A cop out

I do try to give politicians the benefit of the doubt despite my better nature yet this time the astonishing hypocrisy and self-serving sentiments were simply too much. While green-at-the-gills Greta Thunderbird pounded the streets looking grim and warrior-like with her familiar furrowed brow and dismissive pout, Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron glared at one another, both seething, neither conceding, over the fishing fiasco that has tediously dominated British headlines of late.

Meanwhile, poor old biddy Biden was falling asleep during the speeches – plus ça change - and had to be spirited away from the conference when his aides seemingly suspected that he was about to lose the plot.

Prince Charles is a good egg and has his heart in the right place. At least, unlike the opportunistic swag bag of politicians spouting nothing but hot air and toxic methane, he genuinely does care about the environment and the future of the planet.

He and national treasure, David Attenborough, were thankfully there to redress the balance and to prove that there were some genuinely authentic voices at this hollow, complicit and shiny shindig.

Call me old-fashioned but I find it fascinating that following Covid and the associated media hysteria and government controls, we suddenly hit a new iceberg, namely the end of the world, thanks to global warming. Politicians who haven’t given a damn up until now are suddenly clamouring for the mic, copies of The Prophecies by Nostradamus in their clammy mitts. Global warming is not new and hasn’t just reared its head post Covid and yet, listening to the plaintive baying of our global leaders you’d think it was a brand-new concept that had just come to their bleary-eyed attention.

We do urgently need to focus on the environment and the future of our planet but is it wise or sane to put our faith in wily, self-centered politicians anywhere in the world? Currently, they are careering around screaming their heads off like Chicken Licken but it wasn’t always thus. The climate crisis has neither just arrived like a malevolent genie, nor will it conveniently disappear.

It’s been cheerlessly mulling for a considerable time, like a badly corked wine, under the noses of our world leaders. Therefore, logically, we have to question why it’s suddenly been given prominence by those holding the reins of global power - those who previously never cared a jot. Why only now, in Covid-afeared times, has it rapidly been shoved up to the top of the agenda, and while we’re at it, what is the real agenda? That is what I find deeply troubling, almost more so than climate change itself.

Christmas is coming

So here we are in early November watching the same UK department stores churning out the habitual tear-jerking pre-Christmas annual adverts to persuade the great British public to buy, buy, buy. I still enjoy Christmas, I really do, but only because I view it as a time when I might see family and catch up on those traditions that make us all smile and feel at one. I love the sense of community and being able to exchange cheery ‘molts d’anys’ with neighbours and friends over the festive period. Here in Soller, happily, Christmas is an understated affair and I love the fact that there is no hysteria attached to it.

In the UK many supermarkets have very low supplies of normal every day food items so heaven knows what will happen as Christmas approaches. I imagine that rather like in Communist regimes there will be queues a mile long and desperate people hoping that they might be granted a handful of chestnuts for the stuffing if they queue long enough. Maybe customers will start bribing staff at the doors. Friends in London say that it is still difficult to find petrol and countless stores are lacking basic supplies. It’s weird to imagine the England I once knew and loved is now in this lamentable state.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, so many restaurants, cafés and bars have been forced to close because they lack staff. Brexit persuaded so many immigrants to leave the UK and now the cold winds of reality are hitting home for those who considered it such a great idea at the time.

Jeggings in Palma

One of the disadvantages of having a broken wrist is that pulling up zips and doing up buttons is practically impossible. By luck, I found that I had one pair of white jeans that had no zip. I have therefore been machine washing these trousers every day in order to wear them all week. It became very dull so I decided to pop into Palma for supplies. I visited the women’s department of El Corte Ingles and fell on the mercy of a no-nonsense, very stylish older assistant.

This lovely lady took me in hand, whisked me around the shelves and found me two pairs of jeggings and some easy to wear cotton jumpers that would fit over my arm brace. It has made life much easier and in the last few weeks I have also learnt how to open a bottle of cava, a ring-pull tin, and countless cosmetics. It’s amazing what one can do with the right mindset especially with a glass of cava in hand!

Anna Nicholas’s seventh Majorca travel title, Peacocks in Paradise, is now available to purchase at all good UK bookshops & via amazon. In Mallorca it’s available at Universal Bookshop, Alameda shop in Soller and the Atelier in Fornalutx and in Palma bookshops.