Sóller Youth Movement: "It is impossible for us to imagine a future in our town"

PalmaA month ago, the Moviment Jove de Sóller called the August 8th protest against saturation in their municipality, which they consider one of Mallorca's hotspots for touristification: a municipality where "all the effects of overpopulation are clearly observed," point out members of the entity, in conversation with ARA Balears. "For us, it is impossible to imagine a future in Sóller," they lament, and emphasize that the measures implemented by the Sóller town hall, focused on mobility (more parking, some only for residents, and low-emission zones among others), do not solve the underlying problems caused by saturation. The main one, as in the rest of the Balearic Islands, is housing.

Since the call has been underway, discontent has intensified in Mallorca, especially following the arrest of activists in Santa Maria and the police charges on July 26th, which has become a key date for the anti-saturation movement, with tens of thousands of people in the streets clamoring for solutions. In this way, the Menys Turisme, Més Vida platform has joined Saturday's call, which is expected to be another massive gathering of an increasingly strained citizenry.

"We expected it to be a local protest, but there has been a pull effect from the demonstration in Palma and there will be many more people," they point out. "Residents of Mallorca understand that Sóller's problem is shared. We are not worried about the scale the protest may take. It motivates us a lot and we are very excited about it. We are in coordination with the security forces and have a support team. We want a peaceful demonstration," they add, regarding the police charges of 26J. As a massive displacement to Sóller is foreseen, the organization is making buses available to participants from Palma and Manacor.

Regarding the complaints of the merchants, Moviment Jove de Sóller explains that there has been misinformation about what the protest will entail for the shops. "We approached them to talk to them personally and, although it is true that there is diversity of opinions, many understand it and give us their support. We are not seeking to create factions or any conflict, but to point out a real problem that also affects local trade, and many merchants believe that they should participate," they explain. "When we addressed them, things could be understood. We explained that the demonstration will take place along the commercial street for a limited time. They are also residents," they add.

This collective hopes that the protest will serve to make institutions listen to their demands. "They are not new, they are things that have been claimed for three summers", they recall, and point out that the collective town hall has not contacted the entity. "The situation of the young people of Sóller is sad and worrying. But we have hope. We are still on time, but we must act immediately".Police errors

On behalf of Less Tourism, More Life, spokesperson Jaume Pujol agrees that the perspective of this demonstration has changed a lot in recent weeks. Pujol hopes that Saturday's protest will serve to refocus on citizens' demands and the need to adopt measures against touristification. "The Government has evaded any responsibility in front of the 70,000 people who demonstrated thanks to the situation with the police. It is necessary to redirect the discourse," he explains, and assures that "there are a lot of people who want to go on Saturday." "They even stop me in the street," he points out, and hopes there will be no more problems with the police. "They made a mistake in Santa Maria and then they had 70,000 people in the street. And on the 26th they also made a mistake. At a popular level, all this has served to politicize the masses more. If there are problems again, this will demonstrate the incapacity of the people in charge of the operations," he sentences.