More than 2,200 allegations against the new Aena solar park that threatens the surroundings of Son Bonet

PalmaThe Son Bonet Pulmó Verd platform, with the support of GOB, Xaloc, and Mares del Pla, has collected more than 2,200 allegations against the photovoltaic park that Aena wants to build at the Son Bonet airfield, in Marratxí. The mobilization comes when there is still one week left before the deadline for submitting them ends and confirms that the significant neighborhood opposition towards the project remains very much alive. The company that manages the state's airports has once again promoted a reduced version of the facility, even though it has accumulated five years of protests and contrary pronouncements from the institutions.

The allegations registered this noon at the General Directorate of Industry of the Government demand that the authorization and the declaration of public utility be denied. They also ask that Aena definitively withdraw the project and seek alternatives on already built surfaces, without occupying one of the few large open spaces in the area.

The figure exceeds 1,300 allegations, which were collected in March 2021 against the first proposal. Aena, however, has not abandoned the plans. After the Government denied authorization for the project in 2023, the company appealed the administrative decisions and has continued to defend the installation on the airfield grounds. Now it is processing it again and is requesting the corresponding authorization and recognition of public utility.

The allegations question the initiative for urban planning, environmental, legal, and social reasons. The entities insist that they are not opposed to the production of clean energy, but to the chosen location. They summarize it with a phrase: "Renewables yes, but not like this", in the words of Manel Gomáriz, spokesperson for the Pulmó Verd platform. "We can think of a thousand locations for solar panels, especially on existing buildings, of which, by the way, Aena has many. Just at Son Sant Joan there are thousands of square meters to solarize. Crushing a public, green space is irresponsible and goes against the residents, once again", he criticized.

For the residents of Pont d'Inca, Pla de na Tesa, Cas Capità, and Sant Llatzet, Son Bonet is much more than a set of airport grounds. For decades, the open spaces surrounding the airfield have been used for walking, playing sports, and getting some fresh air. Residents of Palma also go there. The platform argues that this citizen use must be preserved and rejects the transformation of part of the land into an industrial facility.

A refusal from the Government that did not stop Aena

The controversy dates back to 2021, when Aena presented an initial proposal that planned to install some 32,000 photovoltaic panels over nearly twenty hectares of land. The scale of the project triggered strong citizen opposition and the rejection of the Marratxí City Council. In November of that year, the Industry Council decided that the park did not meet the conditions to be declared a strategic industrial project. The then-Vice President of the Government, Juan Pedro Yllanes, emphasized the lack of social consensus and recalled that Aena had other surfaces capable of hosting panels, such as airport roofs and parking lots.

In July 2023, the project received another refusal. The Government denied administrative authorization amid processing problems, including the validity of access and grid connection permits. But that decision did not end the conflict. Aena challenged administrative decisions and went to court to defend the continuity of the file. In January 2024, the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands partially upheld a request for precautionary measures by the company, which allowed the environmental processing to continue.

The Government's refusal, therefore, did not make Aena give up. The company manages the airport grounds and has maintained its desire to use them to produce energy. This ability to promote projects within the site, however, does not exempt it from obtaining the energy and environmental authorizations established by the regulations.

Now it is back with the project Aeropuerto de Son Bonet - Fase 1, a modified version of the initial initiative. The processing has been reactivated, but this does not mean that the installation already has all the necessary permits to be built.

Why Son Bonet and not Son Sant Joan?

One of the big questions left open by this conflict is why Aena continues to bet on Son Bonet when it has surfaces already built at the Son Sant Joan airport, where a good part of the activity in Mallorca is concentrated and, therefore, also its energy needs. The company itself has recognized the potential of airport roofs and parking lots to generate electricity. In 2022, it announced an investment to expand and adapt the general parking lot of Son Sant Joan, with a new outdoor floor prepared to accommodate photovoltaic panels. The works materialized in November 2024, when the seventh floor of the parking lot went into service, with about 750 spaces and canopies enabled to install solar panels.

The public information and the responses provided by Aena to the promotion of renewable energy at the Palma airport are not particularly generous. For this reason, for the moment, the question from the residents of Son Bonet has not been answered: "What energy need does Aena intend to cover with the Son Bonet park and what alternatives has it studied before choosing land that has been causing this impact for five years?" asks Manel Gomáriz.

Aena has a photovoltaic plan to reduce the emissions of the airport network. The 2025 corporate documentation also identifies opportunities for connection to the electrical grid in Son Bonet, a circumstance that may influence the technical viability of the installation. But this, in itself, does not explain why the company maintains this location nor does it allow for ruling out other sites. The residents insist that the energy transition should not imply the loss of open spaces that already have a consolidated social use. For this reason, they ask that, before occupying Son Bonet, Aena take advantage of the surfaces that are already artificialized.

The Parliament has also demanded its withdrawal

Opposition to the project has gone far beyond neighborhood associations. On June 16th, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands unanimously approved an initiative urging the Government to demand that Aena withdraw the photovoltaic park. The Marratxí City Council has also spoken out against it on several occasions.

Despite these pronouncements, Aena has continued with the processing. This September, the public information period for the new proposal was opened, a procedure that allows citizens and entities to submit allegations before the Administration resolves the requested authorizations.

The mobilization is not limited to allegations. Over these five years, residents have promoted demonstrations, signature campaigns, and initiatives to reclaim Son Bonet as a green space. Last March, they had already collected more than 2,300 signatures of support, a campaign different from the allegations currently being processed. "Citizen participation is enormous, the Marratxí City Council and the majority of parties have been involved, and therefore, it is evident that Aena is once again ignoring the citizenry, as has recently happened in Ibiza, where the whole island is asking that an airport not be expanded and they are laughing at them," stated Gomáriz.