Last weeks results in La Liga Smartbank couldn’t have gone much better for Real Mallorca, they were the only team in the top 6 to win a game. The leaders Espanyol lost at Girona, Mallorca beat fourth placed Rayo Vallecano. Third placed Almeria were the only team to pick up a point with a home draw against lowly Sabadell. Fifth placed Sporting Gijón lost at Castellon and sixth placed Leganés lost against Las Palmas.

It got even better last night against Girona when a last minute Ndiaye goal gave them a 1-0 victory. That takes them 3 points clear at the top, with Espanyol still to play today. Almeria moved level on points with Espanyol with a 3-1 victory against Castellón. 

Mallorca are now top on 48 points, with Espanyol and Almeria on 45 points. Then there’s a gap to Rayo on 37 points, Sporting on 36 points and Leganés on 34 points, who all still have to play this weekend. Remembering that the top two go up automatically to La Liga, with the next four in the play-offs for the remaining place. 

Mallorca are still looking to recruit a striker in the transfer window. Alvaro Giménez at Cadiz and Mamadou Sylla at Girona are two names that have been mentioned. So let’s see if anyone does come in.

Atlético Baleares finally got back to winning ways this week with back to back wins against Rayo Majadahonda and Getafe B. A couple of great results to ease the pressure on the coach Jordi Roger. They are now in the play-off places so it’s important to continue this form against Atlético Madrid B who are managed by the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Atlético legend Fernando Torres. Goalkeeper Juan Carlos Sanchez who joined the club this year has fallen out with the coach and Sporting Director and has now left the club. On the website the club say they’ve reached an agreement to cancel his contract. However Juan Carlos commented that after being dropped after the 2-3 loss to Poblense the club have not kept their promises so he is leaving. Xavi Ginard has played in the last two games and the club have just signed Rene Roman as a back up keeper from Dinamo Bucharest. 

UD Poblense lost 1-0 last weekend to top of the table San Sebastián and remain in seventh place of their ten team league. They have a home match today against Las Rozas, who are below them in the league so 3 points will be most welcome. They have signed centre forward Ruben Jurado from fellow Segunda B team Barakaldo. The 34 year old comes with a lot of experience and will hopefully get some much needed goals. 

UD Ibiza maintained their unbeaten start with a 0-1 last minute victory against La Nucia. This weekend they have a home game against the team that defeated Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey Alcoyano. 

Peña Deportiva managed a 1-1 draw with Valencia Mestalla. An 87th minute equaliser helped them salvage a point. Today they have an away game at bottom of the table Atlético Levante, so a chance of a much needed win. 

Things have got interesting in Tercera. In Group A Ibiza Pitiusas beat top of the table Andratx 3-0 to inflict only their second defeat of the season. Manacor won away at Felanitx leaving Andratx on top with 31 points, Manacor second on 25 points and with a game in hand. Ibiza Pitiusas are third on 23 points but have two games in hand on Andratx. 

In Group B Platges de Calvia still lead the way on 27 points followed by Santanyi on 23 points, having played a game more and Mallorca B in third on 21 points.

In Division Honor, the derby between Penya Arrabal and San Francisco ended in a win for Penya 1-0. Real Mallorca got a creditable 0-0 draw against top of the table Espanyol. 

Still no other youth football at the moment with the current restrictions. 

Take care everyone. 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

Massive thanks to everyone who has viewed and shared my column and blog from last week. It’s been seen in Spain, Uk, USA, Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Pakistán, Italy, Switzerland, Philippines, Mexico, Austria, Australia, Germany, Malta, Qatar, Estonia, Belgium, Serbia, Canada, Andorra, New Zealand & Norway, UAE, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Thailand, Portugal, Hungary and Egypt, 

I said you couldn’t make it up but sometimes I think this Government are. Last week the President Pedro Sanchez said he couldn’t see the tourist industry returning before the end of the summer season. That was hastily followed by the Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto saying that actually the country would be open by the Spring. Well spring is from March 20th to June the 21st, so any chance of a more accurate date Minister? A name of a month will do. 

Then came our own Baleares President Francina Armengol or Armageddon as I’m told she’s now known. She actually did give us that month when she said that “normal life” could return to the Balearics by June as long as the mass vaccination programme is successful. However this was followed by the front page headline in the Spanish newspaper Ultima Hora the following day which read “The Government have slowed down the vaccinations because there aren’t enough doses! All this within a space of a week 

I’m sorry to keep banging on about it but these people are running our lives. Actually I’ll change that running to ruining because that’s how a lot of people feel right now. I’ll give them last Summer, although mistakes were made, everyone was taken by surprise at the severity of the pandemic. But since we knew that the last Summer season wasn’t going to happen the plan should have been put in place to make sure that summer 2021 was a starter. Unfortunately we’ve stumbled from one mistake to another and in my opinion they should have stopped arrivals from the beginning of December. That would have meant stopping the beginning of December holidays, Christmas, New Year and Three Kings. Difficult and very unpopular decisions I know but the rise in numbers weren’t down to the bars, restaurants, gyms etc they were down to those celebrations. No Government wants to ban things people enjoy especially in a lockdown but that decision should have been made. 

Look at New Zealand, their Prime Minister Jacinda Arden won immense praise last year for her leadership. She instituted a mandatory quarantine for all travellers on March 15th, when the nation had recorded just 6 cases. The alert level has just been lowered to 1, and virus measures such as social-distancing are at a minimum as a result, in a country that has only had 25 fatalities since the start of the pandemic, and just 2,246 positive cases. Compare that to the Balearics as a whole that has had just over 51,000 cases and 579 deaths. Remembering also that their population is 4 times the size of ours. And yes I realise that land mass and population density are different but it shows what can be achieved on islands with a clear plan. 

If we were in that position now we would be gearing up for the summer and people would not be in such a desperate situation. I’m not sure the authorities realise the problem out there. 

I’ve detected since we finished the Christmas celebrations and restrictions have become tighter that there is a change in the attitude of the authorities to start clawing back the money it’s losing. If I look for an anology, It’s a bit of a Robin Hood attitude, robbing the rich(and not so rich)to pay the poor. A few people I know have been subject to work inspections the like of which they’ve never had before. Fines have been increased. I know to my cost as my Wife was stopped by an unmarked Police car after the Genova tunnel this week for not having her lights on. Her side lights were on but not the main ones. The fine? 200 euros! 

The “help” of 1500€ by the Government to the bars and restaurants that were made to close actually isn’t all it seems. If you owe any tax or social security right now they say you’re not entitled to it. What business that either hasn’t opened for 10 months or has but at a reduced capacity doesn’t owe some money to the tax man? One business owner was actually told you have to pay us before your employees. No negotiation. It’s wrong and as always it’s all about the spin while the substance reveals another story. 

I’ll leave you with a Feelgood story this week. Despite the desperation of some right now there are some good things happening with the help of good people. I was alerted by the charity SOS Calvia to a single Spanish lady with a child who was struggling to fix her washing machine. There were lots of offers of help from money donations to offers of a second hand one. A guy called Kevin Pellowe offered to go round and fix the machine so I arranged for him to go on Saturday morning. He went and told me it was unfixable. I contacted a guy called Damo who lived in Son Dureta who had offered for free a second hand one and Kevin agreed to pick it up and it was fitted in on Sunday. All this was done free of charge and I just want to say a massive thanks to both the guys who have stepped up at a time of need. Human kindness at its best.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

Aritz Aduriz had a glittering Spanish football career playing 640 games and scoring 221 goals from 1999 until his retirement last season. He played for Mallorca for two seasons from 2008 to 2010 and finished top scorer in both seasons. He was a legend at Athletico Bilbao playing for the club on three separate occasions and he had announced that last season was to be his last as he needed a hip replacement operation. He was determined to win a trophy with his club in his final year. Just before the pandemic hit Bilbao had qualified for the Copa Del Rey final to play Real Sociedad. However due to the pandemic the final still hasn’t been played thus cruelly denying Aduriz a chance to win that coveted trophy. The Spanish Super Copa is played out by the winner and runner-up in La Liga and the winner and runner-up of the Copa Del Rey. Barcelona had beaten Real Sociedad and Bilbao beat Real Madrid to set up the final. Aduriz was invited by Bilbao to the team hotel to give his former team mates a boost. It obviously did the trick as they ran out 3-2 winners in a game which saw Lionel Messi get his first red card for Barca. Aduriz was invited on to the pitch to celebrate with his former team mates and help lift the trophy. 

A few months ago I mentioned Carlos Vicens who was born in Colonia de San Jordi  in Mallorca and was the academy director and assistant manager at CD Llosetense. He was promoted to Head Coach of Manchester City’s U-18 team after being the assistant.

Well this week I became aware of other Mallorquins who are doing extremely well coaching around the World after cutting their training teeth here on the island. 

Carlos Cuesta at just 25yrs old has already got a very impressive coaching CV. He was born here in Palma and was an accomplished footballer playing at Santa Catalina Atlético and representing a Balearic representative side alongside fellow Mallorquín and Real Madrid player Marco Asensio. But playing wasn’t his thing, he enjoyed coaching so started with his clubs Benjamin(U-9 to U-10’s) team. After training the kids for four years, at 18 years old, Carlos moved to Madrid to study at INEF (Faculty of Sciences for Physical Activity and Sport) and also helped out at Atletico Madrid. Where, as he did here in Mallorca, he took control of a number of the youth teams and all the while he watched Diego Simeone coach the first team. Since then he has worked at Manchester City with Pep Guardiola and at Juventus with Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri. He is now part of the new set up at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, who was part of Pep’s coaching team where he first met Carlos. 

Another good example is Xisco Muñoz, from Manacor, the ex-footballer from Tenerife, Recreativo and Valencia assumed control of Watford just before the Christmas holidays. 

Looks like we’re not only producing good players but some great coaches too. 

It’s the second round of matches in La Liga Smartbank this weekend and Real Mallorca needed to get back to winning ways after three games without a win. It wasn’t going to be easy away at fourth placed Rayo Vallecano who had beaten them in the first game of the season at home  0-1. 

Obviously a two week break worked as Mallorca were 0-3 up within 19 minutes. It was similar to Real Oviedo away a couple of weeks ago when they went 0-2 up but they failed to hang on and drew 2-2. This time round they managed the game better and ran out 1-3 winners. With Espanyol losing 1-0 to Girona, they are joint top on 45 points. Almeria are third, four points behind with two games in hand. Alex Alegría has left the club on loan for Real Zaragoza. 

Both Ibiza teams unfortunately lost their Copa Del Rey last 32 matches last week. Peña Deportiva took Valladolid to extra time before losing 1-4. UD Ibiza went 1-0 up on Supercopa winners Athletico Bilbao before losing 1-2 to a 90th minute winner. It was Ibiza’s first loss of the season after they won again last weekend in the league to maintain their lead at the top. Peña lost away last week at Villareal B 2-0 and need to start getting points and scoring goals. Only 2 in 10 games is not good enough. Peña play Valencia Mestalla today and UD play La Nucia. 

No game again last week for Atlético Baleares because of the weather in Madrid, so todays game against Rayo Majadahonda is a must win. 

UD Poblense drew 1-1 last week with Atlético Madrid B with Fernando Torres making his managerial debut for Los Colchoneros. This week they have a difficult task against top of the table San Sebastián. 

In Tercera Group A, Andratx still lead the way from Manacor. The third and fourth placed teams CD Ibiza Pitiusas and SD Portmany played each other last week in an Ibizan derby. With Pitiusas winning 0-3. 

In Group B Platges de Calvia are still leading by six points from Mallorca B.

In Division Honor Real Mallorca played CD San Francisco in a midweek local derby. San Fran went 0-1 up but Mallorca fought back to win 2-1. The league is still dominated by Espanyol who lead by 12 points from Barcelona. Real Mallorca are fourth, San Fran sixth and Penya Arrabal eighth. Penya play San Fran today in a big local derby which San Fran won last time out 4-1. 

As we are still on tier 4 here there’s still no youth football although the teams can train twice a week. 

Take care everyone. 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

I just can’t understand why the Spanish Prime Minister would come out and say that Spain will be “better prepared” to receive foreign tourists by the end of the summer once 70% of the population has been vaccinated. If that’s the case speed up the vaccination programme to make sure it’s at that figure by at least May! Surely it’s better to stimulate the economy by getting people back to work as quickly as possible? I can’t believe the cost of the vaccine is more than having people furloughed or unemployed? This smacks of looking after the bigger autonomous regions first that don’t depend so much on Tourism. The whole of Spain’s tourism GDP is 12% but here it’s 44% and as much as 85% if you include third party suppliers. We need to get the vaccine out here as quickly as possible. The UK Government’s target is 350,000 a day which they are not far off of right now. So if you brought that here you’d be done in 3 days! Now I realise that’s unrealistic here but it shows what can be done if you put a plan together.  Too much dithering for me and will leave us in a total mess if nothing is done. 

Talking of a total mess. The Spanish postal service right now leaves a lot to be desired. My Mum, my Sister and my Mother in law all sent parcels for our kids in good time before Christmas. So far none of them have arrived. Well actually one apparently might have arrived as they said via the tracker they tried to deliver it last week but they said there was no one in. Although on the day there was at least one of us at home. We went to the Post Office this week, and they said they’d sent it back because the address was wrong! So how did you try and deliver it then? A shrug of the shoulders and there’s nothing we can do was the reply. This made we wonder if anyone else was experiencing the same problems. I asked on the radio and put a post on Facebook and was inundated with replies. Over 100 to be precise via Social media and telephone messages. Anyway enough for me to try and find out more information. 

Correos is the largest provider of postal services in Spain and has been entrusted with the universal service obligation since 1998. It has more than 50,000 employees and annual revenues of around €2 billion. It is owned by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (“SEPI”), a public-law entity which holds shareholdings in various companies on behalf of the State.

The Spanish postal service market was liberalised in 2011 in accordance with the European Postal Directive, which opened up the market to other suppliers and while Correos emanates from public administration, it now operates in full competition with other relevant postal service providers. 

By the way, you did read the above correct, revenues of around €2 billion! But you have to dig a little deeper than that to look at the profit. Correos achieved a net profit of €14.8 million in 2019, giving the national postal service its first gain since 2014. Reversing its loss of €153 million in 2018. Which might give you more of an idea why they’re in a mess. 

However it’s not just a Spanish problem apparently as you might be thinking it’s all about Brexit. Covid has also been a problem both with the handling of post, the rise in online purchases and the loss of staff to illness. 

In the UK the Royal Mail posted on their website a statement saying “working hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high quality service we can to all our customers..but the combination of greatly increased uptake of online shopping, and the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, mean that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes.”

It might have been advisable to make the warnings earlier and clearer. Also if there was a problem with sorting because of sheer volume then employ more people. It might be only temporary but there’s a lot of people out there looking for work. 

Royal Mail have appointed a new boss, Simon Thompson, a former Ocado executive who also ran the NHS Test and Trace app. The firm has admitted “failing to adapt” to the new reality and “holding on to outdated working practices and a delivery structure that no longer meets customer needs”. He will have been aware that just before Christmas the Royal Mail agreed what unions called a “landmark” deal to settle a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Looks like he has his hands full. 

When I researched “problemas con correos en España” in Google, the top search was from Trustpilot. They are an online consumer review website who post reviews of businesses Worldwide. With just under 1500 reviews, 94% of people rate Correos as very bad. The boss is called Juan Manel Serrano Quintana, a former advisor to Spanish President Pedro Sanchez and he earns just over 200,000€ a year. Looks like he has his work cut out too. 

It’s too late for Christmas sadly for a lot of people but next time it might be advisable to look at all the alternatives and costs and decide what is best. Our family did also use Send My Bag which arrived on time and without a problem. 

I’d like to leave you with some praise though this week. I picked up my eldest sons and my TIE resident card on Tuesday. After going before Christmas to discover the wording was wrong and we would have to reapply. This time we were met outside by the Policía Nacional who were checking everybody’s paperwork. He said that because of all the bad weather in Madrid there was a backlog of cards arriving but he said we should be ok. Sure enough within 10 minutes we were in and out without any hassle. 

Also the new temporary MOT centre set up just outside Magaluf has been a success. Trying to deal with a backlog of MOT’s they seem to have got things moving. My Wife decided to forego her late January appointment elsewhere to try and get it done before. She went down very early one morning and was in, out and passed within an hour. 

See with a bit of planning things can be done quicker.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

Real Mallorca need to get back to winning ways soon or risk losing their automatic promotion place. I think we all knew a “sticky patch” would come sometime and it has right now. Since the 2-3 home defeat to Fuenlabrada they’ve now drawn away in Oviedo, after being 2-0 up and lost at home last weekend to Las Palmas 0-1. There was also a Copa Del Rey defeat to Fuenlabrada sandwiched in between. If you had of said Mallorca will be in second place at the end of the first round of matches, most people would have taken it. The problem is this lack of form has come at the wrong time. The next few games sees them playing all their promotion rivals. There are no games this weekend due to the Copa del Rey but next week there’s a tricky away game at fifth placed Rayo Vallecano. The team they lost 0-1 to at home in the first game of the season. That’s followed by eighth placed Girona and bottom of the table Albacete. Then it’s two consecutive home games against first placed Espanyol and third placed Almeria. Those two games will have a huge bearing on those two automatic promotion places.

The coach Luis Garcia Plaza said this week, “We’ve gone 18 games without losing and now we’ve gone three without winning. If the losses had been interspersed, nothing would have happened. These two weeks of training are going to be very good for us. Marc(Cardona) and Jordi(Mboula) are coming back and we will see if we can strengthen any other positions. We have a long way to go still. The demand is very great to be among the best.”

The break this weekend may well work for them to get back to what they were doing before. La Liga Smartbank is a difficult league to get out of and there are no dominant teams. If Mallorca can go on another run like before that will secure promotion. 

Atlético Baleares have had no game since their pre-Christmas 2-3 home loss to UD Poblense. Both last weeks and this weeks games were called off due to the bad snow in Madrid. But that means they may well have a fixture pile up. The coach Jordi Roger said this week he hopes they don’t have to play six games in two weeks. They have already missed a couple of games because of a Covid outbreak and the league has to finish the first half by mid March. Central midfielder Miguel Ángel Cordero has joined in the January transfer window. He has joined them from La Liga 2 side Cartagena and he has plenty of experience in that league and Segunda B too. 

Ud Poblense were also snowed off last week as their opponents Dux Internacional couldn’t get out of Madrid. They have just signed 20 year old forward Carlos Javier Polo Jiménez or “Peke” as he is known. He comes from Barcelona B so must have a good pedigree and hopefully he can fire them up the table. 

UD Ibiza continued their unbeaten run in the league last week with a 2-0 win over Villareal B. They’re five points clear at the top and have only conceded one goal in their nine games. They’re nailed on to go on to the second half of the season and hopefully promotion. They’re at home to Levante B today and then It’s Copa del Rey next Thursday. After their amazing 5-2 over Celta last time out, they are up up against the Basque side Athletic Bilbao. Currently twelfth in La Liga, they’re having a mixed season and I wouldn’t rule out UD beating them. They’ve also just signed 20yr old left back Javi Vazquez from Sevilla B. 

Peña Deportiva disappointingly drew last time out against the bottom side Atzeneta 1-1. Although they’ll be glad of an 83rd minute equaliser, which was only their second goal of the season! Last night they unfortunately lost to La Liga side Valladolid 1-4 in the Copa del Rey last 32. But only after extra-time and after having one player sent-off. This weekend they are away at Villareal B. 

In Tercera Group A, Andratx lead the way by six points from Manacor. CD Ibiza Pitiusas are in third five points behind Manacor with two games in hand. 

In Tercera Group B. Platges de Calvia lead Real Mallorca B by six points. Mallorca had the chance to close that gap yesterday to their rivals but the top two fought out a 0-0 draw. 

In Division Honor, CD San Francisco have found a bit of form. Last week they won away on a snowy Club Esportiu Europa Pitch with an 89th minute winner. Yesterday they beat third placed FC Girona 2-0 to go to fifth in the table. Espanyol still lead the rest by twelve points having won 10 of their 11 games. 

Take care everyone. 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

I rang my colleague Frank Leavers this week to meet for a coffee, which we try to do at least once a month for a catch up. When he suddenly said, hang on Richie as of tomorrow we can’t they’re all shut! That was the realisation that we are pretty much back to where we started 10 months ago. This is not formally a lockdown but let’s face it, it might as well be. They say our curfew is 22.00 but “Best be home by 20.00 hrs”, what does that mean? It’s like being a teenager again. 

I personally think the Government hasn’t read the room and this last change was the straw that broke the camels back. The protests in Palma on Tuesday and the rumblings of discontent amongst the coalition partners, Podemos and Mes means they’re walking a tightrope.

President Armengol is saying all the measures are to protect the health service which is all well and good. But she and her Government also have a duty to protect people’s lives in other ways too. Housing, jobs and other health issues. Reports out this week show that the demand for people using foodbanks in the municipality of Calvia is up 80%. I made a point of going out this past week and visiting the people that are helping others at this time. 

As part of the work we did on our Radio One Mallorca Christmas Appeal we’ve been able to help the food banks with much needed supplies. Last Saturday we went shopping with Nick at Yachting Gives Back and delivered everything to the Asociació Tardor in Palma. They are currently cooking over 1000 meals a day and that number seems to be going up on a daily basis. 

On Wednesday we paid for a delivery of a pallet of tomato frito for SOS Calvia. Manuel Más and his team have done an amazing job helping people in the area. That number is currently around 250 but increasing. He has been helped by Manuel at Highland Gold in Son Bugadellas who is using his buying power and offering his storage facilities too.

On Thursday we went shopping with the Santa Ponsa Food Bank. They’re a group of volunteers from the Santa Ponsa Community Church who have only just set themselves up, but they are already helping over 100 people. We couldn’t have done any of the above without the help of our very generous listeners and we will continue with as much help as we can. 

Back to the Governments reaction. My problem right now is there doesn’t seem to be a proper plan. They seem to be reacting to what is happening rather than putting the right measures in place. The first lockdown was full on but let’s remember that the numbers were a lot lower than they are now. We were put into a National Lockdown by the National Government who were trying to curb the outbreaks in Madrid and Cataluña. There is now widespread testing which shows more people have the virus but that wasn’t available first time round. Thus making the recorded numbers higher. I can’t for the life of me think that the bars, cafes and restaurants that were open, which weren’t that many by the way, were actually contributing greatly to the spread. Only the outside terraces were open and all tables were socially distanced. If there was a problem then the Police should have been policing them rather than setting up roadblocks everywhere checking peoples papers. My idea would be if any bar, restaurant or cafe were seen to be flouting the rules, firstly warn them, secondly fine them and the final time close them for a period of time. 

The problem is undoubtedly in the supermarkets or larger shops where people can congregate. What they’ve done in Calvia is close off part of their parking, which I imagine is to stop too many people going inside. However if you can’t get a space everybody else is just parking on the streets outside. So no change.

Granted all this is not easy but these people have been voted in to make ultimately difficult decisions. Remember they haven’t taken a pay cut so they’re not feeling the effects that the rest of the island is. 

I will take my family as an example. I am on the Erte(furlough). Pirates where I work is a theatre that was closed due to the restrictions. My Wife has had her Theatre Academy shut which after 12 years of hard work has been tough for her. Especially when no financial help has been offered. Although dance schools which are part of a federation can stay open, how is that fair? My sons are at school which is better than before but my eldest is only going in 3 days one week and two the next. Why? Have you heard of any serious outbreaks in schools? We are failing our children if we can’t offer a full-time education. 

They are allowed to train twice a week at football which is great, as exercise is vitally important but not allowed to play games which I think is a little tough. They had organised for my eldest that they would play the same team home and away with a weeks gap in between. That was working fine before Christmas but it at the moment it’s been stopped. My youngest hasn’t played a game all season which I still don’t get. 

I know we’re not alone in this, we’ll get through it but others won’t and we’re failing our people if we don’t offer help. 

They must start rolling out the vaccine as quickly as they can as this is obviously the clearest way forward. 

It’s tough out there but keep your heads up and always check on family and friends who might need help at this time.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

Pride of place this week must go to the two Ibiza teams UD Ibiza and Peña Deportiva after their Copa Del Rey exploits. UD comprehensively beat Celta de Vigo who are currently eighth in La Liga 5-2 and Peña beat Sabadell from the second division on penalties. UD were comfortably winning 4-0 before Celta decided to play a little. They got back to 4-2 and then had an 89th minute penalty saved, which could have led to an exciting final few minutes. However Ibiza went straight up the other end and finished the game off 5-2. Peña’s game was a little more of a struggle, with the game 0-0 after extra time. Their hero in the penalty shoot-out was goalkeeper Fran Martínez who managed to save three of the four penalties he faced with the other being missed too! So a 2-0 penalties win puts them into the next round. 

Both teams were hoping to draw either Barcelona or Real Madrid in the next round but it wasn’t to be. UD will play Athletico Bilbao and Peña will play Real Valladolid.

It’s back to League action for both teams today after the Christmas break with UD at home to Villareal B and Peña playing Atzeneta away. 

Real Mallorca threw away a two goal lead at Real Oviedo last weekend to draw their first match after the Christmas break 2-2. On what was an awful pitch in Oviedo, Mallorca were cruising with goals from Lago Junior and a thunderbolt 30 yarder from Joan Sastre. But Oviedo got one back just before half-time and that gave them the momentum into the second half to equalise on 68 minutes. If Mallorca could have held out they would have returned to the top of the League as Espanyol had lost away at Las Palmas. Who Mallorca now play at home today at 16.00. 

It’s very tight at the top with Espanyol and Mallorca on 42 points and Almeria on 41. There’s then a 7 point gap to Vallecano and Leganés on 34 points. They then went on to lose to Fuenlabrada away in the Copa Del Rey on Wednesday on penalties. They played a lot of the players who have been on the fringes and after drawing 2-2 in the game itself they lost on penalties. Antonio Sanchez missed the decisive penalty to lose 7-6. 

Atlético Baleares need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible. After losing 2-3 at home to UD Poblense before Christmas, I’m surprised the coach Jordi Roger is still in a job. They are currently 10 points behind the leaders, San Sebastián and Rayo Majadahonda. This season held high hopes for Baleares to get promotion but just two wins in 8 games isn’t good enough. With the bad weather on the mainland especially around Madrid, todays game with Getafe B has been cancelled. 

Ud Poblense were keen to carry on their impressive result against Baleares but once again the weather In Madrid has cancelled their game against Madrid based team Dux Internacional. 

In Tercera Division Andratx lead group A by 4 points from second placed Manacor who have a game in hand. 

In Group B, Platges de Calvia have a 6 point lead over second placed Real Mallorca B. 

In Division Honor the highest league in Youth football, Penya Arrabal are in fifth place, San Francisco are in seventh and Real Mallorca are in eighth. As I’ve said before this is a difficult league and all three teams will do well to not get relegated. 

Take care everyone. 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

When we first got locked down in mid March last year I don’t think many of us thought that nearly ten months later we would be pretty much in the same position. So how do we get out of this mess and get on with our lives? Well for me we’ve got three choices. 

Number 1: We carry on with the current situation and when the numbers are high we are locked down or put on curfews. And when the numbers are low those restrictions are eased. 

Number 2:  Take the vaccine.

Number 3: Protect the vulnerable and let the rest of us get on with our lives. 

So let’s look at the above in slightly more detail. 

Firstly carrying on as we are. Well ten months since the first lockdown we don’t see m to be in any better position than we were when it all started. We’re into round three of lockdown/Curfews/restrictions and what has changed? We can’t just keep stopping and restarting when the numbers start to rise its not working and it’s not practical. I’m sure there’s far worse to come, not with the virus but the fallout from concentrating on the virus. Mental health is more of a silent killer but there is without doubt a huge problem looming. Cancer is either not being screened or detected early enough and will be another huge problem soon. These are just the tip of the iceberg and whilst the concentration on Covid has been important, the lack of concentration in other fields is worrying. 

That’s just concentrating on health without looking at jobs, education, finances, need I go in? These are going to be a problem for years to come. 

Secondly the vaccine. Now if this becomes the only way for things to get back to some sort of the normality then show me the needle. I do not believe for one minute the vaccines being released are dangerous, if they were they wouldn’t have been passed. It may well affect different people in different ways like all things do, but for the overall majority it will be fine. You can guarantee that the media who’ve been screaming for it to be rolled out will try and find someone who has an allergic reaction to it. Why do they do that? 

I noticed this week that reality star Lauren Goodger said she didn’t want take the vaccine. Who? You might say! Well she’s a reality TV star who has around 750,000 followers on Instagram so a lot of people follow what she says. “I don’t want to inject myself with something I don’t know the long-term effects. I have heard all the different things that are in it and I think I have had Covid already and I have coped with it.” Well I urge you to check her out and if I’m not wrong which I know I’m not, she’s already had things injected into her in a lot of different places. Everyone can have an opinion but when you quite plainly don’t know the facts don’t make headlines out of them as people will believe what you say. If you’re not sure, don’t ask Dr Google or social media as this is a very important decision and down to each and every one of us to decide what we do. 

Thirdly, protect the vulnerable and the health service and let us get on with our lives. I talked about this earlier in the year and I still have the same opinion. The World needs to start getting back to some sort of normality and the sooner the better. 

I think we’re in a situation right now that will be a combination of all three choices and slowly but surely we’ll return to where we were ten months ago. Glass half full for me, positivity will help us all get through this, not negativity. 

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

As we come into the New Year it would be a good time to give a mid season report on all of our Balearic Football teams. 

If anyone was going to get near top marks it would have to be Real Mallorca. The season started with a new coach, Luis Garcia Plaza and there was doubt including from me whether he was the right man for the job. That doubt continued after they lost the first game at home, 0-1 to Rayo Vallecano. 

A difficult away game at promotion favourites Espanyol was next and they had Mallorca’s former coach Vincente Moreno in charge too, so there was huge pressure. They managed a commendable 0-0 draw and didn’t look back. They then went 16 games unbeaten until the final game of the year when due to an absolutely awful refereeing performance. They lost to Fuenlabrada 2-3 and had two players sent off. So they currently lie in second place on 41 points from 19 games, 1 point behind the leaders Espanyol. They’re the second top scorers with 26 goals and have conceded the least, just 7. Continue this form and they will return to the promised land of La Liga. 

With a new coach in charge and a host of new signings, lots was expected of Atlético Baleares and after winning their first game 4-0 that expectation grew. However since then results haven’t gone as well as they would have hoped and their new coach Jordi Roger is under a lot of pressure. They currently lie in sixth place, 10 points behind the joint leaders. Their record is, played 8, won 2, drawn 3, lost 3. They need to improve massively to get themselves into the new format for the second half of the season. 

It was always going to be difficult for UD Poblense, after their promotion to Segunda B. It was the first time they’ve competed in this division in over 30 years, the last time being in the 1988-89 season. They’ve struggled for goals, scoring just eight in their eight games but have conceded only nine too. Meaning draws have dominated their points tally. Their record reads, played 8, won 1, drawn 5, lost 2 and they lie in seventh place. That all important first win though came last time out in the Derby against Atlético Baleares. A thrilling game was won by UD 2-3. Surviving will be the name of the game in the second half of the season. 

Over to Ibiza now where UD Ibiza have dominated their league. After their play-off disappointment last season, despite a heavy investment they too began the season with a new Coach. Juan Carlos Carcedo was the man tasked with getting promotion. His first job as a number one coach, having previously worked as a number two to Unai Emery. They worked together at Almeria, Valencia, Spartan Moscow, Sevilla, Paris Saint Germain and Arsenal. So good credentials for a man taking his first steps into coaching his own team for the first time. Like Mallorca almost top marks after eight games in their league. They currently lie in first place, won 6, drawn 2 and lost 0. They’ve scored 12 goals and conceded just 1. Their goal is to get promotion and they seem on course right now. 

Peña Deportiva are similar to UD Poblense in a way that survival in the division is more important. Last seasons coach Mario Ormaechea left at the end of last season and reportedly he was going to Atlético Baleares. But a last minute change of mind by the board at Baleares meant he was out of work. However Peña hadn’t replace him so he went back! They currently lie in eighth place with a record that reads, played eight, won 1, drawn 3 and lost 4. Their problem is goals having scored just once but they’ve only conceded three goals. Last time out they got a creditable 0-0 draw in their Derby with UD Ibiza. 

In Tercera group A, Andratx are the current leaders on 24 points with Manacor in second on 18 points. Manacor have a game in hand and are the only team to beat Andratx so far this season.

Group B is a little tighter, with three points separating the top three. Platges de Calvia currently lead on 20 points, followed by PE Sant Jordi on 18 Points and Real Mallorca B on 17 points. 

In Division Honor the highest league in Youth football at U-18 level, all of our teams are finding it difficult. In a ten team league, Real Mallorca are sixth, Penya Arrabal are seventh and CD San Francisco are eighth. San Fran do have a couple of games in hand on the teams above them. It’s a tough league with teams from Barcelona, Espanyol and Girona so survival is important for our island teams. 

At the moment youth football continues from Juvenil, Cadete and Infantil levels but Alevin, Benjamin and Pre-Benjamin are still suspended. 

Take care everyone. 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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

Firstly I’ve changed the name of the blog to Dad Taxi Mallorca for which I’m better known.
I think we’re all glad to see the back of 2020 and hoping that 2021 brings us all health, happiness and a return to some kind of pre-pandemic normality. At the moment the cases here aren’t dropping as we are seeing the fallout from people being allowed to travel through the Constitution Day and the day of the immaculate conception holidays on the 6th and 8th of December. 

The problems we are now seeing are for me solely down to the dithering of the Government here. Since the March lockdown we have lurched from crisis to crisis without coming up with a plan to get the island moving again. I’ve said it before but a coalition Government never works for the people, it works for its own good. A year into governing and three years before the next elections it’s time for the this Government to step up. I don’t know why they’re against making tough decisions but if a lockdown was going to be announced then surely it should have been done before now. For me they’ve worried more about their own popularity than making decisions that will get the island’s economy moving again. What matters more, families enjoying this Christmas, New Year and Three Kings celebrations? Or the islands back working again so that families can enjoy future Christmas, New Year and Three Kings celebrations? The latter is what I chose for me and my family at the beginning of December and it’s a choice that should have been made not by me but for us by the Government. Nobody likes being told what to do especially when it affects our daily lives but we’ve sort of got used to it over the last few months. So another few hard weeks in return for more years of prosperity wouldn’t for me have been a difficult decision. 

Would this have prevented the situation we’re in right now? Who knows, but it certainly wouldn’t have been this bad. At the moment we’re in a curfew situation, the next would be local lockdowns, then closing the airport and ports and finally a full lockdown. 

I can’t remember how long the Government here were talking about the safe corridors to the UK but right now we are in a situation that those who return will be subject to a 10-day quarantine, which can be shortened to five through the UK government’s test to release scheme. Still not encouraging enough to book a holiday here. 

PCR tests are now obligatory but currently are more expensive than the flights, the Anti-Gen tests are cheaper but don’t detect just Covid but if it’s negative then you can’t enter. It’s a scheme that’s working in the Canaries. 

Finally PCR became obligatory for all passengers arriving on the island just before Christmas. But I’ve been told by more than one person that everyone is not being checked. Now it can’t be down to lack of staff surely? There’s enough people unemployed or on the ERTE who I’m sure would be glad of some work right now. What hope have we got when we can’t check everyone coming in now when the airport is at its least busiest? God help us when we get to Summer. 

Summer, yes that all important word. That needs to be the goal from now and if difficult decisions need to be taken, can we please get on with it. 

In order for people to book a holiday here, they need to see that we are getting our house in order to welcome them back. Of course the vaccine will help but that is just getting off of the ground and will take time. Therefore we all will need to follow the same guidelines for the foreseeable future to get those numbers down. We’ve done it before and we can do It again. 

May I take this opportunity to wish you a happy, healthy and pandemic free new year. 

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

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