This is how the Patron Saint was, the new Corte festival surrounded by controversy
This Saturday, Palma celebrated the Patron Saint's Day celebration, the first edition of the neofesta organized by the City Council and produced by Mallorca Live. The event, which has received a budget of more than 330,000 euros, has generated strong criticism from neighborhood associations and the municipal opposition, who denounce the privatized nature of the festival and its lack of citizen support.
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This Saturday, the Patron Saint's Day celebration will be held in Parque del Mar, a new festival organized by the City Council that has sparked controversy among residents and civil society.
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The City Council has awarded €332,750 in public funds to Mallorca Live Fest to design and produce the festival.
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In addition to the main budget, the organizing company receives the benefit of selling drinks, food, merchandise, and including sponsors without having to pay anything back to the City Council.
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Several music promoters find it odd that a public event provides so many sources of income for a private company.
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The Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Palma de Mallorca denounces that the 300,000 euros allocated to the Patron Saint contrast with the reduction in funding for neighborhood festivals, which receive significantly less this year.
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Maribel Alcázar, from the neighborhood federation, criticizes the fact that these resources could hold many authentic festivals, while the Patron Saint's Day celebration has become an event "given away" to a private company.
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MÁS por Palma describes the festival as a private showcase and demands that the City Council reaffirm the public and civic nature of the patron saint festivities.
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Councilman Miquel Àngel Contreras points out a contradiction: alcoholic beverages are being promoted despite a municipal addiction prevention plan prohibiting it.
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Organizations and residents regret that the new festival was conceived by the City Council's marketing department and not by the neighborhoods.
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They criticize the Patron Saint's Day as a "high-definition" celebration, with logos, slogans, and press conferences, comparable to festivals in Ibiza, Berlin, or Toronto.
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According to the organizations, the festival has nothing to do with the patron saint: "It has as little to do with the patron saint as bread and oil served in a gastropub with olive oil foam and black olive powder."
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They argue that tradition is not planned from a PowerPoint presentation: "Tradition is not contracted; it is lived."