<![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - It's Trenc]]> 10 <![CDATA[MÉS for Campos and Forward Campos accuse the mayor of deteriorating the democratic quality of the City Council]]>

MÉS per Campos and Endavant Campos have attacked the institutional management of the mayor of Campos, Francisca Porquer, after the municipal plenary session in which a joint motion was debated in defense of the Trenc Natural Park and the rest of the protected natural spaces of the Balearic Islands. The two formations assure that the City Council is experiencing a "deterioration of democratic quality" and denounce a growing lack of institutional respect.

]]> <![CDATA[Tomeu Penya: "I am very sad. I would never have imagined that the future of Mallorca would be like it is now"]]>

Tomeu Penya, 77, speaks candidly to ARA Balears: “I want my current state of mind to be very clear. I am very sad. As a young man, I would never have imagined that Mallorca's future would be like it is now, an island full of cement and tourists, with saturated roads and residents who cannot afford housing. For this summer's concerts, I'm considering singing ‘Trenc’ again, which I dedicated four decades ago to the emblematic beach of Campos that now, unfortunately, is once again under threat”. ‘Trenc’ was the debut of the country singer from Vilafranca as an environmental activist at 35 years old. It is one of the most outstanding songs from his third album Coverbos (1984).

]]> <![CDATA[The GOB warns the Government after the meeting: "If it continues to reduce environmental regulations, it will find us in front of it"]]>

The Government has tried this Monday to lower the tension surrounding El Trenc after last week's massive human chain. The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, has met with the GOB and assured the environmental organization that "not a single square meter" of the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Natural Park will be unprotected.

]]> <![CDATA[El Trenc is not touched... by a 'like']]> Last Sunday, July 5, we lived another historic day. El Trenc must not be touched. Not before, not now, not ever. On the way there, past Son Catlar, a devastating string of chalets follows every two quarters, all cut from the same pattern. Already in La Ràpita, the terraced houses link up so cyclically that they seem infinite. Cranes are in operation. And in between, plots of land in a chapel waiting patiently for the arrival of developers while they see their immediate surroundings destroyed. But it seems even that is not enough.10,000 people joined hands on the beach of La Ràpita. And of course, when so many people gather, it's normal for many things to happen. The most striking, without a doubt, was the presence of Francisca Porquer, the mayor of Campos, who wanted to be physically present at the gathering. She could have chosen to blend in with the crowd, or to stand in the front row and listen carefully to the reading. But it seems the mayor is naturally meddlesome and wanted to place herself right next to Sebastià Alzamora and Tonina Siquier during the reading of the manifesto. We already knew that in Campos they are close-knit, but not that they had such an eager mayor. Like.The machine gun nests painted with verses that have served as a backdrop for thousands of ‘selfies’ in recent years, now appeared with graffiti in favor of the defense of this natural space as valuable as it is emblematic. It is already known that the PP and Vox are parties very sensitive to historical memory and their followers have raised hell over these acts which they have described as vandalism. In fact, our public television only found it pertinent to publish a short video with the graffiti, without mentioning that exactly 10,000 Majorcans had passed by there to form a human chain for nothing. Like.And even more things happened, such as the presence of Madò Farta, this Mallorcan peasant woman, with a skirt, bodice and overskirt and a plastic skull face that looks like it was bought at a Chinese bazaar, who walks in front of the Cathedral, sings La Balanguera and cleans the dirt from the Mallorcan beaches. The protesting bathers recognized her and petted her. Many knew her from the Instagram network, where with more than 5,000 followers she has become visible and viral. Like.But neither the Obregonian performance of Mayor Porquer, nor the graffiti on the bunkers that served as a finger to avoid looking at the moon, nor the originally rebellious Mallorca of Madò Farta managed to alleviate the most important absence of the day. We did not expect President Prohens, so sure of wanting to protect Trenc. Nor Councillor Simonet, who warned us with a funny cap from the water that the left is a manipulative and malevolent entity.The youth was missing. There were plenty of historic, endearing, gray-haired, hat-wearing, pot-bellied, and wrinkled people. More or less everyone greeted each other. It is a singular community, this one of counter-current Mallorca that feels so comfortable when it comes to firmly opposing the policies of the Mallorcan right. Gabriel Cañellas, Jaume Matas, José Ramón Bauzá, and now Marga Prohens, are people before whom it has always been good to stand up.But where were the young people? Not the forty-somethings (each time there are people who feel young at 40), nor the thirty-somethings. Where were the 20-year-olds who are supposed to change tomorrow's world? Where were the university and high school kids who are starting to walk within the world of militancy and revolution? It would be very easy for the writer to fall into the framework of customs and caricature. We could say ‘selfie’, ‘swimming pool’, ‘sailboat’, ‘bikini’, ‘Much’ and ‘wow’. We could also say ‘mediterraneously’, to encompass it all. Or ‘the island’, to deconstruct ourselves definitively. But we won't say it.The physiognomy of Mallorca has changed from green to blue. And so have the interests and idiosyncrasies of Majorcans. Beyond that, however, there is a tangible generational bias. 65% of young people in Mallorca are "little" or "not at all" interested in institutional politics. Only 10% of young islanders have participated in demonstrations and protest events in the last year. It is perceived that continuous militancy (periodic assemblies, maintenance of structures, organization of actions and events of various kinds, payment of fees...) is not used today. On the other hand, this protest is raised on social networks, either by publishing directly, or by republishing or liking. And if they have to participate in anything outside of virtuality, they do so punctually and always from outside any organizational structure.The delay we all have is whether this new form of militancy will be enough to confront the policies of the right in the country and the world, to position ourselves forcefully against actions that we may consider excessive, unjust, racist, destructive of the territory, anti-Mallorcan, and xenophobic. Or if we are facing another tool of the system to keep us fooled in front of screens and far from the reality that crushes us every day.

]]> <![CDATA[The polo field, one of the businesses that are battling to reduce the limits of El Trenc]]>

The battle for the future of the Trenc Natural Park and its surroundings has concrete names. Individuals and companies that for years have been trying to prevent the consolidation a protection strip around this protected area, as consecrated by the Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) in 2023. One is the Sa Barralina polo field, promoted by the company Es Figueral Gran, which filed one of the four legal challenges against the 2023 Trenc management plan. Like other landowners, they did not want the park's area, already delimited in 2017 with the law that declared it, to be expanded, even if it was simply as an influence area. Because they believed they would lose opportunities to carry out activities, such as parking lots and, in some cases, restaurants. This is the heart of the conflict that currently surrounds the natural park, after the Government has reserved the possibility of modifying it directly.

]]> <![CDATA[Denounce the accumulation of stranded zodiacs on the sand on the Trenc beach]]>

Several users of Trenc beach have reported through an Instagram account the accumulation of several inflatable boats stranded on the sand at the frontline of the sea, a practice that, they assure, has been repeated in recent weeks and which generates concern for both the safety of bathers and the occupation of public space.

]]> <![CDATA[The controversies of the mayoress of Trenc who declared Damm 'persona non grata']]>

The the mayor of Campos, Francisca Porquer (PP), has caused the week's controversy after bursting in on the reading of the manifesto Sunday environmentalist at Es Trenc (Mallorca). Behavior that even President Marga Prohens criticized him. But it is not the first time that Porquer has been at the center of the storm. These are some of the media moments that the mayor has starred in.

]]> <![CDATA[The mayoress who burst into the environmental protest at Trenc: "She was at an event for sclerosis and was already wearing a bikini"]]>

The massive human chain that formed on Sunday on Trenc beach (Mallorca) to demand the conservation of one of the most emblematic natural spaces of the Islands had an unexpected protagonist. The mayoress of the municipality of Campos, Francisca Porquer (PP), burst into the reading of the manifesto and tried to make critical statements about the protest. A behavior that has even been regretted by President Marga Prohens. "I was at an event for multiple sclerosis and I was already wearing a bikini; if not, I wouldn't have gone", she justifies in statements to ARA Balears, in which she rejects accusations of boycotting. "My intention was not to provoke, but to listen", she assures.

]]> <![CDATA[Prohens criticizes Porquer's intrusion into Trenc: "My style is respect"]]>

The president of the Government, Marga Prohens, criticized this Monday the intervention of the mayor of Campos, Francisca Porquer (PP), at the Trenc demonstration on Sunday. The mayor positioned herself next to the writer Sebastià Alzamora and the spokesperson for the GOB, Tonina Siquier, while they were reading the manifesto, and made gestures towards the people who were concentrated. In an attention to the media, the president distanced herself from this attitude: "My style is respect." Asked about whether Porquer intended to provoke the demonstrators, she said: "I have been clear".

]]> <![CDATA[The mayoress of Campos interrupts the reading of the manifesto in defense of Trenc]]>

The mayoress of Campos, Francisca Porquer (PP), burst in this Sunday in the middle of the reading of the manifesto of the human chain in defence of Trenc and starred in the only moment of tension of a mobilization that took place in a calm atmosphere. Porquer placed herself next to the writer and columnist of ARA Balears Sebastià Alzamora, who was reading the manifesto, and the spokesperson for the GOB, Tonina Siquier.

]]> <![CDATA[The Trenc, the image of a society on guard]]>

Citizen mobilization in defense of Trenc is more than a protest for an emblematic natural space. It is the image of a society that is on guard. The slogan that is resonating again these days, ‘Neither before, nor now, nor ever. Trenc must not be touched’, is also a preventive warning against any indication that could put at risk a collective heritage that the people of Mallorca have had to defend time and again over the last few decades.

]]> <![CDATA[Demonstrations, actions, mobilizations]]> The great human chain on July 5th means (or will have meant, depending on when you read these lines) a couple of things. It is the renewal —generational, also, and this is important— of the commitment of the Mallorcan citizenry to the defense of one of its most emblematic natural spaces, the Trenc and Salobrar de Campos Natural Park. This also means a citizen positioning against caciquism, an old scourge of Mallorcan society that has unfortunately also been passed down from generation to generation and which today is personified by rulers such as councilor Joan Simonet, president Marga Prohens, councilor Antoni Costa, and Peixet (forgive me: parliamentary spokesperson Sebastià Sagreras). People who truly continue to think that winning an election and governing is equivalent to having a kind of blank check to use public institutions in favor of the interests of very specific groups or, even, of specific people or families. To command for our own, as it has always been said.The great human chain on Sunday the 5th also has a continuation as significant or more so next Sunday the 26th, with the great demonstration in Palma against the tourist overcrowding in the Balearic Islands convened by the platform Menys Turisme, Més Vida. The reason for the protest is evident and known, and it becomes more evident and more known with each summer, with each season: the tourism model of the Balearic Islands, based on mass tourism, is unsustainable and significantly undermines the quality of life of the citizens and their options to live in equal conditions in their own homes. From all points of view: economic and residential, but also in terms of coexistence, culture, and language. And, of course, landscape, ecology, and the environment. In summary: if we don't take it seriously, soon there will be no Balearic Islands left to defend, because they will have already passed through our eyes. Particularly Ibiza and Mallorca, which have become the new major target. It is the last great round, the definitive moment for Mallorca, the moment when it is decided whether it should be the Mallorca of the Mallorcans or that of the speculators. Immigrants are not a threat, as the right and the far-right want to assume. The great threat are the speculators, some of whom are very close to the Government, the People's Party, and Vox.The amendments to the Omnibus Law, in force since last June 11, and the deregulatory provisions of the agrarian law, turn a large part of the territory of Mallorca into buildable land. This includes (it's worth repeating) emblematic spaces such as El Trenc, Cabrera, La Calobra or the Serra de Tramuntana, until now untouchable, not only technically, but also within the imagination of most Majorcans. Now they are left at the mercy and whim of the Governing Council of President Prohens, subjugated, in turn, to the demands of Vox.Therefore, we must understand that we cannot count on our rulers: quite the opposite, we have them against us. For this reason, the demonstrations this July are so important, and it is even more so to make citizen mobilization permanent, a real pressure that these rulers cannot disdain or underestimate. Whoever loves Mallorca does not destroy it, and whoever governs against the general interest of Majorcans, Minorcans, Ibizans and Formenterans pays for it at the polls and in the streets full of citizens protesting democratically, civilly, but also so energetically that it is impossible not to listen to them.

]]> <![CDATA[El Trenc is played over up to 74,000 square meters of the protected area]]>

Up to 74,000 square meters of the protected area of the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Maritime-Terrestrial Natural Park, specifically the entire area around Les Covetes (see attached map), are in the spotlight and run the risk of becoming unprotected. This is a protection strip that the Pact established in 2023, five years after approving the Natural Park. The owners went to court, which has not yet resolved the case, and have pressured the Government to undo the measure. Some sources consulted by ARA Balears confirm that this area is the main reason why Marga Prohens' Executive has decided to simplify the path to retouch the Natural Park, without having to go through Parliament.

]]> <![CDATA[And all the beaches]]>

I grew up with the beach in front of me. Before I knew almost anything about the world, I already knew how to hold a crab net from my grandfather, how the wet sand clung to my feet (also the varnish) and how the castles we built with my mother and my brother, with a bucket or just with our hands, had minutes counted before the sea took them away. Later came the long summers of adolescence: hours and hours with friends sitting on the sand doing nothing more than chatting, laughing and jumping again from that rock we saw from our house. Mornings, afternoons and evenings. The beach was our natural place. We didn't go there, we lived there.

]]> <![CDATA[Everything you need to know for the human chain of Trenc this Sunday]]>

The GOB has modified the organization of the human chain called for this Sunday, July 5, in defense of Trenc, after reaching an agreement with the organization of the solidarity day Mulla't per l'Esclerosi Mòltiple, which also takes place at the Club Nàutic de la Ràpita.

]]> <![CDATA[Not before, not now, not ever: the Trenc is NOT touched]]>

There are places that are more than a natural space, they are symbols, because their conservation represents a way of understanding the country and the landscape. El Trenc is one of these places. For decades, society has mobilized to defend this space against urban, speculative and economic threats.Today, this defense is once again necessary. The modifications introduced with the Omnibus Law are not simple technical adjustments. They do not imply an immediate reduction in the protection of Trenc or the rest of the natural parks of the Islands. The problem is not today, but what these reforms make possible tomorrow. Until now, the main guarantees of the park were included in Law 2/2017. Any substantial modification required political debate, transparency, and a parliamentary majority. With the reform promoted by the PP, modifications are simpler.The protection of natural spaces does not depend on a single norm. It is the result of a legal architecture built over decades, made up of laws, territorial guidelines, management plans, and public participation mechanisms. Wanting to modify this framework reveals a strategy aimed at weakening the guarantees that sustain protected natural spaces.First, limitations previously enshrined in law are eliminated or relaxed. In the case of Trenc, certain protections will no longer depend on Parliament and can be modified by decree of the Governing Council. The change is profound. What previously required parliamentary debate and democratic control now disappears. Current regulations limit tourist, commercial, and recreational activities, set authorized uses, and establish essential prohibitions to preserve the natural values of this area. Now, with the reform, everything can be reviewed more easily.The central piece of this operation is the Land Use Plans for Natural Resources (PORN), which are the main barrier against the intensification of urban and tourism uses within protected areas. In the case of El Trenc, it prevents, among other things, the increase of tourist spots. If the legal limitations that define them are now lowered, future PORNs may be more permissive.But the strategy does not end here. The future agrarian law foresees the modification of the Territorial Planning Directives (DOT), one of the main guarantees for the protection of rural land in the Balearic Islands. Now, the aim is to reduce these limitations and facilitate complementary activities linked to the tourism and recreational business. This combination will weaken the legal guarantees of natural parks and lower the limitations imposed by the DOT. The result is a progressive reconfiguration of the environmental protection system built over the last decades.This decriminalization facilitates future modifications of tourist, recreational, and commercial uses within the park and opens the door to reviewing the qualification of a Natural Area of High Protection Level. The urbanistic projects that for decades had put Es Trenc in the spotlight still exist and from now on will be possible.Therefore, it is surprising that we are accused of alarmism. The fundamental difference between the ecological view and the short-term political view is found here. President Marga Prohens and counselor Joan Simonet maintain that there is no intention to deprotect El Trenc, because today there is no formal proposal to modify its protection. It is an electoral view. On the other hand, natural spaces require a much longer-term view. Major territorial transformations are prepared over years through small regulatory modifications that eliminate limitations, reduce controls, and facilitate changes. We must be very clear that, like democracy, the protection of natural spaces is not an irreversible conquest, and that we must fight continuously, because those who would want to reverse the situation continue to pressure. And in the case of El Trenc, Prohens has the pressures very close.The same is repeated with the future Balearic Coastal Law which proposes a simplification of procedures and uses. Therefore, the defense of El Trenc goes far beyond a specific natural park. The Omnibus Law, the future agrarian law, the reform of the DOTs and the new Coastal Law are part of the same intention of deprotection of the territory. In isolation, they may seem like simple modifications, but, together, they outline a clear territorial model: fewer limitations, fewer guarantees, and more ease for private economic interests.The defense of Trenc is the defense of all protected natural spaces in Mallorca. Thousands of Mallorcans already understood this decades ago. Citizen mobilization was decisive then and will be again now. Because Trenc is not just a beach. It is memory. It is collective heritage. It is one of Mallorca's great environmental victories and, precisely because of this, it is still the subject of dispute.

]]> <![CDATA[Simonet swims in Trenc to deny the lack of protection and the networks respond: "No matter how much he dresses as an environmentalist, he doesn't fool us"]]>

The Trenc in the background, dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and a hat, more like a tourist than a resident, with his feet in the water. This has been the video made by the Minister of Agriculture of the Government, Joan Simonet, to defend himself against accusations of neglecting the Trenc Natural Park. The video begins with a phrase that is repeated over and over again: "Don't be fooled".

]]> <![CDATA[Destroy the Trenc (and all the rest)]]> That old saying that goes ‘the law is made, the loophole is made’ has acquired a new dimension with the Omnibus Law of the Government of Marga Prohens, which has been a loophole from the very beginning. At first, it was called the Law for the acceleration of strategic projects and was announced as a reduction of administrative obstacles for foreign investors, an idea that may seem reasonable if by “foreign investors” we mean minimally presentable companies, and not vulture funds and Central and South American mafias. The spectacle arrived with the presentation of amendments, with which the PP and Vox took the opportunity to stuff this law with the commitments that the PP had acquired with Vox, none of which had anything to do with the initial objective of the law and yes with the ideological obsessions of the extreme right. Thus, the new law ended up making room for things as strategic as the legalization of pigeon shooting at popular festivals, the reservation of places for military personnel in the Local Police, and the use of taser guns by municipal agents, among others. So far, we are talking about the kind of things that excite fans of Chuck Norris films. There are others that are more directly harmful to the common good and citizen coexistence, such as the toughening of conditions for minors under guardianship to receive an emancipation income, the relaxation of conservation controls for environmentally relevant spaces, and the elimination of the Catalan language requirement in various areas and cases of public education, among others.The following blunders have culminated in a huge mess: the deregulation of natural spaces, in general, and of the Trenc – Salobrar de Campos Natural Park, in particular. The amendments introduced to the Omnibus Law on this matter represent a blatant deregulation of the legal regime that has so far protected the Natural Park, and grants the Consell de Mallorca the power to modify it by simply approving a decree. Despite the PP wanting to deny it, and taking to social media accusing environmental organizations –Terraferida and GOB– of spreading lies and fakes, the reality is that this new legal framework grants ample room to fill Trenc with kiosks, constructions, parking lots, beach services (sunbeds, umbrellas, sailing and sports schools, jet skis, etc.) and all sorts of tourist uses. Beyond the Trenc Park, the Omnibus Law also deregulates other areas considered of environmental relevance such as the Cabrera National Park, the Dragonera Natural Park and the Serra de Tramuntana Natural Site.Ultimately, a final offensive to fill everything with cement and concrete, and also to fill some pockets with banknotes (few, and mostly foreign: the PP and Vox and their allied businessmen act as commission agents in this business). There is also, as we have said on occasion, a component of revenge: in the vicinity of Campos and Santanyí, within very specific families, the declaration of El Trenc as a natural park and the demolition order for the illegal apartments of Les Covetes, still sting. This is a story of the avarice and indignity of some who have thought themselves the elite of these islands, against the well-being of all society. It may be that many will agree with them out of ignorance, self-interest, or simple servile inertia. But there are also many of us who will not stand idly by to watch them destroy everything for the unhealthy hunger for money that they have not earned. Those of us who disagree will see each other several times this summer: the first, next Sunday, the 5th, at the human chain of El Trenc.

]]> <![CDATA[Call a human chain at Trenc to defend its protection against government changes]]>

Drums of war are sounding in Mallorca's environmental sector. Marga Prohens' government, after a string of environmental deregulation and deregulation measures, has now dared to tackle one of the great symbols of Balearic environmentalism: Es Trenc.

]]> <![CDATA[Surveillance cameras are installed to measure the occupancy of the Trenc parking lot.]]>

The Government has installed cameras to measure occupancy in the Trenc Natural Park parking lot. The Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Innovation has reported that the Balearic Agency for Digitalization, Cybersecurity, and Telecommunications, which reports to the Ministry, has completed the installation of cameras to measure occupancy in the Barralina (Les Covetes) parking lot, located in the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Natural Park. In addition, it added, work is underway to complete the installation of sensors in the na Tirapel parking lot, located in the same natural area.

]]>