Palma will not be the European Capital of Culture 2031

PalmPalma will not be the European Capital of Culture in 2031. The cities selected by the international committee of experts are Cáceres, Granada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Oviedo, as announced this Friday by Tanja Mlaker, president of the committee. Palma was excluded. The committee is made up of ten independent experts: eight appointed by the European institutions involved in the European Capital of Culture program and two appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. The members evaluated the nine submitted applications, including those from Burgos, Palma, Jerez de la Frontera, Potries, and Toledo. Mlaker highlighted the "passion and commitment" of all the participating cities and noted that the finalists have nine months to refine their proposals. The committee will meet again in December to decide which city will be awarded the title.

The Balearic capital has not made it past this first screening, despite the efforts of the local team to showcase Palma's cultural and heritage potential. The selected cities will continue competing with a renewed approach and concrete improvements to their cultural projects, aiming to consolidate their positions as leading European destinations.

Despite not being selected, Palma's candidacy, known as 'Palma 2031', has been one of the most visible projects of the past year in cultural and institutional events, with the direct involvement of the mayor, Jaime Martínez, and the City Council's Department of Culture. The strategy aimed to transform the city through culture, and the project was presented as participatory and with a long-term vision.

Antoni Riera, coordinator of the candidacy The drafting of the project was coordinated by economist Antoni Riera and was publicly presented on December 9th. Riera, director of the Impulsa Foundation and coordinator of the Government's Sustainability Committee, was responsible for leading the expert panels and preparing the 60-page dossier that had to be submitted before December 19th, the deadline for the first phase of presentation. City Hall sources indicate that Riera did not receive any remuneration for his role, while the 24 members of the two panels each received 600 euros for their participation in eight in-person meetings. The project planned to mobilize 48.5 million euros between 2026 and 2031, with overall investments linked to the candidacy that could reach 275 million euros, including the conversion of the Gesa building, the new city interpretation center and the creation of the Palma 2031 Foundation, with management

Citizen involvement and criticism

Although the governing team insisted that the bid was a project "belonging to everyone and not conceived in an office," several sectors of the city, such as the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Palma, criticized the fact that real participation was limited to the presentation of the project and not to decision-making. There have also been tensions with the cultural sector: performing arts associations and the Publishers' Guild denounce malpractice and a lack of transparency, and have had no say in defining the key aspects of the bid.

Presentations and ambassadors

Throughout the year, several presentations of the project have taken place, including at the Fundació Miró and the Mar i Terra theater, with a strong focus on tourism. The bid had three ambassadors, all men: the musician Rels B; the director of the Atlàntida Film Fest, Jaume Ripoll; and the artist Jaume Plensa. According to the mayor, their role would be to represent the city and promote the bid internationally.

The slogan of the candidacy

The cultural strategy was summarized in the motto 'Mediterranean in motion'Conceived as a proposal for urban and social transformation rather than a calendar of specific events, the mayor and project leaders have argued that the candidacy aimed to transform "the risk of decline in a city where tourism has led to pressure and tension" into an "opportunity" for cultural and economic development. Despite all this preparation and visibility, Palma did not pass the committee's initial screening, and the Spanish finalist cities will continue working over the coming months to try to win the designation, which represents European recognition and a significant boost for the cultural and tourism projection of the region.