The defense of Catalan, the denunciation of the criminalization of immigrants, the demand for decent wages and affordable housing, and the criticism of tourist excesses have turned the Bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, into an uncomfortable voice for Marga Prohens' Government. Sources close to the Executive acknowledge the unease over some of his interventions, which in some way portray the concessions of the PP to Vox, its parliamentary crutch, both for the hardening of the discourse on immigrants and for the setbacks in linguistic normalization. The latest episode has ended in an open confrontation: the Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzá, accused Taltavull of hypocrisy after the prelate recovered, in a report published in ARA Balears, a 1990 pastoral letter against the degradation of the territory and the excesses of the tourism model. It is the latest in a series of rebukes that the bishop has formulated without looking at the political color of those who govern. Taltavull has portrayed the 'sins' of the Executive.

Marga Prohens' government believes in a new God, different from the one that guides the bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull. The Minister of Tourism Jaume Bauzà cried out in protest following the interview that the prelate gave to this newspaper. It was on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the publication of the poignant pastoral letter entitled Ecology and tourism in our Islands. Guidelines for a Christian action. It was the first time in history that the three representatives of the Balearic dioceses signed a document together. Back then, Teodor Úbeda was the bishop of Mallorca; Manuel Ureña, of Ibiza-Formentera; and Antoni Deig served as diocesan administrator of Menorca. In 1990, all three allied themselves to cry out against the terrible consequences that more than three decades of tourism boom had on the territory and the island identity.

In 1990, the current bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, aged 78 and from Ciutadella, was vicar general of Menorca and a great activist in the environmental movement. "As a delegate for the diocese's youth," he asserts, "I helped organize many demonstrations in defense of the land. I also wrote articles of denunciation for the newspapers. It was clear to me that defending the territory was defending the people, their identity, and their language." At the end of 1973, Menorca led the green struggle in the Archipelago, demanding the protection of the Albufera del Grau, north of Maó, where a mega-urbanization with an exotic name, Shangri-La, had been planned. It was not until 1995, almost two decades later, that the site was declared a Natural Park.

The Bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, has called on citizens and politicians to put an end to the rhetoric against migrants and certain attitudes that, in his opinion, are unacceptable. He spoke this Wednesday at a press conference to address, in collaboration with various social organizations associated with the Church, the situation of the homeless on the island. At various points in his speech, Taltavull referred to the complex situation faced by migrants arriving in Mallorca.