To start this weeks edition of Local News
I am going to update you on the MTV Ibiza festival, an issue that is being talked
about a lot this summer. The decision to hold the music festival in San Rafael's
discotheque Privilege on Wednesday 29th August comes after the licence
applications to stage the concert in the outdoor venue of San Rafael Hippodrome
was denied.
MTV, one of the biggest broadcasting companies
in the world, planned to hold their annual festival at the Hippodrome after
being informed by the local authorities that a third year at sa Pedrera, "the
quarry" used by MTV in 1999 and 2000 was out of the question.
San Rafael residents’ complaints, police
and fire services disapproval along with the local politicians’ objections meant
that MTV faced many problems trying to obtain the necessary licence and permits
for the festival.
Privilege, the largest club in the world
with a legal capacity of 4,000 people, seemed to be the best alternative after
the San Antonio officials and the Consell Insular (Island Council) made it clear
that the event would not be taking place in any of their open-air installations.
Polly Stevens, communications manager
for MTV Networks Europe, assured me that "the number of tickets that will
be put on sale for the event has not been decided because we still do not know
how much space the stages and sets are going to occupy. Privilege will be in
charge of informing us on how many people we can legally fit into the club".
MTV is making the most of their new location
by totally transforming the club making sure that the event is one of the most
memorable the island has ever seen.
Tickets for the festival that includes
live performances from leading dance groups Faithless and Basement Jaxx are
available at MTV's San Antonio office in Calle San Antonio Nº1 for 8,500 pesetas.
Wednesday night will definitely be a night to remember at Privilege.
More boats and more cars have invaded
the island in the past week. The port officials (Autoridad Portuaria) are demanding
licence that will permit them to build more moorings for private yachts for
next year. The port has registered a record number of yachts moored in the Ibiza
marina this summer.
"A lot more people own private yachts
because the economical situation has improved over the years. People spend their
money on leisure and boats are their first choice", according to Bartomeu
Bestard, the president of the Asociacion de Instalaciones Nauticas de Baleares
(Nautical Installations Association of the Balearics).
The port officials (Autoridad Portuaria)
have also revealed that the number of cars arriving in Ibiza has increased in
26% in comparison to last year. 40,000 vehicles passed through the port between
January and July of this year. It is only normal that traffic jams have been
a big problem considering the traffic increase.
Parking has also been a big problem this
year, especially in the main towns, where cars have even been parking on the
footpaths. The public car parks have also had their problems. The Policia Local
(local police) arrested a man on Monday 20th August accused of demanding
money from everyone that wanted to park his or her vehicle in a public car park.
Francisco F. F., a 20 year old born in Mallorca, was found with 43,570 pesetas,
mostly in one hundred peseta coins, that the police believe he obtained from
charging people to park in a public place.
Most of these men spend their day in a
public place with the excuse of directing the cars where to park, then ask for
money. If they are refused they tend to get violent and they could even damage
your car. No one should have to pay to park in free public car park so, hopefully
after this first arrest, the police will be clamping down on this illegal activity.
The Policia Local (local police) are having
their own share of problems this year after denouncing the poor conditions of
the San Antonio police station. The lord mayor of San Antonio, Antoni Marí Tur,
assured the police that three million pesetas has been set aside to renovate
the installations. Although Enrique Gomez Lama, active member of the Policia
Local, believes that this amount "will not be enough. The walls are cracked,
our men have nowhere to get showered and changed and the place is full of cockroaches
and other insects".
The policemen now fear that the Town Hall
will not come up with the money for this year and, if this is the case, the
local policemen are prepared to take drastic measures. "We will get changed
outside the police station so that everyone can see us in our underwear. Maybe
then they will realise that we have had enough".
More developments in Ibiza this week include
the presentation of a new construction team that will be active from September
this year. The new team, funded by the Ibiza Town Hall, will cater with all
small roadwork problems such as burst pipes or new underground installations
in a maximum of 72 hours.
The Town Hall, who has put up 25,000,000
pesetas for funding, believes that three days will be enough to fix all minor
problems.
The residents will be able to contact
the new roadwork’s brigade through a telephone hotline set-up by the Town Hall.
Moving on to other news, the only English
school on the island, Morna Valley, is planning to renovate their building after
the Conselleria d'Educacio (Cabinet of Education) denounced the school earlier
this year as being "gravely deficient in stability and security".
The owners of the Morna Valley School
are planning to spend 91 million pesetas on the new project. An administrative
office, a main reception area, two buildings with three classrooms each, a special
area for a children nursery and a sports centre will be the result if the planning
permission is granted.
It is all up to the Comision Insular de
Urbanismo (Building Developments Commission) and whether they declare that the
educational centre is of general interest to the local public. If the licence
is granted, the Morna Valley School will be able to teach just over 100 students
under 11 years old, following the English curriculum.
You may have noticed that the streets
of Ibiza have been inundated with Harley Davidson motorbikes over the past weekend.
And, no they are not Hells Angels, just the annual Harley Custom reunion that
each year chooses Ibiza as their meeting place.
A total of 600 bikes met at the camping
of Cala Bassa for a weekend full of games, paella and plenty of beer.
Another event in Ibiza this week has been
the various performances given by the Ballet from the National Opera of Kiev
in the Can Ventosa auditorium. The Ibiza cultural centre was full for the two
performances given by the talented group. On Sunday night they opened with "Swan
Lake" and then on Monday night with the famous "Nutcracker Suite"
featuring music from Tchaikovsky. Both performances were a huge success managing
to sell all of the tickets that were on sale.
The richest girl in the world, Athina
Onassis, returned to Ibiza for her annual holiday in the sun this week. Athina
will be 18 years old in January when she will receive her inheritance of 450,000
million pesetas left to her by her mother Christina Onassis. Her father Thierry
Roussel is also on the island with his daughter enjoying the Mediterranean sun.
The family has visited Ibiza for many years; they own a summer home in the Cala
Jondal area.
Athina Onassis visit will probably not
be to next year when the young multimillionairess will have already inherited
her fortune.
For a change, the international newspapers
are not just reporting on the drugs, the strikes or any other negative aspects
about Ibiza. It has been the German newspapers, Berlin Morgenpost and Die Welt,
that have reported about Ibiza in positive way this week.
The Ibicencan fashion delegation Adlib
made their front covers after their spectacular collaboration in the Berlin
fashion show "Big Q", also known as the Coral Fashion Show.
The annual show invited three fashion
labels, French designer Thierry Mugler, Pompoos new collection and the 18 different
designs from Adlib.
This was Ibiza and Formentera's chance
to make it big in the fashion world, especially as the Berlin fashion parade
was witnessed by more than 200,000 spectators and more than 300 journalists
and photographers from all over the world.
I am writing this in anticipation of San
Bartolome night on Friday 24th August. The night when San Antonio
becomes alive with people from all over the island, crowding into the town to
witness the best firework display of the summer festive season. I have not missed
the fireworks for the past 15 years and every year the display improves. I know
that this year’s pyrotechnics will not disappoint so I am of to join the crowds.
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