Seven Drunken Nights

There has been a thread over on Holiday Truths concerned with the legal age of drinking alcohol and specifically the suggestion that Mallorca does not have a problem of a British nature with alcohol among the young, over or under-age. It’s all a cultural difference, goes the argument.

 

It’s true that there is a cultural difference, it is also true that the Mallorcan young are not in the same league as their British counterparts when it comes to causing trouble or getting drunk, but it is a complete fallacy to suggest that a problem does not exist. In Palma the authorities are now starting a campaign of communicating with parents over the specific issue of the botellón – the street drinking party – that is the most obvious manifestation of youth drinking, and a growing social problem not only in Palma but in many towns across the island. These parties, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, involve cheap booze being brought to or sold at locations in different towns from where the youth will often go on to nightspots, having got tanked up on drink that would otherwise cost vastly more in clubs. In the case of some, those under 18, they wouldn’t, or shouldn’t be allowed into these venues anyway.

 

While the main consequences of the botellón are noise and mess, they have also contributed to occasionally serious incidents. The death of Gabriel Marquet in Alcúdia was partially attributed to the botellón by the Magic roundabout, while the authorities in Manacor moved swiftly to outlaw street drinking following an attack on a local citizen – again attributable to a botellón. The delegate for the Balearics to the central government, Ramón Socias, was moved to say that those who could not control themselves when with drink should not drink. It was a pretty pointless statement, but the fact that he was referring to self-control and drink at all gives the lie to the mythical notion of Mallorcan youth all being well-behaved and having been brought up to treat alcohol with respect. 

 

Someone on that thread made the point that at fiestas, and especially the dance parties during fiestas, there is no trouble. It’s a fair point, but it is not to say that there are never incidents. There is the further issue of drugs, one that affects the whole of the island. A parent in Puerto Pollensa once expressed to me her worries for her son as he entered his teens where the availability of drugs was concerned. The taking of drugs is as much of a problem in the small towns of Mallorca as it is in Palma. 

 

One needs to be careful and not overstate the problem, but there is a lingering perception among those who merely come to Mallorca for holidays that the island -its people and its youth – exists in some idyllic other world where social problems of other countries do not manifest themselves; that the youth sit around a café table and discuss music or art over a coffee and then go quietly home. It simply isn’t true. One doesn’t like to have to shatter people’s illusions, but many, including some expats residing on the island, have a misguided impression as to life in Mallorca. It is not the social paradise they would like to believe that it is.

 

 

The last supper?

On a lighter note, the Sant Jaume fiesta in Alcúdia, that came to its firework-blazing conclusion last night, recorded record numbers attending the open-air supper that is an annual feature during the fiesta week. For two and a half euros, more than 3,000 people were able to tuck into different pa amb olis, a dessert, some wine and water. Not a bad price. Perhaps it was so popular because it was so cheap. A sign of the times maybe. The supper was also, however, a potential demonstration of popular rejection of authority. An aspect of the supper is that there is a grand bingo. The interior ministry, as mentioned here previously, has sought to ban these open-air bingos on the grounds that they are illegal. It’s daft. Could this have been the last supper and bingo? But the size of the prizes on offer is maybe also indicative of the current times. Like the cheapness of the meal, so the incentive of a not insignificant cash payout is possibly a way of registering a record turn-out.

Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting

Manacor may be a bit off the beaten blog track, but some little local difficulties there are not without relevance to Alcúdia. Early on Sunday morning, a 31-year-old man was attacked by two youths and suffered injuries that have resulted in the loss of sight in one eye. The incident, and there were others, appears to be related to the Manacor version of the botellón, the street drinking party, and it also occurred in the context of the Manacor spring fair. It will be remembered that the death in Puerto Alcúdia of Gabriel Marquet was said to be related to a botellón. Residents of Manacor are attributing the violence, in part, to a lack of things for the local young population to do. So there we have it: feckless and reckless youth, without facilities and activities to divert them, getting drunk and having a bundle. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But let’s not get too precious. Or at least I’m not going to be. Had there been street drinking parties when I was a youth, I would probably have partaken; in fact I’m pretty damn sure I would have.

The town hall in Manacor is wanting to put in place a law to tackle the issue of the botellón and to impose certain sanctions. Good for them, but Alcúdia enacted a by-law last September specifically to stop street drinking – of any sort. Why do the parties still occur then? It’s all a police issue. Nothing more, nothing less. The argument about there not being things for the youth to do is almost completely fallacious. God knows, when I was at university there were all manner of things to divert you, some of them even related to studying, but it didn’t stop excessive drinking and “high-spirited” anti-social behaviour. Many left university with first-class honours in alcohol abuse, and some could also claim higher degrees in acts of vandalism and brawling. The local problems are hardly unique to the island or to its youthful generation.

Anyway, to matters more light-hearted. Following yesterday’s teabags, I would like to thank Sheila for itemising some of the things she brings on holiday to Alcúdia. Included among them is one food item that I would not have expected. And it is … frozen haddock. Yes, everyone, frozen haddock. I really should quiz Sheila a tad more closely on this, as in the means of transporting said haddock. But haddock, frozen or not frozen, would, I suggest, take some beating in the league of odd foodstuffs taken on holiday, though it should be pointed out that the fish is intended for friends, so there’s another category for you – strange things I have taken on holiday to give as presents. For my part, some years ago I grew addicted to a particular bottled satay sauce, so much so that several of the bottles were flown across the Channel to France. Not in the same class as the haddock, but indicative of something you just can’t do without. Sheila also listed English mustard and curry powder, and with curry in mind, in case you didn’t work it out, Cap Roig in Puerto Alcúdia will be the new Kashmir, making four the number of Indian restaurants in Puerto Alcúdia, which is still, relative to its size, a small number when compared with the relatively petite Puerto Pollensa and its foursome of Indians.

And, are we seeing the green shoots of sterling recovery? Up to a whopping 1.15 against the euro. Come on lads, let’s push it even higher. 1.20 by June. Then finally, who said that Barça had no defence. Two to nil I think you’ll find. Cue much outpouring of Catalan solidarity in the bars of Alcúdia and Pollensa – and quite right, too.