said it was time to reduce it. Just 11% thought it should be made even longer, while 39% said no change was necessary. In fact some areas are already trialling spreading school holidays more evenly throughout the year. Those in favour of change argue that such a “long time” off school sets pupils back but others argue that the six-week holiday remains “very beneficial” as a way for children to “reset” after the busy academic year.

If six weeks is now being perceived as too long in the UK then surely now the 11 weeks over here is ridiculous. Most schools would have you believe that it’s too hot for the kids to be in class as late as July. So why do they open their doors as summer schools? Well the answer lies in the fact that for most parents me included who work in tourism, June to September is one of the busiest times and therefore summer school is a must but must also be paid for. There is no doubt that most parents are at their wits end come the end of the holidays. It is a relief to both the parents and in most cases to the kids when they do go back to school. 

Another crazy situation from the UK’s point of view is the crazy law of not being able to take your kids out of school in term time. Brought in by Michael Gove(remember him) the man that keeps backing the wrong horses. You end up with many children who will not have travelled abroad at all this summer because of the surge in flight prices that occur during peak holiday times. As a result many parents are now choosing to take their children out of school during term-time despite facing average fines of £60 per child per absence. This fine rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days.  However, in some cases families can be slapped with charges of up to £1,000 if they can’t give a reasonable excuse for their child missing school and can even be sentenced to prison time. Surely a parent can make up their mind whether it’s right to take their child out of a school on holiday? Yes on the advice of the teacher but if the child has a good attendance record and won’t fall behind then where is the harm? Visiting different countries, learning different cultures, trying different cuisines and learning different languages. The amount of people from the UK that tell me how lucky my kids are learning a different language and eating a Mediterranean diet then these kids are missing out. 

Holidays in August can cost up to £1,310 more than the same trip in June, with some trips being up to 126% more expensive during the school holidays. With prices sky-rocketing during July and August, families from are tempted to move their holiday plans to during term-time, contributing to up to 10 days of unauthorised, missed school per year. 

An average flight to Spain can cost £100 in the early summer months, however prices can jump to double this during August. This means for a family of four they can save around £400 by travelling outside of the peak times. With a fine being £60, this can often mean the flight saving outweighs the cost of the fine.  2013’s regulations put an end to parents being able to take children out of school without facing consequences, as fines were put in place to limit this from happening further. With the day after schools break up for summer holidays being the busiest day to fly of the whole year, the demand for flights pushes flight prices to heights that some families simply cannot afford.

Airlines are taking advantage of the seasonal constraints that families have in line with the school terms by marking certain popular holiday routes with a leisure profile resulting in higher fares and fluctuating prices for the times when families tend to book their holiday. With flights being prices according to who they think will be flying on each route, whether its families and leisure passengers or those flying for business. Airlines can use the monopoly that they have over families, to charge the highest possible price, leading to many families being priced out of travelling abroad in certain seasons.

Mind you this doesn’t just happen for those wanting to travel abroad though as those choosing a staycation will also suffer from increased prices. You try finding a cheap stay at say a Centre Parcs or Butlins during July and August. 

Living here in Mallorca some might say why am I worrying about the UK? But I have my hat in both rings to be honest. Firstly my kids definitely benefit from time off school but 11 weeks, for me no. Far better for that to be spread evenly throughout the year. Putting my work hat on in Pirates and I imagine for a lot of businesses here it’s now become feast or famine. Since the new law come in we can be doing 10 shows in 6 days in August but only 5 in May. Before that yes you would still be very busy at the height of the summer but in the low season you could still be doing 7 or 8 shows as there would still be a lot of families that could come over the course of the summer. That just doesn’t happen any more. A change would benefit everyone, families would be able to choose when they travel, airlines and tour operators could price accordingly and islands such as ours could see a more sustainable tourist season. 

Summing up I would scrap the 11 week holiday here and spread the weeks evenly throughout the year by including half term holidays. In the UK I would scrap the not being able to take children out of school term time and let the parents decide when its best to go away. And so ends my school rant, sorry to be serious this week. I’ll finish on an Irish butcher who is now a Guinness World Record holder after making the most sausages in a minute.

Dad-of-three Barry Crowe, from Cavan, smashed the previous record of 60 by putting together 78 sausages in just 60 seconds. There you go back to reality.

Real Mallorca were in action last night against Cadiz and after last weeks disappointing  1-0 defeat to Alcorcon they got back to winning ways. A last minute goal from Alex López gave them a much deserved 1-0 win. They also have a Copa Del Rey home game this coming Tuesday at 18.45 against Real Oviedo. 

England play Spain this evening in the new Nations League and both my Sons have games too so it’s a busy one.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

And breathe…September is here. I pointed out last week that this is my favourite month and after the madness of July and August it’s good to get a little bit of me time.

I’ve gone World Championship nuts this week and managed to find some of weird and wacky things that people compete in.

The World Air Guitar Championships took place last week in Finland. The winner was a lady called Nanami Nagura from Japan. Let’s just think about this these are people stood on a stage basically miming playing a guitar to a piece of music. If you had to choose an air guitar song what would it be? Mine would have to be Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine.” Not that you’d see me air guitaring anywhere soon. Although come to think of it I’ve done air drumming which I’m sure I’m not alone in especially to “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. 

Wales’ smallest town, Llanwrtyd Wells, hosted the World Bog Snorkelling Championships at Waen Rhydd peat. 125 people braved the bog waters and tackled the two lengths of the 180ft peat bog in fancy dress last Sunday. Despite the heavy rain for most of the day, there were smiles all round as a new bog snorkelling world record was set.

Neil Rutter, 34, from Swindon, broke the previous record, set in 2014, by only four seconds in a time of 1 minute and 18.82 seconds.

Top spot in the ladies category went to Elinor MacCormac with a time of 1 minute and 48.46 seconds. They had entries from as far as the USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, Iran, Ireland, Belgium, Italy and the Czech Republic.

THE 11th annual World Gravy Wrestling Championships were held at the Rose ‘n Bowl pub in Stacksteads, Lancashire on last weeks Bank Holiday Monday. 

All wrestlers are sponsored to take part in an effort to raise money for good causes. Dozens of contestants wrestled in gallons of gravy, raising much-needed funds for the East Lancashire Hospice and other nominated charities.

To win the contest, contestants must wrestle in 1,800 litres of gravy for two minutes, with points scored for fancy dress, comedy effect, entertainment and wrestling ability. The winners were Joel Hicks, a model and actor from Leicester wrestling as Mudman, and Roxy Afzal, a neonatal nurse from Manchester, who won the women’s event for the second year in a row. Not sure I would order the pub roast after that!

Upcoming World Championships include the World Porridge Making Championships which have taken place each year in the Scottish Highlands village of Carrbridge since 1996. The oaty cook-off draws competitors from across the globe to compete for the coveted Golden Spurtle trophy and title of “World Porridge Making Champion.” What is a spurtle I hear you ask, well to be honest I had to look it up too. The spurtle is a wooden Scottish kitchen tool, dating from the fifteenth century, that is used to stir porridge, soups, stews and broths and the winner gets a golden one! Not satisfied with just oats, water and salt? Don’t worry, competitors also battle it out for the speciality trophy in a section that celebrates the versatility of porridge with past winners including Sticky Toffee Porridge and Fruity Date Porridge. This years competition will take place on Saturday October 6th.

Also in October is the world conker championships who could be forced to import horse chestnuts from Germany because the heatwave has shrivelled the UK crop. Unusually hot and dry weather conditions threaten to throw this year’s competition into crisis, as conkers have grown too quickly and are smaller than usual. The annual event’s organizers held an emergency meeting last week to discuss the possibility of importing horse chestnuts from Germany if British ones are too small and shriveled to play with.

Around 5000 people usually attend the event every October, where over 300 people compete in the competition. Contestants are provided with conkers and are not allowed to bring their own or reuse them. This year’s event will be held at the Shuckburgh Arms in Southwick on Sunday, October 8.

Some fans of George Ezra’s “Shotgun” have just noticed something a bit odd in the background and now they’re saying it’s all they hear every time they listen to it. At 59 seconds, just as he’s about to start singing, there’s a very unusual noise in the song and many people believe it’s a burp. Now coming from a boy born in Hertford, Hertfordshire I had my doubts. Remember also he was the guy that was urging people to download the song “Three Lions” to knock him off of the number 1 spot. Which dually happened so I was delighted to see his song “Shotgun” go back and replace Drake at Number 1. So does this all round good egg actually burp on the song? Well I urge you to have a listen as when I played it to my Wife and two Sons they became burp converts too!

A good away win for Real Mallorca in Madrid last Monday against Rayo Majadahonda. That’s two wins from two and no goals conceded so far meaning they lie second behind Malaga in La Liga 123. However a disappointing 1-0 defeat last night away against Alcorcon mean they remain in second place before the other games over the weekend. They play at home next Friday against Cadiz and kick-off at the Son Moix is 21.00.  

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

This time next week it will be September. For those of us working through the summer we’re nearly over August and into what is my favourite month of the year. Less heat, slightly less work, less busy on the roads, easier to get a table at a restaurant and not long before the kids go back to school! 

If you remember a few weeks ago I was talking about marketing and promotion and that Jet2 were getting flack from passengers for the amount of times they play the Jess Glynne song on their flights. It has really done its job to be honest as the first thing you think of when you hear the tune, whether you like it or not is Jet2. 

Well Jess Glynne herself has come out and said “I’m gonna just say to Jet2 and to everybody out there, look. I didn’t make them do it like that, I agreed to, you know, let them have my song and, you know, I apologise if it annoys you,” she chuckled. Jess revealed she hadn’t actually flown with the company before but joked that she might surprise passengers soon.

“I haven’t been on a Jet2 flight you know. Why haven’t they invited me? Maybe I’ll just book a flight soon on Jet2… get the little mic thing and be like ‘right guys, I got a little treat for ya,'” the star joked.

She added: “Next time someone’s flying to Majorca, it’ll be me on the mic.”

I’m sure the marketing people at Jet2 will be working on that one!

Carl Cox did a sellout show in Son Fusteret in Palma last Sunday. One of the biggest attendances for a gig on the island this summer I hear. He’s also made the headlines this week after saying that he’d like to rebuild the nightclub Space in Ibiza. The club opened in 1989 and was known for its legendary terrace, Cox’s mind-blowing sets and 22 hour dance marathons on a Sunday. I remember the Kiddie Reps from one Tour operator who shall remain nameless who used to drop their guests at the Waterpark and then change in the toilets and spend the day in there! It sadly closed its doors for the final time in October 2016. He said “We have the idea of bringing Space back next year for maybe an opening and closing, but apart from that we are actually looking for a new area to build a new Space somewhere on the island.

“Yes, it’s going to happen – there’s no doubt about that! I’m going to bring it back in the near or the distant future. I mean, I’ve lost my home and I need to build a new one.

“Space was built as an independent club in Playa d’en Bossa. Playa d’en Bossa only became Playa d’en Bossa because of Space. The new Space doesn’t actually have to be on Playa d’en Bossa. Obviously we need some place where it’s a little bit quiet. There is no way I’m going to build a Space nightclub next to Ushuaia or anything.” It’s been met with a mixed reaction in Ibiza. I interview “Our Man in San An” Martin Makepeace every Tuesday on the radio and he says in the current political climate it’s unlikely to happen. The option of a new build is apparently a definite no-no so that leaves an existing building. So what are the options?

Privilege Ibiza originally known as Ku Club (1979–95) is the “world’s largest nightclub” according to the Guinness Book of Records, also defined as a Superclub with a capacity of 10,000 people. It is located in close proximity to the village of San Rafael, Ibiza, Spain less than one kilometre from the nightclub Amnesia. 

Es Paradis in San Antonio first opened in August 1975 by Pepe Aguirre and artist Lluis Guell, who also created Café Del Mar. Like many of the top venues in Ibiza, Es Paradis was famous for its outdoor facilities. The island regulations of 1990 saw the club enclosed and the iconic pyramid roof was born. Its famous for its water parties where they actually flood the dance floor but would the San Antonio council who are well known for their stance against night time activities be happy with it on their manor?

Cox himself has ruled out using an existing venue as “putting Space in any of the other clubs wouldn’t feel right.” So if there’s no new build and no using an existing venue then maybe his quote of it being in “the distant future” be a lot more likely. 

But as Martin said in our interview “stranger things have happened, there is no rule book in Ibiza!” And don’t forget there’s the small matter of elections next May which could change the current political stance.

Watch this Space! (I’ll get my coat)

On August 22nd 565 AD – The first ever sighting of the Loch Ness monster was recorded. Last Friday August 17th a photo taken by a 12-year-old girl on holiday with her parents has been branded the “best picture of the Loch Ness Monster for years”.

Charlotte Robinson was staying at Loch Ness Highland Lodges at Invermoriston when Nessie supposedly popped up about 50 feet away – on the first day of her trip.

The legendary creature is said to have surfaced for about a minute before reappearing about ten feet further away some seven minutes later – but for less than 60 seconds. Now am I missing something here as from 565 AD to the present day is a pretty long time. So are we to believe it’s the same one? And if it’s not how did another one appear? Answers on a postcard please to confused in Santa Ponsa. 

I was very impressed with Real Mallorca last weekend after they beat Osasuna in their return to La Liga 123. The atmosphere was great with just under 10,000 in attendance and Mallorca battling their way to a 1-0 win. Hopefully a sign of things to come. They’re away at Rayo Majadahonda on Monday night who like Mallorca got promoted last year. They are also playing their home games at Atlético Madrid’s very impressive new Wanda Metropolitan Stadium. I visited the stadium earlier in the year to watch Arsenal play in the Europa League semi final and it was probably the best stadium atmospheres I’ve ever visited. It holds 67,703 which is quite a difference from their own Estadio Cerro del Espino, with a capacity of 3,376 seats. Not quite sure how many will be there but a great experience for the players. 

My eldest Jacob started his pre-season football training this week. He’s kept himself pretty active since the end of the last season in June playing tennis, swimming and more recently boxing. He plays at San Francisco in Palma who are a feeder club for Real Mallorca. They’ll be playing matches all over the Island and it gives us a good opportunity to get out and about. Mind you his first friendly is in Manacor tomorrow morning and we need to be there at 9am. So much for a relaxing weekend off!

My youngest Jude will start his training the week after next and he has joined San Francisco this year. So my weeks from the beginning of September will be Monday Jake training, Tuesday Jude training, Weds Jake training, Thursday Jude training, Friday Jake training, Saturday Jude’s match and Sunday Jakes match. So Dads taxi will be open for business and to be honest I wouldn’t have it any other way! 

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. 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! 

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com