As soon as my team the Arsenal qualified for the Champions League I said to my two boys that if we draw a Spanish team then we will definitely go to an away game. When the draw was made I knew we had a pretty good chance because there were five Spanish teams in it. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Sociedad and Sevilla were all in the hat and any one of those would have been a great day out. I’d already seen Arsenal before at the two Madrid teams and at Barcelona so although they would have been great again a trip to Sevilla in the South or Sociedad in the North would be something different. We ended up drawing Sevilla and so the hunt was on for tickets, hotel and flights. 

I was moaning last week about the lack of low fares from the low cost airlines but we are lucky here on the islands as we get discounted travel. That’s only if we’re travelling around Spain and its islands. The Spanish government subsidises 75% of the fares of scheduled air transport for all EU citizens who are residents of the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla. For us Brits living in Mallorca it means to qualify for the discount, you must be a permanent resident, either with the green NIE stating ‘permanente’ or with the TIE card. You also need to get a resident certificate from the municipal council where you are registered. I got ours from one of the tourist information offices. So our return tickets to Sevilla were 75€, not each that was for all three! Now the airlines have been accused of putting up their prices to compensate for the discount especially around the holidays so you need to shop around or book as early as you can. 

The hotel I got was called the Torre Sevilla and it came on recommendation from a friend. It is the tallest building in Andalusia and in Seville and provides a panoramic view on all of city. 

Seville is the capital of Andalusia, the city has the world’s biggest gothic cathedral, which is the resting place of the World famous explorer Christopher Columbus who we celebrate in Spain on October 12th commemorating the first time that Columbus sailed for America in 1492.

If you’re interested in experiencing Spanish tapas culture, then there is arguably no better place to do this than Seville. Going on a tapas crawl can lead you from historic old bars serving up traditional Sevillano dishes to hip new eateries putting modern spins on old classics. We went to another recommendation called Bar Pelayo which I can pass on as a great place to go. 

I am really grateful to a friend called Jeff who sorted our tickets for us. To be honest we couldn’t have been any closer to the pitch. We had the Arsenal technical team in front of us and the academy team a few rows behind us. Also just two rows behind us was Arsenal legend Ian Wright who was happy to pose for photos with anyone who asked. 

The atmosphere inside the stadium was amazing and the Sevilla fans didn’t stop singing from the start of the game until the finish. Arsenal played well for 60 minutes and were cruising at 2-0 up. But the home side pulled one back and the last half hour was very nerve wracking but we held on for a 2-1 win. We all slept well that night and flew back to Mallorca the next morning. A great experience for all of us and hopefully we’ll be able to repeat it again soon. I said to my Wife we really must make more of the residents discount and see more of the mainland. Galicia, the Basque region and Rioja are three places that are on my list. Maybe we could tie it in with a Real Mallorca away game? Or maybe I shouldn’t mention that?

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

I returned to the UK for a couple of days this week to see my family. What has happened to the so-called low cost airlines? It’s very rare you can get what you would call a cheap flight anymore. If you’re travelling light then it’s not too bad but if you’re not then the extras if you want them normally add up to more than the original cost of the flight. Take Easyjet for example, others are available and do the same of course but they were the ones i travelled with. After you’ve selected the flights you want, you’re then offered the standard package, then standard plus, then essentials or flexi. All have different offerings with added costs of course, in fact if I had taken the flexi ticket my 150€ ticket had become 450€! I stuck to the standard fare as I was only going for a couple of days. Then I’m offered a seat choice which ranged from 11.99€ to 25.99€, which I skip. Don’t you find that there’s a 99% chance you’ll get a middle seat from the random selection? I’m then offered the chance to bring with me a “larger” cabin bag with the small bag that’s included in my fare, that’s 31.99€, which I decline. Now we get to the hold luggage, 39.49€ for 15kg or 48.24€ for 23kg. If I had sports equipment then it’s 84€ for 20kg or 104€ for 32kg. On the way I should mention I was offered car hire, insurance and every time I declined anything another pop up would appear saying are you sure you want to skip this part? By the time I got to the payment method I was exhausted. I’m not being funny but it’s all self check-in now at most airports so by the time I get on the plane I actually feel like I work for the company. 

All this reminds me of the famous joke told about Easyjets rival. 

Ryanair’s Micheal O’Leary arrives in a hotel in Dublin, he goes to the bar and asks for a pint of draught Guinness. 
The barman nodded and said, “That will be one Euro please, Mr. O’Leary.”
Somewhat taken aback, O’Leary replied, “That’s very cheap,” and handed over his money.
“Well, we try to stay ahead of the competition”, said the barman. “And we are serving free pints every Wednesday evening from 6 until 8. We have the cheapest beer in Ireland”
“That is remarkable value” Michael comments.
“I see you don’t seem to have a glass, so you’ll probably need one of ours.
That will be 3 euro please.
O’Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat.
“Ah, you want to sit down?” said the barman. “That’ll be an extra 2 euro. – You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you a Euro.”

“I think you may to be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please”
Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can’t squeeze in he complains “Nobody would fit in that little frame”.
“I’m afraid if you can’t fit in the frame you’ll have to pay an extra surcharge of €4.00 for your seat sir”.
O’Leary swore to himself, but paid up. “I see that you have brought your laptop with you” added the barman. “And since that wasn’t pre-booked either, that will be another 3 euro.”
O’Leary was so annoyed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, “This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager”.
“Ah, I see you want to use the counter,” says the barman, “that will be 2 euro please.” O’Leary’s face was red with rage.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Of course I do Mr. O’Leary,”
“I’ve had enough, What sort of Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!”
“Here is his E mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9 and 9.10 every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only 10 cents per second”

“I will never use this bar again”.
“OK sir, but remember, we are the only hotel in Ireland selling pints for one Euro”!

I mentioned last week about the awful goings on in the Middle East. I hope a solution is found soon but it doesn’t look there will be. With all this going on it seems like the Ukrainian and Russian war doesn’t make the news. I say this because last week in Pirates we invited a group of Ukrainian children to the show. We were contacted by a guy called Igor Volodko who has set up a company called Help to Ukrainian Children From Mallorca. It’s a charity project which brought 50 children between 8 and 12 years old who had been orphaned or part orphaned by the war. I was pleased to hear that lots of other businesses helped these children enjoy their time on Mallorca. 

Sadly the season is drawing to a close but we still seem to be very busy at Pirates as it’s half term in the UK. We’re building up to our famous Halloween double show. Firstly from 18.00 to 21.00 there’s the Monster Mash up of our Adventure and Reloaded shows for all ages. 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 amazing prizes for those who come in the best fancy dress costumes! Enjoy an evening with plenty of tricks and treats… a pre-show dinner of roast chicken & chips, followed by an ice cream, with a vegetarian option on request. Soft drinks are included in the price and there is a fully licenced bar to purchase all your other drinks, followed by world-class entertainment with an evil twist! A spook-tacular night guaranteed. 

Secondly from 22.00 to the wee small witching hours there’s our Gringos Halloween beyond the grave rave. If you’re not aware of the phenomenon that is Gringos, then it’s an adult only rave-bingo night with prizes, on-stage audience dance-offs, tequila, and much more. But this one is a little bit different because we’re not only celebrating Halloween but it’s our final show of the season. 

You can book tickets online or please call (0034) 971 130411. 

Two wins last weekend for my two boys. Jake’s team won 3-0 and Jude’s team won 2-1. Both have away games this weekend so Dad Taxi is out earning his money. 

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

How amazing is this end of September and early October weather! Anybody that has booked these past few weeks would have their moneys worth. Imagine it’s made a few businesses think about extending their season and some who have already closed might be regretting that decision. There doesn’t seem to be a change coming soon if the weather forecast is to be believed although a blip looks on the cards next week. What I love about Mallorca is its total contrast. Saturday night I hosted our Gringos Bingo night. I have to say it was good to get back on the stage that I’d previously worked for 14 years. Gringos is so much fun, not only for the customers that come but for us on the stage too. I have to admit though at the end I was completely knackered and slept well that night. Sunday by contrast and only 10 minutes out of Magaluf we found ourselves at Puro Beach in the bay of Illetas. Everything about the day was just what I needed after Saturday night. The weather was great, the view beautiful, the sea inviting and the food,drink and service at Puro was second to none. And we just got back in time to watch my team Arsenal beat Manchester City 1-0, perfect! By the way we used a website called hotel treats, they offer vouchers to some of the luxury hotels, beach clubs and spas across the island and making them accessible to residents. Some great deals to be had in low season that would make a good birthday, anniversary or Christmas present. 

A couple of weeks ago I talked about sport leading the way on the island and turning it into an all year round destination. The current weather is only going to help this and hopefully persuade other people that this is not just a summer destination. I’m pleased to hear that the new administration in Calvia are looking at keeping the beaches open in the winter. More hotels will stay open say the council and so hopefully more cafes, bars and restaurants will too. The capital city Palma has established itself as a year round destination with culture, markets, gastronomy and shopping its pull. It’s up to other areas to look at their resorts and see what they could offer in the low season. I’ve said this on many occasions that Magaluf and Palma Nova were thriving winter destinations when I arrived on the island in 1990. Failure of successive Governments to invest in those resorts and to encourage both businesses and their workforce to work in the winter rather than claim unemployment benefit has resulted in where are now. Let’s hope that this is a turning point. 

I don’t think I’m qualified enough to talk about the awful scenes in Israel. But as a human being I’m totally lost on how we as the human race can sink so low. I remember growing up on the Middle East war and the peace deal signed in the late 70’s by Egypt and Israel. That was then followed by a peace deal with the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1993. But as always religion gets in the way and slowly but surely the troubles return. I’m on neither side here, I just despair at what I’m witnessing. 

Another draw for Real Mallorca last weekend means they lie in 15th place having drawn five of their opening nine games. Draws will be needed to be turned into wins if we don’t want to be flirting with relegation again. Mixed results for my two boys at the weekend. Jacobs team lost 2-1 away at Poblense and Jude’s team won 3-6 away at Soller. Home games this weekend mean not too much travelling for Dad Taxi. 

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

Being a football man there’s only one subject to talk about this week. Video Assistant Referee or VAR as it’s better known has had more back page column inches than any other football story. Now let’s remember that this system was brought in to alleviate clear and obvious mistakes that were happening in the game. What has actually happened is they are now re-refereeing games. Football, it’s laws and how it’s refereed is based on opinion and interpretation and one referees opinion will differ from someone else’s. Now I’m not just talking  about referees here, television, radio, newspapers and even the fans opinions will differ. Meaning that in truth you are never going to be able to get every decision correct. Most people thought that with the introduction of VAR this would change. But now we have the situation that the on field referees decision is being questioned by another two referees in a bunker miles away from the ground.  A refereeing team in the Premier League consists of the following, a Referee, 2 x Assistant Referees (aka linesmen), Fourth official, VAR, Assistant VAR. So that’s 6 different people who are all capable of refereeing a game. But who also have their own interpretation or opinion on how a game is run. 

I find myself not celebrating a goal anymore because I’m looking to see if there was an offside, a foul, a handball or something else untoward leading up to the ball going in. 

So in a way VAR is ruining the game. 

If you’ve not seen  what happened last Saturday I will explain. Tottenham were playing Liverpool, a very high profile game with two teams who were unbeaten and at the top end of the league. Let me get the yellow and red cards given, out of the way first. Remember now this is my opinion and my interpretation of what I saw. You may say well what do you know you’re not a qualified Ref but I’ve played and watched enough football to have what I think is a measured opinion. The red card on Curtis Jones wasn’t a red in my eyes. In fact the on field referee saw it as a yellow card. But by slowing it down and showing the referee a still of his boot on Bissouma’s shin as VAR did, it was changed to a red. An example of one referees opinion against another. He goes to win the ball as he does his boot rolls over the top of the ball and hits his opponents shin. Was there any malice? Not for me. But as it’s a game of opinions you can be sure that if he wasn’t sent-off and went on to score the winning goal the Spurs manager and fans would be saying well he should have been sent-off. 

The other red card for Diogo Jota was even worse than the first one. The first yellow card I don’t actually think he touched the Spurs player who then proceeds to trip over his own feet. The second yellow though admittedly was a foul and as it was about two minutes after the other one, the ref produced a red.

The most controversial decision though was the disallowed Luis Diaz goal. The on field decision was offside and it went to VAR to check it. VAR however thought the goal had been given and therefore checked if it was onside. They then agreed with the on field decision thinking that the goal had been given. Confusing I know but this was down to lack of communication and the proper protocol not being followed. 

In a statement “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool,” it began.

“The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.

“PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error. PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”

This week Jurgen Klopp has asked for the game to be replayed, wrong in my opinion. At this rate we’d replaying games left, right and centre. I know we probably can’t but I would go back to letting the referee and the two linesman run the game and it be stopped by VAR only for something that’s clear and obviously wrong. Nothing you do will take away different opinions and interpretations which means we’ll always have something to debate every weekend. Let’s hope that last weekend was a line in the sand. 

I received a message this week from a guy called Alan Jenkins. Saying that he and his wife were here in Mallorca for a few days and it would be good to catch up. I have to be honest and say I couldn’t remember who he was so embarrassingly I had to write back and ask him where we’d met. It turns out that the name Alan Jenkins was a made up name he used to use on Twitter. It was in fact Andy Jacobs the radio presenter who along with Paul Hawksbee has been doing an afternoon show on Talksport for the last 20 years. I’m a Talksport nut and their programme is the one I enjoy the most. It was a pleasure to spend an hour with him and his lovely wife Sue. They last visited Mallorca 50 years ago and were very impressed with how it’s changed. 

This Saturday Dad Taxi has football trips to Sa Pobla and Soller so earning my money but unfortunately not enough time to see Real Mallorca play Valencia. 

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

I maybe biased but Mallorca has lots of things to brag about. The weather, beaches, scenery, gastronomy, history, culture and top class attractions. 

For such a small island with a population of just under 1 million people we have a great history of producing world class sports men and women. 

Tennis player and winner of 22 Grand Slam titles Rafa Nadal, former World number one tennis player Carlos Moya, who is now Rafa’s coach. Mens footballer Marco Asensio currently at Paris Saint Germain, two of Spains World Cup winning women’s team footballers Cata Coll and Mariana Caldentey, Real Madrid basketball player Rudy Fernández, three time Moto GP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and one time Moto GP Champion Joan Mir. There are many more who may not have hit the heights of the people above but have and are still carving out great careers. This is not just about people competing, we have coaches who are now training top sportsmen away from the island too. In the sport I know best, football, Carlos Cuesta is an assistant coach at Arsenal and Carlos Vicens is an assistant coach at Manchester City.

It’s no surprise that Lionel Scaloni the World Cup winning coach of Argentina chooses to live here!

So how do we do it? Well you only have to look around to see the first class facilities we have around the island. Where I live in Calvia alone you can find football, golf, swimming, athletics, tennis, sailing, boxing, gymnastics, golf, and cycling, to name just a few. But all are top class not just a park with a couple of goal posts. 

With what we have in facilities, the athletes and coaches we produce it’s no wonder that other countries and athletes look at Mallorca as a place to come and train. What more can you ask for with what I’ve already written? I should add though which makes us even more attractive is that we’re an island in the Mediterranean only a couple of hours flight from most European cities, so access is easy. 

The reason I’m saying all this is we were contacted last week by the diver Tom Daley. In my mind Tom had retired from diving and wasn’t competing anymore. Last year I remember him and all his family coming to Pirates and enjoying a holiday here on the island. But his desire to return to the pool was ignited by his son who said he’d love to see his Papa compete at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Tom was here in Mallorca with the GB diving team training at the Son Hugo diving pool.

He contacted us to bring the whole team to Pirates. He was there to relax of course but was more than happy to answer a couple of questions. 

What are the expectations for you & the team going into Paris 2024? 

“I have only recently come back to the sport, so for me i want to enjoy the process and the journey to firstly qualifying for Paris and then doing the best I can!”

What makes Mallorca such a good place to do a training camp? 

“Mallorca is a great place for a pre season training camp, the weather, the facilities, the food and the people. We have been coming here since 2012!”

I’m sure between now and the Olympics next year we’re going to see more and more athletes and teams from around the World training and enjoying our island. Remember this is something that will help our economy and help us to become an all year round destination. 

I went to see Palma Futsal play Barcelona on Tuesday on the same night that Real Mallorca were also playing Barcelona. Futsal in case you didn’t know is indoor 5 a side football played in two halves of 20 minutes. It’s fast and furious and a little bit like a game of basketball. Palma Futsal are the reigning European Champions which is something to shout about. From 0-2 down at half-time they came back to win 5-4. Given the choice I prefer 11 a side football but judging by the 4,000 crowd that were there it’s very popular here. We came out of that stadium to watch Mallorca play Barcelona. I was very impressed with the atmosphere the club built up before the game and they have to be congratulated on the money spent on improving the stadium. The new screen on top of the new stand is very impressive. 

Mallorca decided to turn up for this game and didn’t look a team that is struggling for goals. A 2-2 draw was well deserved against a top of the league Barcelona team and I hope they can continue that desire into the next game and beyond.

My two sons had differing results over the weekend. Jude’s team won 3-1 against Son Sardina and went to the top of the league. But Jake’s team got gubbed 5-0 against top of the table CE Espanya. Home games this week means that Dad Taxi has an easy weekend. Although I’m also appearing as Bad Santa at the Gringos Christmas night on Saturday. If you fancy letting your hair down then go to http://www.gringosbingo.com online for tickets. Residents get 15€ off with the code XMAS 15. 

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

So has it been a success? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let me explain. 

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

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

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

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

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

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⚽️ Spain win the World Cup

⚽️ Rubiales grabs his crotch celebrating the win

⚽️ Rubiales grabs and kisses footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips

⚽️ Hermoso reveals she did not enjoy the experience 

⚽️ Rubiales issues an apology

⚽️ FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings 

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

⚽️ The Spanish Government begins legal proceedings 

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

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

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

⚽️ FIFA suspends Rubiales

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

⚽️ Rubiales Mother goes on hunger strike

⚽️ Rubiales Mother admitted to hospital 

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

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

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!

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

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