10,000 people send a message to Prohens: "El Trenc is not to be touched"

La Ràpita10,000 people, according to the count made by the organizing entities, gathered this Sunday at Trenc beach to demand that its protection be maintained and that the Government of the Balearic Islands refrain from making any downward modifications to the Natural Park, as civil society suspects, after a regulatory change that allows intervention in this protected space without going through Parliament.

Under the slogan ‘El Trenc must not be touched; not before, not now, not ever’, a crowd literally bathed for this protected space, entered the first few meters of water on the virgin beach of the municipality of Campos, and formed a three-kilometer human chain that stretched from the Club Nàutic de la Ràpita to Ses Covetes. In addition, hundreds of people remained on the sand because the human chain already occupied this entire stretch.

From early in the morning, the surroundings of the Club Nàutic de la Ràpita, packed with people arriving before the official start time of the call, already presaged its success. The scorching sun of this July Sunday did not frighten the thousands of people who arrived from all over Mallorca and gathered to form the human chain between La Ràpita and Ses Covetes in defense of Trenc. The mobilization began at 10:00 AM at the Club Nàutic and gradually extended towards Ses Covetes. People arrived throughout more than an hour, until the reading of the manifesto began and it continued to extend into a chain that at times was double: in the water and on the shore, on the sand.

10,000 people is the official count of the call, which has exceeded GOB's predictions. Terraferida, and Less Tourism More Life, entities that throughout the week had called on citizens, especially through social networks.

Subtle discounts

"Once again, like in 1977, 1983, the 90s and also 2012, we have had to come out again in defense of Trenc," said Tonina Siquier, spokesperson for GOB and on behalf of all the convening entities. Siquier referred to information from ARA Balears, which revealed the pressure from certain owners on the Executive to deprotect the entire area around Les Covetes. "No matter how much Mrs. Prohens says she is in favor of protecting Trenc, she will have to explain to us what she intends to do in these peripheral areas, which should have all Natural Parks," insisted the spokesperson in statements to the media. "We are here to defend all the natural spaces of Mallorca. During this legislature, we have seen how, lie after lie, the Government says it approves protection measures, while in a subtle way it approves, little by little and so that we don't realize it, reductions."

The writer and columnist for ARA Balears, Sebastià Alzamora, was in charge of reading the manifesto together with Tonina Siquier. With a megaphone in hand and their feet on the sand, he gave voice to the organizers' criticisms of the Prohens Government's environmental and territorial policy. "No matter how much Councillor Simonet makes videos in the water promising that not a single square meter of Trenc will be unprotected, the reality is that this new legal framework is tailor-made to fill Trenc with constructions, huts, car parks, beach services, and all sorts of tourist uses. It will look very good, Councillor Simonet, President Prohens; it will be a beauty," he said sarcastically.

A law to degrade a unique landscape?

The protest, convened by GOB, Terraferida and Menys Turisme, Més Vida, responds to the change introduced by the Government through the Omnibus Law, which allows the norms included in the law that declared and regulated the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Natural Park to be modified by decree of the Governing Council. Until now, these modifications had to go through Parliament. The three entities interpret the change as a strategy to facilitate future modifications to the Park's protection.

The mobilization arrives amid the debate over the influence zone of the Park located in Ses Covetes. As reported this Saturday by ARA Balears, the future of this area has become the center of the controversy over the protection of El Trenc, due to the pressure exerted by some owners with ties to the Popular Party of Campos.

Representatives of civil society, the entire board of GOB, members of Terraferida and Menys Turisme, Més Vida, as well as prominent left-wing political leaders, including representatives from MÉS and PSIB, participated in the event. The human chain continued to grow during the organizers' speeches, following a call that has managed to extend the protest along the coast between La Ràpita and Ses Covetes.

The mobilization's manifesto was read by the writer and columnist for ARA Balears Sebastià Alzamora, who accused the Government of promoting a "deregulatory offensive" and called for the withdrawal of the Omnibus Law and the provisions of the agrarian law that, according to the organizers, threaten the protection of the territory. Alzamora concluded the reading with a message directed at Marga Prohens' Executive: "Whoever loves Mallorca does not destroy it.

Esperpèntic appearance

During its reading, and without prior notice, the mayor of the municipality, Francisca Porquer (PP), appeared with a provocative attitude. The demonstrators, politely, asked her to leave, given her explicit intention to boycott the reading of the manifesto and monopolize the attention of the present media. Porquer tried to make statements to the media, who were at that moment following the event. The journalists themselves had to ask her to let them do their work and not pressure them.

Some of the mayoress's companions have heckled members of the organization and journalists, who could not believe what was happening. Finally, the entourage withdrew, to the disbelief of those present.

Hot summer

This has been the second episode of a series of mobilizations planned for this summer — in June GOB Menorca held a rally against saturation —, which will culminate on July 26 in Palma in a demonstration called against tourist overcrowding.