Once upon a time...

...In a not-so-far away island called Sark, people lived happily, according to their ancient habits and laws... They had their own language (Sercquiais), and their own flag too, and they served the Feudal Lord of the Island, the Seigneur of Sark... Cars and helicopters were forbidden, and tractors were the only motorised vehicles allowed in that island... Wait a minute... Cars? Helicopters?


Yes, beloved readers, Sark was the last redoubt of feudalism in Europe, an island between England and France... and I said was, because now they're on their way to full democracy. In 1996 they agreed to endorse the European Convention of Human Rights, which was completely incompatible with their feudalism, and so, putting an end to that government system in a short time... Now, the Chief of Pleas, the "Council" of the Island, is no longer ruled by the descendants of those 40 colonists who arrived to the island with the permission of the Queen Elizabeth I (not II) to settle there... Now, 28 elected congressmen rule the island... waiting for a referendum in 2011, when people of Sark will finally decide if they want to become a full democracy or still a feudal land... But this is not really the point of this post!

This is about tradition, about some values some people may think they're old fashioned and/or useless, nowadays... And so, to talk about that, let's take a look on the Barclay Twins. Both awfully rich, owners of The Daily Telegraph and one Ritz hotel in London, one day they decided to buy the island of Brecqhou, close and under the management of Sark, and build a huge Gothic castle for them, with 2 swimming pools and a helicopter pad... Too bad! As helicopters are forbidden on that island... And so, they started to invest on the island, which main economical activity is tourism (and some tax advantages, for sure!). And so it was! They thought they have found their paradise, and started asking for political changes on the island, maybe just to get finally the permission to ride an expensive car in those islands... and, in some way, they succeeded... but not in the way they wanted, curiously!

When finally democracy was knocking at Sark's doors, and most probably the Barclay Twins were sharpen their fangs, something happened. Sark's inhabitants decided to vote for the traditionalist party, leaded by the former Seigneur of Sark, John M. Beaumont, and so, supporting Sark old ways! Democracy's ok, but let's do it our way! However, this decission didn't pleased those Barclay twins, and they decided to stop investing on that island, getting the sack to 100 people, 1/6 of Sark's population!

And that's the way it is! The Barclays couldn't buy Sark with money, and now they're punishing them... Childish behaviour? Hm... You'll say! And even if it can get awful for Sark's inhabitants after "disobeying" those twins, they decided to disobey them and that's brave and remarkable, don't you think?

So, that's all! Only 3 curious facts about Sark's Island:

1.- Dogs are forbidden on the island.

2.- There are, in fact, 2 Sark islands -Greater and Little Sark- and they're connected by a natural isthmus, 3 meter width and 92 meters above the sea... A banister was build in 1900, because people had to cross that natural bridge crawling, to avoid being swept by strong winds. That isthmus was paved by the Nazis, during the ocupation of the island, in the WWII.

3.- In 1990, an unemployed French nuclear physicist attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night he arrived, he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested while sitting on a bench, changing the rifle's clip and waiting for noon to arrive.

See you soon!