The international committee questions Palma 2031: "The project is insufficient and underdeveloped"

PalmIt has been one of the questions the sector has asked itself since the Palma City Council announced its intention to bid for the title of European Capital of Culture: how will a title designed to attract more visitors to such a tourist city as Palma benefit the cultural fabric? And now the international experts who have evaluated the project have answered it: “It is clear that Palma is not looking to increase the volume of cultural programming or attract more visitors, as in both cases they have enough [...] and even understanding the local circumstances and needs, the jury wonders if the title of European Capital of Culture is the best platform to advance the city's aspirations.” This is how the report, made public this Monday, concludes, with which the committee, chaired by Tanja Mlaker, argues the decision to discard Palma from the candidates to obtain the title for the year 2031.

And despite being the first point in the cultural strategy of Jaime Martínez's electoral program –“we will aim to be European Capital of Culture,” it reads–, and despite having been the epicenter of all cultural policies developed by the council headed by Javier Bonet in the four pages of expert evaluation, the concept that is repeated the most is “underdeveloped”.

“The program is insufficient and the artistic concept and European dimension are underdeveloped”, is the general conclusion of a panel of experts who state that “the strategy to link tourism infrastructure with the cultural program is not properly explained”. In this regard, in the section on the evaluation of the cultural and artistic content of the program, it is stated that “the project descriptions do not include information about artists, cultural institutions, and other collaborators, making it difficult to foresee how it will be reflected in the programming”. In addition to the two expert panels presented in June 2025, the project was coordinated by Antoni Riera, director of the Fundació Impulsa, who was also one of those in charge of conducting the presentation at the Ministry last March, along with Sandra Seeling.

“Specific objectives are missing”

The jury's assessment of the project – presented as a 68-page book, which has been distributed to local media in its English version and not in Catalan – highlights the intention to transform Palma into a “dynamic cultural center where knowledge production, accessibility and community participation are promoted”, in addition to transformative projects such as Palma Culture & Innovation Bay and the Arts District. Nevertheless, the committee of experts – made up of ten people, eight of them appointed by European institutions – emphasizes that “the relationship between the general strategic framework and the European Capital of Culture projects is not clearly defined”. In fact, they underline that “although the long-term vision is ambitious, specific objectives beyond 2031 are lacking”. Furthermore, they also conclude that the lack of concrete information on how local artists and cultural institutions are expected to be involved “makes it difficult to assess how this is reflected in the program and they speak of projects described “very limitedly”. “It is also not clear whether some projects already exist or will be created specifically for the title year”, it is stated. 

Participation, one of the project's hallmarks according to its leaders, is also clearly questioned in the report that was made public this Monday. "The indicators focus on quantities rather than measurable social impact", "the participatory process includes meetings [...], but it is not clear what concrete results will be derived" and "there are few details on how the most vulnerable groups will be reached". 

The Palma 2031 Foundation

Regarding the possible management of the project, the jury, chaired by Tanja Mlaker, questions the support received from the Consell de Mallorca and the Govern, “and which only indicates that they have expressed interest in co-financing it” and points out that “it is not clear what part of the investments will take place even without receiving the title, nor what infrastructures are essential for the cultural program”. As Jaime Martínez himself stated, the budget planned for Palma 2031 included operating expenses of 48 million euros and 275 million euros in investments. And, in fact, the City Council had announced the creation of a public-private foundation, Fundació Palma 2031, for the management of all these projects.

“The jury considers that the proposed management structure is complex and may lead to an overlap of administrative tasks”, it reads in the report, which also discusses the uncertainties generated by the lack of information regarding the organization of this foundation. The differences in the investments made so far in the European Capital of Culture project in Palma and in the four cities that have advanced to the next phase –82,800 euros in Ciutat between 2025 and 2026, according to Bonet, and 750,000 in Càceres in the same period, for example– was one of the arguments used by the deputy mayor to justify the project's rejection. In any case, sources from MÉS per Palma assure that the cost of the project so far has been higher and is close to 100,000 euros.