- Will it remain virgin or will Virgin take it over?
- I'd rather it remained virgin.
Thus begins the well-known Mallorquín journalist Matías Vallés' exclusive interview with the mayor of Banyalbufar, Antoni Mora (photo), the man who dared defy the British magnate Richard Branson (owner of Virgin) in the last month of August. Branson owns the Son Bunyola estate, about 50% of this beautiful municipality which rises over the terraces of the mountainous region on the western coast of Mallorca, and Mora refused to give him the necessary permits to build a second luxury hotel in the same style as "La Residencia", Branson's hotel in a village nearby (see Mallorca News No.7).
- The hotel?
- Sure.
- The twenty brand new houses needed to compensate the investment? 
- I don't think so.
Branson, who isn't used to receiving a "no" for an answer, was soon threatening to pull a halt on all his projects on the island, a threat which had little or no effect on the locals. It was tug of war, a good show, but also a warning about the world of difference between investors and locals.
The end of this interesting and entertaining interview gives us a clue as to how this easy-going civil servant of a secluded village on the coast has become a star of the media from one day to the next, appearing in Le Monde and the Financial Times.
Question: Would you work for Branson if the hotel really came true?
Answer: Twenty years ago, when I was studying electronics in London, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to think I could end up serving beers in a bar, let alone be a mayor, so... why not?
Complete interview and photos on request.

"What would you like?" This is the question which the Conselleria de Turisme commissioned the Centre d'Investigacións Antropòlogiques i Socio-Econòmiques (CIASE) to ask some 800 Germans, half of them regular visitors to Mallorca, and half of them not. They didn't hesitate to discuss their preferences. According to the local newspaper Diario de Mallorca, one of the most surprising results has to do with the local government's persistent interest in building more and more golf courses with the objective of attracting so-called high quality tourism. However, it turns out that the typical tourist has virtually no interest in playing Seve Ballesteros or Bernhard Langer: only 10% of both groups interviewed show preference for this sport. They are however interested, in this order, in cultural monuments (66.8% and 71.5%), nature and hiking (55.7% and 80.0%) and local cooking (55.0% and 79.5%). The major difference appears in holidays featuring health activities: only 20.7% of the island's regular visitors express interest in this type of tourism, as opposed to 63.0% of the Germans who spend their holidays in Germany or elsewhere, who would be attracted to offers such as these.
Full survey available upon request.

His soundtracks (The Draftsman's Contract, The Piano) are almost more famous than the actual films they were composed for. British composer Michael Nyman (photo) and his twelve musicians will be performing on the island for the first time. On October 12th, at 22.00, not only will we have the pleasure of listening to the soundtrack to The Piano in Palma's Auditorium, but we'll also be honored with the presentation of his new work, After Extra Time. A treat for music lovers, who will have a chance to enjoy this unusual mixture of classicism, metrical and dodecaphony typical of Nyman's compositions, resulting in a melodic monotony by far most appreciated in live concerts, thus awarding him his well deserved name as one of the best composers of today.