Jaime Martínez, cornered by citizen protest

PalmThursday's plenary session of Palma City Council (Cort) was dominated by citizen protests. All of them pointed to the mayor, in one way or another, as one of the culprits for their problems. "Mayor, we must talk"; "Martínez, you con artist"; "Mayor, resign," were some of the slogans heard in front of the Palma City Hall, which was protected by the Local Police. According to sources at Cort speaking to ARA Baleares, the security officers, who were controlling who entered the building, had to wear earplugs to endure the noise of the whistles and sirens of the local police officers demanding a planning scheme, which continued from approximately 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The noise from outside was also noticeable inside the plenary hall. The governing team was aware of the public participation in the plenary session and limited attendance to 85 people, including the councilors; they even removed some of the benches that had been used in previous sessions. Before entering the plenary hall, there was a security guard at the door with a counter in his hand. This initiative by the municipal government has provoked complaints from the opposition. Podemos Palma has accused the Cort government of "prohibiting" access to social organizations and groups that intended to participate in the plenary session. According to a statement released by the party, the capacity restriction "is a conscious political decision whose objective is to silence the voice of organized citizens and limit the presence of groups critical of municipal policies."

The local police Those demanding the implementation of the urban development plan promised by the local council weren't even allowed to speak. "We don't have the floor. They won't let us talk. This is a disgrace," they said. As they were leaving, one of the attendees put his hands over his mouth to amplify the shouts and asked, "And the urban development plan, when will it be implemented?" Upon hearing the question, some of the councilors looked up from their phone screens to see who had asked it. However, other groups were able to speak at the plenary session, such as the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Palma, the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), the Association of Artists of Aarca Street in Palma, the Association of Street Musicians of Mallorca, and the Veï Association. The spokespeople for these organizations explained their reasons for attending the plenary session. Although he only spoke to one person at a time, the rest of the attendees showed their support for the spokespeople's words through banners and t-shirts with clear messages.

Meanwhile, residents of the Calatrava neighborhood protested again against the felling of the 17 beautiful trees in Llorenç Villalonga Square and made it clear that they will not stop protesting until the city council opens a participatory process with the affected residents. They all wore t-shirts that made it clear that, in their opinion, the Palma City Council committed "arboricide" by cutting down the trees. Separately, PAH spokesperson Àngela Pons asked Jaime Martínez to meet with the residents of Son Bordoy to offer them alternative housing after the local police issued them eviction notices in October. She also mentioned the residents of the old prison. "Mr. Mayor, we want to leave here with the assurance that we will have a meeting with you," Pons insisted. But the mayor did not look her in the eye during her entire speech and interrupted her with a simple "thank you."