David Pujol: "The PP is killing Palma"

PalmaIt is the first time that an independent leads a list since MÉS per Mallorca was founded. David Pujol (Palma, 1980) will lead the MÉS per Palma candidacy in the municipal elections of 2027, with Xisca Mir as number two. He says these are tumultuous times and that precisely for this reason he is taking this step, in search of a broad left-wing front. However, he is also aware that he is racing against time and that the far-right wave is difficult to stop.

What are the reasons you have for entering fully into politics?

— The first has been that they have proposed a very exciting project to me. The candidacy of MÉS per Palma will lead a much broader space. Furthermore, I understand that the historical moment calls for it, and I am very interested in highlighting the analysis they have made of the importance of presenting a worker, who is not a politician, as a candidate. I want to thank the bravery and generosity of asking me, as an independent, to take this step.

To what reasons do you attribute the loss of power of the left in the Palma City Council in the past elections?

— It is a dynamic that happens everywhere. I don't think anything is happening in Palma that isn't happening in Mallorca, the rest of the State, or everywhere else. Perhaps it is a problem of wear and tear from the previous electoral cycle. I believe that not achieving substantial improvements to people's real problems has caused a certain disillusionment. With this international wave of the extreme right, there is the perfect storm.

You say that no substantial improvements have been achieved for people's problems. What went wrong during eight years of the Pact?

— I am referring to big issues like housing and tourism. Very interesting proposals were launched, such as prohibiting tourist rentals in multi-family buildings. This was a very good measure, but it has proven insufficient so far. Positive initiatives were launched, but the expected effects were not achieved. We find ourselves in a much worse situation on these two major fronts, and much braver and bolder proposals are needed.

You talk about reactivating militancy. This is very complicated in the case of left-wing voters. What strategy do you think should be followed to mobilize people?

— There are different ideas. The first is to do something new. We plan to start a new phase with a broad front with all the political left, people from social movements and independent people from neighborhoods. We hope that many people will join and that political participation on the left will be reactivated.

You are the first independent candidate for MÉS per Mallorca. Is this a symptom of renewal or a lack of leadership?

— I understand it as a symptom of bravery, of understanding the moments we are living, both the critical situation in Palma and the international wave of the extreme right. Proposals are needed that unite all the left, different sensibilities.

When it comes to uniting the entire left, would you be willing to give up part of MÉS's style?

— I don't understand why MÉS has to give up anything, that what it defends is a problem for the parties or the social movements we address. All of us, each from our own perspective, enrich the project. Parties, social movements, and independents will contribute. I don't think anything MÉS defends is a problem for anyone.

The parties are already racing against time, as there is less than a year left until the elections. What work needs to be done to achieve this broad left-wing front?

— It's true, we're racing against time. Especially because we aim to do honest work and for this front to be a starting point for generating enthusiasm. We plan to talk with all of them and reach an agreement. I imagine everyone understands that the current situation calls for responsibility and unity. An alternative is needed in this regard, and that's how we're approaching it.

Have you initiated contacts?

— Contacts between parties occur throughout the legislature, they are always underway and moving forward.

Will the PSIB enter this broad front?

— We said he is left-wing [smiles].

There have been historical figures from MÉS in the Palma City Council, such as Antoni Noguera and Neus Truyol. What makes the difference in the case of David Pujol?

— I feel absolute admiration for Neus and Toni. It seems to me that I can only learn from them. What can I contribute? Imagine the fact of never having been involved in politics, of being a worker who embarks on an adventure to start this new stage. Like others, I come from social movements and anti-capitalism, and I'm not the first in this regard. I consider them as role models, and other people like Aurora Jhardi and Aligi Molina.

MÉS is a party that declares itself feminist, but the heads of list for Parliament, Council and City Council are men. What happened?

— I cannot answer this, because I was put forward as the head of the list. I am independent, I am not in the party and I have not participated even in the debate even to choose myself. I am 100% sure that all members of MÉS would have loved a different situation, but things happen as they happen.

What would you say to a left-leaning person who did not vote in the last election to encourage them to return to the polls?

— I believe that left-wing people will understand the exceptionality of the moment. On the one hand, there is a critical situation in Palma, in addition to a very complicated historical moment due to the reactionary wave. On the other hand, we aspire for people to mobilize, to see in this project something different from what has been done so far, and to vote with enthusiasm.

The City Council has positioned itself against having campers in Palma and will remove residents from the old prison. How do you analyze this situation?

— Two weeks ago I took a geography route through Palma with my students. We started in Son Güells. Explaining to my students that those dozens and dozens of caravans belonged to workers who were working and who didn't even have a room in a house was very complicated. They didn't understand. The panorama was one of an authentic apocalyptic present. Sometimes we get used to wild situations and normalize them. But seeing my students' faces, you realize how extreme the situation is today in Palma. The other day I was listening to an interview with people who are in the old prison and my heart broke because there were some who are retirees who have been working all their lives and who can no longer afford to pay the rent, which at some point must have been reasonable and has skyrocketed. The situation is unsustainable, tremendously critical.

The municipal government also has confrontations with groups such as the LGTBIQ+.

— There is a fact that I think needs to be stated clearly. The problem the People's Party has is with this group. The PP and Vox do not accept the LGTBIQ+ group. There has been no misunderstanding with a party or with permits. They do not accept this group and harm it as much as they can.

Are you worried that the growth of the far-right cannot be stopped?

— There is an international reactionary wave, which we respond to as best we can each from our local sphere. It worries me deeply. In this sense, it takes a lot of imagination and courage to face it, because the situation is dramatic in this regard. I also say this as a professor. Hate speech is reaching classrooms and it is profoundly painful to see it in children of 12 or 13 years old because of their skin color or religion. Something breaks inside you.

Why are there working-class neighborhoods where the far-right is voted for?

— It's very shocking. Two years ago we went to a talk by Manuel Monereo and he said a phrase that I tattooed in my brain: what is at stake is the soul of the working class. This is what we are playing for. They are disputing our people, the people who have always had a consciousness, a voting profile. This is the great challenge of these elections for the project we are proposing, to reach the most precarious workers in the neighborhoods.

Many people blame those who are worse off for their problems. Attention is being diverted from those truly responsible for the current situation.

— It is a very complicated situation. First we have to reach these people. The enemy is not the migrant, but the large landowners, the vulture funds, who hinder access to housing and making ends meet.

But it seems the cultural battle is being lost, because more and more people are pointing to migrants as the culprits.

— We are in dispute, we have lost many battles, it is evident. Even so, here we are fighting. And I think we are going in the right direction. Talking about people's real problems and offering material solutions to these problems is the path we must follow. We must not fall into the trap of the far-right's debate framework regarding immigration and crime. Housing, people who don't make ends meet, the waiting list to see a doctor... We must offer solutions to all these problems.

What electoral results would be acceptable in 2027?

— The era is very tumultuous and complex, both in a negative and positive sense. All over Europe we see situations that push us. We are interested in everything that happens in the north, in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland. Brave sovereignist lefts govern in these three territories. What happened in Andalusia is also a glimmer of hope. We will do as well as we can and then the party will decide.

There are critical individuals and entities who accuse the City Council of expelling part of the population of Palma.

— It is a fact. I have the example of a friend of mine, a Secondary school teacher with 25 years of experience. He has been expelled from Palma. He could not continue paying rent in Palma and had to go live in a village. Palma is expelling people.

In the cultural section, do you think the popular fabric is weakening with the City Council's bet on major events?

— Yes. The City Council is creating difficulties for neighborhood associations and entities in the use of public space instead of supporting them, because they are the entities that give life to our city. It creates obstacles, which is a form of repression. Its objective is to diminish their presence and influence. The PP is killing Palma.

How would you summarize your project for the city?

— We still have to draw the city model together. We are in the process of configuring this broad front, from which we will configure a program, all of us who will present ourselves.