Island restaurant under threat of demolition

News reaches us that Camp de Mar's world famous Illetas Bar & Restaurante could be demolished.

A Supreme Court ruling obtained by the authority in Madrid responsible for public beaches throughout Spain affects beachbars - Chiringuitos, especially those of a permanent nature. The new law requires such structures to be removable at the end of the holiday season.

As the 54 year old island restaurant is not, it faces demolition.

The regional environment ministry has enquired of Madrid about the legality of Camp de Mar's key tourist feature, and over a dozen others around Mallorca, so keep watching this space.

Latest report from Camp de Mar now online

Our latest report from Camp de Mar is now online.

Resort update

The review team has just returned from Camp de Mar and a full report with photos is currently in preparation but, to keep you up to date, here are some news items...

There is building work going on at one of the older villas on the eastern side of the bay with demolition noises and vehicle movements at odd times during the working week. Thankfully, weekends were quiet.

Most shops, bars and restaurants are now open. The exception being the Accana Summer Club, which is not due to open until June. The old Spar supermarket under the Playa hotel has reopened with a fresh new look and a good range of products, while alongside it a Scuba Academy was being fitted out.

The new Airport Bus Service - A11 - is operating between Peguera and Son Sant Joan Aeroport. Timetable here.

New bus route planned for Camp de Mar

Five new bus routes are being introduced by the Baleares government later this year.

Planned to run from the airport to popular tourist destinations, they will cut the need to travel into Palma on local EMT bus route 1 in order to change onto a TIB bus to continue the journey onward to a resort.

The initial proposal has recently been revised following local protests about the limited number of stops. This has seen the extension of the route to Santa Ponsa onward to Paguera and then terminating at Camp de Mar. The other four routes will end in or near: Alcudia, Cala d'Or, Cala Millor and Magalluf.

The routes will be operated by Transabus and Arriva, although we're not sure which company will run what services just yet.

From tomorrow - March 1st - the Spring timetable for bus L102 comes into operation and we've noticed that a couple of times a day a new Express bus service runs from Andratx to Palma (and vice versa) missing out those stops in between - thus shaving about 25 minutes off the journey time.

It's been snowing in Mallorca today (video)

It's been snowing in Mallorca today as this video uploaded to Facebook shows:

Hiring a car at the airport? Here's a few useful tips

When hiring a car, it is a good idea to check for those any dents or scratches before you drive off. However, the UK's Daily Mail reports on the new tricks of the car hire trade to empty your wallet - and some big names are mentioned. So, we will stick with honest Fernando and his little Autos de la Gala Blas for our motors in Camp de Mar!

The £42,000,000 villa

Just gone on the market is a sprawling villa complex that's perched on the apex of the hills overlooking the bay, on the right, as you look out to sea.

Valued at forty-two million pounds, you get 2 main houses, plus 1 for guests. That's 10 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, if you're interested, and all mod-cons including infinity pool.

Some speculate it belongs to Claudia Schiffer, others to members of the the Spanish Royal Family.

Want to see more... follow this link: https://goo.gl/mReUuf

Golf Camp de Mar caught with their pipes down (the well) it has been alleged

Golf Camp de Mar has been outed by environmental group Terraferida as the culprit in a charge raised by environmental inspectors against an unnamed golf course in Andratx for using drinking water to keep their greens green.

It is alleged that the suspect golf course had an extensive irrigation system fed from an acquifer, and that it was capable of extracting up to 720 cubic metres of  water per day - that's enough drinking water for a small town of 5,000 people according to Vicenç Vidal, Minister of the Environment.

He continued that the seriousness of the offence could lead to a fine of between ten thousand euros and one million euros.

A long way down: A true story

Earlier this year, one of our team was out exploring the remoter parts of Camp de Mar and reported on the construction of a new cliff edge villa. This was being built in front of an existing villa, and adjacent to another that was being extended. Now news reaches us of a spectacular accident in that area of Carrer Gerani.

According to the media, an excavator working on one of the two sites - we're not sure which - fell 50 metres into the sea, with the operator jumping from the digger in time to save himself by landing in some pine trees on the way down. A feat not unknown to many a Hollywood action star!

You can read more here and here with photos.

A long way down is reference to the movie featuring ex-Bond actor Pierce Brosnan - a man used to jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire - that was filmed partly in Camp de Mar.

Claudia Schiffer's gardener, two pine trees, and an unhappy neighbour

Willi Weber complained that the trees disappeared from his garden in 2015

News from Mallorca's leading daily has popped up in our Daily Mail concerning Claudia Schiffer's gardener, two pine trees and a neighbour's home.

Read more here.