TW
5

When I first rocked up in Majorca some 25 years ago or so, I ended up living in Puerto Pollensa and working on a horse riding ranch aimed at tourists which was open nearly all year round. Apart from giving classes during the day (and caring for the horses, shoeing them and all that), the highlight was the evening moonlight ride. Quite often we would have the best part of 100 people in various groups, depending on their riding skills, and we would all end up around a big fire drinking sangria and, once we were closed up, we would head in to Alcudia for a few drinks and catch up with some of the clients we had met.

Earlier this week I was in Alcudia for the Team Sky media day and it broke my heart. It is an event I attend every year and it is always in January, but I have never seen Alcudia so closed down as this year. All the talk about winter tourism, sports etc: not even the little supermarket just a few hundred yards away from a hotel packed full of Team Sky and the British cycling team for the best part of two months was open to care for their needs.

It has reached the point that on a Sunday, a friend of mine who lives in Alcudia has to drive to Puerto Pollensa to buy his bread! It was a glorious winter’s day, a few locals on the beach walking and of course Team Sky out cycling. It's one thing making Palma work, but what about the rest of the island?