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 on the beach of El Trenc to demand that its protection be maintained and that the Government of the Balearic Islands refrain from making any downward modification 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 is not touched; neither before, nor now, nor ever’, a crowd literally bathed for this protected space, entered the first meters of water on the virgin beach of the municipality of Campos and formed a human chain of three kilometers that reached from the Club Nàutic de la Ràpita to Les Covetes. In addition, hundreds of people remained on the sand, as the human chain already occupied this entire stretch.

From early in the morning, the surroundings of the Club Nàutic de la Ràpita were packed with people arriving before the official time of the call, presaging its success. The intense sun of this July Sunday did not frighten the thousands of people who arrived from all over Mallorca and who gathered to form the human chain between La Ràpita and Les Covetes in defense of El Trenc. The mobilization began at 10:00 a.m. at the Club Nàutic and gradually extended towards Les Covetes. People arrived throughout more than an hour, until the reading of the manifesto began and it extended 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 the expectations of GOB. Terraferida, and Menys Turisme Més Vida, entities that throughout the week had called on citizens, especially through social networks.

Subtle reductions

"Once again, like in 1977, 1983, the 90s and also in 2012, we have had to once again take to the streets in defense of Trenc," said Tonina Siquier, spokesperson for the GOB and on behalf of all the convening entities. Siquier referred to information from ARA Balears, which revealed the pressures from certain owners on the Executive to deprotect the entire area surrounding 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 the Natural Parks," insisted the spokesperson in statements to the media. "We are here to defend all of Mallorca's natural spaces. 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, cutbacks".

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 his feet on the sand, he gave voice to the organizers' criticisms of the Prohens Government's environmental and territorial policy. "No matter how much councilor Simonet makes wet videos promising that not one square meter of Trenc will be unprotected, the reality is that this new legal framework is tailor-made to fill Trenc with constructions, huts, parking lots, beach services, and all sorts of tourist uses. It will look very good, councilor Simonet, president Prohens; it will look adorable," he said sarcastically.

A law to degrade a unique landscape?

The protest, called by GOB, Terraferida and Menys Turisme, Més Vida, responds to the change introduced by the Government through the Omnibus Law, which allows for the modification by decree of the Governing Council of the regulations included in the law that declared and regulated the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Natural Park. 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 Park's area of influence located in Ses Covetes. As reported this Saturday by ARA Balears, the future of the area has become the center of the controversy over the protection of El Trenc, due to the pressures 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 of 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 conveners, 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."

Grotesque appearance

During its reading, and without prior notice, the mayor of the municipality, Francisca Porquer (PP), appeared with a provocative attitude. The protesters, 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 following the event at that time. The journalists themselves had to ask her to let them work and not to pressure them.

Some of the mayor's companions verbally abused members of the organization and journalists, who could not believe what was happening. Finally, the entourage withdrew, to the disbelief of the attendees.

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.