Mini maxi

Luton airport was a horrible scrum this morning, made extra annoying by bossy jobsworth security staff, but our charter flight to Mallorca was a calm oasis and the island was bathed in sunshine on arrival. We're here for the international launch drive of the new MINI hatch - the capitals differentiate the 21st century cars produced under BMW ownership from the original Issigonis-designed 20th century Mini.

The MINI is hardly mini. This latest model is longer, with a bigger front end to improve pedestrian crash protection. It also now has a pyrotechnic bonnet that instantly pops upwards by the few cm in an accident, to put a crucial extra bit of space between a colliding pedestrian and the hard parts at the top of the engine.

Is it still a fun car to drive? Definitely. It feel a little heavier, behaves a little porkier, but is still smile-inducing on a bendy road. The cabin is much plusher and the boot is a little bigger. Expect to see a lot of them on the roads soon.

We are staying in a 19th century fortress-turned-hotel near Palma that is hewn out of a rocky coastal outcrop. It is as stark and minimalist as it is beautiful, a serenely calming place to be. Unlike Luton airport, which we fly back to tomorrow afternoon.