Schroeder has no complaints

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is nearing the end of his two-week Majorca holiday, said yesterday that he has no complaints about the island and called for people to stop making a drama out of a crisis and to stop “dramatising” the problems suffered by millions of Germans who visit the island every year because relations with the Majorcans will only be “good” as long as both parties “respect each other.” Schroeder yesterday held talks with the new leader of the Spanish PSOE Socialist party José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero over lunch in Santa Maria. Schroeder stressed the need for visitors from his country to “respect the traditions and culture of Majorca,” but the Chancellor said that tourists “have also got to be treated with formality.” Balearic Chief Minister Francesc Antich, who instigated the encounter after meeting the Chancellor last week, said yesterday that Schroeder fully understands what the Balearic government is trying to do in Majorca “to achieve a better standard of living for residents which will also be more satisfying for tourists.”