Palma neighborhood associations attack Cort's new party

PalmThe controversy surrounding the Patron Saint, the neofesta organized by Palma City Council The demand for the festival, which will take place this Saturday, September 6th, continues to grow. Residents' associations in Palma have attacked the city council's organization for organizing this celebration, criticizing it as "not coming from the streets but from the city council's marketing department." "A 'high-definition' party with press conferences, logos, slogans, and a musical lineup that could be exactly the same as any other festival in Ibiza, Berlin, or Toronto," they stated in a statement.

In the document, the signatory associations – AVV Canamunt-Ciudad Antigua, Palma Residents' Federation, AVV Puig Sant Pere, Colectivo Zumbido, Federación Cultura en la Calle and Ateneo Popular La Eléctrica – denounce that the festival claims to be "of the patron saint", but that, in reality, "it has so little to do with the sparkling bread with olive oil foam and black olive powder".

"The problem is not that there is a concert in the Parque del Mar. The problem is making it seem like this is "recovering traditions". Tradition does not come from a PowerPoint, but rather from a neighbor who has carried an image for years, from a group that sets up a table in the plaza, or from a group of musicians who play without loudspeakers. Tradition isn't hired; it's lived," they expressed.

They also pointed out that neighborhood associations continue to be stifled "by subsidies that arrive late—when they arrive at all—while the festival unfolds like a spectacle that only contemplates itself." "What we have is not a celebration but a simulation: a festival that celebrates nothing, that is only reflected in its own facade and that functions as a giant screen where Palma rehearses its role as European Capital of Culture 2031."

The associations have claimed that the popular festival is, in essence, an act of collective sovereignty. "It doesn't need permits or roadmaps because it is born from the community's need to come together, express itself, and go beyond the limits of the everyday," they pointed out. For this reason, they emphasize, authentic festivals are unrepeatable, organic, and often uncomfortable for those in power, because they don't respond to any institutional script or urban branding objective. "When a festival is manufactured by institutions, it becomes a planned and controlled cultural product, designed to be consumed rather than experienced. The difference is radical: in one case, the community creates a sense of meaning and collective identity; in the other, a rootless spectacle is produced that only reflects the will of those in power," they conclude.

All in all, the organizations emphasized that they celebrate differently: "From the bottom up, with the neighbors, with cultural groups, with those who keep the social fabric alive every day, without neon lights or bombastic headlines." "The patron saint deserved a party. What they've given us is a simulation with international DJs," they lamented.