There’s only one place to start this week. England beating Germany for the first time in the knockout stages of any football tournament in 55 years. Yes forget your 30 years of hurt, it’s 55 years to be exact. It’s also the first time England haven’t conceded a goal in their opening 4 matches since 1966. So is it coming home?

On June the 19th after the Scotland game I wrote this. “More negativity about England. Tournament football is firstly getting out of the group., the competition starts in the knockout stages. We’re second with 4 points & not lost. Everyone said our attacking options are second to none but we’ve only scored 1. Also we can’t defend, we’ve conceded 0. We’ve played 2 teams who have played not to lose & let’s face it that was a Cup Final for the Jocks last night. Let them bang on about, should have, could have but you didn’t. The fact is you’ve played 2 games & scored 0 & if you don’t beat Croatia it’s Cheerio! The Czechs won’t be easy but barring a disaster we’re through. Then we’ll have teams who will want to play football and that will help us. Those forwards will click & when they do we’re a match for anyone. Keep the faith!” 

I don’t like to say I told you so, but I did! Ukraine will be a different proposition on Saturday evening and it will be a tough game. Play like we can and we have every chance of getting through. 

It’s good to see the island re-opening properly. With the arrival of the Brits this week we should see a big change in the resorts. Terminal A opened yesterday which will handle the majority of the UK flights. I do hope they get it right as it won’t be a good reflection on the island if there are queues of people waiting to get through passport control. The cases are unsurprisingly rising here with the arrival of more people, so we need to be careful. In the UK they are too, however the hospitalisations and death rates seem to be low both there and here. It seems the vaccination programmes and how it is now treated is helping with this. The UK Government also looks like it’s changing its view and is starting to favour the fact we need to now try and live with the virus. Something I’ve banged on about for months and hopefully that is the way forward. What we can’t have is the constant changes in policy and in particular in travel, which has happened in other destinations. The traffic light system has been flawed, for me it should be Red or Green and nothing else. Our Government here a few weeks ago relaxed it’s rules on letting Brits arrive without quarantining. Then the UK put us onto the new green watch list(another change). So no longer amber and not fully green. It gives them the opportunity to change travel advice pretty much overnight like they did with Portugal. As soon as the green watch list happened, Brits were then told they had to arrive here either double jabbed, with a negative PCR or antigen test. This week it changed again and an antigen test is now not sufficient to enter. There seems to be too much chopping and changing from both Governments, which doesn’t breathe confidence into the travel market. 

Without doubt the UK are desperate for some summer sun. We are without doubt one of the best European destinations for holidays for UK travellers, so let’s look forward to a busy couple of months. But we must not forget all the sacrifices it took to get here and provide a safe destination for all that are travelling. 

I am also really pleased to announce that after 618 days since we last opened the doors, Pirates is re-opening next week. Our last show was Halloween on October 31st 2019 and like most businesses here we haven’t had the opportunity to open since. Having worked for the company since 1994 it has been without doubt the most difficult time I can remember. The islands most popular shows are returning bigger and better than before. Between Pirates Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos there’s something for everyone and we look forward to you all coming back to see us. I’ll give you a further update next week.

Take care everyone and 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, 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 week I did an interview on the radio that to me was truly inspiring. 

I had already heard the story off air and I knew it was something I had to bring to air for all the listeners and into print for all you readers. 

Mark Harry Redknap may not be a name familiar to many of you out there. Any relation to Harry himself? You may ask, well firstly it was a nickname he was given in the forces and apparently there is some sort of a distant family link. But secondly and more importantly, if I then said Lance Corporal Mark “Harry” Redknap 24540592 (a number that he can still reel off by heart) of the Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales Own) then hopefully your interest in the name should start. He was part of a recce troop which dealt in reconnaissance. Basically as the name indicates, a Recce Troop’s role is to carry out reconnaisance for its parent Commando. This task may involve operating behind enemy lines in order to gather intelligence on enemy forces and preparing the way for the main force.

Mark spent 10 very happy years in the army from 1980 to 1990 and travelled to many different locations around the World. However a posting to Belize in 1990 would have meant him spending 12 months apart from his then 6 month old son, so he left for that reason.

Mark carried on doing various bouts of security for the army and he first arrived in Mallorca in 1995 to work for Sunseeker but only stayed for 6 months. After that more years of security for the army ensued, when in 2007 he decided to return to Mallorca. 

He then started a business called Marine Shine Polishing which he still has to this day. 

From the age of 10 Mark discovered he had a liking for art and everything he’s done since has been self taught. He used to watch a Neighbour of his who was a painter and he was fascinated by him. 

Art in fact was his only O level in school where he got a B which he says should have been an A! 

In January this year he took a call from a friend in the Ministry of Defence who asked him did he still paint and would he be interested in doing a painting of a fallen SAS soldier for his family? He said of course he would and there would be no charge. Since then he started a Facebook page called “Who Paints Wins”, which has significantly raised the profile of the work he is doing. 

All the portraits he does of course are special, particularly to the families but there are two that standout in particular. Two weeks ago Mark was asked by Lyn Rigby to paint a portrait of her Son Lee Rigby. 

For those of you not familiar with this story. On the afternoon of 22nd May 2013, Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. Rigby was off duty and walking along Wellington Street when he was attacked and killed. It was an act of terrorism that shocked the Nation. 

The Prime Minister of the time, David Cameron said, ‘We must redouble our efforts to confront the poisonous narrative of extremism that lay behind the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby.’ 

Mark is honoured to be asked to paint his portrait and he hopes to be able to present it at the Remembrance Sunday Service in London in November. 

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker was deployed to Afghanistan on the 8th  September 2010 as part of the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment. Having trained as an Arms and Explosives Search dog handler, he was attached to the 1st Battalion Irish Guards on 19th February 2011.

On 1st March 2011, Lance Corporal Tasker was taking part in a patrol with his dog, Theo, when they were engaged by small arms fire, during which Lance Corporal Tasker was struck and died from the injuries he sustained. Sadly, on returning to Camp Bastion, his dog Theo suffered a seizure and died.

Lieutenant Colonel David Thorpe, Commanding Officer, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, said:

‘It is a challenge to put into words what Lance Corporal Liam Tasker meant to those he worked with. To his friends he was a mate who could put a smile on your face; he was that man who you wanted around and who you wanted to spend time with.

To the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment he was a strong, reliable soldier and an expert ‘Dog Man’. He genuinely loved the dogs he worked with and was always able to get the best out of them. He was one of the highly qualified dog trainers in Afghanistan and had spent time at our training establishment making sure that the new soldiers coming out of training had the best possible skills and experience imparted into them.

Epitomising the hardworking, determined and ambitious nature of our very best soldiers, he wanted to go to Afghanistan. He wanted to ply his trade in the harshest of environments, to be outside of his comfort zone, and he wanted to be successful. He was. The work he did in his five months in Afghanistan saved countless lives, of that I have no doubt. He flew the Royal Army Veterinary Corps’ flag high; he led from the front and made us proud.

Lance Corporal Tasker wanted to go far in the Army and he had all of the attributes needed to be a career soldier, with capacity to spare. His ability to command whilst maintaining his sense of humour had already marked him out as one to watch. His loss has hurt every single one of us today. He will be missed. He will not be forgotten.

My thoughts and condolences and those of the whole regiment go out to his family and friends.’

It is a heartbreaking story and Mark has been asked to paint a portrait of Lance Corporal Liam Tasker and his beloved dog Theo. 

Many years on from when these troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan first started soldiers are still being killed which means a hobby that Mark started as a child could now be turned into a full time job. His paintings are offering huge comfort to the families of these fallen soldiers. Each portrait is lovingly painted free of charge and he includes postage and packing. To date he has completed 7 of which 6 have been delivered. He is currently working on 5 more with another 14 requested. He only gets time to paint in his spare time when he’s not working on his Marine Polishing Business, which means each portrait takes a lot longer than it normally would. Moving forward Mark would love to spend more time on painting and now he’s looking at different ways of being able to do that. 

He is looking for sponsorships or donations to help him give up his business to concentrate fully on his painting. Straight after our radio Interview, one of the listeners pledged 500€.

You too can make a donation via his website which is  https://www.patreon.com/WHOPAINTSWINS_2021 

I have asked the British Consul General to see if there are any possibilities of Government help moving forward. If any of you out there have any further ideas of help for Mark, they would be gratefully received. You can send them to me or directly to Mark on (0034) 666 610 014.

I’m sure like me you agree this is an inspiring story and one that needs to continue to offer comfort to families of people that have fought and given their lives for our right to freedom. 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

Every year when we embark on organising the Radiothon we always have in mind, can we beat last years total? It is always our intention to of course, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Especially since last year was a record amount and although it was during the pandemic it was at the early stages meaning that people still did have money. So how was it going to go this year with some having been furloughed or out of work for over 18 months?

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in fundraising here on the island for most of the time I’ve been here. Including big events like the Pirates Charity Premiere or the Pinmar Golf Tournament to small local charity events too. The one thing i know about this island and the people that live here is that they always dig deep when Charity calls. With the Radiothon it’s not just the people that live here it takes in people from all around the World who are also just as generous. Last years total of 30,948.32€ was a record since we started the Radiothon and we thought we had maybe reached a peak. Well as I’ve said before the generosity of people holds no bounds and this years figure of 33,217.02€ is utterly amazing. We can’t thank everybody that helped us enough. That means that each of our Charities will receive 6,643.40€ each and when I contacted them this week this was the reaction. 

Dino Zamora Jaume is one of the volunteers for SOS Calvia said. 

“On behalf of SOS Calviá, we can not thank you enough .

We are all volunteers formed around our founder Manuel Mas. SOS Calviá started with just a few volunteers , Up to last month we were 35/40 volunteers and have helping Up to 135 families ( aprox. 400 people ) distributing and delivering food and clothes parcels over two days EVERY WEEK !!. Thankfully with the season starting ( albeit slow ) a lot of people have been able to return to work, all that said we do still look after 70/80 families on a weekly basis so we obviously still need to do our food collections at Eroski Supermarket all over the Calviá region. Unfortunately the “fight” is not over and the huge amount raised by you at Radio One Mallorca Will boost our “Kitty” that we have with Highland Gold Who supply us endlessly with non – perishable goods and Frutas Vilchez Who supply us with fresh veg and eggs on a weekly basis.

Unfortunately we believe this awful situation we have all been through is not over and although the Summer season has just started ( for SOME of US ) we have to be realistic and realise there is going to be another long winter ahead of us.

Once AGAIN…thank you Radio One Mallorca, its listeners and all those that donated.”

Loretta Oddi from the Santa Ponsa Food Bank said. 

“The Santa Ponsa Foodbank is grateful for the incredible support Radio One Mallorca continues to offer and has done since the beginning!

We plan on continuing to help our community in the Santa Ponsa area by providing food, both dry goods and fresh produce, on a weekly basis, as well as assistance in accessing all the help and resources to which families in need are entitled.

We plan to do so for as long as it takes to ensure we’re over the devastating effects of the pandemic.

We are also open to other opportunities to be involved in the well being of people around us, and we will see how things develop. Thank you!”

Nick Entwistle from Yachting Gives back said. 

“Just wanted to say congratulations to you all on another monumental effort and huge thanks for so kindly including us again as one of the beneficiaries of the magnificent sum you raised. All of us at Yachting Gives Back are absolutely delighted with the outcome.

Although the partial reopening of the tourism sector means that some people are beginning to get back to work, and therefore need less help from the food banks, there are still far too many people who are struggling. Thanks to the kindness of all your listeners and sponsors we will be able to keep helping those most in need by continuing to spend your funds on filling in the gaps where needed as we did with your great Christmas donation.”

Many thanks and best wishes from us all,

Nick, Paddy, Louise, Anna, Aila and David.

I had a meeting on Wednesday at Son Espases with Maria Hernandez-Coronado the Sub Director of Medical Services and Margarita Company Bauzá the Supervisor of Pediatric Physiotherapy. We are helping them redevelop their rehabilitation rooms on the pediatric ward. When I mentioned the total they were blown away and said “What great news, Thank you very much for all the hard work you did!” 

Laura Savory, Deputy Director of Community Fundraising at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity said,.

“We are incredibly grateful to Richie and all the team at Radio Mallorca involved in the Radiothon. What an amazing achievement to broadcast for such a long time, all whilst raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. On behalf of the charity, I would like to thank everybody who already has and to those who will donate. Your support will make a huge difference to seriously ill children who are treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital, including funding pioneering research into finding kinder, more effective treatments for the rarest and most complex conditions that affect children in the UK and across the world.”

Thanks again Richie, I’m still in awe!

Laura

Can I just add my own thanks firstly to the team at Radio One Mallorca who were amazing and secondly to everyone out there, we can’t do these things without your help and with the comments you’ve seen above the charities are blown away. 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

Just in case you were in any doubt about coming to Mallorca this summer and instead opting for a staycation then I think I can probably persuade you otherwise. The weather map here pretty much showed sunshine all the way this week with temperatures topping 30 degrees. I was having a laugh with some friends in the UK where it was pouring with rain and the temperatures were struggling to get out of the teens. Let’s be honest about it we are pretty much guaranteed sunshine and warm temperatures from now until at least the end of September. Whereas in the UK the weather can change as quickly as Government policy. Which right now seems to be on a daily basis. 

This week a senior cabinet minister in the UK was saying that Brits should opt to stay at home. Environment secretary George Eustice warned if people want to go abroad then there are “obviously risks in doing so” even if the country is on the government’s ‘green list’ and “don’t travel unless it’s absolutely necessary”. But he’s quite happy for them to stay and holiday at home where in 90% of local authorities cases are apparently “spiralling” because of the “Indian Variant.”

Just compare and contrast that to here. These were the official figures as of Thursday. 

New cases: 21

In Hospital: 16 

In intensive care: 11

Isolating at home: 395 

First vaccination dose: 359,154 (47%)

Second vaccination dose: 179,350 (23%)

Now while there are some parts of the UK I would love to travel to like Devon and Cornwall. There simply aren’t enough beds to be able to cope with the volume of people. Whereas here, there are hotels everywhere you turn. Hotels too that have invested millions in order to provide you with the holiday you deserve away from the daily stresses and strains and the year we’ve just had. The roads in the UK and in particular the motorways are horrendous at this time of year but in two short hours you can be on a plane and relaxing on a beach or poolside with a cocktail or cool beer in hand. 

I think the only thing holding us back right now from going onto the green list is our vaccination rate. Whilst it’s got better, the Balearics are still last in the list of all the autonomous regions here in Spain. I was at one of the centres last Sunday for my second jab and my Wife for her first. Like last time it was extremely well organised, but this time there were queues everywhere, particularly for the second jab. If they can continue on this path until the end of the month they will have reached the goal of 70% of the population vaccinated at least once. 

I’ve also heard there is a worry that our airport might struggle to cope with a huge influx of people that will undoubtedly happen if the UK Government give the go ahead. I think people forget what the airport was coping with before the pandemic. In 2019 according to official AENA figures, Madrid was the busiest in Spain, followed by Barcelona and guess who came in third? Yes little old Mallorca which carried just under 30 million passengers and that was 10 million more than Malaga in fourth place. Compare and contrast that to the UK, only Heathrow and Gatwick carry more passengers than Mallorca according to their 2019 figures. 

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

Following up on what I talked about last week. I had a lot of messages from people agreeing that enough is enough, we need to get on with our lives. We can’t keep stopping and starting because of various variant outbreaks. What happened to us all being safer if we had the vaccine? And how come you can travel to less places now than you could a year ago? Ever get the feeling we’re being played? 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

This was the headline on the front page of the Daily Mail on Thursday. Now we know that sensational headlines sell papers and you are of course immediately drawn to this one. What gets lost and they’ve tried to hide it even further by putting it into brackets is the message that the experts say “don’t panic.” Why do they come up with this rubbish? Hasn’t there been enough damage done already? 

I know I’m in that industry with the radio and what I write about. But in anything I say or write I always try to be measured and give the facts fairly and truthfully without getting too deep. Negative stories don’t help in any way, shape or form. Is it too much to ask for someone to actually tell us how it is? 

I don’t know about you but I’m fed up with it all now. In fact when I think about it I’ve been saying this for ages. We need to learn to live with this, whatever it is, as our lives are in a state of flux. I know I wake up to warm temperatures, beautiful surroundings etc…but I still feel like I’m living in North Korea. Leave us alone, give us back our lives and let us get on living. I’m 54, I don’t count myself as old but let’s face it I’ve got 20-30 years left if I’m lucky. I don’t want it to all to be like this. I want to go out without a mask, to decide if I want to sit inside or outside a bar or restaurant with my family or a group of friends. Go to the theatre and cinema and go to watch my team play football. And then not worry about what time I’ve got to be home! 

For too long now we’ve been told this will happen or that will happen and I don’t want to be told anything anymore. Let me make my own mind up. 

I wasn’t surprised that we weren’t given the green light by the UK Government. All along I’ve said the end of June and nothing I’ve seen or heard changes that right now. Imagine the people in Portugal now, having had the green light and now get it taken away. That was always the worry on being on such a short list and probably the only major holiday destination too. We found that to our cost last year and although hindsight is an easy thing, it maybe a blessing for us here. If we do get open in July there’s still a chance of a summer season. Albeit shorter, it is possible. If we can be clear on what we can and can’t do during this next month, it will be all systems go until the end of October. There’s been talk of an extended season into November and that would be great but personally I don’t think it will happen. 

The laughable thing is that Spain have welcomed the Brits back without having to take a PCR test beforehand but the EU have said Brits can’t travel to any EU country unless it’s for a specific reason. So the country that has the best vaccination programme in Europe can’t travel as the EU says the Indian Variant infections are far higher than in any other country. You couldn’t make it up. Well, you could as I’m sure most Governments have at times during this. 

Would it not be an idea for the UK Government to say for a country to make the green list that this criteria must be met and then not keep moving the goalposts? It would give airlines, Tour Operators, businesses in the destinations and most importantly those wanting to travel the chance to plan. The problem in Portugal apparently was down to new variants. Firstly why are we vaccinating everyone if every time we get a new variant everything stops? And secondly new variants are going to crop up all the time so when will we learn that we have to live with this? 

I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped us with this years Charity Radiothon last weekend. It was tough to get through the 36 hours but we managed it and the preliminary total so far is 27,100.00€. That was just short of our preliminary total last year but we’re hopeful that we can beat last years overall total of 30,948.32€. We still have the raffle to do on Thursday next week so fingers crossed. 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

One thing I’ve always kept an eye on since living here is sport. We have an amazing history of successful sportsmen and sportswomen in the Balearics. Our sporting facilities are second to none which of course is a help. We excel in many sports especially, tennis, motorcycling and of course football. That is the one I keep tabs on the most, mainly of course because my two boys play and I write about it each week. 

This year though has been nothing short of exceptional, with so many success stories it’s something to really boast about.

Real Mallorca getting promoted back to La Liga is a huge boost for the island and its football. After the disappointment of being relegated from La Liga the season before last and losing the coach to a relegation rival. Luis García Plaza has done an amazing job that could actually culminate in them winning the league this weekend. They are 1 point behind Espanyol, so if they win and Espanyol lose or draw the title is theirs. Remember they’re playing budget was 19 million euros for the season. Espanyol’s was 45.3 million euros, Leganés was 26.7 million euros and Almeria was 27.6 million euros. So they’ve far exceeded expectations. 

Attention will turn now to the squad and how they can strengthen in order that they don’t come back down again. Last time they were let down by the lack of goals and the defence, which was awful, conceding 65 goals. They won just one game away and drew three which was the worst in the league. At home they finished 15th so maintain that and improve the away form then they have a chance. Compare and contrast that to this season and admittedly against weaker teams but the same defence have the best record in the league conceding just 26 goals and in more games. 

Goals wise their joint top scorers are Amath and Abdon with just 9 each, which is not good enough. The top scorer in the league was Raul de Tomas at Espanyol with 23 goals, so they need to find a forward that will score at least 20 goals.

Highlighting their lack of goals, their top scorer in La Liga was Ante Budimir with 13 goals and when they were relegated he famously downed tools and waited for a move. Osasuna took him on loan and he scored 11 goals for them this season. They have an option to buy for 8 million euros but so far no bid has been forthcoming. He said goodbye on his Instagram this week, so what will happen? Will he be welcome back to Mallorca? Let’s see. 

A player that has been mentioned this week is forward Sergi Enrich from Eibar, who have been relegated. He is from Menorca and played at Mallorca from 2008-2013 playing 83 games for Mallorca B and 6 games for the first team. He has been at Eibar since 2015 scoring 32 goals. He would be a free transfer and would be a good addition to the squad in my opinion. 

I’m sure they’ll be plenty of speculation in the coming weeks. 

If there was a prize for the greatest and quickest rises for a football team then you should look no further than UD Ibiza. Having started in a regional league in 2015, fast forward to 2021 where they now find themselves in La Segunda. No other side from Ibiza has been higher and it’s a real rags to riches story. The club is owned by Amadeo Salvo, a former President of Valencia who has ploughed a lot of money into the club. After the disappointment of losing in the play-offs last season, they employed Unai Emery’s former number 2, Juan Carlos Carcedo and they have achieved their dream. It will be very interesting how they cope next season. 

With the changing of the Spanish football pyramid below the two main leagues we find ourselves with representatives from the Balearics in all leagues. 

In Primera RFEF we have Atlético Baleares from Mallorca who in truth have had a disappointing season but a good run at the end kept them where they are. It all changed after they appointed Xavi Calm as Coach and I’m expecting them to push hard for promotion next season. 

In Segunda RFEF we have Peña Deportiva from Ibiza who have without doubt had an amazing season to maintain their position. 

The only negative we’ve had is losing UD Poblense from Segunda RFEF to  

Tercera RFEF on the last day of the season. But I’m sure they’ll come back up next season. 

Ibiza Pitiusas and Andratx have been promoted from Tercera to Segunda RFEF and there is one final play off place to be sorted. It’s between, Constancia, Santanyi, Real Mallorca B and Platges de Calvia from Mallorca, PE Sant Jordi from Ibiza and Formentera. 

Congratulations to CE Mercadal from Menorca who have guaranteed promotion back to Tercera. They have won all of their games so far this season and it will be good to welcome a team from the island again. 

This means we have a representative from the islands in all Five divisions of the new Spanish Football Pyramid. 

Other notable Balearic football news this year. 

Three of the Barcelona ladies squad that gubbed Chelsea in the Champions League Final are from Mallorca. Reserve Goalkeeper Cata Coll, was born in Portol, played for UD Collerense and has done some training with my youngest goalkeeper Son Jude. 

Forward Mariona Caldentey was born in Felanitx and played for UD Collerense and finally midfielder Patri Guijarro who was born in Palma, played for CF Patronato and UD Collerense before moving to Barcelona at the age of 17. 

Carlos Vicens from Colonia de San Jordi in Mallorca is head coach at Manchester City u-18’s. He has just coached them to become the Northern Division title winners pipping Manchester United and the beating Fulham the Southern Champions to become the National Champions. 

Xisco Muñoz from Manacor here in Mallorca got Watford promoted back to the Premier League after only being made Manager in December last year. 

And to top it off, from Villareal’s win against Manchester United in the Europa League final. They had two former players of Real Mallorca in Gerard Moreno and Pervis Estupiñan and one of their trainers Xisco Nadal was born in Palma.

Balearic football has become the new hotbed of Spanish football and long may it continue. 

As you read this, Ayesha and I will be into our second day of broadcasting our 36hr Charity Radiothon on Radio One Mallorca. Any way you can help us, we and the charities will be very grateful. 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

Real Mallorca finally got over the promotion line this week without even playing a game. After beating Alcorcon last weekend pretty comfortably 2-0, they waited to see what Almeria could do at Cartagena. On 82 minutes, Cartagena scored to make 3-2. I was only 10 minutes from the ground at my sons football training, so decided to drive around and see what was happening. I was greeted by fireworks, flares and the fans celebrating. All the cars going by were tooting their horns and their was a sense of celebration and relief. 

It was great to see the coaches, players and staff who were all in Tenerife preparing for their game going absolutely nuts. They followed that up with a 0-1 victory in the Canaries to rubber stamp their promotion.

Two more games to go and an outside chance of finishing above Espanyol but they will need to beat Zaragoza and Ponferradina to stand any chance and hope Espanyol slip up. 

I’ve been lucky enough to get a ticket to last weeks game and this weeks game and it’s great to be able to watch live games again. Hopefully by the time the new season starts all fans will be allowed back in. 

The rebuild of the team for La Liga will start straight away and I’ll have a look next week at who I think will stay and who I think will be shipped out. 

All eyes will be on UD Ibiza today to see if they can clinch their promotion to La Liga Smartbank. Their opponents are UCAM Murcia who drew 2-2 last week against Barcelona B and won 5-4 on penalties. In the league season they played 18 games, won 9, drew 6, and lost 3. They scored 22 and conceded 15. Ibiza’s league season was better, played 18 games, won 12, drew 4 and lost 2. Scored 26 and conceded just 5 goals. They must go in as favourites but this is a one off play off game and anything can happen. 

UD were only set up in 2015 taking over from UD Ibiza-Eivissa and have had a meteoric rise from the regional divisions. If successful they will be the first team from Ibiza to compete in the higher reaches of the Spanish football pyramid. 

It will be great for Balearic football if they can do it. 

Huge game for UD Poblense to maintain their position in Segunda RFEF. They need to beat Yugo UDS and hope that other results go their way. 

Peña Deportiva we know have secured their position in Segunda RFEF and have their last game of the season today against Olot. Former Arsenal and France star Robert Pires was a visitor to the club this week presenting them with a Teqball table. Which is footballs version of table tennis. 

In Tercera Andratx defeated Platges de Calvia 1-0 in a tense game last week to guarantee their promotion to Segunda RFEF along with Ibiza Pitiusas. Platges still have a chance of promotion via the play-offs. 

In Division Honor it’s still very tight. I went to watch San Francisco v Huesca last week at Real Mallorca’s training ground. San Fran went 2-0 up and appeared to be cruising in the first half. But the combination of the heat and a better second half performance from Huesca meant the game ended 2-2. A point for both teams meaning neither have yet secured their position in the league next year. The next round of games is next weekend.

Congratulations to CE Mercadal from Menorca who have guaranteed promotion back to Tercera. They have won all of their 16 games so far this season and it will be good to welcome a team from the island again. 

Take care everyone. 

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, 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 

A mixed bag of topics for me this week. 

So let’s start with the UK Government and their traffic light travel system. The main problem with it is there doesn’t seem to be a clear and concise message across the board. 

On Monday the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “We don’t want to stop travel altogether and the reason that we have the amber list is there will be reasons why people feel they need to travel, either to visit family or indeed to visit friends.”

On Wednesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I think it’s very important for people to grasp what an amber list country is: it is not somewhere where you should be going on holiday, let me be very clear about that.

“And if people do go to an amber list country, they absolutely have to for some pressing family or urgent business reason, then please bear in mind that you will have to self-isolate, you’ll have to take tests and do your passenger locator form and all the rest of it.”

However it is clear that Brits aren’t adhering to Government advice. Cirium, a global aviation data firm, reportedly said the number of scheduled flights and passengers to Italy, Greece and Spain was set to increase by up to 200 per cent in the coming days.

This is said to represent a doubling to Spain, from 38 flights on Wednesday to 80 today, with capacity for up to 16,000 travellers.

According to the Home Secretary Priti Patel, those who decide to go to an amber country could find Police Officers knocking on their door to check they are quarantining on their return. That’s interesting because if you call the Police to ask them to investigate a crime how many times do they actually turn up? 

The low cost airlines are playing the game too by offering cheaper flights to amber countries. Ryanair for example were offering flights for just £5 on some routes. 

With all this going on surely it would have been easier to have Red countries and Green countries only? Then there’s nobody trying to get around the problem. Police officers wouldn’t have to waste their time checking on people and airlines would only fly to the places they could fly to. If you wanted to fly to a red country for family reasons then special dispensation could be applied for. 

I think they went red, amber and green so they could try and cope with the volume of people travelling but it’s clearly not working. 

Another advantage to travel will be the vaccine as most EU countries are going to allow travellers who’ve had both doses to travel without a PCR test and not to have to quarantine on their return. I went for my first jab last weekend. After the nightmare of trying to get an appointment I wasn’t looking forward to going last Sunday. The reality was far different to what I was expecting. I arrived for a 10am appointment at 09.45 and was guided into the sports centre at Germans Escalas. After checking all my information, I was quickly directed to the doctor and after the jab, directed to a desk where my next appointment was organised for June 6th. I was out of the building at 09.55. I couldn’t fault the whole process. 

Congratulations to Real Mallorca who managed to get themselves promoted back to La Liga without playing a game last Tuesday. It’s great to write a bit of good news for the island. After the results from last weekend, Almeria had to win their game at Cartagena or Mallorca would be promoted. I was in Palma at my sons training, when with 10 minutes to go Cartagena scored to lead 3-2. At that point I drove to the ground which was about 10 minutes away to see if there was many people there. I arrived on the full time whistle and there was flares and fireworks going off as the fans were wildly celebrating. Cars were hooting their horns going by and then the majority of fans left to go and celebrate in the now traditional Plaza de las Tortugas in Palma. They now have time to put together a squad that can consolidate its position in La Liga next season and not become a yo-yo club. Their final home game is on Monday at 21.00 against Zaragoza. Season ticket holders can apply for tickets, like last Sunday with a capacity of 4,086. I managed to get one last week so let’s hope I’m lucky again. Last weekend of the tickets handed out, 544 people didn’t show up. That’s terrible, especially as there were so many who wanted to go and couldn’t. I hope the club doesn’t include any of them in this weeks draw. 

This time next week Ayesha and I will be well into the second day of the Radiothon and hopefully raising lots of money for our charities. There’s still time to help us, by sponsoring an hour, bidding in the auction, buying raffle tickets, food donations or donate for a song. It’s not going to be easy to beat last years total but we will give it our best shot and we can only do it with your help. We have an amazing list of over 50 raffle prizes and the auction list is one of the best we’ve ever put together. 

We want to say a massive thank you to everybody that has helped so far. Make sure you tune in or pop into the Wave House to see us. We start at 07.30 on Friday May 28th and go through to Saturday May 29th at 19.00. 

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

Tomorrow at 10am I go for my first vaccine. To be honest it was easier to find FA Cup Final tickets than get myself a vaccine appointment. I was tipped off last week that the PAC in Palma Nova were allowing you to book an appointment without them calling you or booking an appointment online. A couple of my friends had done it and so off I went to see if I could. On entering I asked the lady behind the counter if I could book an appointment for a vaccine. Yes she said, depending on how old you are and the year that you were born. After answering that (54 years old and 1966 by the way) she said please show me your PAC card. At that point, it all halted as I wasn’t registered there she said I needed to go to Santa Ponsa where I was registered. So I hot footed it to Santa Ponsa only to be told that they don’t book appointments off the street, either I wait for a phone call or I book one online. It begs the question why one medical centre was prepared to do it but another wasn’t? Not to be defeated I waited until last Monday when the appointments online were made to people within my age group. Now you would think that as they’ve had at least a year to think about this, then it would be an all singing and all dancing website. One for ease of course, but two to encourage people to go online and book it. Well it might not surprise you to know that it wasn’t quite like that. I can’t tell you how many times it crashed but I must have sat there for at least a couple hours without managing to get the end. There were four stages I seem to remember and it crashed on pretty much all of them. In the end I gave up but thought that as I was up early in the morning for my radio show I would try then. That morning it was a breeze to get through. The only problem I incurred was that Son Dureta didn’t have any appointments so I tried another centre at German Escalas and up popped appointments all day. 

I posted it on my Facebook and it was good to see lots of other people managing in the end to get appointments. 

So the moral of the story is keep trying and it will work eventually. I see there now up to anybody born from 1971 and before. Keep an eye on the site as it keeps adding dates. 

Since all this started and it became apparent that the vaccine was the way forward, I was happy to have it. Now this is about choice and you can choose if you want it or not. I have no problem in taking it as long as it allows me the freedom to go back to what I was used to before. It’s no coincidence that the UK’s numbers have declined ever since they have rolled out their very successful vaccination programme. 

Here in Spain we are still behind other countries which could effect us particularly if the UK decide we have not got enough of the population vaccinated to pass into the Green zone. I said last week we need to be considered separately than the mainland. Listen they’ve looked after themselves all through this so let us get on with it too. 

The situation right now is that in the whole of Spain, 30% of the population have had one jab and 14% have two jabs. 

In Mallorca, 25% have had one dose and 11% have had two doses. When I did these numbers a couple of weeks ago we ranked 17th and last in all of the autonomous regions of Spain, with only the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla below us. We still do. It’s rubbish I know but it’s important that we keep the pressure on so if you can keep trying different ways to get your vaccine. I still believe that by the end of June we will be in the green zone from the UK. It’s great to see the island with a bit more life and it’s quite a novelty to be able to go out nearly all the time now. 

Temperatures are going to hit the highest they’ve been all year this weekend, so….

Take care everyone and 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, 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 

Abdon Prats will always be a fan favourite at Real Mallorca. The centre forward who was born in Arta here on the island, will go down in history as the player that scored the winning goal in the play-off game against Deportivo La Coruña. This week he renewed his contract at the club until 2024. He’s the second top scorer this season with eight, just one behind the top scorer Amath. He’s a good player in La Liga Smartbank but I’m not sure he’ll be a starter next season if Mallorca make it into La Liga. Two years ago when in La Liga, he didn’t start one game under Vincente Moreno, he came on in 20 games but failed to score one goal. 

Real Mallorca got a valuable point away at Malaga last Sunday. It meant they are six points clear of Almeria with four games left to go. Espanyol are now promoted and Mallorca will join them if they win two out of those four games. Starting this weekend at home to Alcorcon, kicking off Sunday at 20.45. A kick-off brought forward as Mallorca have been allowed to let fans in this weekend. 4,086 is the number and this applies to season ticket holders who have to apply via the website. The lucky ones will know via email after the club do a draw Saturday morning. I hope I am one!

After an iffy start which continued into mid season and meant replacing their coach, Atlético Baleares have turned their season around.  Xavi Calm  who took over from Jordi Roger completely changed the team and they have now assured themselves into Primera RFEF. Now is the time for them to build a squad to try and get themselves into La Liga Smartbank. Xavi has signed a new contract but I would be interested to know if te fans think he is the right man going forward? Having fired Jordi Roger as coach the club have re-employed him as their Sporting Director. I’m not sure if that’s a good decision either? If he was the guy that helped put the squad together which didn’t work why would you put him in charge again next season? Once again I would be interested to know the fans thoughts.  One player who was a success this season was centre forward Vinicius Tanque and it’s a shame to hear that he has returned to his parent club Cartagena. In 23 games he scored 11 goals and 3 assists and was the leagues top scorer. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to get him back next season. 

UD Ibiza play Real Madrid Castilla in of the play-off semi-finals to win a place in the Final play-offs that will lead ultimately to La Liga Smartbank. It will be an interesting game against Real Madrid’s youngsters who are managed by former club legend Raul. Interestingly they’ll be 3 players from the islands playing for Madrid against Ibiza. Defender Pablo Ramon who played in Mallorca for Son Caliu and Real Mallorca. Midfielder Marvin Park who also played in Mallorca for Ciutat de Palma, La Salle and Penya Arrabal. Finally midfielder Xavi Sintes who played in Menorca for Sant Lluis, UD Mahon, Villacarlos and in Mallorca for Real Mallorca. It won’t be easy for Ibiza who have pretty much dominated the majority of the teams they have played this season, but I expect them to get through. 

Congratulations to Peña Deportiva who after struggling at the beginning of the season have managed to turn it around with a brilliant run in and got themselves into Segunda RFEF. Coach Raul Casany has done a tremendous job and Peña will hope they can hang onto him. 

UD Poblense have two games to stay in Segunda RFEF or be relegated to Tercera RFEF. Even if they win those two games they’re not assured of staying up but it’s the only option they have.

In Tercera, congratulations to CD Ibiza Islas Pitiusas who have got themselves promoted to Segunda RFEF. The other place is still up for grabs and the two protagonists, Andratx and Platges de Calvia play each other this weekend in a winner takes all game. Neither team are on form so it will be a nail biting game that kicks-off at 19.30 Saturday evening in Andratx. 

In Division Honor, Real Mallorca and CD San Francisco are currently in position to stay in the league. Penya Arrabal are staring at relegation and Atlético Villacarlos from Menorca are relegated. This weekend Mallorca play seventh placed Stadium Casablanca, San Fran play third placed Huesca, Penya play fifth placed Lleida Esportiu and Villacarlos play eighth placed Jabac Terrassa. 

Take care everyone. 

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, 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