Soulless tents for migrants seeking refuge
These are the facilities at the Port of Palma that only accommodate adult men arriving on the coast of Mallorca
Near the Baleària headquarters in the port of Palma, where thousands of tourists disembark in Mallorca each year, white tents with heavy police protection at the entrance are visible. These are the facilities that house only adult male migrants arriving on the island's coast for 24 or, sometimes, 48 hours before traveling to the mainland—minors go directly to Son Tous and women with children go to Red Cross facilities. "There's no one here, everyone leaves very quickly," says a worker guiding the media through the different areas. Since these facilities opened in Mallorca, 472 people have passed through, 555 in the port of Ibiza, and 90 in Formentera.
Just inside, next to a small control booth, there's a sign (in Arabic, French, English, and Spanish) that stands out against the white because it uses a different color for each language and prohibits smoking. To the left of Devora is the dining area, dominated by a chalkboard. In French it says: "Welcome," followed by the Wi-Fi password, "the first thing they ask for upon arrival," according to a worker.
After entering the Wi-Fi password and confirming it works, "we immediately see many cell phones with pictures of their families, with whom they are video calling," he recounts. Sometimes the workers also answer the calls because the migrants want to show their families who is taking care of them. The workers explain that some of them take photos with the "Welcome to Palma" sign, which is located in front of the tents used to notify relatives that they have arrived in Spain. Another worker explains that, despite the arduous journey and the poor conditions they have endured in their home countries, the men "arrive happy." He affirms that many of the new arrivals have university degrees and that, in their countries, they are from "upper-middle-class" backgrounds.
She recounts this alongside a colleague who admits they don't ask men for much information because otherwise they go home "devastated." "Sometimes I think: if this lasts much longer, I'm going to cry," he says.
