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    <title><![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - gentrification]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/etiquetes/gentrification/]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - gentrification]]></description>
    <language><![CDATA[es]]></language>
    <ttl>10</ttl>
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      <title><![CDATA[(At last?) September]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/opinion/at-last-september_129_5840811.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p>September sounds like relief. Even if it is a bit forced. In a way, it is as if after the overflow that summer represents in Mallorca, the water returns to the tide when September arrives. I know, however, that this is a very subjective feeling: for teachers, a tense school year begins, hospitality workers do not yet see any sign of relief on the horizon, those looking for a house to live in have no hope that as the season ends, opportunities to rent an apartment or a house will appear, rather they know that prices will continue to rise and possibilities, to decrease. Perhaps the only thing that will go down a little is the temperature, but even that is not entirely certain right now. Living on this island –especially in summer, but not only then– increasingly resembles a matter of resistance rather than existence, and everyone adapts to it as best they can. Some, those who are able, leave to seek cooler geographies with fewer people per square meter; others (those who have them) self-isolate in their homes, clinging to air conditioning. Others, among whom I count myself, enter a sort of period that we could call summer lethargy, much like little animals (which is what we are) in the process of adaptation. That is to say, we enter, as the definition of lethargy states, a “period of inactivity or reduction of vital functions to adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions, such as extreme temperature.” Everyone adapts and resists as best they can this <em>fake </em>paradise that is at the same time a hell for too many people. Those who are now, precisely, working the most, and in the harshest conditions, either have no home or shelter, no time or possibility to doze off, or arrive on a small boat with a hope that fades along the way. The world is, in general, increasingly harsh, and Mallorca, despite the postcard images, is not alien –although it is privileged– to the true foundations of the violent architecture that builds these worlds, also of false paradises, that some of us (still) have the luck to inhabit. This Friday the 4th, the documentary <em>Enduring Paradise</em>, by Marga Melià, premieres at the CineCiutat cinemas. The documentary recovers conversations between Marga Melià and Majorcan artists and places them in dialogue with the current state of touristification and gentrification on the island. We sell a paradise, whether it be from a postcard or a real estate catalog, it makes no difference. We have specialized in this. So much so, that even our anti-tourism demonstrations—and if it hadn't been for the Police's eagerness this year to inject a dose of raw reality through beatings, as a display of the true repressive response they would like to apply to all those who dare to disturb the image of paradise—become more of a flashy catalog of creative expressions of islander fed-upness for the photos (who knows if they will end up turned into postcards?!), than truly incisive mobilizations that would shake the political responsibilities regarding the disastrous ecological and social consequences of this model.For some time now, the collateral effects of the absolute touristification of our economy and our reality have been politically accepted, and with them, the summer demonstrations and actions. Although it is true that there are increasingly more critical voices and collective articulation in the face of these consequences to which they try to make us adaptable, those who govern have long since turned tourism, not into a means, but into an end in itself. We could say that, also politically, it is becoming increasingly evident that what determines decision-making and economic policies is not that we 'live off tourism', but that it is shamelessly accepted that tourism lives off the territory and the society that sustains it, and that it must be sacrificed (and some tantrums in the form of demonstrations endured) so that it continues to be the 'tractor' of the economy. Not of the society that votes for them and whom they are supposed to represent, but of the public limited and commercial companies, investor 'families', and 'vulture' funds. All of them concepts usurped to disguise the true actors of this movie. Furthermore, they also count on the fact that when September arrives, there arrives (at least in our collective imagination) the beginning of what was previously known as the low season, and with it, the spirits of protest and vindication also lower, and they will have guaranteed, for some, a good profit, one more season.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Margalida Ramis]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/opinion/at-last-september_129_5840811.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 05 Sep 2026 06:31:11 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA["Our children have had Biniaraix stolen from them": the village that the residents no longer recognize]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/misc/our-children-have-had-biniaraix-stolen-from-them-the-village-that-the-residents-no-longer-recognize_1_5839733.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/6ba8770f-1ea4-4a34-82b6-4be11b770028_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>The same doorway, two photographs separated by more than a century and the same square that today is hard to recognize for those who grew up there. The comparison was made on social media by a resident of Biniaraix, following the controversy caused by <a href="https://en.arabalears.cat/society/controversy-in-biniaraix-over-the-celebration-of-private-party-that-occupied-the-square-during-the-festivities_1_5826238.html" target="_blank">a private party at the Bar-Bodega</a> which ended up occupying a large part of the square during the village festivities.The old image shows the building at the beginning of the 20th century. As the author of the publication explains, it was sent to him by Joan Marroig <em>Piu</em> and it corresponds to the mother of his great-grandfather from Can Piu, who managed the grocery store that was in that same premises before the Bar-Bodega was installed there. Next to the historical photograph, there are others of the bar and the square in ancient times, and two current images.The assembly has served to bring to the table a feeling that is repeated in many of the comments: that the conflict this summer is not just a matter of a party, but the symptom of a deeper transformation of what had been for decades one of the meeting places of Biniaraix."I was born and raised in Biniaraix. I have stepped into this bar thousands of times, since back when it was run by Madò Antònia and her son, Pedro Antonio," explains another neighbor in a post that has also gone viral. She remembers the ice creams she used to buy there during summer afternoons, the games in the four corners of the square, and the parties. "She feels Biniaraix is like our home," she states. And she adds that what saddens her most is "seeing what is happening," because she believes it is no longer just a question of having a menu in Catalan or not, but of feeling that "the people from here no longer count."</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[ARA Balears]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/misc/our-children-have-had-biniaraix-stolen-from-them-the-village-that-the-residents-no-longer-recognize_1_5839733.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:26:15 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/6ba8770f-1ea4-4a34-82b6-4be11b770028_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Biniaraix Bar-winery.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/6ba8770f-1ea4-4a34-82b6-4be11b770028_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[The controversy over the private party at the Bar-Bodega revives the unrest of the neighbors, who denounce the loss of meeting spaces, gentrification, and the contempt for the Mallorcan language]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[It's easier to get to Palma from Germany than from the Part Forana (the rest of Spain).]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/it-s-easier-to-get-to-palma-from-germany-than-from-the-part-forana-the-rest-of-spain_1_5664154.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a4d4c5c3-84fb-4651-99e9-6c83c7b76691_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>The bus makes a sweeping turn of almost 180 degrees, and, as if showing it to me, offers a panoramic view of a vast open area filled with piles of earth, scrap metal, and machinery. This entire scene unexpectedly bursts into my gaze, lost in thought as I stare out the window. <a href="https://en.arabalears.cat/business/aena-denies-expanding-son-sant-joan-but-adds-meters-and-walkways_130_5635418.html" target="_blank">Is this the airport construction?</a>I ask myself, elusive. I wish I hadn't asked myself this question. I don't want to know the answer. A pang of anguish shoots into the pit of my stomach. I try to look away, but the vehicle keeps circling, between merges and roundabouts, and there's no horizon to take refuge in. Everywhere I look, I see only powerlessness, unease, a legacy: a terminal that—if you'll excuse me—never ends; commercial planes, private planes, planes every minute; an army of neatly lined taxis; <em>trolleys</em>North Face suitcases, very tall people.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alba Tarragó]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/it-s-easier-to-get-to-palma-from-germany-than-from-the-part-forana-the-rest-of-spain_1_5664154.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:40:11 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a4d4c5c3-84fb-4651-99e9-6c83c7b76691_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[The airport makes me feel as subjugated as the characters in The Terminal.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a4d4c5c3-84fb-4651-99e9-6c83c7b76691_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[At Palma Airport, I see only helplessness, unease, a legacy. Everything seems to be suspended in a moment before transformation, that fleeting fraction of time so fleeting and sudden that you never see it coming. "Please, let this not take any more people," I whisper internally.]]></subtitle>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Palma neighborhood fighting against tourist rentals]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/the-palma-neighborhood-fighting-against-tourist-rentals_130_5594392.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c3a79de1-9482-4a07-8d02-d2ca98351ed3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>A lemon tree stands guard in the courtyard of Jaume Gelabert's family home. After his parents died, he bought half of it from his brother and renovated it to return to where he was happy, in the Palma neighborhood of Son Espanyolet. Sitting in front of the tree, he recalls how, during his childhood, neighbors would come to pick lemons, the doors were always open, and "everything was shared." Today, something of that neighborhood life survives in a tall staircase that, through the walls, the owners pass around when they need it. "Why buy more if we have one? Why should everyone have everything?" he argues, advocating for a way of life based on human connection. However, the neighborhood's tranquility was shattered when, starting in 2018, Norwegian businessman Erik Oren bought a dozen houses in the area to transform them into tourist rentals with a capacity for more than 150 people. At that point, two models clashed: that of a community that understands housing as a space for living and belonging; and that of tourism-real estate investment, which sees it as an asset to maximize its profits.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Marcos Torío]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/the-palma-neighborhood-fighting-against-tourist-rentals_130_5594392.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:27:42 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c3a79de1-9482-4a07-8d02-d2ca98351ed3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[One of the residential houses in the Son Espanyolet neighborhood.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c3a79de1-9482-4a07-8d02-d2ca98351ed3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[The residents of Son Espanyolet have managed to halt, through complaints, the expansion of a Norwegian businessman's enterprise and the gentrification of the area.]]></subtitle>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Art and gentrification]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/opinion/art-and-gentrification_129_5495476.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p>The social transformation that Mallorca has undergone in recent years, marked by mass tourism and foreign home purchases, has also reached the art world. Palma, which for decades was a hub of creativity, is seeing its art world blurring amidst strong economic and social pressure.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Cristina Ros]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/opinion/art-and-gentrification_129_5495476.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:09:55 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Puig de Sant Pere: from tragedy to gentrification]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/puig-sant-pere-from-tragedy-to-gentrification_130_5441786.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c73e4434-bb80-4118-a5d7-92df080ff759_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>Half a century ago, humble people lived on Puig de Sant Pere in Palma. The Baluarte and the Can Sales library, but it has entered—like so many places in the archipelago—into a process of gentrification, that is, the purchase of homes by well-off European citizens.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Francesc M. Rotger]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.arabalears.cat/society/puig-sant-pere-from-tragedy-to-gentrification_130_5441786.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 12 Jul 2025 18:50:00 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c73e4434-bb80-4118-a5d7-92df080ff759_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Current appearance of the old Baluarte de Sant Pere.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c73e4434-bb80-4118-a5d7-92df080ff759_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[It's been 50 years since two buildings collapsed, killing two people, which led to a pioneering renovation of this Palma neighborhood.]]></subtitle>
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