Letters: Briefly

l Of course heritage can degenerate into romanticism and rosy memories of the past ("Package tourists visit the past", Review, 16 February). On the other hand it is often a popular, non-academic, history which encourages ordinary people to look at the past in order to better understand the present. A good historian need neither condemn nor cheer it. Understanding it is what is required.

William P Roberts

London N1

l Both Spanish and Catalan are official languages in Mallorca ("You say Majorca, I say Mallorca...", Travel and Money, 16 February). Most locals refer to their mother tongue as "Mallorquin", which although very similar to Catalan, is not the same.

Jose Texidor-Carlsson

Guildford, Surrey

l It should be pointed out to Tom Curtin (Letters, 16 February), that nuclear waste has been the Achilles' heel of the nuclear industry, which has produced it for 35 years with no agreement on a disposal site for the estimated 200,000 years required before the radioactivity decays. There is only one answer to nuclear waste - stop producing it.

Rev Emlyn Richards

Anglesey