Mulled wine and plenty of bar service at the Feixina flea market

Christmas markets were once synonymous with shepherds. Now, thanks to a collaboration between Palma City Council and two Nordic businessmen, they're also synonymous with products that have no tradition or connection whatsoever with the Balearic Islands. In Feixina, one of the most egregious examples of citizen participation in recent times has unfolded, a business venture that makes no sense whatsoever because it's neither a German Christmas market brought to Mallorca nor, of course, a local market.

We must ask institutions to always ensure the dissemination, promotion, and, why not, the support of local artisans, who against all odds are surviving in the age of Amazon.

But if you go to the Christmas Market, which those who have rightly denounced the residents of Santa Catalina have found, you'll find mulled wine and products that absolutely no one else in Palma or Mallorca makes. And if you were to tell me that the coexistence—not cohesion, unfortunately—of Nordic and local cultures has actually fostered a mulled wine industry, well, that might make sense. But it doesn't even make sense. 80% of the 61 stalls belong to two businessmen which have nothing to do with craftsmanship or tradition.

There are enough small and medium-sized businesses, not to mention the need for restaurants in Palma, to justify building an artificial project. And the City Council can't claim ignorance, because the documentation ARABalears has accessed clearly shows the repetition of the owners' names and phone numbers in more than 40 records. And all of this was processed by business associations that claim to champion the importance—and we agree—of the network of small business owners who open their shops every day. They've made a mistake.