Madò Farta: "We must lose the fear of defending our territory and our language"

PalmaWith her face hidden behind a skull mask and dressed as a peasant, Madò Farta began to make noise — despite being a mute figure shrouded in mystery — on social media in June of this year. Since then, this figure, halfway between a bogeyman and a reivindicative water spirit, has appeared, both alone and supporting other calls, in most — if not all — of the protests against tourist overcrowding held throughout Mallorca.

Madò Farta has gone from being an Instagram profile to becoming a symbol of the protests. At what point were you surprised to see that the character had transcended so much?

— I think the clearest moment was when I decided to go to the Es Trenc protest and I saw all that response from the people. The way they received me, the shows of support, gratitude, and affection left me completely surprised. I remember that moment because I felt a mixture of emotion and responsibility. On the one hand, it was very powerful to see that what had started as a symbolic action had connected with so many people. But, on the other hand, I also had a moment of dizziness and I thought: "This is getting out of hand". Not because I was afraid of the message, but because I became aware that Madò Farta was no longer just a person behind a mask, but represented a feeling that many people carried inside and perhaps had not found a way to express. That is a very big responsibility.

What is the last straw that made Madò Farta born?

— It wasn't a single drop. It was the sum of many small compromises that we have gradually normalized: seeing how the territory is changing at a dizzying speed, realizing that it is increasingly difficult to live in our land, losing spaces that we felt were ours, and constantly feeling that there is no alternative. But, if I have to be honest, I believe that this is also part of my way of being. At home, since I was very young, I have never been one to settle for a "because yes" or a "because I say so." I have always needed to understand things, to be told the reason why, and, at the same time, to feel that I too could offer a proposal or a different way of seeing them.

What is Madò Farta like behind the mask?

— She is an absolutely normal person. She works, has family, friends, worries, and a life like any other Majorcan woman.

Some say that movements against overtourism are "tourismphobia".

— I think it's a very convenient label because it avoids getting into the underlying debate. It is not tourism phobia to ask that an island have limits. It is not tourism phobia to defend that people can access housing or that the territory is not exploited to the limit. Tourists are not the enemy. The problem is a model that for decades has confused growing with growing without limits.

And there are also those who say that tourism is untouchable because it is the engine of the economy of the Islands.

— Nobody denies the importance of tourism. What we question is that it has become a dogma that prevents any debate. Precisely because it is so important, we should ask ourselves if it is intelligent to depend almost exclusively on a single sector and take it to the point of saturation. A strong economy is not one that grows without brakes, it is one that guarantees quality of life for the people who live there.

Mobilizations against overtourism have grown throughout the Balearic Islands. Have you noticed a change in social perception? Is people now less afraid to criticize the model? Or the opposite?

— Yes. I think something has changed. Years ago, many people expressed these concerns only in private. Now, more and more people are doing so publicly, and that is very significant. There is still fear. There are still people who think that talking about this will make you look bad or get you labeled. But this fear is beginning to crack, and that is healthy for any democratic society. However, there is a contradiction that really catches my attention. Every day I talk to very different people and, regardless of their age, profession, or way of thinking, many agree on the diagnosis: the overcrowding is excessive, housing is inaccessible, the territory is at its limit, and the quality of life has worsened. And, despite this broad consensus, it then seems very difficult to transform this shared concern into collective decisions. Sometimes I have the feeling that we continue to vote out of inertia, out of habit, or because we think things cannot be any other way. That is why I believe that, more than losing the fear of criticizing the model, we must also lose the fear of demanding changes and accepting that our vote is a tool to build the Mallorca we say we want. If a majority shares a problem, it should also be able to demand coherent solutions.

Do you think Majorcans are losing their identity?

— I believe that identity does not disappear overnight. It weakens when we stop taking care of what sustains it. Language, landscape, towns, traditions, the way we relate to each other... all of this needs space to continue to live. If everything ends up subordinated to an economy designed exclusively for tourist consumption, it is clear that this identity suffers. Defending it is not looking back with nostalgia; it is wanting to have a future. What we should lose is fear. The fear of speaking loud and clear. The fear of defending our language, our territory, and our way of life without being labeled or made to feel guilty. Loving Mallorca is not going against anyone. It is loving our home. And a society that is afraid to express what it loves is a society that runs the risk of letting others decide for it. That is why I believe that, if we have to lose something, it should be fear. Identity, on the other hand, we must take care of because it is what makes us who we are.

What is the most urgent measure you would apply if you could decide on the policy of the Balearic Islands tomorrow?

— I would put a real ceiling on the number of visitors. I think it is the decision on which many other things depend. Without assuming that Mallorca has a limited capacity, it will be very difficult to effectively address housing, mobility, water consumption, land conservation, or quality of life. We cannot manage well what has already exceeded its own limits.

If tomorrow you could sit for an hour with Marga Prohens, what would you ask her?

— I would ask her that, for an hour, she stop looking at statistics and listen to people. But, above all, I would ask her for something even more difficult: that for a while she stop being president and live the Mallorca that so many residents live every day. That for a day she share the anguish of a family looking for a house where they can live without having to dedicate almost their entire salary to it. That for a week she do the job of a chambermaid, so that she understands what it means to sustain one of the most powerful industries in the Islands through physical effort, often invisible. That for a year she accompany a young person who has been forced to leave Mallorca because here they have not found a future...

I will now ask you a real question that has been asked in beauty pageants: if you could enact a new law, what would it be and why?

— I would enact a law that would place the quality of life of residents at the center of any decision regarding the territory. For residents, regardless of their nationality, as long as they wish to be part of this community, respect it, and contribute to it. I would also establish very clear limits on land speculation. I would prohibit new constructions on the first coastline and in areas of great landscape value. There are places, like the sa Mola d'Andratx area, that for me symbolize how far we have come. When you contemplate a mountain covered in large villas, many occupied only a few weeks a year, you inevitably ask yourself: was this the future we wanted for Mallorca?