Mallorca fans never know what to expect. The island's principal club – its second club Atletico Baleares won one of the regional third divisions last year – did not have two established central defenders a week before the season started.
Ramis and Chico, last season's centre-halves, departed for English Premier League clubs Wigan Athletic and Swansea City, the latter joining up with Michael Laudrup, his former Mallorca manager.
The Dane is one of many former Mallorca managers and his former club also had more transfers than any other in the last close season alone.
Laudrup's replacement last November was Joaquin Caparros, an experienced coach with 13 former clubs including notable spells at his hometown team Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao.
Mallorca were 16th when he arrived and while he has a reputation for playing direct football, he led the islanders to an impressive eighth-place finish.
Caparros then lost several key players to richer clubs, but he has recruited exceptionally well despite a limited budget.
After five league games, Mallorca are unbeaten and sit second behind Barcelona, having held Malaga away and beaten Valencia at home.
Football tables are usually at their most unconventional at the start of the season, yet in the Spanish Primera Liga table Barcelona and Real Madrid are invariably quickest out of the traps, never to be caught.
Not this year.
Real are already eight points behind a Barca side who have won every game, but Valencia – who finished third in each of the past three seasons – have won just one game so far.
Mallorca are the surprise though and fans are returning, with average crowds 4,000 up on last season's disappointing 12,000 mark, 12,000 who rattled around their 23,000 capacity home.
The stadium is not popular because of its running track and its location on the fringes of the island's beautiful capital Palma.
New recruits like the experienced left-back Antonio Lopez, who played under Caparros at Atletico Madrid, and the midfielder Javi Marquez, who showed so much promise at Espanyol, have settled.
The defender Ximo Navarro, 22, is back after a season on loan in the second division and excelling in a solid looking side. So far so good for the islanders.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
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Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
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