<![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - Policy]]> 10 <![CDATA[Papists]]> I highly doubt there is anyone left on the face of the earth who is not yet aware: in recent days, the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Madrid, Catalonia, and the Canary Islands has monopolized a large part of the media's news diet, both state and national. Any topic has been good to stir the pot: the proportion of Catalan he would use during homilies, the language of the blessing of the Jesus tower, who sang and performed at the shows, who would meet him, who wouldn't...Of all this, however, there has been one aspect that has particularly caught my attention, and I believe few people, perhaps out of shame, their own or others', or rather out of interest (in this case, entirely their own) have commented much on: Prevost's visit and speech to the Congress of Deputies.First of all, it is problematic that politicians of all stripes, and especially progressives, who should defend the non-confessionality (if not the secularism) of the State, have tried to pass off the visit of a religious leader as that of a head of state. That the highest representative of a religion on Earth visits a country is no small matter, and it certainly has its interest, especially for believers of that confession. But giving this gentleman spaces, focus, and microphones that should belong exclusively to the people and their representatives, such as Congress, should make us question whether everything has been done very well.Would anyone think of inviting Donald Trump to defend the legalization of weapons under the watchful eye of President Armengol? Who would find it normal for leaders like Putin and Netanyahu to go and harangue Spaniards to participate in their wars under Tejero's bullet holes? Would the deputies of practically all political parties applaud after hearing a fierce apology for the death penalty against realities such as homosexuality, transsexuality, or "adultery"?This, more or less, is what the Government of Pedro Sánchez and the upper house of the State have allowed: to give a voice in a place that should be primarily for the representatives of the citizens to a person who has gone to defend theses that attack not only current laws in our State, such as equal marriage, voluntary interruption of pregnancy, or euthanasia, but also some basic principles also enshrined in the Constitution (alas!).I ask myself if this would have happened fifteen years ago, during Zapatero's government. I ask myself if José María Aznar, or Felipe González, would have dared. Surely we will never know and we will have to settle for this image: a religious leader lecturing the people's representatives on topics that we have already resolved, that we are clear about, on which we should not have asked for the opinion of a man who will neither marry nor ever get pregnant, to mention only the topics that concern us. We can rest assured, however: in the end, all the politicians knew how to find a way to emphasize that the speech had favored them. They have become papists.

]]> <![CDATA[Between 'lawfare' and post-truth]]> Since the Zapatero affair broke out, almost every day we are faced with a new surprise. Some, quite surreal. The feeling of disbelief is great even among those who for a long time put our heart and soul into the fight against corruption. But there are too many elements here that point to what has come to be called lawfare, the use of 'justice' to criminalize and bring down politicians, particularly progressives, through a lot of disinformation and little evidence. It happened with Lula in Brazil, and we have seen it in the Kingdom of Spain with the leaders of the Procés, the comrades of Podem, and a couple of years ago, with the case of our friend Mònica Oltra, who already warned us that we could all be, like her, victims of infamous maneuvers to civilly kill those who stand up to defend progressive values.

]]> <![CDATA[Jordi Pujol and us, the islanders]]>

He was widely admired, also in the Balearic Islands, until the judicial affair that affected his family broke out and from which he has been excluded due to his delicate health. Before that, Jordi Pujol was, for decades, the benchmark of Catalonia par excellence, with certain ties to the Islands. We remember them as half a century has passed since the controversy generated, in May 1976, by his supposed 'disembarkment' as a shareholder in the Majorcan magazine Cort, in the midst of the political Transition.

]]> <![CDATA[The grammar of security]]> Donald Winnicott (1896-1971), a British pediatrician and psychoanalyst, intuited and studied that the need for security accompanies human beings from the first moment of life. He explained the need to feel "held" by the environment in order to grow and live with confidence.Literally ‘to hold’ in English means: ‘to sustain’, ‘to contain’, ‘to protect with the hands’. But Winnicott gave it a much deeper psychological meaning. When a small child is physically and emotionally held by the mother, is fed, protected, comforted and understood, they develop a basic sense of trust in the world. This is what Winnicott called ‘holding’. They have the intimate feeling that the world will not collapse under your feet. Thanks to this ‘held environment’, the child can play, explore, grow and build themselves. Without this ‘holding’, anguish, insecurity and emotional fragility appear. On a social and global level, societies also need a kind of ‘holding collective’. I mean that we like to feel that there is order, to have reliable institutions, accepted and shared norms, a certain stability and an invisible network that sustains this coexistence. If this support fails –or we perceive that it fails– then the obsessive demand for security arises. It may sound daring, but security is not just about having police or not having crime. It is also trust, cohesion, a certain credibility, a sense of identity belonging... It is having the perception that someone upholds the collective framework. Perhaps modern societies are not only seeking more security, but to recover the feeling of ‘holding’: feeling that the world is still capable of holding them.Why have I chosen The grammar of security as the title of this article? Well, because security is also a language. There are symbols, emotions, perceptions, narratives, and even scenographies of power. We must be able to talk about security without falling into alarmist discourse, nor into the naivety of denial. How can we reconcile the need for protection and the boundaries between freedom and control? I also chose the word 'grammar' because it was very recently that I discovered the figure and legacy of Gianni Rodari, and I have been fascinated by him. In confidence, The grammar of security transmits resonances of The Grammar of Fantasy. Winnicott fits in perfectly, and applying it to a social and contemporary topic seemed audacious to me.Let's refine a bit more; in sa Pobla –in any town– when we see a dirty square, a broken streetlight, a dark street, we observe how it is transmitting an emotional message to the population. And in the face of these real events that trouble us so much on social networks, the theory of James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling fits in very well, which more or less stated that small signs of disorder can generate the perception of abandonment and insecurity even if the real level of delinquency or criminality is low. Obviously, the use of current information channels can be manipulated and redirected towards the interests of corporations, political parties, etc. It is one of the important challenges facing current societies: the abuse of manipulation and easy populism. This abuse in order to achieve "power". It seems we have reached one of the most poignant paradoxes we have today: "The more protected a society is, the less tolerant it is of uncertainty"". But, deep down, in a very internalized space, over the years of my police activity I have observed that people do not just ask for physical protection. They ask to feel that the world is still understandable, orderly, and governable. We return to my town; last April, in sa Pobla, four low-intensity criminal acts, or minor delinquency, occurred. The perpetrator was quickly identified and brought before the judicial authorities; he was a repeat offender and quite well-known. Some of the affected parties and others used social media and amplified their fear. Some political parties saw an opportunity to gain visibility, increase their presence, and use it for political purposes. This happens every so often, almost cyclically. It is certainly legitimate, but in reality – dealing with a sensitive issue – they are 'playing' with the emotions and fears of the citizens. The result was that in the following weeks there was an increase in the perception of insecurity and fear among the townspeople. Evidently, political consensus among all forces on security matters has not yet matured enough and – at the municipal level – it is practically non-existent. The defense and joint work for the citizens will still have to wait.However, let's stop and get to the facts. The municipality of sa Pobla, its town hall, has allocated an average of between 10% and 11% of its initial budget to citizen security in the last five years. This is a relatively high ratio if we compare it to the rest of the municipalities in Spain. This means that – for the governing team – it has been an important priority when designing its municipal policies. Each inhabitant of Huialfàs spends approximately one hundred and five euros annually on local security. State-level security expenses are outside these figures. This would be an objective fact, but it is very far from the perception that many people from sa Pobla have.There is a lot of work to do and –above all– a lot of work to explain, to make understood. Personally, I would like to delve into the next article on the role played by the Local Police and our privacy that we are losing, in this complex and interesting mosaic. To summarize, we can conclude that the great drama of modern societies is not only real insecurity, but the constant need to feel protected. And the inevitable question that remains is: Why does an objectively secure society continue to be so afraid?Note: This week I have ended my labor and social contract with the Local Police of sa Pobla. It has been more than forty-four years of dedication. In the beginning, I was a young man with more curiosity than training, these were different times. I have tried to give back to my town all that it has given me. The feeling of gratitude is enormous. The finite landscape and the faces of the people who have already departed have also accompanied me. I have made mistakes many times and I apologize to those I may have hurt or harmed. Life goes on and we need to savor it and share it. Until the next article, thank you.

]]> <![CDATA[The Feixina and political reading]]> When the Arca association asks to stop politically manipulating the Feixina monument, as it has done in recent days, it is difficult to know if it speaks from naivety or from a very specific – and very typical – form of political intervention. Because there is only one possible reading of the Feixina, and that is political. The monument was conceived politically, erected politically, and inaugurated politically. By a dictatorship.

]]> <![CDATA[The right to ask for 1,200 euros in rent for an apartment is below the citizen's right to dignified housing]]>

After eleven years as a councilor and seven as mayor of Maó, Héctor Pons Riudavets (Maó, 1990) reviews the most difficult term he has faced so far in the City Council. In minority and with the conditional support of his former partners from Ara Maó, the only socialist mayor in Menorca faces the remaining year of the legislature with the urgency to solve the problems that drag down the water supply and the determined objective of taking steps to facilitate access to housing for families in a context of such difficulty. But in these months, the future of the port is also being cooked.

]]> <![CDATA[Housing priority]]> The pro-Trump Spanish patriotic party has done it again: it has slipped a new racist and exclusionary proposal onto the media and political agenda, which takes advantage of the diverse discontents of society to attack the most vulnerable people. At other times, women have been victims of male violence that, according to them, does not exist. Minors have also been turned into beasts whose teeth we must check. Now, it has targeted one of the groups they most often attack: migrants. With the typical and hackneyed propaganda of fascisms past and present: Spaniards, first. 'Ours', first.

]]> <![CDATA[Abel Matutes: from Franco's mayor to minister of democracy]]>

“N’Abel wants it all”. That’s what a veteran journalist from Ibiza, referring to Abel Matutes Juan, said years ago: a man who, in addition to his multiple businesses, certainly became practically everything in politics over three decades: mayor of Vila, a prominent figure of the Transition, senator, deputy, negotiator of the Statute of Autonomy, European commissioner, minister... We review his career as the thirtieth anniversary of his appointment, on May 5, 1996, as head of Foreign Affairs in José María Aznar’s first cabinet is celebrated.

]]> <![CDATA[The pre-election dance begins in the Balearic Islands: parties are already positioning themselves for 2027]]>

Thirteen months remain until the regional elections and all Balearic parties are already in full electoral campaign mode or, failing that, will be very soon.

]]> <![CDATA[Vox: fleas bite]]> It should not surprise anyone that the party that has accumulated the most internal crises in the Balearic Islands since the beginning of the legislature (between splits, cross-accusations, and dissenting votes) is now going through its own ordeal at the state level. Let it be known that I do not use this Easter and Christian expression for nothing: what Vox is experiencing these weeks is the explosion of an escalation that its democratic tradition (sic) has precipitated since they began to torpedo the Spanish party map. Who could have imagined that a force so open to reflection, so fond of complexities, so enamored of individual liberties and dialogue would end up sinking on all fronts? Who would have said that the party of bracelets with the flag of the Empire and the 'fachalecos' (perhaps in Catalan we could call them 'fatxapits'...) would end up having serious internal problems due to a lack of debate and consensus?The electoral results in the recent elections in Aragón, Castilla y León, and Extremadura might suggest that the party is in top form, but its internal reality is very different. While the respective regional formations struggle to influence or enter these governments, it seems that numerous militants and founders of the far-right party would be trying to force an extraordinary congress to put an end to Santiago Abascal's leadership (that gentleman who for decades has denounced the vices of the political caste without ever having worked at anything else, yes, the man with chest hair who skipped military service), while, in parallel, the Justice system is investigating two high-ranking party officials accused of revealing secrets.In the Islands, meanwhile, the PSIB a few days ago made yet another attempt to remove Gabriel Le Senne from the position of President of the Parliament, a position he has not been worthy of since the PP granted it to him. They accused him, in fact, of being like his party: contrary to the plurality and neutrality that should mark the exercise of this position and, ultimately, complicit in extending and legitimizing the discourses and values that allow homophobic aggressions like the one suffered a few days ago by a teacher at the IES Baltasar Porcel in Andratx (an aggression that the Parliament has condemned in its entirety, without the vote of Vox). The PP, however, preferred to ignore the socialists' offer and keep in office the one who tore up the portrait of Aurora Picornell, a woman imprisoned, tortured, and murdered by the supporters of a dictatorship that neither the PP nor Vox have ever condemned.A few years ago, following a personal disappointment, a good friend told me that sometimes some people are also fleas, and fleas, as you know... Fleas bite. Thus, it is no surprise that the party that has sown discord and intolerance, those who have stirred up political debate even before having representation in any parliament, are now drinking their own medicine and attacking each other. If it weren't for the pathetic nature of it, it would even be a pleasure to watch.

]]> <![CDATA[The Government, in 'stand-by' and to the rhythm of Caribbean dances]]>

The apocalypse is approaching while the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, learns to dance bachata and someone in her cabinet, in a fit of inspiration, decides this is relevant enough information to share with the world. As could be expected, the PSIB reminded everyone of this throughout the six hours of the Parliament session on Tuesday. The Chamber increasingly resembles a stand-up comedy stage: everyone brings their prepared monologue, and if it goes well, the audience might even laugh for a while.

]]> <![CDATA[Far right and tyranny: the dangers of voting for extremist governments]]>

Polls indicate a growing proportion of young people who want to vote for the far right. Perhaps they should ask themselves what the far right would do if, for example, Trump decreed that, for the good of the Empire, not only were scholarships cut—that is, military spending increased to 5% of GDP—but also mandatory military service reinstated. They should also know that if they no longer liked this and wanted to protest, the far right would prevent them from doing so, for the good of the Empire and Spain's service to the Empire's vassalage. Who would defend them from tyranny then? No one, unless they themselves reorganized to defend their rights and freedoms, so absurdly lost to those who can enjoy democracy today but prefer to vote for tyranny tomorrow.

]]> <![CDATA[Pumps]]> In the extraordinary series Tehran (Apple TV) we see all the horrific machinations the Israelis engage in to overthrow Iran's theocratic regime. The fiction is Israeli, and we might think it's a politically charged message aimed at the Iranian regime or people, exposing the immense failings of their government, which it largely is. But at the same time, what's revealed is the unscrupulousness of Israeli intelligence itself, the Mossad, the way it uses and abuses its agents, and the horrific and tragic excess of its methods to destroy a regime that wants to arm itself not only to dominate the region but also to devastate it.

]]> <![CDATA[Neither investigation nor dignity for the victims: what falls with the memory law]]>

"Law 2/2018 (...) on memory and democratic recognition in the Balearic Islands will be repealed, and reconciliation will always be sought, avoiding historical manipulation and the partisan use of the victims and the tragedy of the civil conflict. Policies will be implemented to facilitate the recovery of deceased persons, without discrimination based on any grounds." "of monuments and historical elements, ensuring their proper maintenance and understanding within their historical context." This is what point 48 of the governance agreement signed by the PP and Vox on June 28th states, an agreement that was enacted in the plenary session of Parliament this Tuesday.

]]> <![CDATA[The PP regains the mayorship of Porreres 27 years later]]>

Maria Agnès Sampol Sabater (Porreres, 1986) has become the new mayor of Porreres, 27 years after the People's Party (PP) last governed the municipality, replacing Xisca Mora Veny. She assumed the position as part of a governing pact signed between the PP and El Pi after each party won four seats in the 2023 elections, while Más won five.

]]> <![CDATA[Yes, there is an invasion... of racism.]]>

"Rape of dolls and women," "jihadist terrorism in the streets of Europe," "savage knife attacks resulting in amputations," collapse of public services, "cultural impoverishment in schools," "imposition of cultures"... This was the litany of accusations that the Parliaments had to listen to. The Vox spokesperson, Manuela CañadasShe won the award for the most racist speech, surrounded by silence and with the mocking smile of the Speaker of the House, Gabriel Le Senne, who did not intervene to stop the debate's drift.

]]> <![CDATA[Hydrological plan of the Balearic Islands: useful tool or worthless piece of paper]]> On April 3, 2025, the public consultation on the initial documents for the development of the new hydrological plan for the Balearic Islands was opened. Six months later, the public consultation on the key issues of the future plan was launched, and it remains open until March 6. All of this is part of a complex and lengthy process governed by the European Water Framework Directive, the Water Law, and the Hydrological Planning Regulations. It will continue with the drafting and consultation of the proposed plan and, if all goes well, with the approval of the new hydrological plan in 2028. Four years of development for a plan with a six-year validity period (2028-2033). It can be said that hydrological planning is being developed with the strongest requirements for information and public participation in our autonomous community. Furthermore, this cycle of drafting, approval, and implementation of the hydrological plan is repeated, and this new hydrological plan will be the fourth. Meanwhile, the third Hydrological Plan for the period 2022-2027 is currently being implemented. The result will be new regulations governing water resource management and a new program of measures outlining the necessary actions to conserve and restore the health of the Balearic Islands' water bodies: aquifers, streams, wetlands, and coastal waters. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the new hydrological plan's development, it hasn't received much publicity from the relevant social and economic sectors, and participation in the initial participatory workshops has been minimal. Political leaders with water-related responsibilities have also had little involvement in the process. So far, the main conclusion is that the Hydrological Plan has generated little interest. This is nothing new; we have a weak culture of participation, both on the part of the public, who don't find their requests addressed during these processes, and on the part of our elected officials, who can enjoy greater freedom making decisions behind closed doors without having to adhere to a plan agreed upon with the public. An example of this latter point has been the push for a fourth desalination plant on the island of Ibiza. This action was not included in the program of measures of the current 2022-2027 Hydrological Plan, but it has been included as a priority measure by the regional government during this legislative term, despite the lack of any demand from Ibiza's civil society. This contradiction was evident at the last Ibiza Water Dialogue Forum we organized last autumn. This participatory space has been promoted by the Water Alliance for the past 10 years to foster a participatory culture, given the absence of other regulated and public spaces that promote debate and consensus on water issues on our island.

]]> <![CDATA[Forgetting history as a weapon of imposition]]> The response of Spain's two major parties, then the UCD and PSOE, to the attempted coup of February 23, 1981, was the Organic Law for the Harmonization of the Autonomy Process (LOAPA) of June 1982. The Prime Minister at the time was Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. The law's aim was to moderate and pacify the autonomy process, prioritize state regulations over regional ones, and close the fast track of Article 151 of the Constitution to non-historical regions, among other things. A year later, the Constitutional Court annulled 14 of the law's 38 articles and declared the principle of state supremacy unconstitutional.

]]> <![CDATA[It's not an urban legend: politicians don't respond.]]>

Politicians don't answer the questions they're asked. It's not an urban legend; it's a fact. Their goal isn't to give clear or precise answers, but to counterattack their opponent and look good in the video their party will post on social media, with somewhat aggressive text and lots of emojis to add a touch of sharpness. The government is subjected to a weekly question time session in Parliament which, rather than an exercise in oversight, ends up becoming a kind of Roman circus, full of gladiators with mediocre, inflammatory, and, all too often, empty rhetoric.

]]> <![CDATA[The Balanguera of the Chinese by Pere Garau]]> The Chinese New Year celebration took place last Sunday, December 22nd, in Pere Garau Square, the Palma neighborhood where 43% of the city's Chinese immigrants live, representing 10% of the non-EU population in the city. Among the many events of this grand celebration, which the Chinese have contributed to the city's popular culture, one moment stood out: two girls took to the stage and sang. The BalangueraThe song, "Els Moréos," has been the anthem of Mallorca since 1996. The musical version of the poem was composed by Amadeu Vives in 1926, the same year Joan Alcover died. Its performance during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Palma thus coincided with the centenary of the poem's creation. It is moving to imagine how Joan Alcover would have felt seeing his poem about the cultural tradition and vitality of the Mallorcan people transformed into a song of understanding, coexistence, and respect between native Mallorcans and newcomers who have literally arrived from the other side of the world. This isn't about 'integration,' as is often repeated, half out of intellectual laziness and half out of prejudice, when immigrants are discussed. It's not about integrating, but about dialogue, about showing affection and respect for the place where you live, whether you have lived here for fifteen generations, have just arrived, or are the child of those who came a few years ago. The first signs of this respect, this esteem, and this willingness to engage in dialogue obviously involve language and culture. And (it goes without saying) care for the environment, primarily the natural environment, but also the urban one. The Chinese community of Pere Garau and the Chinese Cultural Association of the Balearic Islands understood all of this well, filling the Chinese New Year celebration with Mallorcan references and elements: there were castellers (human tower builders), the dragon—one of the day's main protagonists—was named Pep, and so on.

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