Prohens does not bathe on police charges at the demonstration: "I do not know the circumstances of the action"

Marga Prohens has avoided commenting on the National Police charges against the protesters. The president assures that she cannot determine if it was a "disproportionate" action, because she "does not know the circumstances under which it occurred" and also does not know "the orders they had received".

The only thing Prohens has said, in response to questions from the media, is that the images are "shocking" and that she has already demanded explanations from Alfonso Rodríguez, delegate of the Spanish government in the Balearic Islands.

Regarding the protest, the president has remarked that she "respects" the right to demonstrate and that the Government is aware of the "discontent of citizens due to tourist saturation and the need to limit growth".

Prohens also took advantage of the appearance to criticize the PSOE and MÉS per Mallorca, whom she accuses of "taking advantage" of the demonstration. Specifically, she assured that "now they complain about a situation that they themselves have caused".

Cort points out the Government Delegation

The Councilor for Citizen Security of Palma, Llorenç Bauzá, has denied that the City Council put "obstacles" in the organization of the protest, as denounced by the platform Menys Turisme, Més Vida. Bauzá has pointed out that the authorization of the demonstration and its itinerary corresponds to the Spanish Government Delegation, to which he has urged to "give explanations". Bauzá has avoided commenting on the charges and has appealed for prudence.

"Unjustified and disproportionate"

For its part, the Menys Turisme, Més Vida platform denounced this Monday that the intervention of the National Police at the end of the demonstration against touristification held this Sunday in Palma was "totally unjustified and disproportionate" and has demanded the resignation of Alfonso Rodríguez. The organizing entity maintains that the police charges left more than a dozen injured after a mobilization that, according to its defense, developed "calmly" throughout the route.

The platform assures that the more than 70,000 people who participated in the protest marched through the streets of Palma from Plaça d'Espanya to Les Voltes without incidents being registered. For more than two hours, the demonstration proceeded without altercations, graffiti, or damage, despite crossing some of the busiest points in the historic center and coinciding with hundreds of tourists. The tension was concentrated solely at the accesses to Les Voltes, when the National Police prevented entry to the enclosure alleging security reasons and, subsequently, charged against some of the demonstrators. Several videos recorded by attendees show baton blows and allow for hearing several detonations during the police intervention.

The platform assures that the enclosure was not even at 50%

In the statement released this Monday, Menys Turisme, Més Vida states that the deployment of riot control units was "unprecedented and totally unnecessary". The organization denounces that the National Police prevented access to Les Voltes even though the venue "was not even at 50% of its capacity".

The platform explains that it had previously informed that, in case the space filled up, attendees would also occupy the access ramps, the upper part of the wall, and the area located below the Cathedral, but it denounces that the agents also blocked these spaces.

The entity reports that the first pushes and light charges occurred on the wall, when some demonstrators tried to access the Arches. Given the impossibility of entering, it adds, the organization and participants agreed to read the manifesto right there, in front of the police cordon. It was during this reading that a group of officers began to charge "without any reason" against the concentrated people. Later, when the demonstration was already considered over, the most forceful charges occurred, which extended from Antoni Maura avenue to the beginning of the Born promenade.

Injured, one detainee, and delays in health assistance

Less Tourism, More Life states that the charges ended with one detainee and more than a dozen people injured, some with head blows that required medical attention. Among those affected, there is a journalist.

The platform denounces that the charges were initiated "without prior notice" and that the health services were not prepared to intervene. As they explain, the members of the organization themselves had to initially attend to some of the injured and assure that certain people with open wounds waited more than 45 minutes to receive medical assistance. They also maintain that the National Police prevented access for an ambulance to the incident area for a time.

Furthermore, the entity states that one of the protesters was assaulted by the owner of a business during the mobilization, an act that it considers a sign of the "criminalization" of protests against touristification.

They demand the resignation of the government delegate and criticize Cort

Following the incidents, the platform demands the immediate resignation of the Spanish government delegate in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, whom it holds responsible for the police operation deployed during the demonstration.

It also directs criticism at the Palma City Council. According to their explanation, two days before the mobilization, the National Police informed them that they would only allow access for 2,000 people to Les Voltes, despite the fact that the final event was initially authorized in this space.

The entity assures that it tried to negotiate a change of location with the Council, but that no alternative was offered, which is why they maintained the planned route. Likewise, it criticizes that Cort did not enable the electrical connection point they had requested for the sound equipment, which, according to their explanation, forced them to use their own generator.

The platform considers that these impediments are part of an attitude that, as it denounces, has also occurred in other recent calls linked to the movement against touristification.

Alfonso Rodríguez requests a report on the action

The delegate of the Spanish government in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, published a post on social networks where he condemned the police action and assured that he would request "an exhaustive report of the actions and the necessary explanations. Rodríguez assured that he was following the events with "concern" and that "there were unacceptable images" of the police action.

In the message published on X, the delegate stated that agents who had acted incorrectly and violently would have to "assume responsibilities". The government delegate also wished for the "quick recovery of the injured protesters".

MÉS demands resignation and PSIB calls for an investigation

Before the dissemination of this statement, MÉS per Mallorca had already requested explanations for the police intervention and had demanded the resignation of Alfonso Rodríguez, considering that the charges were disproportionate within the framework of a mobilization that had developed peacefully until the end. The party also asked for clarification on who ordered the blocking of access to Les Voltes and the subsequent police charges.

The PSIB has also called for a "transparent and swift" investigation to clarify who ordered the charges. The Socialist Party's Secretary for Coordination and Political Relations, Mercedes Garrido, stated that the Police "cannot be a repressive force that breaks up a demonstration" and described the action as "totally disproportionate".

Garrido has asked for responsibilities to be clarified if it is confirmed that the intervention was unjustified, but she has not expressly joined the call for the resignation of the Spanish government's delegate.