Approximately 200 residents of Cas Capiscol demonstrated this Friday to say "no to crime" and demanded "security, civic responsibility, and respect," as well as "immediate solutions" for the former Palma prison and the nearly 300 people who live there. "We want to take our children to school without fear," "A safe environment also educates," "Neglect puts our children at risk," and "We want a well-cared-for neighborhood, not a forgotten one" were some of the slogans displayed by the demonstrators on orange banners. The president of the Cas Capiscol Residents' Association, Biel González, called for solutions for the neighborhood's residents and also for the inhabitants of the former prison. "It's very dangerous in terms of security and health," he said. He noted that in recent months, "low-intensity" acts of vandalism have proliferated. "The other day, someone snatched a neighbor's purse, and another person was mugged from behind," she reported. The children of CEIP Cas Capiscol were also at the demonstration and were demanding "security," because they suffer daily from the consequences of the tense coexistence that has recently developed between the neighbors and some residents of the former prison. "There have been robberies at the school gates, they see people loitering around the school with evidence of having used drugs, people showering in the fire hydrants, they smell tire smoke," said the school's principal, Ana Eva Álvarez. For this reason, the school has adopted a staff agreement to reinforce security at the entrances, has changed the entrance and exit doors, and has put up tarpaulins in the playground to prevent incidents. "And we want to continue like this, but that means extra reinforcement, and teachers shouldn't have to be police officers," she stated.

Thursday's plenary session of Palma City Council (Cort) was dominated by citizen protests. All of them pointed to the mayor, in one way or another, as one of the culprits for their problems. "Mayor, we must talk"; "Martínez, you con artist"; "Mayor, resign," were some of the slogans heard in front of the Palma City Hall, which was protected by the Local Police. According to sources at Cort speaking to ARA Baleares, the security officers, who were controlling who entered the building, had to wear earplugs to endure the noise of the whistles and sirens of the local police officers demanding a planning scheme, which continued from approximately 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The noise from outside was also noticeable inside the plenary hall. The governing team was aware of the public participation in the plenary session and limited attendance to 85 people, including the councilors; they even removed some of the benches that had been used in previous sessions. Before entering the plenary hall, there was a security guard at the door with a counter in his hand. This initiative by the municipal government has provoked complaints from the opposition. Podemos Palma has accused the Cort government of "prohibiting" access to social organizations and groups that intended to participate in the plenary session. According to a statement released by the party, the capacity restriction "is a conscious political decision whose objective is to silence the voice of organized citizens and limit the presence of groups critical of municipal policies."

The Palma City Councillor for Infrastructure, Accessibility, and Industrial Parks, Belén Soto, has denied that there were any economic interests behind the felling of the beautiful shade trees in Llorenç Villalonga Square, as some residents claimed during their protest outside the City Hall on Tuesday against the municipal initiative. Some residents also suspect that the City Council cut down the trees to increase the visibility of the hotel located in the square or to allow the establishment to install terraces. In this regard, Soto clarified that she has not met "with anyone" and considered the residents' suspicions to be something they themselves "created." She also asserted that "from the outset, we have acted with complete transparency and have informed the Palma Verda Roundtable, a forum for dialogue where all political parties are represented, in addition to various neighborhood associations and organizations." Similarly, Soto emphasized that "removing the trees was the last resort," but justified the decision by stating that Cort had to implement it because "there was a high risk and the only viable alternative was their replacement." Meanwhile, the head of the Infrastructure and Accessibility department, Urbano Sánchez, criticized the fact that at the Palma Verda Roundtable, "no one" criticized the municipal institution's initiative except for the Amics de la Terra association. Along the same lines, he justified the City Council's failure to provide the residents with the technical reports supporting the tree removal, stating that Cort "has always been convinced that the explanations provided were sufficient." Furthermore, Soto noted that after the Roundtable meeting, Cort met with the residents again to discuss the issue. Sánchez explained that in Palma "there had already been previous incidents of branches falling from beautiful shade trees," a problem that began in 2009 in Llorenç Villalonga Square and also in other parts of the city. "After the first warning," he added, "the following incidents began in 2017, one on September 13 of this year, when a fracture occurred at the crown—the point where the trunk branches to form the canopy—and another on November 21, when the tree had to be cut down due to a storm," noting that "the weather is particularly harsh on the trees in this square." A few years later, "at the end of 2023, and after a systematic and rigorous evaluation of these trees, the felling of five specimens of beautiful shade trees was proposed." Then, they recalled, "the Balearic Tree Association filed an injunction, which the court ultimately rejected, ruling that the explanations given by the City Council and the priority of public safety justified the action, and the felling of five trees considered to pose the highest risk proceeded. There's still more to come. "One of them, in August 2024, a year later, also gave way at the branches," they added.

Around fifty neighbors – equipped with pots, cheese graters, trumpets and wooden spoons, among other utensils – staged a pot-banging protest against the felling of the beautiful shadows The residents of Plaça Llorenç Villalonga, Palma, have expressed their suspicion that the city council cut down 18 beautiful shade trees due to the "risk of falling," as the council claims. Instead, they suggest there are "economic interests behind it," given the hotel located just a few meters from the square. Edita Navarro, president of the La Calatrava Residents' Association, pointed out that "the Health Department is creating problems for businesses trying to install shade structures under these trees because of the fruit they produce." This raises suspicions among residents who link the tree removal to the intention of building a terrace overlooking Plaça Llorenç Villalonga, "the last major square not dedicated to the terrace business," she emphasized.

Palma City Council will cut down 18 beautiful shade trees in Plaça de Llorenç Villalonga this Thursday, arguing that "these trees pose a risk of falling," and will replace them with 20 trees, the species of which have not yet been specified. However, residents and environmentalists do not believe the City Council's justification and believe that other alternatives can be explored that do not end the lives of trees that have become part of the landscape of the square, located just a few meters from a hotel. "The target area of the tree can be isolated to prevent anyone from being within the radius of a potential falling branch," suggests Mariano Reaño, president of Friends of the Earth. Local residents have organized a protest. human chain for this Thursday at 7 a.m. with the aim of stopping its logging.

The ANACA Association (New Agreement for the Alcudia Cable Car) has announced that it will file objections to the new land route of the PENBAL 2 project, published this Wednesday in the BOIB (Bolivian Official Gazette), and will offer advice to those affected so they can process their own.

Palma City Council is not considering "under any circumstances" reintroducing horse carriage licenses because this "would represent a very high cost" for the municipal institution, according to a statement today from the Councilor for Finance, Public Administration, and Government, Mercedes Celeste. The need for horse carriages to evolve toward another system is "voluntary," she emphasized. However, she assured that "if there is interest in doing so, the City Council will support it."

Maria (the fictitious name of a resident of Manacor Street in Palma who requests anonymity) says that every time she has to leave her car in the public parking lot below the Wifi park, her heart races because she often finds "people shooting up, blood on the walls, puncture wounds, and feces." She adds that this makes her feel "unsafe" in a place where she believes she shouldn't be. "It's not fair that I have to fear leaving my car in my parking lot," she emphasizes.

More than 300 people demonstrated outside the Parliament as part of a mobilization called by the Mallorca Government and the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Palma, among other groups, against the harm they believe results from the land acquisition law in Palma. The protest coincided with the extraordinary plenary session in which the law is to be approved. "Marga Prohens, speculator," "PP and Vox, government of developers," and "She's not a government, she's a developer" were some of the slogans shouted amid whistles and middle fingers in the air, a sign of disagreement with the regulations. Green T-shirts supporting the islands' native language were also worn at the demonstration.