Here
I am again with another edition of Local News. The rain has started, the air
is fresher, the streets are cleaner and everyone is more relaxed now that September
has arrived.
The
summer tourist season will soon be at an end and everyone who has survived another
summer in Ibiza should have a certain feeling of accomplishment.
Officially
the tourist season ends on the 30th October, but the Consell Insular
(Island Council) and the Federacion Hotelera (Hotels Federation) hopes that
in the future the beaches and the hotels will remain in use throughout the winter.
A
new campaign aims to prolong the season by attracting a totally new type of
tourists to the island for the winter months.
A
two-hour meeting to discuss the new proposition originated by the Consell Insular
was held on Wednesday 5th September.
The
president of the Consell Insular, Pilar Costa, the councillor for Tourism, Josep
Mari Ribas, and the director of the Federacion Hotelera, Joan Bufi, all attended
to express their opinions about the new campaign that is expected to be in operation
for the winter of 2002.
Josep
Mari Ribas said: "the existing
winter programme of activities would have to be extended if we wanted to attract
a different type of clientele for the winter months".
Cultural
excursions, classical music concerts, cycling routes, horse riding, nautical
activities including diving lessons were some of the many proposals put forward
as suggestions to attract more tourists in the "off" season.
"People
that visit Ibiza in the summer think that nothing happens here in the winter",
said Ribas, who is aiming to change this perception.
The
president of the Federacion Hotelera, Joan Bufi, assured the Consell Insular
that the hotels will back the new inactive 100%, but "a lot of effort will
have to be made to make this work. We will need a lot more new ideas to insure
that the campaign is a success".
The
president of the Consell Insular, Pilar Costa, explained how beneficial winter
tourism would be for the island's economy.
Let
us hope that the campaign, which is in its primary stage, is a success and that
the locals will be prepared to adjust to a longer tourist season.
This
not only means more money for the workers in the tourist industry but also more
complaints from residents about noise, etc. which some may not be prepared to
tolerate as a lot of residents look forward to the peace and quiet of the winter
time.
For
some years now there has been plans to extend the tourist season but this initiative
seems to be the most positive yet.
Let
us hope that the tourist board has a better start with this campaign than they
did with the start of this summer's campaign, when they planned to install a
new tourist information office in Ibiza Town.
The
new portable office, which was expected to be up and running at the start of
the season, has still not arrived from mainland Spain. The councillor for Tourism
for Ibiza Town Hall, Maurici Cuesta, has assured me that the new office will
be open next week. Cuesta also added that "it is a shame that the office
has not been open all season but at least it will operate for the 45 days or
so that are left of the summer".
The
new information office is portable and can be transferred to different parts
of the island for different events, but until the end of this year it will remain
in the Vara de Rey square in Ibiza Town.
Maurici
Cuesta went on to mention that Ibiza tourist board is planning to be present
at the same tourist fairs that they attended last year.
The
World Travel Market in London is top of the tourist board's agenda for this
winter as well as the ITB fair in Berlin. The Ibiza tourist board will attend
these two important fairs as guests of the Balearic Tourist Association, but
when they travel to the Madrid and Barcelona tourist fairs, Ibiza will have
its own publicity stand.
One
of the most important factors for English tourists planning to visit the island
next year will be the change of currency.
The
first consignment of Euro has already arrived in Ibiza. The Catalan bank Sa
Nostra, acting on behalf of the Banco de España (Bank of Spain), received approximately
400 million pesetas worth of Euros (2,4 million Euro) between Monday 4th
and Tuesday 5th September. This large amount of money, all in coins,
will be divided between all the banks in Ibiza and Formentera.
Security
was tight as bags and bags of new coins were delivered to the Sa Nostra bank
in Ibiza Town. The director of the bank, Angel Lloreda, said that "a total
of 1,500 million pesetas worth of Euros (9 million Euro) will be delivered to
Ibiza and Formentera during the next few months (approximately 175 tons of coins)".
Saturday
15th December will be the first day people can go into their local
banks and purchase a sample bag of the new Euro coins. The bag will contain
43 different coins, equivalent in value to 2,000 pesetas and it is hoped that
this will give people a chance to get used to the new European currency before
the official launch day of 1st January 2002 when the currency becomes
legal tender throughout the European community.
The
delivery date for the new Euro notes to Ibicencan banks is still to be confirmed,
but the Bank of Spain has assured me that all banks will be fully stocked long
before 1st January.
The
Euro and the peseta will be in circulation side by side for a short period from
1st January to 28th February. The peseta will cease to
be legal tender from 1st March 2002, but banks will still accept
the peseta until 30th June to give people time to change the old
for the new.
On
the same day last week as the Euro arrived in Ibiza, one of Ibiza Town's jewellery
shops experienced an unusual robbery. The method used by the robbers to enter
the shop was originated in America and is called ram raiding. This form of robbery
involves driving a vehicle, in this case a stolen BMW car, into the shop front,
the occupants of the vehicle then help themselves to everything they can get
their hands on as quickly as possible tossing all their loot into the car and
making a speedy get-away.
This
is the first ram-raiding robbery to have taken place in Ibiza and let us hope
it is the last. Once again this proves that America leads the way, not only
in the bad, but also in the good and one of the good things that has come from
America to Ibiza this week are the hundreds of Harley Davidson motorbikes that
are taking part in the Ibiza Bike Week.
The
largest concentration of these bikes took place on the night of 5th
September in the Recinto Ferial (Ibiza's exhibition centre) and, despite the
rain, was a huge success. Accompanying the roar of the Harleys was the sound
of the English heavy metal group Saxon, the German group U.D.O. and Statuas.d.Sal,
a local Ibicencan rock group that at last have gained a huge following around
Spain and Europe.
The
bikers have also been travelling all around the island for many different reunions
and parties, and some Ibiza residents have not taken to kindly to hundreds of
motorbikes waking them up in the middle of the night and parking somewhat inconsiderably
on the pavements. As a result of several complaints about the bikers, officers
of the Guardia Civil (Civil Guards) have been patrolling the streets issuing
fines of up to 100,000 pesetas to any biker parked on the footpath, not wearing
a crash helmet or under the influence.
Just
because some residents, whose tolerance levels are low at this time of year,
complain about the bikers, most people on the island consider them to be advantageous
to the island.
Some
DJ's also fall into this category, especially the famous DJ's that took part
in a series of four DJ competitions held at Coastline Cafe in San Antonio and
organized by DJ Buff Wise, resident DJ at Manumission's 'Bar M' also in San
Antonio.
The
DJ's raised a grand total of 830,000 pesetas during the competitions which was
donated by DJ Buff Wise on Sunday 2nd September to the Asociacion
de Personas con Necesidades Especiales de Eivissa y Formentera (Ibiza and Formentera's
Association for People with Special Needs).
It
is nice to hear that these DJ's, who are normally frantically busy in the summer
months can take the time and are willing to donate their services to worthwhile
local charities. DJ Buff's example is one to follow.
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