David's Diary: Sunday, May 12, 2002

Ciutadella, Menorca

We made the passage from Porto Cristo, Mallorca to Ciutadella, Menorca on a bright day with a light wind. We spent part of the passage sailing and took time to practice our man overboard drills. Recovering a person that has fallen off a sailboat is a difficult challenge and you don't want to be learning how to do it when you really have to retrieve a person from the water. We used a fender instead of a person, but it took us two tries to get Dragonsinger positioned correctly to retrieve the fender. We hope that none of us ever goes overboard, but if someone does we expect to get back to them quickly and safely the first time.

Village Streets

Ciutadella is located on the NW side of Menorca. Menorca is the eastern-most island of the Balearics, the second largest, and the least developed for mass tourism. Ciutadella, literally the Citadel, was the capital of Menorca in the Middle Ages. While the ramparts have long been gone, the old town retains the narrow streets and unexpected corners of a fortified town. While Karalee had a break with Dragonsinger to herself, Jocelyn, Kevin, Allen, and I explored the Old Town. As it was Sunday, there were few people about and except for a few locals with their dogs; we had the place to ourselves.

Shore Side Home

Spain has about 38 million people and 50 million tourists a year. Because tourism is such an important part of the economy, must of the coast of Spain that we have seen has been given over to mass tourism. Much of this development is modern and in many cases appears to have been done with little or any municipal planning. Seeing Ciutadella let us know that there are still parts of Spain where development does not go unchecked and where tourism is important, but not at any price. The houses, apartments, and hotels around Ciutadella were tasteful, well-maintained, and fitted in well with the surroundings. What an enjoyable place to spend our last few days in Spain.