Low
temperatures, rain and gale force wind, unlikely weather for Ibiza but a sure
sign that winter has arrived.
Most
of mainland Spain and the Balearic Isles are suffering extreme weather conditions,
some places registering the strongest wind on record.
The
Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (National Meteorological Institute) announced
the arrival of the cold weather on Friday 9th November: “A band of
bad weather from the north is going to affect the whole of Spain, except the
Canary Isles, during the next week” and they were right.
Temperatures
dropped six degrees on Friday 9th November, decreasing from 22 degrees
centigrade on Thursday 8th to 16ºC.
The
winds gusting up to 140 kilometres per hour were definitely everyone’s main
fear as the Dirección General de Protección Civil (General Management of civil
Protection) warned Ibiza residents to stay indoors, close all the windows, remove
all objects from balconies that could be carried off by the wind and, finally,
not to walk near the coastline.
Also
forecast was the possibility of snow above 400 metres. Considering that some
of Ibiza’s highest points are over 500 metres high, a lot of the locals prepared
for snow, which fortunately for some, never arrived.
Weather
conditions had improved slightly by Saturday 10th November with maximum
temperatures of 12ºC and winds reaching 120 kilometres per hour.
The
fire brigade and the police department were kept busy clearing fallen trees,
electric and telephone cables and other debris caused by the wind.
One
of the main problems was the multiple road accidents as a result of slippery
roads caused by the heavy rain, which in some areas of Ibiza registered 28 litres
per square metre.
One
of the local firemen said: “Even though we have answered more than a hundred
emergency calls in 24 hours, none of the damage has been serious.
Fallen
trees and broken windows and window frames seems to be the main problem”.
In
more serious cases, roads in Port des Torrent had to be closed because rocks,
sand and pieces of wood blowing off the beach were endangering drivers’ safety.
Salvamento
Marítimo (Marine Rescue Service) participated in a rescue operation on Saturday
10th November when ‘Star Sailor’ yacht lost control during the bad
weather. Salvamento Marítimo rescued the four Germans who were on board and
got them back to land safely.
One
of the rescuers said: “It was a difficult operation but everything turned out
well. But a lot of boats were destroyed or lost in the storm.”
Over
the weekend (Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November) the
Balearic Islands emergency service 112 registered 11,000 emergency calls, 142
of these calls coming from Ibiza.
The
fire brigade service has been on full alert all weekend, answering all types
of emergency calls. One fireman even said: “We have never had to work so hard.
One
of my companions hasn’t slept in two nights while another fireman has been trapped
on Formentera for days.” The local boat service between Ibiza and neighbouring
island Formentera was cancelled.
Ibiza
and Formentera have been totally isolated from mainland Spain via sea as leading
ferry companies Trasmediterranea and Balearia cancelled all services connecting
Ibiza to main ports such as Valencia, Denia and Barcelona.
One
of the captains of the Ibiza-Formentera ferries said: “You would have to be
mad to try and leave the port in this weather.
“This
is definitely the strongest wind in Ibiza since 1980.”
A
spokesperson for AENA (local airport) said: “The airport has functioned with
complete normality and none of our flights have been affected by the severe
weather conditions”.
Meanwhile,
electrical company Gesa has assured all their clients that despite some minor
problems, the loss of electric only affected 0.2% of their clients.
The
Instituto Nacional de Meteorología has predicted more rain and winds up to 140
kilometres per hour for this weekend.
Schools
remained closed on Thursday 15th November throughout the Balearic
Isles and all local authorities advised Ibiza residents to stay at home in a
bid to avoid any possible tragedies.
ALTERNATIVES
Instead
of remaining indoors feeling happy or sad about the unusual weather, some people
are taking advantage of the wind.
On
the morning of Saturday 10th November, a small group of people gathered
on Playa den Bossa beach to enjoy the seven metre high waves and practice their
favourite sport: windsurfing.
The
local windsurfs were definitely amazed by this unique experience of enjoying
such high waves on the Ibicencan beaches.
Peter
Whaley, a resident on the island with more than 30 years experience of windsurfing,
said: “These are not the best conditions for windsurfing but we are enjoying
the experience all the same”.
It’s
nice to see that someone is finding a use for all the bad weather.
FASHION
SHOW
It
was not just the windsurfs who braved the bad weather on Saturday 10th
November.
The
‘I Salón Interprofesional’ Pasarela Tendencias 2001 (I Professional Fashion
Show 2001) got off to a successful start.
Despite
the weather, the Vara de Rey in Ibiza Town was turned in to a temporary catwalk
on Saturday evening when 20 models presented the latest fashions for 2002.
The
aim of the fashion show, which was sponsored by 53 local businesses and organized
by Pimeef (Small and Medium Businesses
Organization), was to display the latest hair styles and wedding bouquets, as
well as fashion.
The
wedding dresses by designers Ketty, Carol and Elegancia were the stars of the
show.
Bouquets
of flowers and a wedding cake shared by 600 attendants at the end of the show
gave the fashion an original touch.
As
well as local designs from Ibicencan businesses, the latest fashion collection
from clothes designers such as Vivian Westwood, Hugo Boss, Atelier and Roberto
Cavalli, among others, were also one of the shows features.
The
fashion show presenter, model Salvador Guerrero, concluded the night saying:
“This is a great opportunity to see the range of quality products that can be
found in the shops in Ibiza, which may have gone unnoticed before tonight.”
WORLD
TRAVEL MARKET
Two
people who have missed out on the bad weather are the councillors of Tourism
from the Consell Insular (Island Council), Josep Marí Ribas, and from the Govern
Balear (Balearic Government), Celestí Alomar who both travelled to London this
week.
The
aim of their trip was to attend the World Travel Market on Monday 12th
November where they discussed the situation of the tourist industry with the
executive director of the British Tourist Authority Jeff Hambling and the Minister
of Tourism Kim Howells.
This
comes after the Instituto Balear de Turismo (Balearic Institute of Tourism)
released a survey in which they declared that tourism in Ibiza will remain the
same even after the 11th September tragedies.
According
to the Instituto Balear de Turismo, the drop in figures in comparison to 2001
reservations is down to the fact that British people don’t reserve their holidays
until the last minute so that they benefit from special offers.
They
also added that if the 11th September tragedies were going to affect
Ibicencan tourism, which they find very unlikely, it would only affect families
who may be frightened to fly with children”.
NEW
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR CAN MISSES HOSPITAL
The
Servei Balear de Salut (Balearic Health Service) held a meeting on Thursday
8th November in a bid to reach an agreement on the type of management
system to be used to control Can Misses hospital and all other public medical
centres in Ibiza and Formentera.
The
three-hour meeting gathered representatives of the Balearic Health Service,
directors of Insalud (management of Can Misses hospital at present) and a group
of 15 doctors, who discussed what type of modifications needed to be made to
the hospital’s management system.
At
present, the management of the general physicians is separated from that of
specialized doctors, resulting in problems at times of making important decisions.
“Once
the hospital’s management is united the problems should disappear. We want each
sector to maintain it’s independence but at the same time share common views”,
according to Juli Fuster, manager of the Balearic Health Service, who considers
that a united management is the best solution to all the problems.
Some
benefits of the new system would be the improvement of health care as well as
stabilizing doctors’ wages.
Juli
Fuster added: “Our idea is to create a system open to the opinions of different
doctors as it is the doctors who have to live and work with our decisions”.
“They
know more about the reality of hospital life than we ever will, that is why
it is so important to us that they back our decisions”.
Some
other problems that were also discussed at the meeting was the need to finish
the repairs that were started to Can Misses hospital last winter. A new medical
centre for Santa Eulalia, a specialized centre in Formentera and two new public
health centres for Ibiza Town are also on the list of priorities.
The
need for more general physicians and specialized doctors was also discussed.
The
manager of the Balearic Health Service says: “These are the basic problems that
need to be solved as soon as possible".
Another
two meetings will be held before the two management systems unite.
The
first of these meetings will be held to discuss economic matters.
The
Balearic Health Service estimates the hospital’s expenses for 2002 at 5,800
million pesetas of which 1,300 million pesetas will be spent on wages, 3,500
million pesetas on general hospital expenses and a further 1,000 million pesetas
on investments.
The
hospital management will also require an undisclosed annual amount to finish
the pending construction work.
After
this, a further meeting will be held to finalize the decisions over the new
management system. |