Our Spotlight on the news from this month in the past. Doesn't time fly? It seems incredible that in May 2003 the military campaign in Iraq had just officially ended and a lean period in air transport was perceived as coming to an end. The number of 'slots' booked by airlines, nearly 100% charters in the days before the budgets, increased by 3.7% to 33,862.
The new dyke at Botafoch, where cruise ships berth, had just opened (later than planned) and quickly become a firm favourite with strollers, skaters and bikers whose main complaint was that there wasn't a single bar or watering hole along its entire length, a situation which hasn't changed to this day.
The Ecotax, a forced contribution made by tourists to finance environmental projects was a year old. We reported that many of the projects, including the demolition of unauthorised buildings in Cala d'en Serra, were completely paralysed by red tape. The building in question, designed by Josep Lluis Sert, a famous Catalan architect, still remains.
Finally, we unveiled our 'Spotlight Scale of Fame,' an accurate measure of celebrityness which hit six out of ten when Italian cropped crooner, Eros Ramazotti, visited Ibiza to make a video. Eros is a little greyer round the gills these days, but still making videos
