I find remnants in my home of things that are half-finished. Small daily failures. The leggings and the running top that have been hanging in the bathroom for two weeks, optimistic. The vinegar and the rice paper wrappers I bought at the Japanese week at Lidl, convinced I would make Goi Cuon, fresh Vietnamese rolls. The three books started on the bedside table. The analog camera that I proposed to myself – once a month – to learn to use once and for all. A table, which was more than a table, it was an investment to do a lot of work on and earn a lot of money. Versions of myself that I can't decide on. I want to be all of them at once out of cowardice, because I don't believe enough in any of them.

Ever since enjoying routine became a privilege, they've made us hate it. "Back to routine": always negative, laden with regret. They've commercialized routine in favor of various gurus who promise to "say goodbye to it," as if solving a problem we didn't even know we had. Against routine, they've glorified the life of the digital nomad, the expat, working from the beach, weekend getaways. And, little by little, they've stripped it of its sacredness, its customary rituals, its everyday life, what happens to us all, the only things that unite us and make us equal: the coffee at the bar, the public transport card, the shopping cart. Routine is what makes us human, it's what makes us good people for a while. There's a touch of classism in the hatred of routine, in the resistance to being like a character from Tell me how it happenedThat is, a person who could be any one of us, interchangeable. There's a sense of superiority, of believing oneself less mortal than the rest, oblivious to the forces of nature.

The data shows that almost everyone in the Balearic Islands is employed. But the reality is more complex: thousands of people are unemployed for months or years, and many workers cannot sustain a life plan with current wages. The average number of people registered with Social Security was 585,000 in December, and sectors such as services and hospitality are demanding workers. But it is precisely these sectors that have the highest unemployment rates. Of the 29,305 people without work in the Islands, 22,323 are from the services sector and 3,181 from construction: they represent 87% of the total for December – data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

Of the nearly 4,000 lawyers registered in the Balearic Islands, approximately 700—17.5%—are on duty. These are the lawyers who guide, assist, advise, and defend those eligible for free legal aid at any time of day, a right reserved for individuals who meet certain income thresholds and belong to vulnerable groups. All of these lawyers combine their duty counsel with private practice. The 87 to 150 euros they receive for a 24-hour shift in jurisdictions such as gender violence or criminal cases do not allow for full-time dedication. "We are driven by a vocation of service to the public, because it is very poorly paid," confirms Carmen López, Vice Dean of the Balearic Islands Bar Association (ICAIB) and head of the duty counsel service. She herself, with 34 years of experience, practices in criminal and juvenile law. "For me, the experience is very enriching; each case is a challenge," she says about the possibility of defending minors, a branch of law almost exclusively handled by public defenders.

These weren't the best of times: it was the era of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. Even so, it was then that Llorenç Bisbal, a shoemaker who would later become mayor of Palma, insisted on uniting the various workers' associations of Mallorca under a common acronym: the General Union of Workers (UGT). That was in the now-defunct Casa del Pueblo (People's House) in Palma on October 4, 1925, one hundred years ago.

On October 15, the UGT and CCOO organized two-hour work stoppages in all workplaces with the aim of "demonstrating that the world of work does not look the other way and also singles out Israel as a genocidal state," explained José Luis García, Secretary General of the Workers' Commissions of the Balearic Islands. Both unions formally registered the call for action in the Islands (which will also be carried out in the rest of Spain) this Tuesday with the Ministry of the Presidency. All employees—both in public and private companies—will be able to show their support for Palestine from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (morning shifts), from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. if they work in the afternoon, and from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. if they work at night.

The Balearic Islands are the autonomous community with the highest proportion of workers who claim to have combined more than one job at some point in their careers, accounting for 84% of the total, according to a Randstad report published by the EFE news agency. In second place, and far behind the islands, are Murcia and Navarre, with 63%, while the national average is 58.3%. At the lower end are the Basque Country (52%) and Extremadura (47%).

Unemployment fell by 10,500 people in the third quarter in the Balearic Islands to 41,200, a 20.3% decrease compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The extraordinary Board of Directors of EMT Palma has approved the 2025 Public Employment Offer, which includes the incorporation of new personnel and the stabilization of structural positions, with 93 and 245 positions, respectively.