The Road to Hell

I have a love-hate relationship with the Via de Cintura. For those reading this who are asking who or what? It’s the ring road around the capital city of Palma here in Mallorca. Now I’m not called Dad Taxi for nothing, I drive that road more or less once a day 7 days a week and sometimes twice. It might be for work but usually it’s to get my two sons either to and from football training or a match. I have done the journey from Santa Ponsa to Son Fusteret where the boys train in 15 minutes on a good day and 1 hour and 30 minutes on a bad day. 

A decision in February 2021 made by the then Government to reduce its speed limit from 120 kilometers an hour to 80 kilometers an hour caused an outcry at the time. They claimed it was with the aim of combating pollution, reducing emissions and unclogging a road on which traffic jams formed every day. Antoni Cànovas, who at the time was one of the most respected Road Safety Experts in the country said that there were other options. “It is not logical that on roads with 2 lanes the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour and on a highway that’s lit up, with three lanes in each direction and no roundabouts it’s 80 kilometers an hour.” He added “The speed limit could be reduced to 100 kilometers an hour during the day and increased to 120 kilometres an hour from 21:00, they should consult the professionals before making decisions like this.”

Despite this the policy was brought in. Remember the words “combating pollution, reducing emissions and unclogging a road on which traffic jams formed every day.” Did anyone see any change? No me neither. In fact I’d say the traffic has got worse and the emissions greater by being stationary for so long. 

Now there’s a new Government in town and since Monday the new limit is 100 kilometers an hour. I had to laugh though that no expense had been spared to cover up the 80 kilometers an hour signs. They did it with bin liners! 

I’ve had plenty of opportunities to sit and watch the world go by listening to Chris Rea’s road to hell and noticing some weird and not so wonderful things.

On the road to Santa Ponsa you go underneath the roundabout at the Magaluf turn off and on the right hand side there’s a random bush growing out of the wall. 

The graffiti is a massive problem all the way around the ring road. Actually an island problem if I’m honest but that’s for another day. I can’t believe that someone hasn’t invented a graffiti free concrete or metal yet. Why don’t they put up cameras in the hotspots and when you catch the people doing it make them clean it off. I’m not against graffiti if it’s in a controlled area like the wall in Magaluf but it doesn’t create a good first impression for tourists arriving on the island. I’m hearing that they’re planning to put up more acoustic screens to reduce the noise for residents. No offence but if you’ve bought a property near the islands busiest road surely you’ll expect noise? Also how long do you give them before they’re covered in graffiti too?

Does anyone else use the feeder lane at the Bendinat turn off to speed past the waiting traffic? Or is it just me? 

Why are there no entry signs on the opposite side of the road in certain places where it is totally impossible to drive up anyway?

Luckily there are no roundabouts until you get off but don’t get me talking about how the Spanish navigate them. It’s not normal!

That Chris Rea song has just changed to “I’m driving home for Christmas”.

Take care everybody and can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

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 

Shop Locally and Give to Charity this Christmas

Christmas shopping is not something us boys look forward to. Me in particular, so much so I prefer to ask people to give me an idea of what they would like to receive. I do though love the food and drink shopping at this time of year. I do believe in helping local businesses and I’ve picked out a couple that I’ve bought from in the past. These people would always be one of the first to help when charity was calling in my old job on the radio and I now count them as friends. But more importantly they are very good at what they do. I caught up with them all this past week to find out what they’re doing leading up to Christmas. 

Simon at Bespoke Provisioning studied for 3 years training at Chefs school which included becoming a fully fledged butcher and fishmonger. 

You may remember him from the Escape bar in Palma which he ran for 16 years. When he left the bar he started The Meat & Fish Society which has now become Bespoke Provisioning. They specialise in the highest quality meat and fish, fully  trimmed, cut, filleted, vacuum packed and labelled and delivered on time. They deliver to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca (fixed rates to Ibiza and Menorca so no surprises) Simon has cheffed for Queen drummer Roger Taylor on his new yacht ‘Rock n Roll’ and has cooked at countless events. 

As the yacht provisioning is a little quieter at this time of year he is offering for Christmas, Whole organic Turkeys, boned and rolled organic turkeys and gammon joints in various sizes. 

For more information please call or whatsapp Simon on 619 593 387. Facebook 

“the meat and fish society” for pictures, videos and general information. 

And you can Email him on sales@mn2v.co

Since 2005 Elisa and Mikey from the World of Wine have been building relationships with the industry’s most acclaimed vineyards and winemakers from ‘Old World’ to ‘New World’, Spain to New Zealand and France to Australia. They source exceptional wines made from the highest quality grapes and deliver them personally to your doorstep or superyacht quayside.

You can indulge in the spirit of Christmas with their curated selection of wines, exquisite champagnes and a festive array of drinks. Why not have a pre-dinner bottle of champagne Vueve Cliquot and Moët Chandon are always the classic favourites. This year Blanc de Blanc and Pol Roger Brut Reserve are very popular too.

Every year they are finding more wines from Mallorca, such as Ses Rotes, Es Verger, Son Mayol Rose and Castel Miguel. They also have a full selection from the mainland of Spain, Italy, France, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. 

If you’re looking for a wine to pair with your turkey then they recommend a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Albariño. Don’t be fooled by the name World of Wine as they can supply beers and spirits including, Port, Brandy, Whiskey and even Tequila! And remember all these are not just for drinking, they are for gifting too. 

For more information please call;

Elisa Llewellyn: +34 669 075 466

Miguel Perez: +34 636 188 598

In years gone by I would be heavily involved in a Christmas charity campaign. I feel a little guilty that not working on the radio has limited my ability to do the charity work. However I had a coffee with Nick from Yachting Gives Back this week who we helped on a number of occasions and asked what help they could do with this Christmas.

Yachting Gives Back are a registered charity through which the yachting industry – both yachts and service companies – are helping to alleviate the problems of poverty and hunger in Mallorca. They collect non-perishable foodstuffs & hygiene products and they then deliver to those in need on the island. The main charities the help are;

Associacio Tardar is a food bank & Soup Kitchen in Palma. They provide simple, balanced meals daily to hundreds of people in the centre of Palma. The operation relies totally on volunteers and donations and they collaborate with Social Services to reach the people most in need of help.

Mallorca Sense Fam is a food bank and charity shop in Palma. Mallorca Without Hunger is a local food bank providing regular supplies of basic foodstuffs to the most vulnerable families in Palma. It is run by a network of volunteers and supported by donations from private individuals & entities, as well as public food banks. MSF has its own application process and conducts initial interviews with people seeking help. 

Es  Refugi is a non-profit association working in collaboration with the Social Services to meet the basic needs of those who, due to different circumstances, are at risk of social exclusion. Over the years Es Refugi has worked with people with addiction problems and currently focuses on the long term unemployed, who may have ended up defaulting on their mortgage payments, lost their unemployment benefit and in the process also lost family contact. Es Refugi runs a shelter and social kitchen for 50 people in the finca Ca l´Ardiaca II in the outskirts of Palma.

Can Gaza is a rustic finca in Secar de la Real is a home for about 25 men who suffer from serious consequences of past drug and alcohol addictions. Despite their weak physical condition, they all contribute in the daily chores of the finca. Those in better health restore furniture and other household items in Taller Marginalia, a treasure trove of second hand wares in Can Valero. Through daily work, each member of the community contributes to their own wellbeing as well as that of their “extended family”, thus helping to build up their self confidence and sense of dignity.

Asociación Siloé is a non-profit entity of public interest under the umbrella of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Services, providing care and a family-like environment for terminally ill AIDS sufferers in a vulnerable situation, without financial resources or family support. 

SOS Mamas was set up by two former colleagues and friends who created a Facebook page where people could offer equipment no longer needed, and families with children lacking resources could ask for what they require, in total anonymity. This humble initiative has grown into an organisation that attends to the basic needs of thousands of regulars in various areas on the island.

It was great to catch up with Nick again and he mentioned that if you want to donate anything then milk,  any cooking oil and hygiene products are always needed. 

For more information please Email: nick@yachtinggivesback.com or call +34 619 117 937.
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 

A Sneaky Airline Scam?

December the 6th is a holiday here in Spain and is known as Constitution Day. Celebrating the anniversary of the country’s current democratic constitution that was installed in 1978 after the fall of the Franco dictatorship. With the present problems in Spanish politics you might be forgiven to think, is there a possibility we’re going return to those dark days? Now I could carry on but politics really isn’t my bag and I thought it why bore you any more than I already do. 

As it’s a public holiday it was standard to find out that the flight prices for this week were horrendous, so I decided to go back to the UK last week for a couple of days to see my family. Why is it in the winter they make you walk miles to the gate at the airport when the rest of the gates that are closer are closed?  I wrote in October that the age of the No-Frills airline had ceased to be and they are doing their best to rip you for whatever they can get. More about that later! As I was only going for a couple of days I decided on the airlines ‘small bag policy’. I watched with great interest one staff member at Palma airport who was like a hawk stalking his prey trying to catch anybody he could with the wrong sized bag. I’m sure these people get off on causing misery to others and I’m sure they’re probably on a commission to catch as many people out as possible. That stand they have at the check-in desk has definitely got smaller, you’re lucky if you can get a Lidl paper bag in one of those things. But I was fine with my little Nike bag that I’d borrowed from my Son and had used on countless occasions throughout the Summer.

I had been offered a ticket to see the Arsenal in the Championship League that night but I was worried that if I landed at 17.00 which I was due to do, I’d be hard pushed to make it to the theatre of dreams by 20.00. Well if ‘London Stansted’ was actually in London and not in deepest Essex then maybe I could have done. As I left the plane I was greeted by a Siberian temperature of minus something. When you’ve been used to 20 degrees and above all year in Mallorca, this was quite a shock. Having picked up my hire car and safely negotiated the first roundabout which is always a nightmare when driving on the other side of the road, I was on my way up the M11 to Cambridgeshire. Or so I thought. All of a sudden we ground to a halt and we didn’t actually move again for a whole hour. I managed to listen to the whole Arsenal game on the radio before I reached my destination. Visiting and spending some time with my Mum aka the Duchess,  my Sister and friends is always great but never long enough. 

And so to my return. Now most airlines encourage you to download their apps so you can do everything on it but they are different when it comes to checking in. With some you can check-in when you want but with one particular one if you choose not to buy a seat they won’t let you check-in until 24 hours before. At that point i’d been asked a thousand times whether i’d prefer to pay for a seat which I politely declined. But this time something new occurred which hasn’t happened to me before and is obviously another one of their stealth taxes. A message came up on my phone which read ‘This is not a mobile boarding pass, you must collect your boarding pass at the airport check-in desk.’ Another message popped up which read, ‘Get your boarding pass now and avoid queueing at the airport by adding a seat’. Or otherwise known as, we know you’ve declined to pay for a seat a thousand times so we’re going to stitch you up and make you wait at the airport for a boarding pass. Which I dually did but what was the point and  what happened to us beginning to become a paperless society? This was a story that was picked up the mainstream media, the Sunday Mail had a story at the weekend and BBC news contacted me for a similar story they were running. 

It didn’t end there. That trusty Nike bag which I’d travelled with all summer with no problems all of a sudden wasn’t the right size for Mrs Jobsworth at the check-in desk. There are other names I could call her but she wasn’t having any of it. I asked why she hadn’t stopped the guy in front of me, ‘ oh he’s priority’ she snootily replied. It was pay £46 or start walking so I had no choice. That £46 was in fact more than I paid for my flight and I’m sure that when I scanned my boarding card a message came up on her computer saying. ‘Passenger refused to buy a seat even after we made him wait to get his boarding pass so feel free to stitch him up!’ 

In a week when Shane McGowan sadly passed away ‘Happy Christmas your arse’ was a perfect riposte when handed my receipt. 

It might be Christmas season but goodwill to all men isn’t a message that this airline is sending. Oh and just for the record the airline in question? It might not surprise you to know was Ryanair and because it’s winter time other airlines were not available. 

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 

Omid Who?

If I was to mention the name Omid Scobie, would you know who I was talking about? Well to me and probably most of you out there we only began to hear about him after he co-wrote the book ‘Finding Freedom’. A biography about Harry and Meghans life together. Now if that wasn’t enough rubbish for you he’s just released another book on the Royal family called ‘Endgame.’

Apparently you will find both books in the non-fiction section of most good book shops and some bad ones as well. But when I looked at the meaning of a non fiction book I am seriously doubting whether they should be there. ‘Non-fiction is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination.’ 

Remember last week I talked about footballers using their parents as their mouth pieces to get their message out there if they are upset about something? Well Harry and Meghan have gone a similar way and used two books written by someone else to try and trash the Royal family. Well two books written by this leech Scobie and another one that Harry did with another author J R Moehringer called ‘Spare’. The first book Meghan said they had nothing to do with but under oath she then apologised in court for failing to remember authorising a senior aide to brief the authors of her and Harry’s unofficial biography.

The release of this new book is another excuse Scobie to have another pop at the Royal Family. I can’t believe that Harry and Meghan weren’t involved in some way in this bilge too.

These are two people who had every right to quit Royal life and in their own  words go and live a quiet life away from public life and more particularly the media. However all they’ve done ever since is to try and court the limelight. From Oprah, three books, a Netflix documentary and podcasts they’ve done all they can to keep themselves famous but try and trash the very thing that got them there in the first place. 

Back to Scobie, who you might have gathered I’m not a fan of. He once claimed he was 33 years old and in fact he was 38 and he also said that he’d never flown in a private jet and was pictured on Instagram the week before travelling on one. So we’ve all told a few porkies right? But when you’re writing books on the Royal family surely you want the information to be correct don’t you? 

The racism claims on Oprah on the possible colour of Archie’s skin have up to now never been corroborated. In fact two years later after all the damning speculation, Harry said in an interview with Tom Bradby that the claims of racism were by the media and not as a consequence of what was said in the interview. Utter rubbish. 

This story took an interesting twist this week as in a Dutch version of Scobie’s book the names of the two Royals who allegedly said something were printed. Why in the Dutch version and nowhere else? Of course there was the usual social media pile on and the books were removed by the publisher who said there’d been a mistake. By who and why?  Piers Morgan took it upon himself to name them on his talk show on Wednesday night. 

Believe what you want but remember this guy is out to sell his book and as for the other two I’d prefer if they’d go and do what they said they were going to do and live a private life. I fear that won’t be the case. 

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 

Right or Wrong?

Those that know me know I’m very passionate about my football. I’m an Arsenal fan and despite living in Mallorca I’ll always try to catch a game when I can. I’m a Real Mallorca season ticket holder and I have two boys that play football for CD San Francisco in Palma. I’ve said before that when I’m saying anything on the sidelines watching the boys I mostly do it English as not many people can understand me. I have to be honest and say that I’ve said things at times I probably shouldn’t but as the boys have got older I’ve definitely mellowed. Parents here and back in the UK are told to behave themselves whilst watching games but at times that doesn’t happen. 

Interestingly I’ve noticed something creeping into the professional game and particularly in the Premier League in the last year. Parents of professional players have come out and defended their own sons in the media. Now these are two high profile players, who are also England Internationals. I am talking about Harry Maguire and Aaron Ramsdale. The circumstances are different though for these two. Harry’s was in relation to how he was playing and Aaron’s was the fact that he had been replaced by another player. 

Harry’s Mother said, “As a mum seeing the level of negative and abusive comments which my son is receiving from some fans, pundits and the media is disgraceful and totally unacceptable to any walk of life, never mind someone who works his socks off for club and country.”

Aaron’s Father said, “Aaron’s lost that smile to when he was holding onto that ball at this moment in time. It really is difficult to see him there and we all keep saying you need to keep smiling.

“Aaron is going to be the cup goalkeeper, and David Raya is going to be the main man unless something happens, an injury or a sending-off. Aaron’s got to live with that and he is living with that even though he’s not been told it. By anybody.

“Even though the way it’s been done, in my eyes, it’s been wrong and we can talk about that but it’s the decision. Really and truly we’ve got to get behind David Raya. He’s part of the family now. Whether it’s only until May-June of next year. It won’t be, it’ll be longer in my eyes, but that’s by the by.”

Now I’m split on whether this is right or wrong. We live in a society where everyone rightly has an opinion, the problem is now there are a lot more ways to express that opinion. Back when I grew up you read about these things in the newspapers. But the saying used to be, ‘todays headline tomorrow’s chip paper’. Meaning it was forgotten about normally the following day. TV didn’t have its own dedicated football channels like they do now, newspapers had to be bought but now you can read them online and probably the worst of all where abuse is concerned is social media. The abuse of players is not a new thing. If you’ve watched the very good David Beckham documentary you would have seen the awful abuse that he got after getting sent-off for England in the 1998 World Cup. But almost all of it was in the newspapers. Interestingly Harry Maguire has commented that Beckham reached out to him after the abuse he got.

Being an Arsenal fan I was more interested in the Aaron Ramsdale story. I have a Son who is a goalkeeper and he idolises him. I personally think that Ramsdale has been unlucky in what has happened. Most of the big teams around Europe you will find two quality players for every position, but it’s unusual to have two top class goalkeepers. When we went to watch Arsenal in Seville we made sure that we were in the ground to watch the goalkeepers warm up. David Raya the new keeper spent most of his time practicing his kicking which is what Arteta the Arsenal manager has brought him in for. I made a point of looking at what Ramsdale was doing and he practiced as hard as he would have if he was playing. 

I asked my Son how he would feel that if he was a professional footballer and I said something to the media to defend him. He said he probably wouldn’t be too happy and then thought about it for a moment and said maybe they asked their parents to do it. He may not be wrong you know as neither have actually commented about it themselves and maybe this was a way of airing their frustrations. 

Some might say that the industry they’re in, the money they get paid, they should expect it, they’re grown men and should stick up for themselves. 

Others will point to their mental health and the effect it also has on their families. I will sit on the fence for this one and let you debate it amongst yourselves. 

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 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Last week I was talking about winter here in Mallorca but thoughts are already turning now to next Summer. Easter falls early next year at the end of March so there’s not too much time to relax. At Pirates we’re already making plans and we have some great offers coming up for next weeks Black Friday. If you’ve got friends or family coming over next Summer you should keep your eyes out for those. Now, dare I say it? Well it’s only 39 sleeps until Christmas! In fact I’m a little late to the party because as soon as Halloween was over the slow drip of Christmas ads had started. The shops started stocking Christmas goodies and Mariah Carey was already warming up her vocal cords.

We’re not halfway through November, but already the widely agreed upon pair of greatest modern Christmas classics, Wham!’s Last Christmas and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, have entered the chart at No 37 and No 40 respectively. Last year, it took until the third week of November for a Christmas song to appear, namely All I Want for Christmas Is You. Each song will now almost certainly remain in the chart for the rest of the year, and possibly into early 2024.

Without doubt if you can write a good Christmas song or in some cases a not very good Christmas song then it could well give you a good income for the rest of your life. The Performing Rights Society or PRS as it’s known don’t tend to divulge this information easily to protect their artists privacy. But it’s a well known fact that the following artists make substantial amounts per year from just one song.

  1. “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade £1m 
  2. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl £400,000
  3. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey £400,000 
  4. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby £328,000
  5. “Last Christmas” by Wham! £300,000
  6. “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney £260,000
  7.  “Stop the Cavalry” by Jona Lewie £120,000
  8. “2000 Miles” by The Pretenders £102,000
  9. “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard £100,000
  10. “Stay Another Day” by East 17 £97,000

That’s royalty money but in the new era of listening to music, Spotify also pays out a pretty tidy sum too. Mariah Carey it probably won’t surprise you to know tops that list with a mind blowing 1,206,753,171 streams, yes that’s over a billion. Which will net Mariah a cool £2,968,613.00. 

If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a midweek or weekend Christmas shopping then for me Palma has it all. In fact if I was where I used to live in Hertfordshire it would take me longer to get to Lakeside which is a popular Christmas shopping centre than it would to fly to Palma. What Palma can offer that Lakeside can’t is a full array of shops in picturesque streets, 3 shopping centres in Porto Pi, Fan and Mallorca Outlets, history, hotels and unbelievable gastronomy. The lights in the Paseo del Borne rival anything you’ll see in Oxford Street and there are lots of great Christmas markets in close proximity. 

In my opinion no Christmas is complete until you get yourself a tree. Not a fake one for me, it has to be real. Last year I met a guy called Quentin who was bringing Christmas trees over to Mallorca from his families farm in Denmark. 

Their arborists (aka tree surgeons to you and I) have been growing and selling the highest quality, most sustainable and durable Normann fir Christmas Trees since the industry commenced in Denmark in the early 70´s. Their philosophy has always been to produce quality over quantity, whereby the ethical treatment of the workers, the earth and the clients is always respected and maintained, these are the values which are essential to their organisation. For every 8 trees they cut, they replant 10. We had one in our house last year and the tree he gave to the radio station we gave to the charity Es Refugi through our friends at Yachting Gives Back.

I can’t recommend their trees highly enough and it adds to the good feeling of Christmas. 

For more details please go to https://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com or call Quentin 658 342 941. 

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 

WTM

This week has been the World Travel Market in London. It’s one of the three biggest tourist fairs that are important for tourism here in Mallorca. The other two are Fitur in Madrid from the 24th to the 28th of January and ATB in Berlin from the 5th to the 7th of March. All three cover the three main source markets to the island, Germany, the UK and of course Spain. 

2024 will see us enter our third year after the Covid pandemic and it seems that tourism numbers are not only as good as they were in 2019 but increasing which is good news for our islands biggest industry. It also seems that although the the three main source markets mentioned above are still doing well, we are seeing more and more visitors from other countries. 

This was the first travel market for our new Government here in the Balearics and from what I’ve seen and heard so far, this administration seem to be more tourist friendly than the last one. They haven’t has a lot of time to prepare fully as they only took over in July but I like what I’m hearing. I know that sound bites are all well and good and the proof in the pudding is in the eating. But at least they’re making the right noises. 

You may remember last year the then head of tourism Lucia Escribano allegedly said at the World Travel Market “We are not interested in having the budget tourists from the UK, we don’t care if they go elsewhere to Greece and Turkey,” She said she was misquoted and that she was talking about the fact that they wanted more people in the low season and not in the high season. But it was a fact that they said “we are not interested in promoting Mallorca in the Summer”.

This of course was seized upon by the UK tabloids and it turned into a very negative story. If tourism is your number one industry then you must be promoting it as much as you can and all year round. Responsible Tourism and relieving saturation in the high season seems to be the plan going forward but as I’ve said before next season will be the first test.

I have been lucky enough to interview two of the people who will be heavily involved in this. Maria Frontera Is the President of the Mallorca hotels federation  and comes from a tourist background. She worked for Tui and I first met her when she was running her family’s hotel in the Port of Soller. I personally think she’d make a great Tourism Minister but I’m not sure of her political ambitions and I’m sure the hotel Federation wouldn’t like to lose her. 

Juan Antonio Amengual is the new Mayor of Calvia and as a former director of hotels he has an extensive history in the World of tourism. He has said he wants change the law of excesses and wants to promote Calvia as a year round destination. 

As I said above it is a little early to judge right now and next year will be the gauge but the plans are good. I did speak to the hotel association of Magaluf and Palma Nova to find out how many hotels were remaining open during this  winter. Of the 86 hotels they have listed, disappointingly only 4 remain open. They are the Fergus Style Palma Nova, the Elba Sunset Mallorca, the Aparthotel Vistasol and the apartments Roc Portonova. Magaluf has become a ghost town but there is a little more life in Palma Nova. When I first arrived in Mallorca in 1990 both resorts were thriving in the winter and it’s sad to see it like this. Friends of mine were in Benidorm last weekend and of course it was rocking. There’s no reason why that can’t be the same here. 

I looked at the flight situation and that will also need improving. The north of the UK has always struggled but even down south the service isn’t great. There’s a daily Easyjet flight from Gatwick and a daily Ryanair flight from Stansted. Easyjet have a flight from Luton 3 times a week and BA have a daily service that seems to change between Gatwick, Heathrow and London City depending on the day. 

Lots of work ahead but hopefully we’re moving in the right direction. 

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 

Stunning Seville

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 

Low Cost? More Like High Cost!

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 

What I Love About Mallorca

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