The left in Palma calls for a massive demonstration for Pride against "the PP's offensive"

PalmThe debate surrounding this year's Pride in Palma has ceased to be merely a festive or calendar matter for weeks now. It has become a new front of political confrontation between the municipal government of the Palma City Council and the left-wing opposition, with the LGTBI movement at the center of a tension that grows as the demonstration approaches.

This Friday, PSIB, MÉS per Palma, and Unides Podem have jointly called on citizens to participate in this weekend's Pride march, which they define as a direct response to "the PP's offensive against LGTBI rights".

For these parties, what is happening in Palma is not an isolated episode but a change in political direction. They denounce what they consider a setback in municipal diversity policies and an attitude of confrontation with the entities that have historically worked with the City Council for the defense of the collective's rights.

At this point, they particularly highlight the conflict with Ben Amics, which for the first time in twenty years has suspended the Pride festival. An event that the left interprets as the most visible symptom of a deeper institutional breakdown: the loss of trust between the council and the LGTBI associative fabric.

The criticisms also point to the way Jaime Martínez's government has managed the festival, which, according to their denunciations, has led to a "commodification" of Pride and a progressive disassociation of entities from the design and meaning of the celebration.

A party surrounded by administrative controversy

The political conflict also arrives with the background of a controversy over the hiring and organization of the festival in Palma. According to information published by ARA Balears, the public tender ended with the award to AgenciaCom, which would have obtained a score of 3 out of 100 in several sections, but which was the only company presented.

Among the criticisms collected are the lack of accredited experience, the absence of a defined artistic program, and the non-existence of specific measures to address possible situations of LGTBI phobic or sexual violence. The chronology of the procedure has also been called into question, after the dissemination of the festival began before the formal award of the contract.

This set of circumstances has been pointed out by entities and parties as another example of disconnection between institutional management and the fabric that has traditionally driven Pride in the city.

In parallel, the decision to suspend sexual and gender diversity workshops within the municipal educational program has added a new element of tension, which the opposition links to a political shift in Cort's diversity policies.

With this scenario, this weekend's Pride demonstration arrives in Palma with a clearly political component: not only as a demand for rights, but as a visible expression of an open institutional conflict.