Ben Amics rejects Cort's offer and suspends the LGTBI Pride festival in Palma

PalmaBen Amics confirmed this Saturday the definitive cancellation of the LGTBI Pride festival in Palma. It will be the first time in more than twenty years that the entity will not organize this celebration. The association attributes the decision to the lack of agreements with the Palma City Council and accuses the municipal government of not assuming "real" commitments with diversity policies.

The decision comes after weeks of tension between the association and Cort. Ben Amics conditioned the celebration of the festival on two specific demands: recovering the diversity workshops of Palma Educa and re-hanging the rainbow flag on the facade of the City Hall during Pride.

As explained by the spokesperson for Ben Amics, Jan Gómez, the Consistory's response arrived this Friday by phone and consisted of offering the entity to choose the color with which Bellver Castle would be illuminated and the possibility of having an institutional photograph with the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez Llabrés. A proposal that the association immediately rejected.

"We will not change our rights for the illumination of Bellver Castle," stated Gómez during the press conference offered this Saturday, which was reported by Europa Press. The spokesperson defended that the festival "is the celebration of achieved rights" and lamented that, in his opinion, the collective is currently experiencing "a setback in terms of rights and visibility".

Despite the cancellation of the party, Ben Amics will maintain the Pride demonstration scheduled for next June 28. The entity has called for massive citizen participation and is considering that the march, which could start from the Passeig del Born, will end in Plaça de Cort.

The conflict between Ben Amics and the City Council has been dragging on for weeks. The association had already warned that Pride was "at risk" due to the lack of municipal response to permits and the necessary coordination to organize the events. Furthermore, the entity has repeatedly criticized the disappearance of the Palma Educa workshops and Cort's refusal to display the LGTBI flag on the consistorial facade, decisions they interpret as .After the collective's criticism, Cort reacted by assuring that it

for Pride and a few days ago, the council defended that it had not suppressed any activity or event planned for this year. For its part, amid the crisis, the Manacor City Council offered to host the Pride celebration in the municipality.