The San Sebastián concerts, an outdated model

Palm"When it comes time to think about the San Sebastián festival again, the prevailing feeling is that we're once again facing a problem we've been dragging along for some time," explains Miquel Àngel Sancho, head of the Blau record label. "And let it be known that we're happy, because we have bands performing this year. The problem isn't with the specific content of each year, but with the overall idea. It's as if the City Council isn't clear on what it's trying to achieve with the festival's program, and I think nobody knows anymore what the concept behind it is. But we're producing a model that just keeps going. We do it out of inertia, and because we haven't sufficiently explored the possible alternatives," he adds. Sancho's opinion is shared by numerous musicians, promoters, and cultural managers, as well as by a large part of the public who attend the Ciutat festival year after year. "Regardless of the political affiliation of the City Council, there hasn't been the courage to change course and hold only two or three major concerts, filling the rest with local festivities, or to complement the celebrations with a program in venues and theaters. And I know I'm shooting myself in the foot," says Àngel Pujol, head of management and music production. "But in San Sebastián, we always find ourselves in the same place, having the same conversations and arriving at the same diagnosis. It's time for a real, open, and constructive public debate to decide what model we want," he proposes.

The current model, centered on an extensive program of concerts taking place at different locations in Palma during the afternoon and evening of January 19, dates back to the beginnings of democracy. It was during Ramon Aguiló's term as mayor of Palma that a celebration was created that sought to revive the cultural offerings and foster a festive spirit through music, also with events such as the Mediterranean Festival and the Jazz Festival.

The attendees' disappointment

The eclectic mix of styles was a hallmark of the local festivals in the 1990s, a decade during which groups like Presuntos Implicados, Los Planetas, and OBK performed in Palma as part of the San Sebastián Festival, while the headliners in 1999 were Manolo Escobar and María. From the early 2000s onward, accounts began to describe a sense of "disenchantment" among attendees and a musical offering geared "for nostalgics" that, over the years, has completely faded away, according to the various musicians and organizers consulted. Although some changes have been attempted in recent years—such as the creation of an advisory service, intended to bring some unity to the San Sebastián Festival's approach, and the launch of a large-scale concert alongside the main festivities—they generally seem insufficient.

This year's festival program includes fifteen concerts spread across four different stages – Plaza de España, Plaza de Cort, Plaza Mayor, and Plaza Juan Carlos I – in addition to three bands performing on January 16th and two more bands performing the following day, January 17th, in Plaza Juan Carlos I and Plaza Mayor. To determine the lineup for each of these venues, a public bidding process was launched in September, allowing promoters to submit proposals for various lots, assigned to different locations and dates. Each venue, therefore, operates independently, and the bands that ultimately perform depend on both the bids received and the scores obtained. For the January 16th concert in Plaza de España, for example, with a maximum price of €85,000, the City Council initially received five proposals, while for the concerts in the same location during the festival, with a budget of €100,000, four companies submitted bids.

In total, the City Council is allocating around €373,000 to the music program in San Sebastián this year, only €40,000 more than the €332,000 that the Mallorca Live organization received to design and produce Patrona, the new electronic music festival held in early September 2010 with Antònia Font in 2023. "At first glance, I don't think it's a bad idea to move part of the program to the summer," says Miquel Àngel Sancho, "because one of the problems we have in San Sebastián is the weather. You never know if it's going to rain or not, and there's nothing worse than having to perform in the dark. Now, it's not a way to make Mallorca Live profitable. I don't know if it was successful or not, to be honest, but I think that if we have to move part of the festival to the summer, it should be under different conditions."

Changes in the scene

However, the weather is only one part of the problems that hinder the consolidation of the current model of the open-air festival, as noted by the musician Pep Suasi, who is also dedicated to music management. "In the past, you could bring in certain groups from outside the Balearic Islands because the bands were always on the go," explains the frontman of Suasi y los Electromodésticos, "but now the vast majority take a break, and they do so during the winter months. You can try it as much as you want, and many will tell you they start touring in April or May, and so on." In any case, the singer and programmer proposes focusing the festival's programming even more on local groups, a way to support the Mallorcan scene and revitalize the festivities. "And look, every year there are bands performing, and it's great that you can see local artists in every square, but we have such a rich scene, with so many high-quality groups and such diverse styles, that I think it has the potential for much more," he adds.

Several factors have contributed to the changes in artists' schedules, but the main one has been the emergence of numerous festivals, which have also contributed to influencing them. Some of them impose exclusivity clauses on the groups that The program includes clauses that prevent artists from performing in Mallorca for six months before and after their festival appearance, complicating bookings for local councils, who must then focus on all the artists not included in any of the numerous lineups. Furthermore, the rise of these kinds of events, which number in the dozens in the Balearic Islands and fill the summer cultural calendar with hundreds of concerts, has overshadowed a whole series of festivals that emerged when the offerings were much more limited, as in the case of San Sebastián. Back then, however, there was a circuit of venue-based programming that some organizers propose reviving to revitalize the music scene.

"Perhaps part of this budget should go towards maintaining a stable program throughout the year, which is something we desperately need in Palma," says Àngel Pujol. "We need to allow the festival to have a more popular character." If you look closely, that's already happened; a transformation process has begun with the brotherhoods, the Sant Retret, and the Llonguet Pride. It moves me. It's a solid impetus because it's what people want, and for me, this is the model they have, but perhaps—it's just perhaps—it should be resized and reconfigured, considering what they can contribute and mean to the festival. The economic argument of a group of private promoters shouldn't dictate the celebration of an entire city," he concludes.