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Dear Sir, IN reply to your article dated today (22nd February) in relation to the ‘carnation sellers' my husband and I were also stopped in Palma Nova back in September 2002 and later realised we had 100 pounds in cash stolen. As it was said in the article. the Police ‘do not want to know' and as luck happens we were covered by our holiday Insurance. Why is nothing being done about this if everyone else seems to know about it........maybe reps in resorts could warn tourists about this scam the same as they warn about time–share touts.
Chris and Andy Sandell
Dear Sir, WITH regard to the article on the 22nd February about the imfamous “Carnation Sellers” or “leaches on society” as I would prefer to call them. These people operate throughout the island and it is obviously very difficult for the police to catch them ‘in the act'. It is a traumatic experience to be robbed of your possessions when you are only wishing to relax and enjoy yourself. Whether the victim is young or old the feeling of being defiled is the same. Like the Palma hotelier, we see the same faces where we live together with their ‘minders' who wait to take them on a speedy exit.
It is difficult to assess how many victims do not return to Majorca together with their associates who are also put off for the fear of being robbed. A loss that the tourist industry can not afford at this lean time . Can I offer a possible solution to assist the police in their efforts to stamp out this scurge . If the Local Police were able to set up a ‘Hot Line' and this number was given to every hotel and in some areas the bars and restaurants (they know the culprits), a quick call to the hot line would allert the police who could act immediately if they had the manpower available.Reading recent articles in the Bulletin it seems that we are also having more ‘vultures' from other Eastern European countries, if the problem is not tackled quickly it could get to a situation where we are reluctant to go out at night or day for fear of being robbed. Having seen the ‘minders' of these people it would be appreciated if I could remain completely anonymous.
Name and address supplied
Poor Majorca
Dear Sir, HAVING spent a week here in dreadful weather it is blindingly obvious that the island is just not geared–up off–season to attract families with children. I understand that a planning application for a large indoor facility with pools and attractions near Inca was not granted planning permission, yet we see monstrosities regularly constructed which bear no relation to the island's main income, ie: tourism. I appreciate that large heated indoor pools and play areas could become white elephants in the hot months if planners do not include sliding roofs, but that technology already exists. Given the huge amount of money which visitors bring, and the potential for increasing winter tourism, provision is pathetic. Is it totally beyond the ability of, for instance, the super–rich Calvia region to have some equivalent of an indoor pools area and heated covered beach? People would flock to it. Instead, we have only the municipal facility at Calvia itself, which is really geared to local residents who wish to play sports and swim in pools which are very cold – no problem in that, but what about the visitors who bring the wealth? Once we'd exhausted the Green Planet mini–jungle at Marraxti, put the kids into the Ikea ballpark for an hour, and used the Carrefour indoor playpark, that was it! Come on Majorca, pull your finger out and show a lead. Please wake up to tourist's modern needs.
Steve Riches, Northampton