Archive for June 30th, 2010

Global aviation traffic has returned to levels last seen before the 2008 recession, according to data from the International Air Transport Association. The Middle East continues to lead the global recovery, seeing the biggest increase in demand during May, while North America and Europe lagged behind.

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IHG to Double Greater China Presence Over Next Five Years.

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Forget sun, sex and sangria in Mallorca. The island is being hailed as a cultural hot spot. Is it really a place where there’s now more Picasso than paella?

We begin our Grand Tour of Palma at 9.30am when most self-respecting Mallorcans are still lingering over their churros con chocolate. It soon transpires that my guide, Nicole Fraysse, plans to introduce me to virtually 600 artistic sites today.

Cathedrals and Ceramics

Our first stop isn’t on our itinerary. Clearly Nicole is going for the 601 record. Quicker than you can say Joan Miro (incidentally the island’s most famous artist) Nicole has lured me onto the March Palace terrace with its Henry Moore and Francis Bacon sculptures. A nanosecond to savour the artwork and view of the Gothic Palma Cathedral with its flying buttresses, then we’re off again.

We reach the cathedral via a pleasant Miro sculpture known locally as The Egg and Unused Soap. The cathedral itself boasts a stupendous rose window the size of a flat, a nave from which you could paraglide and various Antonio Gaudi (the father of Art Nouveau in Catalonia) pieces, including his unfinished, illuminated canopy. Awesome.

But we’re here to see Mallorcan Miguel Barcelo’s just-completed and much-maligned 300 sq metre ceramic artist work depicting the bread and fish parable. Hordes of midget Spanish pensioners -weaned on a poor diet under Franco – elbow us out of the way. The pottery sheet, with its ‘loaves’ punched out by hand, is impressive.

Another New Gallery

We hot foot it through the clean, quiet lanes of the old town (car traffic is disallowed and all rubbish goes into funnels and is whizzed under the streets at 80km per hour to recycling plants,) past beautifully restored 16th and 17th century town houses to the Casa Museu of J. Torrents Llado, an intimate, personal mini- palace and studio of the late Llado. He was ‘portraitist of the jet,’ the sign explains. (He painted the King of Spain.)  “I have the feeling he’s still here. It gives me the chicken bumps,” says Nicole, standing by a self-playing piano. We zip across the road to some more art.

“Oh look! Another new gallery,” Nicole waves enthusiastically in the street again. While she’s distracted, I dive into a shoe shop, an attempt to have a second’s breathing space from our grand tour; and a big mistake as the turns out to be selling Cornish pasties or rather those Camper shoes -which are much the same thing – and most of which are made on the island. Nicole forgives me my sartorial digression and we move on hastily to check out Picasso to Dali at the Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art, a few works delightfully housed in an 18th century mansion.

It’s 1 o’ clock.  Lunch is for wimps who aren’t being introduced at breakneck speed to Mallorcan culture. Furtively I plan my escape to Sobrasada, a shop where Mallorcan sausages hang from the ceiling and fig and almond cakes line the shelves. There must be something in my look that gives the game away. And Nicole heads us immediately towards the ABA art gallery, owned by 30 year-old-twin sisters Alejandra and Maribel Bordoy, and showcasing local talent, with the emphasis on young artists. (Think exhibitions of unexceptional driftwood and iron compositions. From 600 to 6000 Euros.)

Across the road we visit the cool (2004 inaugurated) Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art,  an exciting modern construction within the walls of a Renaissance fortress and now bastion of 20th and 21st century Baleariac art. There are over 500 works, mostly small examples of big names, and upstairs there is more Picasso than paella on plates painted by the artist. When Nicole, a mine of information, points out a Roman remain with fervour, I realise we’re going to cover 2000 years of art.

More Picasso than Paella

We withdraw to Wineing, a tapas bar.  Thankfully the owners are not art collectors. But they do have 48 temperature- controlled wines for tasting, from 40 cents to 10 Euros a shot. And great tapas.

Afterwards we go to La Caja Blanca, a gallery owned by thirtysomething siblings Eva and Amir Shakouri. “Sorry, we had a burst pipe. So,” says Eva, impishly surveying bags of rubble, “I’ll tell you what’s art and what’s not.” In the former category is a strong exhibition of Barbara Juan’s ceramics. (Plates from 90 Euros.)

Next we visit Can Marques, a slightly spooky time warp stately home. Owner Nieves Barber takes us round. “Non, non, we give kisses here,” she says, as I extend my hand. She has been refurbishing the house since 1998 with locally bought objects. 

By the time we reached Pelaires, the best-known gallery in Mallorca and owned by Miro’s friend Sr Pinya, I’m suffering an art attack. But it’s certainly true that there are more galleries per capita than anywhere in the world. And I saw more Picasso than paella.

See the new art galleries and book a stay at one of our luxury hotels in Mallorca.

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SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Unprecedented growth for Solairus Aviation with six large-cabin fleet additions in the past 30 days. Workforce now more than 200 employees as well.

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A new travel management company outsourcing service from American Marketing Group offers an unusual model in which the TMC essentially turns over to AMG its air bookings and any associated revenues,…

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Slowing economic growth in China, a disappointing Consumer Confidence Index and a strengthening dollar combined to clobber the stock market on Tuesday, sending the market to its lowest level of 2010. (source: Topix.net) – Share on Twitter – Share on Facebook – RSS and RSS Feed on Feedzilla.com

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A flight bound for North Carolina was forced to return to the gate in Atlanta after passengers noticed maggots falling from an overhead bin.

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These
15 inns deliver front-row seats to the prettiest U.S. shorelines without
breaking the bank.

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The World Trade Organisation has ruled subsidies from European governments to airplane manufacturer Airbus are illegal. The decision – the latest twist in a six year courtroom saga – was made public earlier and declares European launch aid subsidies used by Airbus to develop its commercial airplanes must end.

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