The Town That Didn't Want The Train - A Fairy Tale

The transport fairy gives and the transport fairy takes away. On the day that they came to officially open the as yet unfinished new terminal at Alcúdia's port, some other they were in the process of killing off the Alcúdia train - for the time being at any rate. At the cost of some twenty odd million euros the new port will be totally shiny and new later this year when the walkways have been finished. But they made sure to get it officially opened just in case and before the transport fairy could wave her wand and make it all disappear, which is what the malevolent and spoilt little brat was up to in the islands' parliament yesterday. "You shan't go to the Alcúdia station," said she. Or something like that. And I know, I know that was the fairy godmother, but she was still a fairy.

The money spent on the port was a drop in the bay of Alcúdia compared to the close on 100 million euros that was earmarked to churn up local finca land and run a ruddy great rail track through the auditorium. It would have been money well spent, but Alcúdia town hall played hardball - and lost in all respects. One member of the parliament said that the administration will pass into history as having been from the town that didn't want the train.

The report on the parliament proceedings was such that I confess to having lost the will to live when trying to make sense of what the various political parties wanted or didn't want in respect of Alcúdia, Manacor and any other tram or train. A plague on their various houses. The upshot is that the Alcúdia train, if indeed it ever is to see the light of a tunnel, will not be doing so as a result of the workings of the current legislature. So much for President Antich's "age of the train".

The transport fairy has been busy these past few days. She sprinkled some magic dust in Barcarès where there had been the little local difficulty regarding the development of the marina that no-one seemed to know about. Surprising to report, therefore, that over 2,500 signatures appeared on a petition against the development, which is over 2,500 more people than knew about the development when I went there (except the bloke in the office) and roughly 2,500 more than live in the larger Barcarès area (I do exaggerate here of course). But it was all something and nothing, as indeed I had discovered. The environment minister has said that there are no immediate plans to do anything and indeed nothing might well happen as the chaps from the ports authority have to weigh up priorities for the island as a whole.

The transport fairy looked down on the little port in Barcarès and smirked. "Why would you give priority to this?" And with a whoosh of the wand it was gone. Far, far away to the place with the magic finca land with no train.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Cliff Richard, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFakry_wgZE.

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