The protest against Aena in Ibiza portrays the PP and the PSOE

IbizaAena is today the villain of the movie. Even worse: it is that secondary character in a gangster film, with a scar on his face and a defiant look, that no one wants to have nearby. Right now, no Ibizan politician in their right mind would want to take a photo with an Aena representative by their side. The truth is that the airport operator has earned it: a terminal sold to nightclubs, repeated polluting spills in Ses Salines, and boundless greed. That is how Aena has become the catalyst for popular indignation over a whole variety of problems, from housing prices to tourist saturation; at the 20-S demonstration in Ibiza –five thousand people according to the Government Delegation–, the most abundant protest sign was the cardboard silhouette of an airplane. Yes: a simple silhouette of an aircraft has become the symbol of the protest. That is enough, no slogan is needed: how do tourists arrive, if not by plane?

The problem that both the PP and the PSOE have is that not appearing in the photo with Aena will be very complicated. Five thousand protesters are neither many nor few. But they are enough to place the problem on the table in an unavoidable way. Enough to keep the issue alive at least until the next local and regional elections, eight months from now. The president of Joves d’Eivissa, the organizing association, made it clear in the manifesto that this “was only the beginning”.

In Joves they are aware of where their strength lies: in maintaining credibility and independence; it is unlikely that they will let themselves be used by any political tendency, at least in the short term. And they defend more than reasonable arguments, which almost any Ibizan –left-wing or right-wing– could subscribe to. Such as, for example, that it cannot be that residents have no decision-making power in tourism policy. It is a notable change in perspective. Until now, it seemed that we had to assume with our heads down that the tourism model was a matter for the adults, an issue handled between a couple of large companies, the political party of the day, and some organization like Aena or the Port Authority. The PP and the PSOE would have liked Aena to have kept the DORA III until after May '27.

“Modernization” of the airport

But it has not been like that. The PP –in the Government, in the Council and in all the Ibizan town councils– seems to have not yet decided what it will do; the position of the president of the Council, Vicent Marí, has shown significant hesitations depending on the character the issue took on in public opinion. On Monday the 21st, after meeting with the organizers of the demonstration, he spoke out categorically against an “expansion” and in favor of a “modernization” of the Codolar airport. The unrest with the tourism model in Ibiza is transversal, it is not just a matter for the left. The PP knows this and that is why they have long since accustomed us to conceptual games: growth no, but yes in quality; expansion no, but yes if it is modernization... It is an effective technique up to a certain point; from playing with it so much, the words end up emptying themselves and meaning anything, and they no longer work either in this sense or in that other. Like writing ‘sustainable’, which already sounds more like greenwashing than anything else; everything is sustainable: detergent, hotels, and ham-flavored potato chips. A good part of the voters no longer believes much in these things. Will they believe that the modernization of the airport does not open the door to an increase in passengers?

The situation of the Ibiza PSOE is worse. Faced with a right wing that threatens to overwhelm them in the upcoming elections, the socialists are forced to perform a complicated dance, a fabulous balancing act between their opposition to the Aena project and their political affiliation: Aena is a company 51% controlled by the government of Spain; that is to say, by the party in power; that is to say, right now, by Perro Sanxe. I write ‘Perro Sanxe’ to highlight how easy it will be to devalue the socialists' opposition to the Codolar expansion project. They had better find a good strategy. The latest known electoral poll regarding the Council of Ibiza was published by Periódico de Ibiza last June 14th and granted nine councilors to the PP, three to the PSOE, one to Vox, and none to Unides Podem. If it comes true, a real disaster. Perhaps they will be left without seats, but they will be able to apply for a job at Cirque Du Soleil as tightrope walkers. In reality, it means more pressure power over the government of Spain for the socialists than for a small island council governed by their eternal rival. Does the PSIB really have any capacity for pressure on the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility? (Oh, what a surprise: these ones are also sustainable!).

Aena's silence

Meanwhile, Aena remains silent. At least it did so until last Thursday, which is the day this article was submitted. Five thousand protesters are not enough. And why should Aena say anything? Silence is what suits them best; if things were to get very hairy, they would still have the option to resort to the security argument; security, or adaptation to some regulation or other, is the textbook Trojan horse to justify expansions, widenings, and growth of all kinds; this is what happened with the widening of the roads to Sant Antoni and the airport in 2005. People are protesting in the streets, but Aena acts as if it is not their problem. And, indeed, it is not. Ibizan, Pityusic, or Balearic tourism policy is not the responsibility of the airport operator; they themselves have taken care to point this out on occasion. They are the responsibility of our political representatives. So the protest is actually challenging them. Perhaps it is a good time to demonstrate that they have, if not a firm executive capacity, at least the possibility to influence. And if not, why do we vote for them in elections?