Palma Airport / Noise / Driving

And so Palma Airport is to undergo a further extension, this being a sort of mini-terminal in a development of the existing arrivals hall. Jolly good, no doubt they’ll be able to boast further increases in the numbers coming in next year, but the airport will not be getting any business from Ryanair. Too expensive, says the Irish low-cost airline of Palma. Now this may be a negotiating ploy, who knows, but Ryanair is sufficiently well-minted to be making Aer Lingus a takeover target and to accept the costs of flying into and out of the likes of Heathrow.


A while back I reported on some old buffer whingeing about the noise in Puerto Pollensa. It seems that the even more sedate old town of Pollensa has its noise problems, too. These are caused by bars such as the very lovely Columbus in the Plaça Major, or rather by people at and leaving said bars. Now, it ‘s not as if bars in Pollensa didn’t exist before. There has been - for some years for instance - Jam Bar, off the square down a side street. The fact is that if you give permission for a bar that is located right close to residences then noise is always likely to be an issue. In the port, the trio of Chivas, Tukys and Kudos, which are all next to each other, get all sorts of complaints. Hardly surprising given where they are. But what on Earth do people think is going to happen: that punters leave at 3 in the morning, or whenever, speaking in hushed tones after imbibing a couple of mugs of Horlicks?


Eighty dead on Balearic roads thus far this year. Despite the hopes that the new points system will alter driving habits, there is concern that going on a half of those killed were wearing neither seat-belts nor helmets. I don’t get the not wearing of such protection, apart from machismo and, in certain cases, teenage bravado. Though it happened in England, the teenage son of James and Karen from Foxes in Puerto Alcúdia recently suffered head injuries in a collision on his moped; he had a helmet on but it was resting on his head not pulled down, something one often sees here (if a helmet is being worn at all). Let’s hope Trafico gets tough on this, and perhaps also on moped and motor-bike drivers who weave in and out, cut up on the inside and generally cause problems. Oh and cyclists as well. Bet they don’t. Bet they don’t do anything about cyclists riding in the wrong direction; cyclists who go through reds; cyclists who come straight out of side roads without looking. Many drivers here need bringing to account, but there are an awful lot on two wheels who need to be, too.

Rant over.