Palma, failed city
Municipalism—policy made from the city and for the citizens—is the most powerful tool for improving people's lives. Decisions made by City Hall have a direct impact on the quality of daily life: whether the streets are clean, whether neighborhoods have green spaces, community centers, and public services close to home. This importance has already been recognized elsewhere. In Barcelona, the Neighborhood Plan promoted by Socialist Jaume Collboni has demonstrated how investment in neighborhoods and collaboration with neighbors strengthen social cohesion and improve coexistence.
Unfortunately, Palma is going in the opposite direction. Mayor Jaime Martínez (PP) is not committed to local policies and seems determined to dismantle their progress, turning the capital of Mallorca into a failed city. In the 21st century, cities must be key players in addressing global challenges. The climate crisis is a clear example of this: urban centers are responsible for a large part of polluting emissions, but they can also be the setting for innovative solutions, if there is political will. Cities play a key role in mitigating the effects of the climate emergency and creating more resilient communities through green investments and good planning. The Socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is a role model: her transformative policies have received broad public support and improve everyone's lives. Palma cannot remain on the sidelines. We need efficient public transport, more pedestrian and bicycle spaces, clean energy, and green areas capable of coping with heat waves and torrential rains.
Palma faces a fundamental debate on its economic model. For decades, monoculture tourism has generated prosperity, but also dependency and imbalance. The pandemic has shown that relying entirely on one party leaves us vulnerable. We need to diversify the economy with new sectors such as technology, culture, the green economy, local products, and commerce. This last tourist season, with record visitor numbers, has once again highlighted the limits of the current model: tourist saturation has invaded neighborhood spaces and further aggravated the housing crisis, fueled by speculation and rising rental prices. There is no future without a model that prioritizes people over immediate profits.
All of this requires political leadership and a vision for the future, and this is precisely what the current municipal government lacks. To make Palma a benchmark for social innovation, sustainability, and rights, local governments with transformative capacity and strategic vision are needed, not mere managers of appearances or promoters of media operations. Unfortunately, the management of the PP and Vox has been exactly that: all show and little substance. We see a paralyzed City Council, more focused on propaganda than on solving real problems. Fanciful schemes and massive projects of dubious public utility are being planned while the basic needs of the neighborhoods and, above all, of the people are being neglected.
We, the Socialists of Palma, defend the possibility—and the essentialness—of a change of direction that will pull us out of the current stagnation. Criticism is not enough: we must work decisively to offer concrete alternatives and explain them clearly. Our city model is clear: a Palma that is livable, inclusive, and proud of itself. Our priorities include strengthening basic public services—especially mobility and cleanliness; promoting an emergency plan for the most vulnerable neighborhoods; restoring real and effective citizen participation; reorienting cultural policy and the urban model to put citizens at the center; and guaranteeing decent housing for all Palma families, putting an end to speculation and limiting rental prices.
Palma does not deserve to be a bankrupt city or hostile to its own citizens. The good news is that there are alternatives and hope if we act decisively. We Palma residents have amply demonstrated our resilience, solidarity, and appreciation for the common good. Now we must recover this spirit from the City Council, with a true municipalism that puts people at the center of public decisions and once again places the general interest above all else. Palma can—and must—once again be a city for its people: a city where freedom, equality, and quality of life are not empty slogans, but shared realities. The city is all of us. With a brave, social, and inclusive project, Palma can face the challenges of the present and finally become the habitable, dignified place full of shared prosperity that we deserve.
