The Plaza of Palma Cathedral, an excellent viewpoint to the sea from the city walls, is the heart of mass tourism and the point through which surely every one of the 13.6 million tourists who visited Mallorca last year passed. Everyone who comes to the island takes a photo there during their stay. The consequence is that one of the most beautiful places in the city is off-limits to residents, just like other key points in a Palma increasingly hostile to its inhabitants.
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Brunzit, a social and neighborhood collective from Palma, wants to turn that reality around and has launched an initiative to occupy those spaces given over to tourism and reclaim them for the citizen. About 500 people gather every Wednesday in one of Palma’s central squares for a popular sopar a la fresca, in an attempt by residents to resist in a city that is transforming and becoming increasingly alien. The dinners started last year and have been a success, exceeding the organizers’ expectations. They seek to be a meeting point among neighbors and, at the same time, a way to raise the debate about the effects of the current tourism model on the city and the Islands as a whole.
About 500 residents meet every week thanks to a campaign to reclaim central spaces
Pau Riera, one of the platform’s spokespeople, explains that the initiative aims to be a wake-up call in light of the evidence that certain spaces in central Palma have undergone a transformation in their uses as a consequence of the growth of tourism activity. The increase in terraces, establishments oriented towards visitors, and the high presence of tourists during the summer months have changed the daily use of squares and streets and have pushed residents out of that nerve center of the city.
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Riera explains that their contribution to this transition attempt involves “denouncing mass and elite tourism” as one of the main agents related to the depletion of the Balearic Islands’ natural resources. Brunzit also considers that the current tourism model poses risks to the economic sustainability of the Islands and argues that it could lead to a situation of “economic collapse.”
The initiative, made from a critical standpoint towards the Balearic tourism model, has not been understood by restaurateurs affected by these unexpected occupations of the squares where they have installed the terraces of their bars and restaurants. There have already been complaints and pressures on the Palma City Council not to authorize these festive and protest proposals.
The issue of the use of public spaces has been incorporated in recent years into the debate about Palma’s transformation. The city center concentrates a high commercial, hospitality, and tourist activity, especially during the high season, mainly and almost exclusively directed in some areas to tourists. At the same time, the increased pressure on housing and the transformation of certain neighborhoods have generated criticism among neighborhood organizations and social collectives.
The initiative also arrives amid the ongoing discussion about the Balearic Islands’ capacity to continue growing in visitor numbers and about the effects this growth has on housing, resources, infrastructure, and coexistence, with increasingly large demonstrations against this tourist overflow, like the one seen this very summer.
