Alomar's palm tree versus Ferragut's, on a theatrical stage

PalmThey are two of the most important figures for understanding the current character of Palma, and they have much in common: significant education, time spent abroad, and a broad understanding of the context that surrounded them when, in the mid-20th century, they laid the foundations of this city as we know it today. However, there were also notable differences between the architect Josep Ferragut and the urban planner Gabriel Alomar. It is precisely these opposing viewpoints, despite their friendship, that have prompted the playwright Josep Ramon Cerdà to give voice to an unlikely encounter between the two on the night before Ferragut's death. This imagined dialogue is the twin of the play. The architect, which premieres on November 7th at the Teatre del Mar under the Produccions de Ferro label and starring Xisco Segura and Miquel Àngel Torrens.

"Josep Ferragut had many reservations about where the future of Mallorca might be headed," explains Cerdà, "and this led to many problems for him as the municipal architect. He prohibited the development of coastal areas in municipalities such as Pollença and Alcúdia, for example, but he also won many favors. As we know, Gabriel Alomar was more pragmatic. He himself acknowledged that some of his projects had an anachronistic style, such as the Jaume III avenue, but excused himself by arguing that very modern things couldn't be done in Mallorca. Ferragut disagreed with urban development, while Alomar was more docile.

The results vs. the intentions

Although the play, directed by Rebeca del Fresno, is a work of fiction, its foundations lie in the real-life experiences of its two protagonists and the impact of their work. "Urban planning and architecture are always trying to achieve things, but I think they never quite manage to succeed," reflects Cerdà, who speaks of the high regard in which some of Ferragut's most emblematic buildings are held, such as the Porziuncola church, but also of the divided opinions surrounding other projects of his. "Besides a town, there's a rationalist, almost brutalist, church of his that people will tell you is hideous," he recounts with a laugh, "because it has a lot of cement and very little religious pomp, and people weren't used to it at all. More than what he achieved, I'm interested in what he attempted, and the same applies."

Regarding the urban planner in charge of designing Palma's urban development plan of the 1940s, popularly known as the Alomar Plan, Cerdà shares that "he has been heavily criticized for how he did it, but it was an absolutely necessary reform." "It's clear that his contributions are viewed very differently today because time has made us see them that way. But if we think about the work of architects and urban planners, it's evident that they have to fight against reality, trying to transform it. And they must do so at the time they were given and with the tools at their disposal: it's too easy to criticize it."

Ideological debates

However, beyond reflections on their professional facets, for Cerdà there was another very tempting element to explore in this imaginary encounter between Alomar and Ferragut. "While preparing the work I did about the filming of the movie The magician"While working on the events of the late 1960s, I realized that there were many stories to explore during that period. We've heard, above all, two narratives: one that says everything went well, and another that tells the story of the vanquished. And in between these two narratives lies a vast space, which is where I wanted to delve. Neither Ferragut nor Alomar lived on the margins; they were worldly individuals who had studied abroad and were familiar with the trends in art and architecture, yet here they lived under a dictatorial regime. And they didn't do so from a position of opposition, but neither did they do so from a position of absolute complicity. There's a whole spectrum of gray areas here that I think is very interesting to explore."

Furthermore, the author, who had the novel Kings of the world, With Sebastià Alzamora among his main influences, he acknowledges that the play also seeks to contribute to current debates. "The situation we have now stems from how the ideological debates of the mid-20th century were resolved, with things like the demolition of the Líric Theatre, included in the Pla Alomar, an event I associate with Ferragut's death, although there were a few months between the two. But it seems quite symbolic to me, quite symbolic to us, the argument of progress," recalls the playwright, who says he had been putting off doing something about that vanished stage since he was a child. Now the Líric serves as the backdrop for this play, which can be seen for two consecutive weekends, from November 7th to 9th and from November 14th to 16th, at the Teatre del Mar.