Latest news with #Soller
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
The 10 shoddy holiday behaviours that should be banned – but aren't
This may go down in history as the summer of tourist hate. We've had the residents of Soller and the Venetians waving placards saying ' tourists go home', and now the Spanish authorities have banned visitors from walking barefoot, having picnics and drinking booze in the street. Are they mad? Is that all? It's taken them this long to crack (by some miracle) and now they're focusing on getting people to wear flip flops? This new so-called crackdown doesn't even scratch the surface of offences (mostly British) tourists commit without even thinking about it. Fortunately, some of us have been keeping a mental list of things that should be banned on holiday for a while. This is the short version. 1. Shoddy shorts behaviour Never mind bare feet, what about bum cracks on show and buttock cheeks lolling out of the bottom of teeny tiny cut-off shorts? Also, just as offensive, are those board shorts that double as swimming trunks for use in your hotel pool, when you know the owner travelled in them, lives in them, sleeps in them, and will be back on easyJet wearing them damp from a night stretched out on the edge of the fountain in the piazza. 2. General unpreparedness This is a broad umbrella offence encompassing the following standard tourist offences: getting third degree burns from the sun because you fell asleep on a lilo while wearing a litre of baby oil; getting swept out to sea on a lilo because you have no concept of tide; getting four negronis and a bottle of cava drunk and having to be transported home in a luggage cart; going for a walk in 40C wearing flip flops and a vest. 3. Instruction blindness Aka ignoring all the signs saying treacherous paths and turn back now etc. British tourists seem to suffer from instruction blindness more than others – we always know better, bring on the skull and cross bones (we're not phased) and if we end up lodged in a cactus at the bottom of a ravine it will make a cracking story in the pub back home. 4. Insisting on taking out a boat Even when you are not confident riding a bicycle and have zero idea about wind direction or what you do with an anchor. But there you are heading off-grid without any bottled water. You do you. 5. Assuming there will always be somewhere open... ...the way Tesco and Sainsbury's are always open in the UK, and then discovering that it really is not possible to find petrol or flip flops anywhere in the south of France at 1pm and especially on Sunday. 6. Booze in the street Yes, very boring if there's a drunk crowd under your pensione window all night – but what about the music blasting out of their portable speaker thingy? The sound on those things is an outdoor concert for 65,000 people-type quality. Unbelievable. And is urinating in public on the banned list? Because we all know where there's a lot of booze going down, and you're outdoors, you're only ever half an hour away from deciding it's OK to relieve yourself in an alleyway/restaurant doorway plant pot/behind the bins. 7. Pool PDA Kissing/making out in the shallows. Has anyone ever thought 'Ah, look how in love that sweet couple are?' when witnessing Geoff bouncing Jill on his knee (we think) in the shallow end? No, they have not. We all want it to stop and go away so we can get back to reading our holiday book. 8. Very loud talking/facetiming around the pool Some of us have asked people (one having a conversation from the shallow end with her friend on the sun lounger near the deep end) to please keep it down, and it doesn't always go well. Legislation along the lines of 'respect that not everyone wants to hear what you did last night' would do the trick. As for facetiming, they need to just ban it outright in hotels and restaurants. It's horribly invasive at home, but factor in the disinhibition tourists suffer from, and you're in a fresh hell situation. 9. Assuming the locals are deaf There should be a ban on people who insist on talking in their own language and simply raise their voices and pointing if it doesn't get the message across. If they refuse, that's money for local interpreters/guides; if they use Google Translate, that'll keep them busy and stop them patronising the locals, and if they pick up some useful phrases, it's so much the better for everyone. 10. Sightmobbing Not sightseeing because who's looking, really? Mostly, they're reversing into priceless artworks while trying to get comedy pictures. So, no groups over 10. No cameras. No selfie sticks. No selfies. Aren't we already feeling more like braving the Uffizi? What are your holiday icks? Tell us below...
Telegraph
12-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britons boycotting Majorca? The island has never been busier
It's early morning and a tour bus disgorges a large group of day trippers in the mountain village of Fornalutx in the north-west of Majorca. Locals sipping coffee in the atmospheric plaça shrug resignedly as throngs of tourists crowd the cobbled lanes, iPhone cameras at the ready. Meanwhile, in the town of Soller and its port, guides with gaudy umbrellas march their wards through the packed streets on whistle-stop tours before catching buses, or the vintage tram and train, back to Palma. The majority of visitors, though, arrive in hired cars, and like ravenous sharks, circle the car parks in the Soller valley, snapping up every available space. It's a similar story in the arty village of Deià and other popular enclaves. The island has never been busier. Yet recent media headlines have told a very different story. Amidst the alarmist reports about wide-scale anti-tourist sentiment, chaotic traffic jams and impending strikes in the hospitality sector, it has been suggested that a boycott of Majorca is underway, with British holidaymakers in particular said to be steering clear. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hamlet Ramirez Marquéz, owner of Café Soller and La Sal Port Soller restaurant, said: 'Trust me, there are many happy British holidaymakers currently here in Soller.' He added that recent headlines about traffic and parking problems were 'way off the mark. Last year, we had problems but now we have three new car parks, and residents have exclusive parking zones.' His views are corroborated by Emese Juhasz, proprietor of the Grøenk restaurants in Deià and Fornalutx: 'We have a lot of British guests and it's evident from their comments that the island still holds its charm. The British love affair with Majorca is unwavering.' Rubén Zamora, Managing Director of Nybau hotels in Majorca, added: 'Earlier this year, perhaps due to economic conditions, occupancy was lower in our hotels in Pollença, Palma and Montuïri, but all in all we expect a similar or better season than in 2024. Still, we cannot be complacent, and need to maintain high standards, but the gloomy forecasts have been greatly exaggerated.' The data supports their assertions. For the first three months of 2025, there was a 3.4 per cent increase in the number of international visitors to the Balearic islands, and a bumper 18 million tourists are expected in the archipelago this year. Will tourists be welcome this summer? Can these holidaymakers expect a laid-back summer free from the anti-tourism demonstrations and flash-mobs on beaches that plagued Majorca last year? Not quite. This weekend, on June 15, a large-scale rally will be held in Palma by Menys Turisme, Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life), a united platform of different island action groups. It will form part of a coordinated initiative by the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification (SET) which will hold demonstrations in regions it perceives to be particularly badly affected by excessive tourism, such as Barcelona, Venice and Lisbon. Menys Turisme, Més Vida believes over-tourism adversely impacts the environment, drains natural resources, and sends long-term rents spiralling, making homes unaffordable for locals. Margalida Ramis, its spokesperson, commented: 'We need to keep up the pressure because we're looking for political decisions that go to the root of the problem, and of course this won't be achieved in one day.' Meanwhile, a 'Welcome to Sollerland' satirical Instagram campaign, that uses stark AI imagery to paint a picture of a saturated Soller in the next decade, has been emulated by several towns across the island, which have set up similar social media profiles. A spokesperson opined: 'We have lived largely off tourism for 80 years, but things have now accelerated. Sollerland uses humour to offer a graphic vision of the drama we live through every day.' So far, local island activists have kept their powder dry about plans for further disruption, but it is likely that there will be a flutter of flash-mobs on a few beaches this summer, plus peaceful demonstrations in Palma. Is a visitor limit on the horizon? For holidaymakers, it seems Majorca's allure remains undiminished, but with unrest amongst residents growing, what might the regional government do to placate them? With tourism providing an estimated GDP of between 40 and 75 per cent, it would be difficult to put the genie back in the bottle, a view backed by Maribel Quirós, owner of Moll restaurant in Port Soller. 'We can't sell Majorca and then complain about it,' she said. 'We have to be coherent.' Marga Prohens, President of the Balearic islands, insists that her party was the first to acknowledge that the archipelago has reached its limits. It is for this reason, she states, that the regional government has created 'a decree to contain tourism that sets limits and prevents further growth in visitor numbers.' Following Spain's demand that Airbnb remove 65,000 illegal short-term holiday rentals from its site, Jaume Bauzà, Minister for Tourism in the Balearics, has pledged to 'continue doing everything possible to combat illegal rentals, which is what truly overwhelms tourism.' Tougher measures will see more inspectors on the beat, with rogue landlords who rent via word of mouth facing huge fines. On the issue of overcrowding during the summer months, the new decree aims to encourage year-round tourism to ease saturation of much-visited haunts. Some are calling for more radical action, however, such as a restriction on the number of arrivals at Palma Airport, a tax and limit on rental cars, and a further decrease in cruise liners docking in the capital. The projection for 2025 is 541 vessels, already a reduction from 2019 when 592 cruise liners were given access. However, the Platform Against Megacruisers would like the current daily limit of three ships and 8,000 passengers reduced further to just one large cruise ship and no more than 4,000 passengers per day. While the polemic continues, Maria del Carmen Peñas de Haro, Director General of Tourism for Calvia Council, Majorca's second largest municipality, which includes Magaluf, remains upbeat: 'Here in Calvia, we welcome countless British visitors, and this year is no exception. 'Tourism is the driving force of the Balearic economy, and we want our holidaymakers to feel completely at home.'
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Oh hey, it's you! Fish can recognize humans, research shows
Divers don't all look the same to fish. If they get food from a person, they will recognize them next time and follow them persistently. Less generous divers, on the other hand, tend to be ignored, as evidenced by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPIAB) in the German city of Constance. However, it is not the faces – which can hardly be seen under the diving mask – that are crucial for recognition, but rather the peculiarities of the equipment. Researchers at the Mediterranean station Stareso on Corsica noticed that sea bream and other fish followed them on dives and even stole food that was actually intended as a reward. They were amazed to discover that the fish only followed the people from whom they had previously received treats, as the Max Planck Institute explains. A team led by MPIAB researchers Katinka Soller and Maëlan Tomasek then started a series of experiments in the area around the research station, where fish - already accustomed to humans - volunteered in the experiments, coming and going as they pleased. Soller, as the trained diver, first tried to attract the their attention: Wearing a bright red vest, she fed the fish that had swum over and dived about 50 metres. Gradually, all conspicuous features, such as the vest were removed. Ultimately, Soller dived a full 50 metres in simple diving gear with the food hidden, until she fed the fish that had followed her up to that point. Sea bream are particularly clever After 12 days of training, around 20 fish followed Soller on her dives. Sea bream showed particular curiosity and a willingness to learn. "As soon as I entered the water, it only took seconds for me to see them swimming towards me, seemingly out of nowhere," Soller says. Described in the journal Biology Letters, the experiments also showed exactly what the fish recognize: not the human face, but colour features of their equipment. Tomasek initially used equipment that differed from Soller's equipment in the colour of only some parts of the neoprene diving suit and the fins. If he also dived but did not feed the fish, they largely ignored him from then on. When the diving equipment was completely identical, the fish were unable to distinguish between the divers. Even a goldfish knows you Anyone who owns a fish tank or a pond is familiar with the phenomenon of one's own fish swimming towards you, but not strangers, says Matthias Wiesensee from a German aquarium association. In addition to visually recognisable patterns, sound characteristics such as the voice or gait play a role, which are detected by the lateral line, a sensory organ found in fish. This is very pronounced in koi carp and goldfish, for example, which swim to those who feed them – but not to other family members, according to Wiesensee. Large cichlids such as scalars and discus also noticeably develop a relationship with certain people and are often rather sceptical of strangers. Overall, however, there is little scientific evidence showing fish can recognize people, the institute said. In laboratory experiments, captive-bred archerfish were able to recognize images of human faces. "But no one has ever asked whether wild fish have the ability or even the motivation to recognize us when we enter their underwater world," says Tomasek. With more time, the fish might also be able to pay attention to more subtle features such as hair or hands, the researchers suspect. "We have already observed that they approach our faces and examine our bodies closely," says Soller. "It was as if they were studying us and not the other way around." Recognition in the experiments of the Constance researchers was mutual, by the way: one fish was named Julius by the team; another one, a sea bream that regularly participated with two shiny silver scales on its back, was named Bernie. And then there was "Alfie, who had a crack in his tail fin," as Soller recounts.
The Independent
19-02-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists perplexed to see wild fish recognise specific humans: ‘It was like they were studying us'
Scientists at a Mediterranean research station have found that some wild fish can tell apart humans, recognising and targeting specific divers who had fed them before. The study, published in the journal Biology Letters on Tuesday, found that some wild fish can use visual cues to identify specific humans even when their faces are covered by diving gear. Previous lab studies have shown that captive fish, like archerfish, can recognise human faces in controlled settings. However, there is little evidence that wild fish could do the same, say researchers from Germany 's Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour (MPI-AB). To test this, scientists conducted a series of experiments at a research site eight meters underwater in the Mediterranean Sea where wild fish have become habituated to divers. In the first phase of the experiments, study co-author Katinka Soller attempted to attract the attention of local fish by wearing a bright red vest, and fed fish while swimming a length of 50m. Gradually, she removed the vest and wore plain dive gear, kept the food hidden, and fed fish only after they had followed her the full 50m. The fish, according to scientists, were 'willing volunteers' in the study who came and went as they pleased. Two species of seabream fish were particularly willing to engage, they said. After 12 days of training, 20 fish followed Ms Soller, who could recognise several of the fish from their physical traits. 'There was Bernie with two shiny silver scales on the back and Alfie who had a nip out of the tail fin,' she said. In the next experimental phase, researchers tested if these same fish could tell Soller apart from another diver, study senior author Maëlan Tomasek. Dr Tomasek's diving gear 'differed notably' in some colourful parts of the wetsuit and fins, researchers said. This time the divers started at the same point and then swam in different directions, but Dr Tomasek never fed the fish that followed him. Scientists were surprised to find that while the fish followed both divers equally on the first day, the number of fish following Ms Soller increased significantly from day two. Researchers then focused on six fish out of the large group to study individually and found that they showed 'strong positive learning curves.' The findings suggest the fish were conscious of both divers and tested each one to learn that Katinka produced the reward at the end of the swim. However, when scientists repeated the experiment wearing identical diving gear, the fish were unable to discriminate them, they say. Based on this observation, researchers suspect the fish associated differences in the dive gear – most likely the colour cues – with each diver. 'Almost all fish have colour vision, so it is not surprising that the sea bream learned to associate the correct diver based on patches of colour on the body,' Dr Tomasek said. 'We already observed them approaching our faces and scrutinising our bodies. It was like they were studying us, not the other way around,' Ms Soller said.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
California Asks Insurers to Spare Wildfire Victims ‘the List'
California's top insurance regulator urged insurance carriers on Thursday to pay policyholders the full amount of the belongings in their coverage without requiring them to itemize every object lost — an undertaking that has burdened thousands of residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfires last month. In a notice that said policyholders are 'overwhelmed,' Ricardo Lara, California's insurance commissioner, gave insurance companies a deadline of Feb. 28 to inform the state agency on whether they would comply. Consumer advocates have long criticized the demand by many insurance carriers that homeowners to make detailed lists if they hope to get their full coverage amount. The stress is compounded in places like California's burn zone, where many families are scrambling to find new places to live and new schools for their children. The monumental task of remembering all items inside a home that no longer exists is adding unbearable strain, said Michael Soller, the deputy insurance commissioner, in an interview. Mr. Soller said he and his colleagues continue to hear from homeowners about 'the agony of having to go through the process of filling out an inventory after you just lost everything.' Though Thursday's notice does not have the force of law, the California Department of Insurance is hoping insurers will consent, Mr. Soller told The New York Times. 'The commissioner is asking insurance companies to go all the way and pay 100 percent,' he said. Last month, Mr. Lara issued a bulletin reminding Californians that, under a state of emergency, insurance companies must advance funds up to 30 percent of the home's dwelling limit, up to a maximum of $250,000, without itemization. To get 100 percent, a homeowner would have to provide the documentation required by their policy — in many cases a comprehensive list that includes the make and model of each object. Thursday's notice, if accepted by an insurer, would remove from a policyholder the burden of counting every throw pillow or itemizing every fork. Mr. Lara's announcement came hours after The Times published an article about a homeowner's effort to make the list of belongings she lost after her house in Altadena was destroyed. In the article, Selina Clark, a former State Farm contractor who has offered her testimony as a whistle-blower in a report about unfair insurance practices, said she believes that the manner in which the itemization requirement was enforced during her time at State Farm overwhelmed homeowners, causing them to give up and leave money on the table. (A spokesman for State Farm denied the allegation.) Homeowners who have been through the process say it is deeply upsetting. 'Be prepared to cry,' warned Donna Granata, of Casitas Springs, Calif., who helped close friends compile the list after they suffered a total loss during the Thomas fire of 2017. She saw how they shut down, the toll of being forced to remember every last item acting as a constant reminder of the disaster. 'It's brutal,' said Michael Yurochko, who lost his own home in Sonoma in 2019 during the Kincade Fire and has since created an online resource to help homeowners navigate the list, which took him months to do. 'It's OK to have a drink. It's OK to put pencils down,' he said, describing the exhaustion he felt at the level of detail required. Across the country in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., Dianne Averill described how she stood in ankle-high water after a flood in her basement, calling out serial numbers to her husband, who sat on the staircase jotting them down in the hopes of getting the most out of their policy. The list of more than 75 items filled numerous pages, 'from screens for windows to cans of paint that were now rusting to boxes of books and extension cords,' said Ms. Averill, 68. 'And that was just for my basement,' she said.
