Go Fly A Kite, Kitesurfers

You probably have a Dutch dude by the name of Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise to thank or blame for kitesurfing in Mallorca. G.A.P. took out his first patent on a kite for kitesurfing in 1977, thus indicating that kitesurfing has been around rather longer than might have been imagined and also indicating how quickly different forms of surfing developed: board surfing was really only popularised in the late 1950s.

The history of kitesurfing in Mallorca is more recent - around the turn of the century was when it started to catch on - and it is a minority sport, the consequence in part of the absence of available beaches from which to practise it in summer.

For a time, kitesurfers would turn up on regular beaches, leading, as I once witnessed, to a fist fight when a kite almost decapitated a child. This was on Playa de Muro beach. There are no longer any rogue kitesurfers taking to the waters in summer where the beach is populated, though the same stretch of beach does attract kitesurfers in winter when there aren't sunbathers or swimmers to maim. Further along the beach, the part known as Es Comú, a rustic beach backed by dunes, there is an established kitesurfing presence in summer, one sanctioned sufficiently that during the recent fiesta in Playa de Muro, it was possible to give kitesurfing a go.

The Es Comú beach, because there are no hotels, houses or road next to it, is not contentious. The beach itself, except on Sundays, is quiet during the summer months. It is awkward to get to, if you have to hump your kitesurf kit, but its location is more or less perfect, the winds from the exposed coastline of the bay of Alcúdia affording good conditions for the sport.

Another beach, also exposed, is altogether more contentious when it comes to kitesurfing. As I understand it, Es Comú and the beach at La Marina by Barcarès are the only two locations on Mallorca where kitesurfing can be performed to any great extent. There is a further beach in the south, but the area is strictly limited. In the bay of Pollensa, kitesurfing has grown to the extent that it is no longer confined to La Marina, it is also practised from beaches by the two hotel complexes along the road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa - Club Pollentia and Club Sol.

But it is kitesurfing at La Marina which has caused most of the controversy, especially since the extension of permission for its practice earlier this summer and the establishment of a training school. The number of kitesurfers has increased significantly, and the local residents are distinctly hacked off as a result.

For some time, banners have been hanging from houses overlooking La Marina beach. One says: "Flysurf school, no thanks" (flysurf is the same as kitesurfing). The residents object to the kitesurfers for different reasons, one of them being safety.

Kitesurfing can be dangerous, but the danger is not only that from a kite which goes out of control, there is the danger that also comes from the location at La Marina and at others along the bay road. This particular road is notorious for accidents, some horrors having occurred on it over the years, especially by the bend in the road, right by where the objectors' banners can be seen. The road is dangerous because vehicles go too quickly or too slowly. Too quickly and they might collide with the constant movement of people crossing the road with their kitesurf kit. Too slowly, which is the case with many spectating drivers, and someone smashes into the back or takes it upon himself to overtake and go head on with a car that is moving too quickly in the opposite direction. Cars can also suddenly just stop or slow to park off the road with barely any indication, if at all.

The problem with the kitesurfing at La Marina is, from a road-safety point of view, that it has become a tourist attraction, and La Marina will continue to attract more and more kitesurfers because, and unlike Es Comú, it is right next to a main road and so easy to just park up and disgorge the kit. And the parking is another complaint the residents have, which is understandable. At times, there are vehicles all over the place, poorly parked. To this, there is noise, rubbish and everything else that goes with a concentration of people.

A compromise needs to be found and measures put in place to ensure safety, but it is difficult to know what this compromise or these measures could be or indeed who would initiate them. As too often with matters by the coast, there is confusion as to which authority does what, as the residents have discovered over several years in getting no joy from the town hall and the police and the Costas, to which should also be added the Council of Mallorca which is responsible for the road.

There is going to be a nasty accident one of these days.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.