MARRATXI
A MEETING will be held this Monday by the Commerce Advisory Board to determine if Marratxi can continue to be classified as a tourist resort. Currently Marratxi is classed as a tourist resort which allows the town council to open the Festival Park centre on Sundays and Bank Holidays during the tourism season from 15 March until 15 October, which is not allowed in other areas of Majorca. The meeting will be held at the town hall and the following people will be attending; Heads of the Commerce Department, representatives from the trade union associations, members fom town councils in Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, representatives from the commercial sector and more representatives from all islands for consumer associations. The order of the day will be to discuss the classification of tourist resorts. This meeting has been arranged after many different members from the Advisory Board requested at the beginning of March that the council must re-assess the criteria of tourist resorts and how certain town councils have been given this classification whilst others have not. The aim of the meeting is to find a solution to this problem before the tourist season starts on 15 March.

Grants for meat

MANACOR
THE Council of Majorca yesterday approved the financial grant of approximately 1'2 million euros that will be given to the Manacor Meat Products company. This grant has been awarded to the company so that they can carry out a project to do with the Majorcan sausage, which needs a total investment of 4.6 million euros. For this grant, 6.34 percent will come from the Balearic Government, 5 percent from the Ministry for Agriculture and the remainder from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEOGA).

Crop damage

SA POBLA, BUGER ...
THE Spanish regions, including the Balearic Islands yesterday presented their list of all those regions that have been affected by the January frost to the central Ministry for Agriculture, Fishing and Food (MAPA). The aim is to receive some financial grants from the Government to compensate for all the lost and damaged crops, especially potato crops. As regards Majorca, Sa Pobla, Buger, Alcudia, Muro, Llubi, Inca and Santa Margalida are the regions that are being put forward for compensation. Representatives from these seven regions gave a provisional list to the Department, so that they could assess if the areas were applicable for grants and that they fulfilled all the necessary requirements. The Ministry for Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the regional councils discussed how to manage the compensation funds that are destined for those farmers who lost crops. Around 650 regions in Andalucia, Valencia, Murcia, the Balearic Islands and Cataluña have asked to be included in the law that grants financial help to compensate for any crops that have been damaged by the cold temperatures in January. The Minister for MAPA, Elena Espinosa said that this help will not be extended for the bad weather during the months of February and March.

Power cuts

SENCELLES
POWER cuts have always been more of a problem in the Majorcan countryside villages rather than in the towns and cities. The residents in Sencelles, Santa Eugenia and Sineu have all been having problems because of the power cuts in the last few months. These power cuts are frequent in these areas and have caused damage to fridges, computers, heaters and many other electrical appliances. This is the case for a resident in Sencelles, Margalida Rubí, “it has been happening for a year now, at around 7pm there is a sudden power cut. I have had to throw out a fridge and a microwave, and finally GESA have said that they would reimburse me for these costs”, she said. Spokespeople from GESA explained a few days ago that the power cuts in Sineu are caused by the power cables that are being moved because of the construction at the Inca bypass.