Manacor has a budget to fix the bell tower clock, but it won't be before December 31st.

PalmThe bell tower of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Manacor (also known as the Ruby Tower) didn't have a clock until well into the 20th century, in the 1920s, after the official completion of the neo-Gothic church. That's why, when it was purchased, it wasn't the Bishopric of Mallorca that covered the cost, but the City Council itself, which paid for the four clock faces and the internal mechanism.

Last May, the magazine 07500 The municipality pointed out that none of the clock faces showed the same time: three were incorrect and one was correct, the one facing Artà Street. Throughout these months, numerous questions have been raised by both opposition parties and Manacor residents to the municipal government, which argued that it was not a priority issue.

Now, more than half a year later, the mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver (Más-Izquierda), has announced that the City Council "has had, since December 1st, two different budgets" to carry out the work and that "now it will be a matter of choosing which of the two companies suits us best, the one that costs us more, the one that costs us more, the one that costs us more, the one that costs us more, the figures are not as high as one might initially think, and fluctuate "between 3,000 and 5,000 euros."

"It must be remembered, above all, that the management of the bells, which corresponds to the parish, is not the same as that of the clock, which is indeed the property of the Manacor City Council." According to Oliver, the delay in the repair "has been linked to the fact that it is not a simple check-up that is done a couple of times a year, but rather an investment that requires a "It's a minor contract, and there are only two companies in all of Mallorca that specialize in it."

"Although the operation is more electrical than mechanical, there are very few companies, and they handle all the church clocks or the one at Cort, so they have a lot of work. We'll have to make a decision these days and spread the word," adds Oliver, who isn't optimistic about December 31st either.

It won't be ready for the chimes.

According to the Christmas festivities program published by the City Council, a large New Year's Eve party with several musical groups and a DJ will take place on December 31st in Rector Rubí Square, at the foot of the 75-meter-high bell tower. "I don't know if it makes much sense to hold the chimes in such a small square if the clock isn't working. That's why we could do it in Ramon Llull Square, which has more space," criticizes Joan Juan 'Tauleta', a councilor from the People's Party (PP) of Manacor.

The solution proposed by the municipal government, which maintains that the bell system does function correctly at the appropriate times, is to project the image of a virtual clock synchronized with the chimes onto one of the church walls, so that the celebration can proceed as planned. "I don't think all the participants will be able to see the clock in the bell tower from where they'll be," says Mayor Oliver, who reaffirms his intention to have everything fixed "as soon as possible."