Animalists deliver 50,000 signatures against the Son Brau mega-farm

PalmaARDE and Satya Animal registered 50,000 signatures this Friday morning against the project for an 80,000-hen factory farm at the Son Brau estate in Manacor, promoted by Avícola Son Perot, which is linked to Avícola Ballester. The entities delivered them to the Government of the Balearic Islands to demand that the new facility not be authorized.

The signatures were collected over the last few weeks through the online platforms of both organizations, in a nationwide campaign against this new infrastructure that has generated neighborhood opposition. The spokesperson for Satya Animal, Kike Gimeno, said that they want to convey “popular opposition” to the project to the institutions and also urged the Minister of Agriculture, Joan Simonet, to decide “whether he stands in favor of the factory farm or in favor of the people”.

Gimeno describes the project as “disastrous for the animals, for the neighbors, and for the people” and justified the rejection due to the conditions that, according to the entities, have been documented in other farms managed by Avícola Ballester and Avícola Son Perot, as well as due to potential environmental impacts. He recalled that the Manacor City Council and other entities have issued unfavorable reports and also cited the ecological risks that, according to him, were detected in the factory farm project that was proposed in Sineu.

Regarding the status of the Son Brau initiative, Gimeno said that they do not know the exact point it is at, but that they are aware that the property owners have already purchased the land and that the administrative processing of the project to obtain the authorizations is underway. He demanded that the Department of Agriculture provide more detailed information and stated that he believes that, as of now, there is no plan to stop it.

The presentation of the signatures took place at 11:30 a.m. at Passeig de Sagrera, after both organizations released images this week of two farms managed by the same company in the municipality and filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office. According to ARDE and Satya Animal, the images provided in the complaints show the conditions of these farms and reinforce the need to examine the consequences of authorizing a new factory farm in Manacor.