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Established in Palma of Majorca in 1962











Thursday 28 August, 2008 Edition #2594




TOURISM HOPING THAT THE BRITISH WILL SAVE THE WINTER
By Humphrey Carter
PALMA

THE Secretary of State for Tourism Joan Mesquida, yesterday said that he is considering offering the tourist industry cash incentives and tax breaks to help the market carry out necessary improvements this winter in an attempt to fight off riding competition from emerging non-Euro zone destinations.

Mesquida, who last week announced that a tourism crisis department is being set up, said yesterday that his department is currently finalising a new plan of action but he did confirm that a series of promotions are going to be launched in the key feeder market, in particular Britain, in an attempt to lift end of summer and Autumn bookings.

He said the tourist industry is still clinging on to the hope that there will be a late surge in demand and spending.

Britain has not had a summer and yesterday, for example, Flybe reported a late surge in demand for flights to Spain as Britons and the Spanish tourism authorities hope to tap into that market.

“Privilege Spain” is one of the new campaigns to attract tourism at the end of this year and the start of next.

However, Mesquida mentioned that attention will also be turned to Germany but it was reported yesterday that German consumer confidence has fallen to a fresh five-year low, as recession and high inflation fears continue to sour the mood on the high street.





Romanian billionaire who died in Majorca is buried
NEWSDESK

PALMA
THOUSANDS of people from the Transylvanian town of Lugoj in central Romania yesterday attended the funeral ceremony of billionaire Iosif Constantin Dragan.

Dragan, who was 91, died in Palma last week.

Reports in the local media show that in 2006 Dragan had a wealth of around $1.6 billion, making him Romania’s wealthiest man.

Dragan was mainly involved in business dealings with oil and gas.
A close friend of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, he was a promoter of the Latin origin of Romanian people.

After the end of communism in Romania in 1989, he founded a university in Lugoj and set up several newspapers, including a hardline nationalist weekly magazine.




Seven tons of hashish seized in two days in Majorca
 By Humphrey Carter
PALMA

THE Guardia Civil is continuing with its war on drugs trafficking in the Balearics and this week has seized nearly seven tons of hashish in Majorca.

The Guardia Civil narcotics and serious crime squad lifted the lid off two major operations carried out over the weekend yesterday.

Two separate anti-drugs operations were mounted on Sunday night.
The first operation targeted a British-flagged yacht on board which the drugs squad found 3'000 kilos of hashish. Two men, a Spaniard and a 19-year-old Dominican were arrested. In the second operation, a total of 3'900 kilos were intercepted by the drug squad which was apparently lying in wait for the arrival of a yacht from Morocco.

The yacht was spotted off Alcudia by an air sea rescue vessel and was eventually intercepted by the Guardia Civil in the Port of Alcudia. Yesterday, the drugs squad finished weighing the seizure and reported that the hashish weighed in at just under four tons. Three people were arrested in the Port of Alcudia and the yacht had apparently been chartered from a company which, according to the police, had absolutely no idea what their vessel was going to be used for. Guardia Civil sources said yesterday that, while they knew the yacht was bound from Morocco to Majorca, they do not know if the drugs were destined for the Majorcan or Balearic market. Either way, today, central government delegate Ramon Socias will oversee the destruction of part of the seized drugs at the Son Reus incinerator.




Ryanair plane bound for Spain loses pressure
By Kate Kelland

LONDON
A Ryanair flight to Spain was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Limoges airport in France when it lost cabin pressure, the airline said yesterday.

Flight FR9336, which left Bristol airport for Barcelona late on Monday with 168 passengers on board, “experienced an inflight depressurisation incident which caused the oxygen masks on board to deploy,” the airline said. “As a safety precaution, the captain descended and diverted the aircraft to Limoges airport at approximately 23.30 local French time,” it added in a statement.

Sixteen passengers were taken to hospital complaining of earache but they were released yesterday before continuing their journey to Girona by coach.
Explorer Pen Hadow, who was aboard, told Sky Television the incident “was traumatic for many involved.” “Suddenly there was a roar of wind, a rush of cold air, the oxygen masks dropped, you didn’t know what was going on,” he said. Hadow, who in 2003 became the first person to reach the North Pole unaided from Canada, complained that the oxygen masks did not seem to work. “No oxygen was delivered through the oxygen masks and I was surprised there seemed to be no communication between the pilot and the flight attendants because they didn’t seem to know what to say and do,” Hadow told the BBC. “There was absolutely no communication from the flight crew and that added to people’s extreme fear.” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary dismissed Hadow’s complaints. “Passengers sometimes misunderstand ... they expect a surge of oxygen when in actual fact there is a steady stream of oxygen,” said O’Leary. “The oxygen masks were working and the correct procedures were followed. As soon as the captain got the plane down to 8'000 ft he did make the appropriate announcement that they were going to divert to Limoges for safety reasons. “This is always a traumatic experience for passengers but ... the crew dealt with it appropriately.” Ryanair later released a statement saying its engineers had inspected the five-year-old Boeing 737-800, which had been serviced a month ago, and that the oxygen masks had been working. “The Irish and French aviation authorities have been notified of this incident and a full investigation of this incident will be undertaken,” the statement added.






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