Mallorca News Top Story: War rages on between Mayor of Manacor and Rafa Nadal

THE Mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver, has responded to the harsh criticism that Rafael Nadal laid bare in his open letter to residents in the municipality.
Last week, the international sporting star and much loved hero of Manacor in Mallorca, Spain, responded to an interview that Oliver gave in November where he said the Rafa Nadal Academy had not paid its rates or rubbish tax. Obviously alarmed by the accusations, Nadal itemised payments for 2017 and 2018 in his letter and said the claims were “malicious as he could easily prove that they were not true.”
However, Oliver insists that he has never attacked Nadal as a person or an athlete and that “he deserves all my respect and admiration.” He added that Nadal is confusing the affairs because “if the academy is attacked, he feels as if he is also being attacked and this couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Oliver, a member of Més-Esquerra, says that throughout the years his party has consistently denounced the building of the academy because it was facilitated by a law that was “custom made” by the government. This law allowed there to be an extension of the centre and a conversion of a residence into a hotel.
He stressed that he has never spoken about Nadal personally and only about an issue that the athlete is closely connected with. He stated: “what I am critical of is an urban planning law that was used to permit the building of the academy”, adding “I have always been against this, so things should not be confused.” He also said that no other person would have been able to get away with it, alluding to Nadal’s money and privilege.