Popular culture should be supported from Mallorca, not from London.
These past few days we've seen the Mallorca Council travel to the World Travel Market in London with demons to try and showcase our popular culture to the British market. But is it really necessary to folklorize our culture to attract tourists? And is it necessary to continue investing in tourism promotion when the Council itself promised it wouldn't?
Popular culture isn't a postcard or a photo opportunity. It's a living tapestry woven by people who dedicate hours, passion, and effort to it. Beneath every demon mask is someone who loves their land. Beneath every giant is a person who invests time, energy, and enthusiasm to keep alive a tradition that defines us as a people. If these people don't receive support, we'll end up turning our identity into a mere caricature.
The organizations that keep tradition alive need much more than official photos or sporadic appearances at international fairs. They need stable financial support, recognition, and the resources to continue doing what they do best: keeping our people's culture alive. If we don't take care of the groups that perform traditional Mallorcan dances, demons, bagpipers, or giants, it makes no sense to then pretend to support them from a tourist showcase in London when real support should be shown here in Mallorca.
Today, popular culture is experiencing a pivotal moment. After difficult years, Mallorca's youth are once again strongly engaged. More and more young people are learning to play the chirimía (a type of oboe), to dance, to participate in a correfoc (fire run), and are organizing to expand the number of giant puppet troupes across the island. This interest is a breath of fresh air, demonstrating that popular culture is not a thing of the past, but a shared future. However, for this momentum to continue, institutions need to make it easier, offer genuine support, and stop viewing culture as merely a tool for propaganda or attracting tourists.
The Consell de Mallorca announced aid for restoring giants, big-headed figures, and fire-breathing beasts, but it has only reached the town councils. The organizations that actually carry out this work have received no support whatsoever. Furthermore, the application process has been so complex that many town councils haven't even been able to submit their proposals. The aid arrived late and was poorly managed.
If we truly want to defend popular culture, we cannot treat it as a marketing tool. We must respect it for what it is: a collective expression deeply rooted in our history. And it is the youth who are demonstrating that popular culture is alive and has a future. When we see groups of young giants, dancers, or devils dedicating their free time to keeping tradition alive, it becomes clear that Mallorca's greatest asset is its people.
Just a few days ago, the Mallorcan group FADES expressed it with admirable clarity upon receiving an Enderrock award: "They try to folklorize our media by constantly filling it with empty, regional content. Mallorca is not an ensaimada or a sobrasada. Mallorca is the people who speak Catalan in its streets." It's the people who live there.
This phrase perfectly encapsulates the moment we live in. Popular culture cannot be an exotic product for export or a mere tourist attraction. It must be a tool for cohesion, collective pride, and a sense of belonging. I say this as someone who, for the past twelve years, has been actively involved in popular culture movements as a giant. If we want our culture to remain alive, we must nurture it from the heart of our people, not from the stands of London.