Not being able to plead ignorance

PalmAnd here we have them. They are four immigrants working, in this case, installing wiring to facilitate connections on a street in Sant Joan, in the Pla de Mallorca. It's not exactly light work. It's also easy to see other immigrants like them working as stonemasons on construction sites, or working as laborers, or paving roads, or working as delivery drivers. These are, as they say—and it's true—the jobs that we, the well-off Mallorcans, or not so well-off, or not at all well-off, but in any case fully legalized and with Spanish nationality granted at birth, whether we want it or not.

We hear increasingly overwhelmed, furious, and aggressive rhetoric against people like those in this photo by Isaac Buj every day. They are falsely divided into those who come "to work" and those who come "to commit crimes," and in this way, self-servingly and indiscriminately, the shadow of suspicion and the implicit accusation of all being criminals is cast over them. They are the victims, but the lies we hear every day aim to make us their victims: they receive succulent aid and benefits, they are given priority over those born here, they come to put an end to our culture, traditions, and language. On top of that, they are supposedly secretly protected—by whom or why, it is never quite clear—and acting against them and their hidden interests (immigrants, according to these voices, have hidden interests) can cause problems for the brave person who dares to call things by their name. Etc.

These are all typical and characteristic arguments of racism. In Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, we don't just hear them in after-dinner conversations or in the taunts of bars and cafes, from the inevitable in-laws. No: we also hear them, to everyone's shame, uttered by our rulers, with the full power of the loudspeakers of power. It's easy to attack them for various reasons: because they have no way to defend themselves, and also because they are poor and have dark skin. These are hallmarks of diversity that make them the ideal scapegoat.

Within the self-inflicted decline of the Balearic Islands and the Pitiusas, Mallorca, perhaps because it is the largest island, is a special case in point. Pure-blooded Mallorcans who spend their days commiserating over the fading Mallorca of bucolic godfathers and angelic godmothers, who, in their squalid imagination, spent their days pronouncing wise sayings and cooking delicious dishes—these same Mallorcans are the ones who come to Mallorca. They would do literally anything to sell a property to a rich German, or Swede, or Russian, and their pathological relationship with money leads them to justify any excess, any destruction caused to the natural environment, the landscape, or the heritage of these islands. Rude, greedy, petulant, arrogant, very Mallorcan, they boast about the antiquity of their avior while destroying its legacy, selling a piece of land here, a house there, because of course, who dares say no to a good bank check. And while they do this, they have no problem stating that there are too many people here and that there's not enough room for everyone.

Survival

It's possible that there isn't enough room for everyone, because, as the saying goes, natural resources and infrastructure aren't enough, especially for some islands, etc. Then we'll have to decide who should go: my vote goes to the parasitic Mallorcans, and also to the racists. As for immigrants, the future of these islands, their viability and cohesion as a society, the very survival of their language, culture, and traditions, depend absolutely on being able to help them integrate into this country as full citizens, respected and treated equally. This isn't do-gooding, as racists and xenophobes absurdly repeat: it's survival, and also the fundamental principle of intelligence, which is understanding the reality in which one lives, accepting it, and, from there, working it to one's advantage. But let no one imagine that there is any future for these islands that doesn't involve fighting the speculators who trade strictly for their own benefit. Furthermore, no future that does not involve scrupulous respect for the natural environment and human rights.