Ben Amics claims from Cort more planning and a stable model to recover a "participatory and dignified" Pride in 2027

PalmaThe LGTBIQ+ entity Ben Amics has requested from the Palma City Council "dignified" administrative deadlines that allow for planning the 2027 Pride festival and all related activities months in advance. Likewise, it has asked the City Council to promote "clear, stable, and sufficiently resourced" municipal LGTBIQ+ policies.

These demands were conveyed during a meeting held with the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, in which the collective insisted that the situation experienced in 2026, marked by the cancellation of the Pride festival, "should not happen again."

In a statement, Ben Amics has described this year's municipal management as a "negative turning point" for a celebration that, as it recalls, has been built over more than two decades thanks to the collaboration between public administrations and the associative movement.

The entity considers that the model promoted this year has led to a loss of participation, the disappearance of a large part of the community programming, and widespread discontent among entities and citizens. In this regard, it assures that other popular celebrations have also been affected, such as the anniversary of Bar Flexas, the Sopars a la Llesca by Brunzit, and the Canamunt and Canavall battle of Orgull Llonguet.

According to Ben Amics, the citizen response during the Pride activities shows that the problem has gone beyond the cancellation of a single event. Therefore, it warns that Palma "cannot afford to face one of its main social celebrations again with improvisation, lack of coordination, and a lack of dialogue with those who have made it possible for decades."

The collective has recalled that it has organized Palma Pride for more than twenty years with governments of different political sensitivities, always based on "institutional collaboration" and prioritizing "the general interest of the city." "A situation like the one experienced this year has never occurred before," it emphasized.

For this reason, Ben Amics has demanded that the City Council abandon the current organizational model and begin working now on the 2027 Pride edition. Among its demands is also the recovery of the PalmaEduca workshops on affective-sexual, family, and gender diversity, as well as the cultural programming eliminated this year. Likewise, it calls for "real" involvement from the municipal departments of communication, logistics, and coordination to ensure professional organization.

The entity also pointed out that this year's Pride management has led to various control and oversight actions through the appropriate channels. In this regard, it has assured that it will respect the development of the open procedures while continuing to defend the interests of the LGTBIQ+ movement and Palma's right to recover a Pride that is "participatory, dignified, and up to its history". The meeting was attended by the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez; the president of Ben Amics, Tatiana Casado; the technical coordinator of the entity, Jan Gómez, and the deputy mayor of Equality and Citizen Participation, Lourdes Roca.

For its part, the Palma City Council has reported that during the meeting, different issues related to the work carried out by Ben Amics in defense of the rights of LGTBIQ+ people were discussed, as well as various initiatives for awareness, inclusion, and coexistence promoted in the city. Mayor Jaime Martínez reiterated Cort's commitment to "respect, equality, and non-discrimination" and valued the work that social entities are doing to move towards a city that is "more open, cohesive, and inclusive".