NO to the militarization of Mallorca, YES to a Mallorca at peace and for peace

Not in the bunker of militarism

The world lives in an era of global warfare. That is to say, in a period, seemingly without end, of wars across the planet. Indeed, each of the current wars has its own history and challenges. Active conflicts vary in intensity and severity, but none deserves to be labeled 'low intensity'. All are undesirable. And yet, at this point in the 21st century, war has become a true hegemon of the centrality of the capitalist world-system.

In other words, we live in a time when neoliberal globalization, based on the reduction of labor costs, the obscene enrichment of capital, and the disregard for human rights and the environment—in short, globalization against the dignified life of the social majority—has undergone a kind of warlike transformation. That supposed and false 'end of history' has, in reality, been a gigantic resurgence of political and institutional militarism. There has been no end of history; on the contrary, the course of our times is still one of a bitter struggle between financial capital, increasingly subordinated to the so-called military-industrial complex, and the subordinate classes, who continue to die on the front lines of war and in genocides, who suffer the effects of colonialism.

This is the globalization in which we live and in which Mallorca is embedded. To the globalization that deindustrialized and over-touristed us, that established vast inequalities (a new class struggle in which the winners could only be the rich, and the very rich), that accelerated the climate emergency and the ecological crisis, has been added militarism. It is no exaggeration to say that we have moved from a certain degree of democratic governance to an increasingly evident governance with authoritarian features. In this de-democratizing regression (the increase in military spending carried out surreptitiously by the Spanish government is nothing less than a serious setback in democratic transparency), 'militarized governance' is key, and although it takes different forms in different places, it is a global trend.

In this context, geographically, Mallorca is in a position to become a kind of large military base. This is evidenced by the continued presence of the Puig Major military base, without us knowing exactly what work is carried out there; the increasingly frequent presence of military vessels, even those carrying nuclear weapons, off our coasts and in the Bay of Palma; and, shrouded in secrecy and a lack of transparency, the announced construction of a military bunker that the Ministry of Defense intends to build at the Son Sant Joan air base in Palma.

At Mallorca for Peace, we believe it is essential to reverse this, and any other, project for a bunker or fortification for the bulk storage of weapons. An investment of almost 1.8 million euros in the construction of an arms infrastructure with that capacity to store bombs and missiles is absurd. A folly only explicable within the context of the global arms race.

We must mobilize against the construction of this bunker, which, in addition to posing a threat, The militarization of an airport through which around twenty million passengers pass each year will place all of Mallorca at the center of the war dangers of this era.

Yes to a pacifist horizon

A Mallorca at peace doesn't need a weapons bunker. A Mallorca for peace needs to expand the culture of peace and combat militaristic thinking through peaceful means. Socially just progress for Mallorca requires guaranteeing a socioeconomic model in which the rejection of conflict resolution through war is a defining characteristic; in this sense, tourism and preparations—including a bunker—for war are a contradiction.

The demand of 'NATO NO, Bases out!' remains a cry for peace, fair development with less military spending and more social investment and, therefore, a commitment to putting the dignified life of all at the center of public debate and the action of democratic institutions.

Our affirmation of a pacifist horizon, here and now, implies mobilizing against the sinister bunker of militarism, and expressing our empathy with the concerns and solidarity with the demands surrounding the conflict with this military infrastructure of the citizens of the towns of Pla de Sant Jordi and the White House.