It is surprising that, after repealing the law of democratic memory and recognition, the Government of the Balearic Islands is now promoting the installation of what it has called 'walls of dignity', spaces that must contain the names of the victims of the bombings during the Civil War in the Balearic Islands.The idea, in itself, does not seem bad to us. Memòries de Menorca has long advocated for the placement of some sculpture that would commemorate the bombings and the victims. But any initiative of this type should be accompanied by an explanation that would allow the facts to be contextualized—we have the historical studies. Because remembering names without explaining why those people died runs the risk of turning memory into a simple list of victims detached from the causes and historical circumstances.In fact, the desire to remember the victims of the bombings is not new. In 1937, in Mahón, work began to install a monument “that reminds future generations of the criminal actions of the rebel aviation which, in its attacks on this population, has caused many victims and destroyed buildings’”. The monument, however, was never erected, among other reasons, because the economic situation kept worsening.Once the war in Menorca ended on February 9, 1939, the memory of the bombings was profoundly altered. There was no desire to speak of the civilian victims, as the attacks had been carried out by the Italian aviation operating from Mallorca in the service of the rebels. On the other hand, homage was indeed paid to the Italian airmen who died after crashing on the island, who rest today under a small monument located near the obelisk in the old section of the Ciutadella cemetery. Memory, even then, selected what should be remembered and what was convenient to forget.In the report Aerial bombings originating from the Balearic Islands and bombings caused in the Balearic Islands. Fourth Grave Plan 2023-2024. Government of the Balearic Islands’ that my colleague Carlos de Salort and I prepared—and which is now in open access—we were able to incorporate unpublished documentation that came from the work we have carried out over the last seven years in military and municipal archives. This has allowed us to systematize, especially, the aerial operations carried out from Mallorca and those that had Menorca as their target.It is not necessary to reproduce all the data from the report here, but some figures allow us to understand the magnitude of the phenomenon. The systematization of the flight reports and logs preserved in the various military archives allowed us to document a total of 1,416 attacks—bombings or strafings—carried out from Mallorca, with an especially high intensity during 1938. We have located nearly 70 attacked sites. Barcelona, with 158 attacks, and Valencia, with 154, are among the most punished cities.It is impossible to establish completely definitive figures regarding the victims and the destruction, but we are talking about thousands of deaths. In Barcelona alone, estimates are between 2,500 and 3,000 fatalities; in Valencia they exceeded 800. And, of course, a very significant part of these deaths was caused by planes that had departed from Mallorca.It is here that the Government's own initiative raises another question. If we really want to remember the victims of the bombings and prevent their memory from remaining solely in archives and historical studies, why limit the focus to the people who died within the Islands? Why has there not also been thought given to a memorial in Mallorca that remembers the thousands of people who died under the bombs of the planes that left precisely from the island? If we want to explain the history of the bombings in the Balearic Islands, this reality is also a part of it.The chronology, moreover, is important. A good part of the republican operations on Mallorca were concentrated in the context of the Bayo expedition and the battle of Mallorca, during the first months of war, in the attempt by the republican authorities to recover an island that had remained in the hands of the rebel military. That is to say, in acts of war against a coup d'état.In Menorca, practically the opposite happened: as the conflict progressed, attacks and air operations intensified. Our research has even allowed us to document another fatal victim of the Ciutadella bombing who does not appear in the figures of 29 deaths that have been made public these days. It is curious that the same Government that disseminates this figure possesses the report where this victim is documented.But the bombings were much more than thirty deaths. In Menorca, they also meant the damage or destruction of almost 300 buildings and, above all, they left a very deep mark on several generations.Over these last few years we have interviewed people who were children when they lived through the war and we have recovered numerous testimonies collected previously. A considerable part of the stories and anecdotes they have told us are related to the bombings. They acted, in this sense, as authentic memory capsules.But what fixed these memories was not only the destruction, but above all the fear: the sound of the alarms, the rushing towards the basements and shelters, the uncertainty about where the bombs would fall. Aviation allowed the war to be moved onto a civilian population that until then had been able to feel the front as a relatively distant reality. The bombings thus became an instrument of psychological warfare on the rearguard. The sirens of terror marked the daily life of Menorca, the bombs transformed the urban landscape and cut short some thirty lives.All of this was a constant from September 1936 until February 8, 1939, when Mahón was bombed a few hours before the surrender of the island. Reducing this historical experience to a list of deaths, without explaining who was bombing, from where, in what context, and with what objectives, seems to us a too poor way of approaching the past. Historical analysis allows for distinguishing between causes, contexts, and responsibilities.Recently, Professor David Ginard recalled some words from Josep Massot i Muntaner, who had precisely studied the bombings over Mallorca many years ago: “for me, the victims of a bombing are very respectable, whether they were on one side or the other, but I do not believe that any special honor should be paid to them, but rather to lament the results of a fratricidal war and do everything possible […] so that such a disaster is never repeated. I would not say the same of the people murdered in a ‘treta’, who deserve a special remembrance”.The distinction is important. If any person who dies during a war automatically becomes part of the same category of ‘victims’ devoid of context, where do we draw the line? Do we include those who died at the front? Those who died in accidents? And the victims of epidemics and famine? The problem is not remembering them. The problem is confusing remembrance and mourning with a public policy of memory that should necessarily explain the causes, responsibilities, and different types of violence.The danger of an abusive use of memory, as Tzvetan Todorov warned, is precisely ending up trivializing it. Because all deaths are terrible, we would do well not to simplify them or put them all in the same bag. It is in the differences, in the contexts and in the nuances where we find the explanations that allow us to truly understand the magnitude of the tragedy.That is why it is difficult not to see a contradiction in the policy of the Balearic government. A law of democratic memory is repealed and, at the same time, a memory of the victims of the bombings is promoted, presented practically without political conflict, without perpetrators and with almost no explanation regarding the causes of the war. It is a comfortable memory, because it can remain devoid of political and historical content.On the other hand, in Menorca, the same institutional interest has not been shown towards the Wall of Memory that will be installed in the Mahón cemetery. If it is a matter of dignity, there was a very clear opportunity: to dignify the space in the Mahón cemetery where more than a hundred executed republicans remain, for decades remembered only by a plaque that time has almost erased.Remembering the victims of the bombings is necessary. We ourselves have defended it. But remembering them well means also explaining what happened to them, why it happened to them, and in which war it happened to them. Without context, memory runs the risk of becoming a succession of names on a wall, detached from the historical processes that turned them into victims. Dignity should not consist only in remembering their names, but also in explaining their history.

The Minister of the Sea and the Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, has confirmed that preliminary proceedings have been opened and that they have requested information from the Sant Antoni City Council regarding the Egyptian-themed party with an artificial lake held at Sa Pedrera in mid-August.

The Inca City Council has initiated legal action against the agreements reached this Thursday by the Board of Trustees of the Teatre Principal d'Inca Foundation. In an extraordinary session, representatives of the Government of the Balearic Islands and the Council of Mallorca, together with the votes of the Popular Party of Inca, approved the new bases for the selection of the management-directorship of the Teatre Principal, despite having unfavorable reports from the legal services and the secretary of the Foundation itself.

The Balearic Islands Government has considered the aid of 25 million euros for the care of migrant children in Ceuta "insufficient" and has reiterated that the Islands "cannot" accept minors from a distribution. This was emphasized by the Minister of Families, Social Welfare and Care for Dependency, Sandra Fernández, in statements to the media after the Sectoral Conference on Children and Adolescents, to which she attended remotely. The meeting, which Aragon, Extremadura and Castile and Leon did not attend, had a single item on the agenda, the aid to Ceuta, which was approved unanimously by all the autonomies present.

The Government announced this Tuesday that it wants to install walls of dignity in the municipalities of the Archipelago where there were victims of bombings during the Civil War. Within this framework, it has sent official notices to the town councils of Artà, Inca, Santa Maria del Camí, ses Salines, Sóller, Maó, and Eivissa with the necessary information to begin working together on the installation of this commemorative element.

The presidency and the heads of the departments are only part of a Government. Below these top figures there is a second and third level of senior officials who are key players in the functioning of the Administration. These are secretaries and general directors, managers and advisors who are known by the Italianism sottogoverno. This legislature has seen a high turnover among these trusted positions. In three years, there have been 142 changes of position: 68.27% of senior officials have changed ownership or responsibilities. Sources from the Executive admit that volatility can have consequences for the stability of institutional functioning.

The Government presented its package of measures to contain tourist saturation on March 7, 2025. Among the announced initiatives were the increase of the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) during the high season and the creation of a tax on rental vehicles. A few months earlier, in the general policy debate, President Marga Prohens had also announced an increase in the water levy for large consumers. None of these initiatives have materialized. The limitation of vehicle entry to Mallorca, one of the bets of the President of the Council, Llorenç Galmés, is still pending parliamentary processing.

The Government has asked the promoters of the manual disseminated by the platform Menys Turisme, Més Vida this Friday to rectify to prevent any incident related to the sabotage actions proposed by the document against businesses linked to tourism. For now, it sees no reason to report this manifesto to justice, as no incident has been registered.

A total of 268 specimens of ferreret have been released at two points in the Serra de Tramuntana with the aim of reinforcing the conservation of the species in the Balearic Islands. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, one of the actions took place on a public farm, where a space with adequate conditions has been created to favor the reproduction and establishment of the species.

The organizations Sineu en Bici i a Peu, Vianants Mallorca, the Train Users Association (AUT), and Terraferida have evaluated the new law regulating vehicle influx approved by the Consell de Mallorca, but they consider that the norm, by itself, will not serve to decongest the island. In a joint statement, they demand that the Consell and the Government stop announcing studies and large future infrastructures and promote immediate improvements in public transport.

More than one reader has sent us comments about the image where the President of the Government and the OCB representative are seen talking amicably at the popular singing event of La Balanguera. The head of the Executive's communication council did not waste time posting on social media the image where Prohens even puts her hand on Antoni Llabrés's shoulder, when it should be remembered that the president has not stopped eroding the demands for Catalan and has even forced the OCB to go to court.

Public investment in culture is not only legitimate, it is necessary. No country or society with the slightest collective ambition can leave culture exclusively in the hands of the market. Institutional support for cultural projects serves to guarantee plurality, access, social cohesion and external projection. But precisely because public resources are limited and come from all citizens, investment must respond to criteria of proportionality, transparency and general interest. It is here that the case of Mallorca Live raises alarms.

The Government has once again lashed out at Aena over the advertising campaign located at Palma airport, which it considers to be encouraging excessive tourism. The Executive has taken the opportunity to advocate for the airport co-management law – pending approval in Congress – as a tool to have more decision-making capacity in situations like this.

Migrant organizations from the Balearic Islands have expressed this Saturday their "deep indignation" at the decision of the Government of Marga Prohens to appeal to the Supreme Court against the extraordinary regularization process approved by the Spanish government and to request its provisional suspension. Among the signing organizations are the Platform for Immigration in the Balearic Islands, the Federation of Immigrant Associations (FADI), the Association of Ecuadorians of Ibiza and Formentera, and the Association of Senegalese of the Balearic Islands.

A phone call announced on January 7, 2001, to Marta Balcells that her father had died. She was not told the cause. He was 55 years old and had heart problems. She inferred that he had suffered a sudden heart attack. She flew from Palma to Barcelona. Upon arriving at the family home, she noticed a very strange atmosphere. “People looked at me in a strange way. I thought it might be due to the shock of the death, but it didn't add up,” she recalls. A cousin pulled her aside and told her that her father had committed suicide. “I remember those days as something brutal, very shocking. The situation was chaotic because we couldn't see the body or organize the funeral, as we depended on forensic investigations. It was very painful to think about what he had done, but you also need to understand it.”

A call announced on January 7, 2001, to Marta Balcells that her father had died. They did not tell her the cause. He was 55 years old and had heart problems. She inferred that he had suffered a sudden heart attack. She flew from Palma to Barcelona. Upon arriving at the family home, she noticed a very strange atmosphere. “People looked at me in a strange way. I thought it might be due to the impact of the death, but it didn't add up,” she recalls. A cousin pulled her aside and told her that her father had committed suicide. “I remember those days as something brutal, very shocking. The situation was chaotic because we couldn't see the body or organize the funeral, as we depended on the forensic investigations. It was very painful to think about what he had done, but you also need to understand it.”

The water reserves of the Balearic Islands have stood at 50% during the month of April, which represents a decrease of four points compared to March, when they were at 54%. Despite this drop, the general situation of the Hydrographic Demarcation (0.514) remains at values higher than those recorded a year ago (0.475) and two years ago (0.455).

The Governing Council has approved this Friday the implementation of the 35-hour work week for civil servants of the autonomous community's Administration and a 1.5% salary increase.