▼No matter how much of a brave face chronically optimistic Bodrum boosters may try to put on events, Bodrum’s tourist season opened with a few sour notes too many – notwithstanding the quaint homespun air of the official opening ceremonies with local dishes served by local ladies, or the International Dance Festival that Bodrum hosted (inset photo). Perhaps the most disconcerting was the terrible state of roads all over the peninsula which was (and in places still is!!) a big dusty construction site. The sight of tourists, some with baby carriages, having to negotiate mounds of dug up soil when going to and from their hotels was heartrending. It was an indelible blemish on Bodrum’s reputation and on the competence of the authorities who should be able to plan and execute such an infrastructure project well before season starts. The local authorities also trod on some very sensitive toes at season’s beginning by a horribly inappropriate placement of portable toilets in front of the statue of the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk; vocal protests caused this outrage to be quickly corrected. Another jarring note to the start of season was the murder of a Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) found dead off Yalikavak, a place boasting of having a protected area for seals. Seals do tear fishing nets in their hunt for food but that’s no excuse for fishermen killing these remarkable endangered animals! Also marring the beginning of the season was the fire that gutted Baraz Hotel, one of the oldest in town, causing the death of one visitor and injuries to others. Here’s hoping that the rest of the season is better than were its beginnings.

☻It seems that the developer’s thirst to cover every square meter of land with hotels, houses, etc. can never be quenched. On the agenda now is an “exclusive” hotel project for Kissebükü cove on the Gulf of Gökova in the Mumcular municipal area. Years ago the Nurol company abandoned plans to build a hotel here reportedly because they determined that such an investment had no chance of profitability. The new investor intends to make it profitable by charging €500/night for room and breakfast. It was not made clear what else beside the room would be offered to attract guests willing to pay that price for B&B. At a meeting intended to gain support for the project the investor’s representative was hard-pressed to answer the reservations voiced by the local population and concerned NGO’s. The promise of 700-800 jobs during the building phase did not appear to impress anyone since everybody knows that construction workers are brought in and their contribution to the local economy is insignificant. It looks like a ‘battle royal’ is brewing!

►Of interest to everyone are new regulations pertaining to the sale and purchase of automobiles. Effective in May all auto sale/purchase transactions are to be performed by the Notary Public, not by the Traffic Division of the police department. License plates are to remain with the vehicle for its whole life span. Life is being simplified…